CSI Forensic mysteries!

In addition to teaching elementary drama at co-op this year I'm also teaching a CSI mysteries, forensic science class for teens. The class has been a lot of fun but soooo much prep work for the weekly labs! Tristan is one of my students and sometimes we check a lab ahead of time at home but usually I leave it to be a surprise for him in class. We will do a few of that labs that don't fit well for co-op at home, as well as some reading and watching some videos to round out the class for him.

Getting ready for CSI class was often a lot of work, the kittens liked to help which usually made prep work take even longer!

Kittens help me prep for CSI class.

Again kittens and cats are far too interested as I prep for a chromatography lab

Mysterious white powders lab materials for 5 groups, 18 students took a lot of work to prep!

Kittens help Tristan with his homework!

Back To Homeschool Time 2017-2018

Another homeschool year and just Tristan, my youngest remains as a homeschooler. This year he will be going to co-op for some of his classes, mostly electives, as always. He will have a good line up of at home classes too.

Here are his courses for 2017-2018

Math-Personal Finance by Dave Ramsey

Science- Forensic science  lab class at co-op, Teaching Company videos as well as some reading at home.

English- One Year Adventure Novel Module 2- Other Worlds science fiction based writing

Literature- British Literature

Art- Art History at home, various handicrafts as well as Crotchet class at co-op.

History- British History- well, it is his second culture with me being American and his dad being British!

Elective/Arts- Drama Class at co-op.

Geography- revamping a class that I have previously taught at co-op for home use. Mostly video based with Trail Guide to World History guide and workbook.

Just a few first week back photos.

Back to co-op for another year.

Science work at home with furry helpers!

Trying out some skills learned in crochet class, yet again he has furry helpers!

VBS, Playdates, Kittens and Chicks oh my!

Tristan and Hayley volunteered at VBS, vacation bible school again this summer.  This year they were both helping in the craft department, along with one of their friends, Jon. I think they had a great time and did a lot of good helping younger children. I didn't get many photos at all since i was helping with the 5th and 6th grade class as a volunteer myself but here are a couple picture I got.

As the busy VBS week was starting we had silkie chicks hatching and if that wasn't crazy enough we also found out that the kittens we would be adopting were going to need to come home to us at the end of the week, at only 5 1/2 weeks old! I just remember my head spinning trying to keep up with it all that week!

The baby chicks arrived between July 31 and August 2. The first few days of  the busy VBS week!

The the kittens arrived on the 4th!

As if the week wasn't busy enough we had friends over after VBS one day for a lake day. Yes I called it a playdate. The kids had fun swimming, kayaking and playing in the sand with their good friends the P family. The friends buried Tristan in the sand! My young adult children should humor me this as they read. Maybe they will be reading this 5 years from now all grown up and in their own lives. When you were teens and young adults and not quite out of the nest you were still my babies, thus it was a playdate :-). 

It was a crazy but good week!

A Day At The Art Museum

We decided to visit the Currier Museum of Art today. Colin chose not to go but the other three were up for it. We hadn't been there in awhile and there was a special event on with activities, music and food trucks. We had a nice few hours touring the museum, saw some lovely and some very unusual art. Listened to music a bit and wandered through the outdoor stalls. We did not buy dinner from a food truck though, the lines were very, very long and over an hour wait was predicted.

A day at the seaside

We had a nice beach day. Since we didn't bring a lunch we started out in downtown Portsmouth looking for something suitable to eat. We had in mind a Subway sandwich shop the GPS insisted was there but we could not find. We parked up and found something better. The Portsmouth health Food Store had a little cafe in the back and we were able to order vegan lunches to go. 

We brought our lunches to "the rocky place" as I call Odiorne Park. After eating our lunch and a little exploring on the rocks Hayley mentioned that she would like to visit the Seaside Science Center since we haven't been there in a few years. When we bought our tickets there we were directed to a walking history tour that was just starting. We spent about an hour on the tour which was outdoors and around the general area and learned some things about the history of NH and Maine seacoast area, the nearby islands, some battles and a pirate story, oh yes and a murder. LOL

After the walking tour we explored the science center and enjoyed seeing the sea creatures there. The museum is still pretty small but it was a fun way to spend an hour or so. Hayley had a little silly fun with some of the children's exhibits.

The rest of the afternoon we explored the rocky coastline then ended up on the beach. Heading back to the car we spotted a lone turkey wandering around!