V for Viscosity

Although we made it from A-Z in our Alphabet in Simple Science, I decided that I'd add some here and there.

Science Notebook Page (Click the picture to print).

Background

I defined viscosity as how much a liquid resists flowing.  High viscosity liquids flow slowly and low viscosity liquids flow easily.  Usually thick things are high viscosity and thin things are low viscosity.

Making some Observations

To start off, I put some water in one cup and an equal amount of corn syrup in a second cup.  I only filled the cups about a fourth of the way full, so that Xander could tip, swirl and play with the cups to make observations of the liquids.  I asked him to describe what he was observing, then I asked which liquid had the higher viscosity and why.  Water and corn starch are VERY different, so it was easy for him to come to the right conclusions.

Then I got out an art try and put 1 teaspoon of various fluids around the tray.  We observed which ones spread out a lot, because they were able to flow easily (low viscosity) and which ones didn't spread out as much because the didn't flow well (high viscosity).

I had him choose which one he thought was the highest viscosity and the lowest viscosity.

Time to Test it Out

Then I had him test out his hypothesis.  We picked four of the liquids, including the one he thought was the highest viscosity and the one he thought was lowest viscosity.  We put a little blob of each at one end of the tray, then tipped the tray up to see which one made it to the other end first.  While we just measured qualitatively to see which made it first, you could time it to bring in more math.  However, if you're going to do that, maybe avoid the ketchup or mustard, they didn't flow very well at all.  The mustard did more and the ketchup kind of all slid as a blob.

Xander must have really been missing out science experiments.  Afterwards he asked what experiment we could do next!  I'd better get thinking!

DIY "Lego" Advent Calendar

As you may have been able to tell from the blog, Legos are a big deal in our house.  When I saw the Lego City Advent Calendar, I thought it would be great for Xander.  Until, I saw the price.  It seemed pretty expensive for only getting a few minifigs (Xander seems to play with the minifigs more than anything else).

I decided to see what I could do myself.  I started by ordering a set of 20 Lego compatible Minifigs.  I'd ordered these for party favors before and the kids seemed to love them, so for $5, I figured they'd be perfect for inside the advent calendar.  Since I still needed 4 more, I decided to splurge and get some Avengers Lego compatible Minifigs.  (Now these took a while to arrive, so maybe shop around and see which ones will make it before Christmas).  My babysitter once gave him a couple of these, so I knew that he couldn't tell the difference between these and real Legos.  The only problem we have had with them is one of them sometimes loses his hand when putting a gun or something in it.  Not that big of a deal and I'm sure these will be Xander's favorites out of the whole set.  I also like that they come with accessories.

I got some little paper envelopes from Michael's (with a coupon), as well as a cute little snowman box.  The envelopes came 24 to a package, so I'll have some left over for next year.

 I put one little minifig in each envelope, sealed them up and they're ready to go!

 The box was a little smaller than I probably should have gotten, but they all fit.  I'm excited for December 1st so that he can start opening them!  I'm sure they'll be a big hit and they cost me half as much for things I know he'll enjoy.

I'd love to hear your advent ideas, since I won't want to give him the same thing next year!

Apple Theme Week

Things finally calmed down enough for us to do a themed learning week again!  With the beautiful fall weather, we decided to start with apples.

Apple Fractions

We began by reading Apple Fractions.  Xander loved it so much he has read them several times.

For his snack, I cut his apple into 8th using an apple cutter.  Then I cut little pieces of paper with various fractions on them.  He would draw a fraction, and then show me the equivalent with apples.  For example, I had 1/8, 1/4, 1/2, 3/8. For a challenge I included 3/6 and we talked through how to figure it out.  Then, of course, he ate all the fractions.

Apple Stamping Artwork

I'm not the most artistic person in the world, so this was a fun adventure for us. First I had him paint the trunk and branches of a tree onto poster board.

We let it dry, and then we sliced an apple into two pieces.  We used a brush to put some paint on one half of the apple.  As you can see from his expression, this is very serious work.

Then we stamped it onto the page.

He was incredibly proud of his finished product.  We hung it in the entry way so that we can "fall-out" our house.

Sensory Bin

It had been a while since we had done a sensory bin (mostly because all of the sensory bin materials are still at my dad's house until I can get the basement of the new house done).  I used a popcorn base with little leaves, apples and pumpkins.  I threw in some cinnamon sticks for fun.

Here he is describing his potion.

Apple Worksheets

I found this great set of free apple worksheets from TPT.  They were a great skill level for him (alphabetizing, graphing, synonym/antonym sorting and a free write).  It felt good to get some of his "work" on the walls of the new house for the first time.

Books

Of course, no theme would be complete without some books.  Here are a couple of our apple books I picked out for the week.  Ana cultiva manzanas for some Spanish and Apples for Everyone for some info on apples themselves.

Follow Kaysha's board Fall on Pinterest.

"Hiring" My 4 Year Old

Why is Started

So Xander has been in a Lego phase for a while now (let's be honest, it'll probably be a 10+ year phase).  Anyway, it had gotten to the point where every time we went to the store, he wanted me to buy him some Legos.  Obviously, that wasn't happening.  I'd always tell him that we were choosing to spend our money on other things, like groceries, the house, bills, etc, but e struggled to understand why.  Therefore, in order to help him understand the value of money and really the concept of limited resources, I decided to start paying him.

I know a lot of people give their children chores, but I always felt things like setting the table, cleaning up after themselves, and occasional helping out are just part of contributing to the family.  I really did not want to pay him for these types of things, because I wanted to stress the value of working together as a family.  After some thought, I decided that I had always told him his job was to learn as much as he could.  He always called our should time his "work," so I decided that seemed like a logical place to start.

The Job

While we don't do as much "work" as we did during out Tot School time, there is still some work I'd like him to do frequently.  I decided he would get one sticker every day he did the following:

15 minutes of Splash Math or Matific

2 Go Math Worksheets 

1 All About Spelling lesson

If he does his work 3 times in one week his gets paid $2

If he does it 5 days in a week, he gets paid $4 on Saturday

As a bonus, if he does it all 7 days, he gets paid $5

Here's his calendar for this month.  As you can see, he has had some weeks where he has done great.  Other weeks he hasn't done all that much work.  Usually, the math on the iPad is easy, but since he doesn't like to write, he doesn't always want to do the worksheets.  I encourage him, but do not make him do it every day.  At the end of a week where he didn't earn his $4, we discussed how sometimes we don't feel like doing the things we have to do, but we then do not get the reward.  I compared it to me not wanting to work on the house, but since I wanted to move in, I had to do it anyway.  I never did it angrily, because it is a good learning experience.  He is the one who has to wait longer for what he wants.

The Goal

To help him focus, I let him pick out the Lego set he really wanted.  He decided on Gorilla Grodd Goes Bananas.  I made a sign for him to hang above his desk, to help with encouragement.  While the sign does say $50, we also had to have the discussion about taxes.  I really liked that he had a rather expensive set as his goal.  

Long Term Planning

When he was really close to his goal, he saw the Lego Double-Decker Couch for $15 at the store.  It was really tempting for him to buy it, since he already had enough money.  Since we didn't have his money with us, he couldn't buy it that day.  We got to talk about long term goals and how sometimes you have to forego something you want in the moment to help you work towards a bigger goal.  While he considered going back to get it, he decided he wanted the Gorilla Grodd set more.  I was very proud of him, because that is something that can be really hard, even as an adult.

The other thing I liked about the process, was that although he still asked to look at Legos every time we went to the store, he no longer asked for them, or other toys.

A Few Extras

In addition to his "job," Xander was able to earn a dollar or two here and there over the last few months by helping with other tasks.  For example, he helped me move a bunch of landscaping stones at the new house.  These jobs weren't very often and not at his request.

Success!

Ultimately, he ended up saving up enough to get the set.  I was so proud of him when we went up to the register and he was able to pay with his own money he'd worked really hard to earn and save.  He was pretty proud also!

Showing off his new Invisible Jet. 

Looking Forward

So has he completely learned to plan ahead and save, of course not.  However, I have enjoyed teaching him about prioritizing and working hard for what he wants.  He has already decided that the next goal is the Black Manta Deep Sea Strike, and his new goal sign is made and hung above his desk.