Shayleigh travels back to 1880 Maryland.

A few weeks ago, Shayleigh joined some other local homeschoolers at Seneca Schoolhouse Museum for a 4 hour school day. Prior to her visit, they sent us a 10 page packet laying out the way the day was going to be run, how to dress, what was going on in 1880 Maryland, and a cast of characters. A cast of characters? Shayleigh was given the character "Lena." Her father was a glazier and made all the windows for the buildings in town. Shayleigh read the packet and was a little apprehensive about going. Back then, if a child misbehaved, he or she would have to stand in a corner wearing a dunce cap. Oh goodness! The anxiety started to set in. What if she spoke without raising her hand? What if she couldn't stop talking to her neighbor? What if she got the answer wrong? She would have to think about this.

She woke up that morning and decided she would give it a go. So she dressed up as Lena. We gave her character a back story. She decided that her dad's name was George. Her mom's Martha (haha). She had siblings Lucy and Charlie who were babies. And she decided that if she got in trouble, it wasn't "Shayleigh" who got in trouble- it would be "Lena."

The schoolhouse is out there, right on the Potomac River. As I was driving, she was reading out loud the other characters stories. Many of the other students were involved in the canal and I realized that she had no reference of the canal and the river and hoped it didn't come up much in school. I wasn't sure exactly where the school was, but as we passed by the massive houses, many from this century, I knew the school would stick out.

Here it is:

We got there just as Miss Darby rang the bell. The other children were really in character, and I started to worry Shayleigh would feel left out. She spun around in her dress and smiled. No, she looked fabulous. The children lined up shortest to tallest. Being the youngest, I was not surprised she was at the front of the line.

Peeking out from the door.

I managed to stay around for 20 minutes to take some pictures.

Singing the "Star Spangled Banner"

She checked their nails for cleanliness.

Presenting their "homework" to Miss Darby.

Right before I left. The children were called to lineup and present their homework to Miss Darby. I started to worry as I didn't remember seeing homework in the packet. Shayleigh was first in line, so I was afraid she would panic. Miss Darby said the children could recite a poem, share an arithmetic fact, or spell a word. When she turned to Shayleigh, she replied "3+3= 6!" Miss Darby said "That is correct" and Shayleigh beamed with joy and returned to her seat. WHEW! The next girl in line didn't have it so easy. When questioned about her homework the little girl replied she wasn't prepared- and off to the corner with a dunce cap. I glanced in Shayleigh's direction. She was a little concerned for the girl, but smiled at me and let me know she would be okay for the day.

3 and a half hours later I returned and found her like this:

A big tree had fallen and she was Queen of the land.

 I went back into the school house and snapped a few more pictures:

The boys sat on this side of the schoolhouse.

View from Miss Darby's desk.

In her seat.

The girl's side of the schoolhouse.

Outside with her slate.

 Shayleigh told me that she liked playing with the boys better than the girls. They had a spelling bee, which she did not win. They wrote on a slate. And read from the McGuffey Readers- level 3. She had a great time. I asked her if she would do it again, she said absolutely!

Shayleigh takes over the Science Center!

I love how much Shayleigh loves science. I liked science as a child too, although my grades in school didn't reflect that. Maybe it's because my teachers were boring. Maybe it's because it never seemed within my reach. Maybe it was just because I would rather be anywhere than stuck in a classroom. I must say that as Shayleigh's teacher, I am really enjoying science- both teaching her and learning along with her.

Last week, her bowling partner invited her to the Maryland Science Center for some homeschool fun. I wish I could tell you who's theories on what, or what law we experimented with, but honestly, I was too busy enjoying her squeals of excitement to learn the official names of everything. So the following is just pictures of her enjoying her day, with some commentary.

A hair dryer and beach ball will do the same, but not nearly as fun.

How clouds form.

We have this at home, only smaller.

ROAR!

Checking out owl pellets.

Tornado!

Measuring dinosaur bones.

Excited to see a show at the Planetarium.

How much do I weigh on Pluto?

Commander Shay on Mars.

Trying to experience weightlessness.

It's as if she is...(read behind her. lol)

I don't know which one is getting the education!

Orkin Kids.

Pull Shay, Pull!

The result of this was explosive!

What a great day!

Flowers are Blooming!

With Mother Nature throwing us all kinds of curveballs lately, we decided to bring Spring early by way of arts and crafts. Shay had wanted to do an artwork project with flowers, and that is when I remembered how much I loved tissue paper flowers. I did an example flower- one, to show her how to do them, and two, to jog my memory on how to do them. Here is what we did:

Select tissue paper.

We cut ours into 4 rectangles.

Layer the 4 pieces and fold like a paper fan.

Wrap a pipe cleaner around the middle.

Fluff.

And fluff.

And fluff!

She had to sniff it.

A beautiful bouquet!

She put them right on her dresser.

Such an easy and low cost activity brought such a smile to her face.

Kung Hay Fat Choy!

That means "Wishing you good fortune!" in Cantonese. This week starts the beginning of the 15 day celebration of the Chinese New Year.  Shay is very interested in other cultures and celebrations, and Chinese New Year was something she really wanted to study.

A few weeks ago, a friend told me that Panda Express had a program for educators on Chinese New Year. So I signed up Hannigan Academy, school of 1 child. I thought maybe they hadn't accepted my school as I hadn't received any package from them, but yesterday, in the mail, their Chinese New Year Learn with Me Program arrived. It was free, so we thought we'd give it a try.

The Program consists of a DVD, a Fact sheet, an interactive activity sheet, a "Lai See" word find,  a Chinese Lantern craft, and a book mark craft. Oh, and of course coupons to their restaurants.

A little Blurry for some reason.

First we watched the DVD. There were two programs on it. The first was an introduction to New Years- what it means, about the zodiac, and a small ad for their restaurants (which I expected, it was a FREE packet after all). The next program was about the Jade Emperor and after the short story, it had an activity sheet that went along with it. There was also an interactive activity that went with the worksheet, which was good because somebody was zoning a little through the video. Hey, it was a lot of new information!

The DVD

First Part of the DVD- learning a bit of what the New Year is about.

Interactive work sheet.

Worksheet

Next she did the word find. Word finds are Shay's "thing," so this took no time at all.

We read on about the Year of the Dragon and what that means. She was disappointed that her Zodiac Sign is the Dog. The sign of the Dog means: Honest, Loyal, Pays Attention, and Fast.

The bookmark was made to look like the "Lai See."  In the Chinese culture, elders give the children a red envelope with money in it. The amount of money in the envelope is even as a sign of good luck. However, the number 4 is unlucky, so that dollar amount will not be in the envelope.

After coloring, she glued the pieces together to look like a red envelope.

Her favorite part of the activity, was the Chinese Lantern. The Lanterns are hung out on the 15th day of the celebration. She made a rainbow one. She wants to hang it outside. Since it is winter here, and the lantern is made of paper, we will see what the weather brings on February 6th.

Overall, I think Shay enjoyed the program. It was very clear and to the point.  I has just the right amount of information for a young elementary student.

*We did go to the library and pick out a few other books on the Chinese New Year to delve further into the subject. While we were there, she saw a poster for a Chinese New Year Celebration at the Kennedy Center. It looks great, but at $50/pp for the cheap seats, I think we'll hold off a few years.