Sailing Into a New School Year

Well, it seems I've done it again. I've left a huge gap in my posting and feel the need to 'catch up' again. Since I don't really have the time to totally catch up on the summer (and late spring) all at once, I think I'll start with what's happening now and fill in the blanks as I have time.
Last week we started another school year at Lighthouse Christian Homeschool. It's a bit of a slow start this year because some of our resources are slow to arrive. We've got some 'free time' gaps in our schedule until the new books arrive, which the kids think is great!
Our school kickoff was a day of sailing on Labour Day. It was a nice sunny day which made for a great sail. We went with Grandpa and Auntie Karen and Uncle Macky. Here's some photos:

Learning with Grandma

Rebecca and Caleb went for a walk with Grandma this afternoon. They were so excited about what they learned on their walk that it was THE topic of conversation at the supper table tonight. Lots of talk about Rhododendrons and Grape Hyacinth and Heather and Tulips. "Grandma sure knows a lot about flowers!"
What a blessing to walk with and learn from and spend time with Grandma.

Snowshoe Science

In Science right now, Joshua, Rebecca and Caleb are studying Extreme Environments. One fun activity that we did helped us to understand how Snowshoes help survival in the Extreme Arctic Environment.

First we had to create our 'snow'

Now we add the pennies

 

 We learned that we could put 2 pennies on the shaving cream snow before they sank.

Then it was time to try out the small 'snowshoe' (cardboard covered in foil)

We fit 8 pennies before it began to sink

Finally it was time for the big 'snowshoe'

We kept adding more and more pennies, until it finally began to sink with 15 pennies.

Joshua observed that the big snowshoe held more pennies

before sinking because the weight was spread out more.

The kids each made a graph to show their results. Here is Joshua's chart:

More Discovering Creation

Christine is continuing to learn all kinds of things about creation from her Discovering Creation with General Science book. Here are some of the things she's been learning about this past month.

A DNA model

 Start with a leaf from a plant

 Using rubbing alcohol to break down the protective coating on the leaf

 Using Iodine to test for starch in the leaf and in the potato



Casts of Green

Those of you who know our Joshua well, know that he has always walked on tip-toe. We have taken many steps to this point to help him walk with his feet flat on the ground, but progress has been minimal. We were referred to the team of doctors at Children's Hospital this past fall and the orthopedic doctor there recommended botox treatments to his calves. The neurologist had him go through many tests including bloodwork and MRI and her diagnosis was mild cerebral palsy. She agreed with the course of action that the orthopedic doctor had prescribed and so on March 15, Joshua went in to have this procedure done. He came out with two bright green casts on his legs (just in time for St.Patrick's Day!) and a happy doctor who said it went very well. He gets his casts off tomorrow and will then have Ankle-Foot Orthotics which he will wear for an undetermined length of time. He has done so well throughout this whole process and we are very proud of him.



"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." James 1:2-4

Rocketry Class

A few weeks ago Joshua had the opportunity to take a Rocketry Class. He was super excited to take this class with his best friend. They spent the first two days learning about rockets and building their own rockets. Then the Grand Finale was the third day, Launch Day.
Our first attempt at Launch Day ended up being called off because it started snowing sideways while the kids were getting everything set up. The launch day was postponed to Saturday which meant that we were able to attend as a family. It was really exciting to watch all the rockets being launched and the instructor brought and launched some larger and more complex rockets too.

 Joshua assembled and painted both of these rockets!

Launch Day

Ready to launch the little rocket

 5..4..3..2..1..Blast Off!

Time for the Instructor's Big Rocket

Now for Joshua's 2 Stage Rocket - If all goes well, the second stage will come down with a parachute.

Video Footage of the Launch (Note: It is very hard to track a moving rocket with a video camera!)

Floating down to the ground

A successful launch day!

Moving Towards Black Belt

Every 8-10 weeks we have a Taekwondo belt testing and over the past 2 1/4 years we've been slowly moving up the belt ranks towards Black Belt. Last week Christine, Joshua and Caleb tested for their Black Belt recommended, and this week we found out they all passed! This means, if all goes as planned, we may have some new Black Belts on our hands by sometime this summer! I also tested for my Red Belt decided level and passed. Rebecca sat this one out, so she is now the same rank as me. Here are some photos of the testing:

Jump Round Kicks

Forms

Self Defense

Posing for the Picture

Joshua Sparring (on the left side) (it sure is hard to zoom on action without bluriness)

Caleb Sparring (on the left side)

Waiting for their turn to do board breaking. Unfortunately I was holding boards for another student to break, so I wasn't able to get photos of the boys doing their board breaks, but they both got both of their breaks on the first try. Way to go boys!

Since Rebecca was spectating this testing, she used Christine's new camera to take some photos and video for Christine. Here Christine and Mommy are lining up and ready for Forms.

Christine doing her Form

Christine sparring

The whole group of us at the end of the Testing