March 1, 2007

We woke up to snow again this morning and it snowed off and on all day. We could see more of the same over the next few days. Weird for March, but good since January was so dry.

We have been studying the 1600's in History this year. Most recently we have studied the 30-year War in Europe, the rise of the Manchu in China, Japan's "closed door policy", and this week we are learning about the Moghul Emperors of India. I find all of this very fascinating and have very little memory of learning these things when I was in school. History was never very interesting to me until I began teaching my kids and now it's my favorite subject (I'm also really enjoying Algebra with Zach, but that's a story for another post!). Gloria has been begging to do something with glitter and is under the impression that public school kids use glitter everyday, so when I saw a craft using glitter listed in our "extended activity list", I decided to go for it. The ruler of India during this time period was Shah Jahan (self-titled King of the World) and he was very wealthy and loved beautiful things. He had a Peacock Throne that was covered with emeralds, rubies, diamonds, and pearls. Zach and Gloria each designed their own Peacock throne this morning and had a great time while they were at it:



Although Zach and Gloria are studying the same things in history, they obviously are each learning at their own level. Zach studies more indepth on his own with supplemental literature but we read the main book, work on timelines and do related projects together. I think Gloria learns more from Zach than she does from me.

Zach's completed creation looks very much like the directions intend for it to look. (". . . It had a gold body, a tail made out of sapphire, and a huge ruby on its chest with an enormous pearl hanging from it.")

Gloria, on the other hand, would much rather make the design her own than follow the rules:

She was so thrilled that we were using glitter and "jewels" that she got a little carried away!! Later in the day she spent a little more time and created something a little closer to the description!!!

I guess I need to get out the glitter more often!!!


Tonight we had our last soccer game of this session and. . . . .

. . . WE WON!!!!!!!!!!!!

At half-time we were up by 1 point and having fun. . .


FINAL SCORE: 7 TO 5!!

I didn't get a picture, but Dale scored the final point!! Go Dale!!