Wednesday 29 February 2012

Easter must be on its way!!

Today has been hugely successful. After a morning spent doing some maths and literacy for a couple of hours, George 1st suggested decorating some goose eggs. I told him we'd have to blow them first. We had a lot of fun blowing the eggs, One of them even exploded up MamaSmu's nose!!


The yolk definitely proved tricky!



The boys then decorated their eggs to make 3 Humpty Dumptys

Science Monday

On Monday this week we concentrated on science. George 1st and George 2nd were both given experiments to do.

George 1st's experiment was how to make a paperclip float. The following description is in his own words.

"First of all, the paperclip sunk. But then we tried putting a piece of tissue underneath the paperclip and the paperclip floated once the paper had sunk. This happens because of water surface tension. It is how water boatmen skim across the top of the water. I tried sprinkling baby powder on the water. I didn't notice a difference. When I put washing up liquid in, the paperclip sunk because it was attracting the paperclip to itself. I also tried different liquids. The bleach was thicker than the water and the paperclip floated. I also tried oil. The paper soaked up all the oil but stayed on the surface."

George 2nd's experiment involved putting cut flowers in water with food colouring.

Three bottles of flowers



To one we added green food colouring, to the other black. When we checked today, the one in green has started to develop green stripes.


After this, George 1st decided to make a circuit to light a bulb. He chose wires, batteries and a bulb. He also used selotape and a crocodile clip as a conductor.





After a hard day, this is how George 3rd ended up at dinner time.



Sunday 26 February 2012

John Williams

So today after dinner, DadaSmu decided to share some John Williams music with the boys. He played them Harry Potter, Jurassic Park, Star Wars, Super Man and Jaws. They listened closely to the music and we talked about what it sounds like. Here are some of their obsevations:

Harry Potter is magical. It sounds twinkly like the stars on Dumbledore's cloak. It also sonds exciting, like you just know the film is going to be brilliant.

Star Wars is a march, just like the storm troopers marching.

Jaws was interesting. They had never heard the music before but they knew it was "something bad" and they knew it was coming closer because the music got louder and faster. When we told them it was about sharks, the fear set in. George 2nd was nervous, George 3rd cried and became very frightened!

We decided that John Williams was a superb composer who managed to create an atmosphere even without the visual aid of the movie itself.

Friday 24 February 2012

"Why is there a panda in the fridge?"

So, today has been a good day in the Smu residence. We've been happy, loving and playful all day. We even started the day with scripture study, prayers and a good amount of learning about skeletons. I thought it would be a good day to start our happy blog!

Computers terrify me. I'm not old, they just don't really interest me (other than to perform the tasks I want them to) and I don't understand them. I'm pretty sure they don't understand me either - they always seem to stop working as I'm about to start! I wasn't sure that a blog would be something that I would be able to do, but George 1st wants to have one to record the things he does so I suggested setting up a family one. The shameful thing, is that he's 7 and is a whole heap more confident than me.

So, like I say, the day started off well. We learned about skeletons. George 2nd who is 5 and wants to be a doctor one day, is absolutely fascinated by all things bodyand loved playing the games on the BBC Interactive Page. George 1st started to make simple circuits using whatever he could find lying around the house. I was extremely impressed by his skill and knowledge. I just left him to it. We've done the theory, this was just the practical fun.

This afternoon we went to the park with some friends who had finished school for the day. The boys loved playing and clearly got them in the mood for being outdoors as when we got home they started banging nails into some old bits of wood. Apparently it's the start of a tree house. DadaSmu came home at this point and got the drill out. Not sure who was more excited, him or them!

Meanwhile, George 3rd (2yrs old) had painted his hands black, built a traintrack in the living room and put a plastic panda in the fridge!!