Project 254: Fungi 2

This project ran from Monday 10th October to Sunday 16th October, 2023.

This was our second fungi project (see Project 156: Mushrooms and Fungi), but as everyone had enjoyed the previous project and there was a home education workshop on fungi at the local country park, we decided to visit the topic again. 

At the workshop we went on a mushroom hunt, did an experiment with yeast and syrup to see the gases that were given off, and learnt how a toadstool gets its spots with the help of a balloon and tissue paper:

We also did a second mushroom hunt later in the week:

We also we made a spore print at home:

And did an experiment to see how quickly preserved and unpreserved foods decay:

For the second week in a row we'd also found a highly appropriate game to accompany the project, although the only problem with Fungi is it's a two player game:

Next project: The U.S.A.

Project 253: Newton

This project ran from Monday October 3rd to October 9th 2022.

We first introduced the children to Isaac Newton during the project on light and space (see Project 155: Light and Space), and had always planned to return to the topic as his childhood home is nearby. 

The trip to Woolsthorpe Manor was the main activity of the week, exploring the house, the grounds and the infamous apple tree. 

As well as having a guided tour of the manor, there was also a science discovery centre with sections on light and colour, time and motion. 

We also bought and played the board game Newton, based on the age of the scientific revolution: doing work, traveling around Europe, and making scientific discoveries. It feels complex to start with, but you soon get the hang of it. 

We also did lots of reading, and a differentiated reading activity. 

Next project: Fungi. 

Project 252 Autumn and Harvest

This project ran from Monday 26th September to Sunday 2nd October.

As autumn approached it seemed a good time to do an autumn project, especially as it was a harvest family service at the church (see also Project 12: Autumn and Harvest). 

We picked and shucked sweetcorn:

We made some autumn bunting:

And did a host of Twinkl worksheets:

There was also the annual conker picking, but for some reason we failed to take any photos of that this year. 

Next project: Isaac Newton.

Project 251: Ancient Egypt 2

This project ran from Monday 19th to Sunday 25th September, and was prompted by a home educating friend's Egyptian themed birthday party. We had last looked at Ancient Egypt way back in Solomon's first year of home education (see Project 23: Ancient Egypt).

While we were lucky enough to find a pharaoh costume and pith helmet round the local charity shop, we bought Monica's Cleopatra's costume online, and then spent an inordinate amount of time making an appropriate (or possibly inappropriate!) wig out of wool and a shower cap. 

Unsurprisingly, Ancient Egypt is one of the topics that are well represented on Twinkl, so we used that as the main resource for the rest of the week. Among other activities they made canopic jars out of toilet rolls and air-dry clay:

They also designed their own death masks:

Next project: Autumn and Harvest

Project 250: Feathers

 This project ran from Monday 12th to Sunday 18th September.

The project was picked because we had a home education workshop on owls at Herrings Green Activity Farm, and as we had had a project on owls previously (see Project 194: Owls) we thought we would do something slightly different. 

At the farm they learnt about owls, saw some baby owls being fed, and got to handle some owls.

To keep more feather focused we also went on a feather hunt and made our own quills. 

We had just gotten the board game Wingspan, so it was also a good excuse to play a few games of that. 

Next project: Ancient Egypt

Project 249: Decorating

This project ran from Monday 5th September to Sunday 11th September.

This week was more of a hands-on project as Monica had been wanting for ages to have her room decorated, and there just never seemed to be the opportunity. 

Next project: Feathers

Project 248: The Phoenix and the Carpet

This project ran from Monday 29th August to Sunday 4th September. We chose a book project as we had visitors staying, and when it's a busy week it's always best to have a clearly defined piece of work to get through. 

The Phoenix and the Carpet is a sequel to E. Nesbit's Five Children and It which the children had read and enjoyed a couple of years earlier (see Project 117: Five Children and It). 

The children go on many adventures on a magic carpet with a wish granting phoenix, in which the wishes invariably go wrong. So the children had to write their own wish-that-goes-wrong stories. Sam wished he was at the beach, where he was attacked by a flock of angry birds. Monica wishes for them to be living on the border of Belgium and the Netherlands, but they get into difficulties for not knowing the language. Solomon included a couple of wishes, including going to a boardgame cafe which was robbed and the beach where someone tried to wander off with the magic carpet. 

Finally they had to produce their own pictures of the phoenix (from top to bottom: Sam's, Sol's, and Monica's).

Next Project: Decorating.