How about a homeschool post? This week's theme has been The Five Senses. It was really nice focusing on one thing this week (not including math). We read a biography about Helen Keller, E read an easy reader out loud about the five senses, the boys drew and labeled the eye using our anatomy encyclopedia, and we had all sorts of impromptu sense discussions ("I smell the dog!"). We found the different taste areas on the tongue, learned about Braille, and IJ learned the difference between a primary resource and a secondary resource.
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| E is afraid of what she might smell |
We did an experiment on what I just discovered is called
the Stroop Effect. I've seen these brain teasers on facebook, but this was the first time I did it with my kids. We were really surprised when IJ and I really struggled, but S did not. We tested E too, because she can't read without sounding out words. We concluded that because IJ and I are strong readers, our brains have to work harder to see the color and not read the words. S is not a strong reader, so he had an easier time blocking out the printed word.
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| If the drink is green, it must be lime flavored. |
Today we did two experiments, one with detecting vinegar concentrations in water by smelling and one with sight's effect on taste. The experiments came from
this book that we got from the library. I though for sure IJ would catch on to the fact that all the different colored drinks were actually the same, especially since he is a snoop and probably read the entire book when I wasn't looking. But I fooled him!
Now they are playing a game they call "Hidey Ho," which is the Fraggle Rock version of Marco Polo. E is blind folded and has to find S ("Watch out for the stairs honey!"), using her sense of hearing. But I must go now and investigate what my senses are telling me about D getting into mischief!
