Photo of the Day

I wish we did this a bit more often but it's just one of those things that we forget about.  Writing output is still a struggle so there's lots of room for improvement.  But I'm sure that with time and practise he will get better and better.  Yesterday we used the picture below with the snake and the bird.  And let me just say that I have no idea where the photos originated.  We saw them on the Internet and used them to stir up some creative writing.  The second photo with the alligator was used today. 

We also practised thinking of 'other words'.  These are some that I already had.  It was a stretching task for him because it's just not naturally his thing but it did inspire me to work on this more often. 

And we tackled some yummy math.  Chocolate chip muffins.  Delicious!  A+

Hot Water Without Electricity

Creativity goes a long way. I'm sure Mckenzie will like this. )

Crystal Caves

Crystal caves in Mexico.  Photo from National Geographic.

I mean, for real?  This is insane!

This Wonderful Planet of Ours

 This week we're being pretty casual as we head towards Spring Break.  We've been continuing to work on Prime and Composite numbers as well as simple multiplication flash cards.  In socials we're continuing to look at latitude, longitude, prime meridian, time zones, etc...  Today we also took a quick look at some different types of maps.  For example, one that focus on climate, environment, land heights and rivers.  Pretty simple and basic stuff.  He buzzed right through it. 
This afternoon we watched some Planet Earth, specifically caves and deserts.  It is so interesting to see how vast and diverse this planet is.  I wish we could see it all first hand but for now, this will have to do.  Here are some pictures of what we watched. 

Limestone caves in Borneo full of bats, stalagmites and stalactite

 Letrukia crystal caves in New Mexico USA, with their amazing 6m long crystals in the chandelier ballroom

 And deserts of the world, Australia, Africa, Chile.  Did you know that 1 third of the earth is desert

 Seeing how intricately everything was created and designed is incredible.  How every tiny detail works together to keep the planet spinning - crazy!

Zentangle Art Project Complete

 It's fun to see how all those 'doodles' came together.  My favourite piece is the middle one on the left.  I think it's because of all the detail he put into it.  The picture doesn't show the true colour of the green paper.  It's actually brighter than shown.  Each piece measures 8.5 x 3.5 inches.  I think it looks great against the black background.  Great job Mckenzie!

XBOX Art

Beautiful Inside Look at Pollination and Insects

The World Around Us

 Mckenzie has been continuing to work on his globe for Social Studies.  Paper mache work takes a long time.  But now at least we're entering the stage where we can put some of the geography things we're learning about into the globe.

While he works on his globe he often listens to an audio book.  He recently completed the first Lord of the Rings book and now he's on to this one.

Here are his paint chip book marks that he has used as a visual reminder of the books he's read since September.  This includes a couple of audio books as well.  He feels really proud of himself that he's gone through so many books this year.

 In Science we're still working on Electricity but we're moving on from circuits and more onto the idea of resources and how we use and harness electricity for our day to day lives.  Below is a drawing of how electricity gets to our home.  Before doing this we read all about it and then he took a bike ride to look around at the neighbourhood and the power lines and power station nearby.

 We also took a closer look at how water is harnessed into electricity.