Got my science stuff!

Well, curriculum that is: pre-level biology and chemistry from Real Science 4 Kids. Elf's charter school ordered it for us to test out this year, as they have limited science stuff available for the lower grades. So, we're supposed to go ahead with it, and then at the end of the school year give the charter school our feedback. So far, from what I have seen perusing the pages, it looks fantastic. Very kid friendly, great layout, simple projects with stuff I actually have on hand... we'll start the biology next week and save the chemistry for next fall.

I also got my SOTW units figured out, including library lists for the first 2 units (Mesopotamia and Egypt). We'll be saving Rome for next year (oops). I just can't bring myself to hurry through history! Plus, if we take longer than 4 years, that's okay, especially if we do stick with the charter school, because they follows California education content standards to some degree, and in 6th grade, Elf would be doing Ancient History again anyway. So, 5 years, about, for SOTW 1-4 works out well in the long run, after which we may move to History Odyssey for Elf, in conjunction with SOTW for Fairy, or just continue with SOTW for both, with additional books, etc. for Elf.

We've gotten most of our Christmas shopping out of the way. Everything for the kids, except a few stocking stuffers, has been safely hidden away. I still have to shop for M, and get something for my MIL. I shop for most of my own family later on, since my mom doesn't celebrate Christmas until the Twelfth Night (ever since she lost her best friend to cancer on Christmas Day). So I also give gifts to my brother and sister then. We celebrate with my dad and my MIL on Christmas Eve. Very long holiday season for us, in other words! Every year I promise myself I'll shop early and get it all done ahead of time, but somehow it never quite seems to work out that way.

I'll have to take a picture of Elf's turkey vulture pic from yesterday. We saw several of them by the side of the road eating a dead opossum, and the kids insisted we stop and watch. So we did. It was kind of disgusting, but at the same time, it was funny watching them fight. They would cry out loudly (the kids said they were "yelling") and hit each other with their wings. So, Elf drew a picture of one, and did a narration, so I am counting that as science. Today we read Chapter 7 in SOTW and had a great discussion about laws and rules. We also had art and Elf had Spanish, plus we got some math and phonics done.

I am now off to a review for next week's algebra final. Yaaaay, ha ha.