Money, money, money

Remember when you danced the night away to ABBA? Perhaps you drew a tear or two when you heard "I crossed the sea.." or "Chiquitita".  C'mon guys, even you.

Money is is normally a difficult topic - but what learning can take place!  Math, budgeting, financial concepts like interest.

Paige celebrated her 12th birthday recently.  Her passion for art was exceeding her bday budget so we came up with a way that she could buy it now and work it off with her chores and allowance.

The payment plan

Here is a copy of her payment plan.  We can turn this into a spreadsheet and look at various repayment schedules, even include interest.  Of course, we won't be as mean as our credit card companies..

For Ellie, we purchased a neat tool called "Ekomini".  This nifty gadget takes the place of a piggy bank but it counts and remembers the coins your child plops into the slot.  The website is called Ekominiville and features lots of activities supporting saving and financial concepts, all presented in a way that our little millineals can stay engaged.

Here are some screen shots:

We also recorded a neat series called Biz Kids which is a public TV show that teaches them about money and business

The history of Transportation - and the Electric car

This attraction can be a source of several school lessons and just a plain old fun day out.  For long trips we stay in a family suite at Red Deer then make an early day of the trip.

Steam engines like this drove the industrial revolution led by Great Britain

Did you know that electric cars were quite popular as an option at the turn of the 20th century?  The museum has a nice collection of exhibits going back to the roots of  private tranportation.  Here is a wonderful steam engine (it really moves).

There are also planes in a separate exhibit.  You can sit with your little explorer and use the controls in a real helicopter - nicely fastened to the floor, of course.

Blurb about the steam engine 

Comparison of engine options - electric, gas or diesel

There are actual examples of the different kinds of engines.

This was Ellie's favourite.

Paige showed a real interest in the solar car.

This is a good opportunity to talk about alternative energy and environmental issues that revolve around fuel choices.

If you have a kid who can handle it here is a great documentary about fuel.

A "Canadian" car?

Ellie scores with Reader Rabbit

This educational title was quite the success story of the day.  Reader Rabbit takes your child on an adventure with a lion in a castle while teaching math, reading and other skills.  Ellie gobbles this up with much enthusiasm.

The software is a bit hard to find - eBay to the rescue.  While fairly inexpensive it uses a Windows 95 bubble within which to run.  This takes a little bit of setup in Windows XP, virtually impossible in Windows 7 or Vista.  We keep an older laptop around for some of our favorite older software titles.  You may also consider a dual boot scenario.

Tints, Shades and the Colour Wheel

Here is a continuation of Paige's progress with her Art classes.  Terri Austin Beech believes in techniques that allow the brain to fill in the blanks of her art so that the observer becomes entwined with the work.

She covers the basics of composition and colour while allowing the students to experiment with techniques in water colour -  it's a good lesson in patience since the actual blends do not reveal themselves until the pieces are dry.

Here are some samples of work Paige has done:

Paige and the Bean Stalk

The sprouting beanstalk - by Paige
(click the picture to see animation)

OK, admit it. There was a time in your life when you actually believed in giants who lived in the sky and the city in the clouds.  And what's wrong with trading your cow for some magic beans?? As a child my conclusions about the sky and space were not too far off - I figured that you could get to the moon with a long enough ladder.  Ah well, great accomplishments must begin somewhere.  Here is a link to a great movie about a boy who dreamed of outer space, built rockets and made it to NASA.

Oh yes, back to the bean stalks.  This project involves the following objectives:

• Grow a plant from a red bean
• Learn about the parts of a growing plant
• Learn about what a plant needs - air, water, sunlight and...

Both Paige and Ellie had a try at growing the plant.  At first Ellie's plant was "winning" and Paige's were all but shrivelled up. Then Paige put some attention into looking after her remaining bean and raised a successful sprout.

Have a look at the album featuring pictures they took while growing the plant.
[Google account needed]

Paige also submits her drawings here showing the parts of the plant at various stages of growth.
[Google account needed]


Learning Objectives:

• Science - plant nutrition and growth
• Link to a great doumentary on the food industry