Eisenhower Observatory - Hopkins, MN

We recently visited the Eisenhower Observatory in Hopkins, MN with members of Mane' Percy Jackson book club.

Unfortunately for us, it was a cloudy night, and there wasn't much to see. Being in the dome and seeing the telescope was an experience unto itself, though, and we were inspired to look up the Observatory at the University of MN, which we hope to visit soon.

Lawrence Sauter Telescope

New Friends!

I'm very hopeful about the new homeschool group we visited Tuesday! Mane had a blast, and I really enjoyed hanging out with the other parents. There weren't any girls Mane's age, but there were a few older and a few younger, which is just fine with me and a whole lot more like real life.

Today Mane finished lesson 17 in math with plans to take the test tomorrow. Friday will be a math facts practice day. She has been reading words incidentally all over the place, but she *has* announced that the book we've been using is boring. I told her we need to stick with it, though, and I think we will to a certain extent, but I also plan to do a better job creating variety in her reading experience.

We also read a couple of light books yesterday about the solar system & stars. I wasn't too impressed with them. So, I won't list them here. The plan is to do some drawing tomorrow demonstrating the progression from neighborhood to city, state, country, continent, planet, Milky Way, and UNIVERSE!

We will also be visiting the MN Orchestra tomorrow for "Bach to the Future," and we were excited to learn that some of our new homeschooling friends will be there!

Whirlwind

Today we went to the James Sewell ballet performance with a bunch of other homeschoolers. What a fantastic performance! The dances were choreographed to keep the interest of kids & grown-ups alike...from Vivaldi's Winter to Chopin's piano concertos we were delighted and mesmerized.

After such a delightful morning, we came back down to the hum-drum - beginning math chapter 17 and completing reading lesson 51. Mane rounded it all out by doing a 100 piece jigsaw puzzle of the world. She's getting to know geography rather well.

Last week we spent a lot of time at playgrounds enjoying the autumn weather while it lasts. Sunday this week we saw the first snow. Yikes! Here comes winter. We did our usual Wednesday morning Bible Study, and we spent several hours on Friday socializing with friends.

Mane surprised me while we were in the car the other day. We talked about Rachel Carson's Silent Spring when we were studying Owl Moon a few weeks ago. I wasn't sure she really got it or would remember, but I figured it was an introduction to the naturalists and stewardship of the environment. So, the other day we were in the car, and she said, "Mama, remember how we read about that lady who wrote the book when all the birds were dying? If she wrote it about winter, she could have called it Silent Winter." Which means, of course, that she actually remembered Rachel Carson, the name of the book Silent Spring, AND why it was important. YEAH!