A Net in Time

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D is for DogSledding in Canada!

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You know… I was all set to talk about different Canadian river beginning with “D” and as I was browsing through books at Costco a kids Canada alphabet book had D is for DogSled…and that was WAY more interesting than talking about the Dubwant and Don Rivers!   LIKE WAY more interesting.

One of my dreams, oh… for such a very long time has been to go on a dogsled ride.   In fact, I had a dog when my lad was young who needed a job to do so I got her a harness so she could pull the lad around.  🙂   My goal was to help her become more accepting of the lad by giving her something she liked to do…work and feel useful!   (we didn’t succeed but at least had fun trying).   When the lad was I think 8 we went to an Archaelogy day and he got to go on a dogsled ride…man… I was jealous!!!  But they didn’t allow adults to go….ah well…

The world’s biggest Dog Sled race, as far as I know, is the 1000 mile race called  the Iditarod.  There is also the 1,000 mile Yukon Quest which runs between
Whitehorse, Yukon and Fairbanks, Alaska.   There is also the 211 mile long Hudson Bay Quest and the 200 mile Canadian Dog Sled Races which are among the biggest races just in Canada.

There are two main styles of dog sled hitches.   Fan hitch and gangline.  Gangline tends to be the more popular of the two for dog sled races.    They each have their own advantage.

 The fan hitch allows dogs to spread out their weight over a larger surface area, helpful on rough surfaces, treeless areas or on ice.   The Innuk often use this method to travel.

The gangline has the dogs held closer together which is excellent for running in forested areas or on narrow trails.  Numbers of dogs can vary in this type of hitch.

Travel by dog sled used to be one of the major forms of transportation in Canadian winters, particularly among the more northern peoples.    In fact, the International Federation of Sled Dog Sports states that
archaeological evidence shows dog sledding in Canada, North America, and
Siberia originated 4000 years ago.  (source)

Did you know the word mush came from a poorly understand early French Canadian word where the drivers of the dog team would say “Marche!” in encourage their teams to run well.  English explorers misunderstood the term and henceforth dog sled drivers were called Mushers.(source)

  A famous sled dog is Balto…who was the lead dog in a dog sled
relay of 1000 miles, in January 1925, when a deadly diphtheria epidemic
threatened the children of
Nome. Medicine to stop the outbreak was in Anchorage.  Balto’s team
covered the last 53 miles.  (source)  A statue of Balto can be found in Central Park, New York.

So there you have it, information about dog sledding and Canada.

Are you interested in linking up?   Great.

  • Follow the abc blogging format.  This week we are using the letter D.
  • Family Friendly posts only
  • Comment on the blogs of others, please.
  • Post a back link to this blog or this post.
  • Make sure you stop in to visit Amanda my lovely co-host.
  • #abcblogging for the hashtag.
A Net In Time Schooling

A Net In Time Schooling

Lab Report: Icebergs Melt At Different Rates in Salt and Fresh Water

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My son is learning to make a lab report, so I’m transcribing his report for him as I’m proud of the effort he put into this.  This came up as part of studies on Canada.

Hypothesis: Icebergs will melt faster in freshwater than in salt water.

Procedure: Get two bowls.   Make one bowl saltwater like the ocean 3.5% salt needed.   Have the other bowl be fresh water.  Let the bowls sit so they are same temperature.   Freeze two cups of water in two identical cups.   Take them out of the cups when they are completely frozen.  Use cold water to get them out of the cups.   Weigh them.   Put them in their bowls.  Then weigh them 30 minutes later, Then 15 minutes later.

 I noticed at 30 minutes that the fresh water one had melted the
most.   At 15 minutes I did it again and noticed the same thing.  

Observations: take the icebergs out of the water and weigh them.  They will be slippery and cold plus you don’t want the heat of your hands changing the results so wear gloves.   Put them back in the water as soon as you weigh them.

Conclusion: Because the fresh water one melted the most I proved my idea correct.  Fresh water will melt icebergs faster than the saltwater probably because of the salt in the water.

Other questions raised:

I noticed that both Filli and Killi were left with their heads frozen in the ice and wondered why their heads thawed out last.

C is for O Canada, a blogging through the alphabet post

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Welcome to week “C” of blogging through the alphabet.  I am so happy you are joining us today.

Today I am going to talk to you about our national anthem “O Canada”.   The C being the C from Canada or if you wish Chant National as it was originally known.  🙂

Did you know that O Canada was originally called “Chant national”?   Our anthem was written by Sir Adolphe-Basile Routhier, in Quebec City, with musical composter Calixa Lavallee.   Originally written in French, it was first performed on June 24, 1880.

It was sung widely in French but the English versions varied widely for quite a few years, partly due to the translation from French into English, until the version written in 1908 by Robert Stanley Weir became popular.  It is very similar to the verses we use today.

“O Canada” was approved as our national anthem on March 15, 1967, but the current version wasn’t officially approved until June 27, 1980 under the National Anthem Act.

Lyrics
O Canada! Our home and native land!
True patriot love in all thy sons command.
With glowing hearts we see thee rise,
The True North strong and free!
From far and wide, O Canada,
We stand on guard for thee.
God keep our land, glorious and free!
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee;
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
O Canada! Where pines and maples grow,
Great prairies spread and Lordly rivers flow!
How dear to us thy broad domain,
From East to Western sea!
The land of hope for all who toil,
The true North strong and free!
God keep our land, glorious and free.
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee!
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee!
O Canada! Beneath thy shining skies,
May Stalwart sons, and gentle maidens rise.
To keep thee steadfast thro’ the years,
From East to Western sea.
Our own beloved native land,
Our true North strong and free!
God keep our land, glorious and free.
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee!
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee!
Ruler supreme, who hearest humble prayer,
Hold our Dominion, in thy loving care.
Help us to find, O God, in thee,
A lasting rich reward.
As waiting for the better day,
We ever stand on guard.
God keep our land, glorious and free.
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee!
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee!

I have to admit, most of the time we only sing the first verse, sometimes the second and very rarely the last two.  I don’t know why that is, but it is what it is eh?  🙂
But it’s our national song and we love it.  It’s easy to sing, rolls easily off the tongue, and inspires the lot of us to rise to our feet.  I’m assuming your national anthem helps you do that too!  🙂

So what do you think? Would you like to join us? You are very welcome.

Rules:
1. Linking time is Tuesday through Sunday.
2. Family friendly posts on a variety of topics. If you aren’t sure, ask one of us.
3. If it isn’t family friendly, it will be removed. 🙂
4. Linking back to us would be great. Grabbing the button below might be the easiest way or you could link to this post.
5. If you need a hashtag, you can use #abcblogging
6. Visiting and commenting on others is always a great social thing to do. Let’s other people know you are reading them, and encourages them to read and hopefully share your great posts.
7. HAVE FUN. That’s the point you know? Have fun and share what’s on your mind.

 

A Net In Time Schooling
A Net In Time Schooling
 
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Reluctant Artist?? What do you do?

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It’s week five of the Virtual Curriculum Fair.   This week.. it’s all about art and beauty.  See in artistic forms of music, art, dance and whatever form that takes in your household.  
The VCF is hosted by Susan. 

Week One: A Time to be Encouraged.
Week Two: Language Arts: Our Style.
Week Three: Practical math.
Week Four: Exploring the World Starting with Canada.

Today my topic is: What to do with the reluctant artist?

I would never say that I am an artist, but I have birthed a lad who has creativity tied into his bones.   I’ve worked to bring that creativity into our schooling…and this year and finding myself tying it in however I can.

BUT in all his creativity he’s a rather deliberate lad.  He hates, absolutely HATES to waste his time.   Despises it with a passion… which sometimes creates a reluctant artist.. What’s a teacher to do?

Talk
1. Talk to your student.   You are looking for what is causing the reluctance. 
 a). The Style – realism vs abstract, 3-D vs 2-D etc.
 b). The Medium – painting vs drawing, colouring vs pastels, oils vs acrylics etc
 c).  The Topic – A river vs. mountains, a building vs a landscape etc

Discover
2. Discover what about the reluctance causes concern.
 a). Lack of confidence – has never used this medium/style/topic before and has no idea about how to use, approach or even if likes the idea.
 b). Medium not correct for the type of project – topic of discussion sometimes the student is correct!  And then changes can be made.   Or change the topic or style and suddenly the medium isn’t so bad.
 c). Fear of wasting time – This one is hard to get past, but I have a method that is proving to at least raise more curiousity and help!
 d). Dislike of style and not seeing the point of it – often a matter of showing the student a wide variety in the style until something appeals.   I saw this recently in my class on cubism… one student could not get a handle on it until he thought about doing shades of black!  It worked and turned out well.  
 e). Wants a different topic – Let them choose the topic if possible, it’s their art.  You can set the parameters and then let them choose what they can fit within that.
 f). Page size – could be too small, large, wide, narrow etc.   This is so easy to change, some students do their best work in miniature and other need to express themselves in wide open spaces.   It’s relative.

Action
3. Take Action.  
  a). Remember that beauty is in the eye of the beholder
  b). Learning new things is sometimes difficult.
  c). Sometimes helping someone with a new form of art takes away the pressure of wasting one’s time if it doesn’t work out.

Let me expand on the latter idea.
My son and I were going to create an abstract mountain art work but okay… it was MY idea to do an abstract mountain art work and my son stopped dead in his tracks.  All he could see was the potential of failure.

So after talking with him through all the different steps, it’s still all he could see was “it’s not going to turn out and I’ll have wasted all my time.”.

We decided that he could do his own thing (he wanted very much to do a pencil sketch with shading) and that I could do the abstract art.  We work side by side so he can see me work and I can see him.  It’s a great time to chat, provide encouragement and ask questions.  

So I sit beside him and I modge-podgy tissue paper to my page and I talk about how I am not sure if this colour goes there, or what do you think if I do this for the mountains, do you think making sticky-up flowers will work?  He starts off very hesitant at first, so I show him how to make flowers that can stick up off the page and how if I crinkle the tissue paper I give it more texture, and he watches and thinks.. and the next time I come back and talk he tears off a piece and says, “I think this colour would work there mom”.   

And after some time we get this:

It’s not done yet, the lad and I are currently discussing if I should cut out a picture of a canoe for the lake or do abstract drops of colour.   We’ve talked about the pros and cons off adding birds, or how to add texture to a tree trunk and how to make clouds seem more real.  And through it all we look at pictures of the Canadian Rockies and see what they are like and the animals that live on them and what not.  We learn, we talk and we complete “what might be a waste of time”.    Over time you see, tissue paper art, of an abstract nature is not as weird or unknown and just maybe someday a lad might take a chance on doing something different with his art that’s a bit out of his way of thinking… and that’s a good thing.  For now.. he’s helping, he’s talking art and helping me see what works and what doesn’t.   The fluffy clouds…. I started…he finished.  The tree trunk I did.. but he made the branches.  We discussed how to give the tree trunk texture and depth…our first method didn’t work, so we tried another.

Is it great, out of this world art?   I don’t know, and it doesn’t matter.  What matters is this… it’s fun, and we’re both learning a ton!  🙂

If you need inspiration to do art with your students, check out my art series that you can find here and here. 

Now I invite you to visit my fellow homeschool bloggers who are talking about seeking beauty in their homeschools:

Links will all be live by Monday at 12 noon EST.

B is for Beavers!

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Welcome to blogging through the alphabet. Amanda and I are having a hoot with this series. Join us won’t you?  Today we are at letter B.

I have to admit, beavers wasn’t my idea, it was completely my son’s.

He is all into Canada this year and beavers are an animal we just finished learning about.

I thought I’d start off with a simple primer on beavers, it certainly doesn’t tell you everything, but it’s a good intro anyways.

We learned some interesting facts about beavers
  1. The sound of running water makes them build a dam.  This is why, if a culvert is running water and a beaver is anywhere nearby, they will keep building a dam as often as you tear it down.
  2. They do not use their tails to carry mud.   They carry stones and mud in their very capable front paws.
  3. Their tails are used as an early warning device for family members and other animals that live near the pond.  They sometimes slap the water for fun, and their tails are a fat resevoir to help them over the winter.
  4. Their latin name is Castor Canadensis
  5. They are North Americas largest rodent, weighing 40-60 lbs, and are clumsy on land, preferring to stay close to water for quick getaways. 
  6. They compensate for their poor eyesight with an excellent sense of smell and hearing.
  7. Beavers do not hibernate, in fact they build stash piles of wood under the water to hold them over the winter. 
  8. They have a double layered coat, which is part of the reason they were hunted so extensively when Canada was forming as a nation.  Beaver skin hats and coats were guaranteed to keep the wearer warm. 
  9. Vegetarians, with webbed feet that are strong swimmers.  Warm coats, large animals, beavers are an important part of Canada.
  10. Beavers are a symbol of Canada.   The fur-trade was an important part of colonial North America bringing in people from all over to exploit this natural resource.  It brought in money for the developing colonies, which fed a range of other businesses, all helping with the growth of our nation.    They are seen as a hard-working animal and as such are placed on our nickel. 
Feel free to link up your family friendly posts using the letter B this week.   

A Net In Time Schooling
A Net In Time Schooling

Rules:  

1. Linking time is Tuesday through Saturday.   
2. Family friendly posts on a variety of topics.  If you aren’t sure, ask one of us.
3. If it isn’t family friendly, it will be removed. 🙂
4. Linking back to us would be great.   Grabbing the button above might be the easiest way or you could link to this post.
5. If you need a hashtag, you might want to use #abcblogging
6. Visiting and commenting on others is always a great social thing to do.  Let’s other people know you are reading them, and encourages them to read and hopefully share your great posts.
7. HAVE FUN.   That’s the point you know?   Have fun and share what’s on your mind.

A Week of Change

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So this has been a week of change.

  1. January 14, 2017 was the official closing of our church.  Hubby is currently jobless, so we are working on living on severance as he looks for new work.  
  2. Toilets needed to be repaired thus necessitating a change in schooling on two days. 

But we still got school and life lived eh?

Monday:
The lad again worked like mad to get all his schooling done before heading out to London and Gramma’s for the afternoon.   He’s currently working on building a pikachu for his dad.  It’s proving to be a bit tougher than the other one that he made so no pictures available yet.

I had a physical and I’m in good shape apparently (other than the obvious weight loss needed)

Tuesday
oh.. what did we do then?   (usually I write these up as the week passes)…. OH!  right we made a human skeleton!  🙂   We are using God’s design to study the human body and currently are learning about bones.   We also did our other schooling.

We had a lot of fun building this skeleton and reading through the bone section of the booklet.  Currently the skeleton is buried in with snake…

Wednesday:
We would normally go to the foodbank but we had a “closing interview” that we needed to be home for so… we stayed home and got some schooling done.  We did math differently today.   Studied probabilities with the game of Sudoku.   Got other schooling done as well.   The lad was so good, doing some art on his own while we finished up the interview.

Thursday
Had an unexpected trip to London, decided to take along all my young stock and sell them to the pet store. Variable weather can play havoc with rabbits, so figured it was better to get them into a brick and mortar building.   Hubby needed to pick up some wax rings in order to fix the toilets.   Plans were made to fix the toilets on Friday.

Friday
Big job today: Fixing the toilets. They needed my help to move them in and out of the house   We still need to fix the downstairs toilet but that’s not a terribly pressing issue so we’ll attack that issue next week.  BUT my lad really helped his dad well, enough to say “I don’t want to be a plumber mom”, but that still leaves a variety of the trades open.  One of my goals is that he will pick up a trade as that will help him throughout his adult life.   Still in consideration is: carpentry, electrician (which currently he thinks would be neat), construction, painter etc… actually a whole lot of ideas are open to him yet, but plumber…not so much.  🙂

 We also made an automaton which worked!   It was rather cool.   Had plans to do art but that didn’t work out timewise.   But the automaton worked!!!

Saturday:
Big day… grading for orange belt in karate!

Here he is showing he knows his katas.  Sorry for blurriness at the end camera went wonky.


As you can see, success!  Not that there was any doubt, as no grading if Sensei doesn’t think you can do it.  🙂

Reviews:

Fatal Frost.
The Kindness Club.
Art Series: Zentangle – anything is possible one stroke at a time

Homeschooling and more:

STEM: Popcorn Robot
Question of the Day: How Do They Make Pudding Cups?
Field Trip: Bird Kingdom
A is for Sidney Altman
Practical Math
Recipe: Spaghetti Casserole 

Faith:

God’s Chooses to Weaken Egypt
Egypt: Alas the day
Discipline, Protection, Promise
And They Shall Know…
Refine: seeing God as Lord more clearly
Hymn Study: Praise Ye the Lord, The Almighty

 Linking up with the following folks

http://www.rockyourhomeschool.net/family-friday-9/ 
http://kympossibleblog.blogspot.ca/2017/01/homeschool-highlights-quick-update.html 

A is for Sidney Altman

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Welcome welcome one and all.. to the first letter of the alphabet.

The letter A.  You’ll join Amanda and I won’t you?
 

I am so looking forward to seeing what others have to say.   It’ll be fun eh?

For my part, I am intending to be talking about all things Canadiana as we go through the alphabet.   Some will be obvious.. Like the provinces in our fine land, and others I am hoping, will be a bit more obscure.   All in all I hope that we all can learn more about my lovely land of opportunity….. CANADA!   🙂

Today we start with Sidney Altman, a scientist who received the Nobel Prize in 1989 for his work in Chemistry.

Born in Montreal, Quebec in 1939 the son of working class immigrant parents.   His dad owned a grocery store and his mom worked in a textile mill.   Learning from his parents the value of hard work and determination, which served him well in the long run.   As a youth he read anything he could get his hands on.  Reading a book Explaining The Atom by Selig Hecht got him hooked on science.

Educated at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in physics, he later changed his major to biophysics.  He studied chemical compounds called acridines, focuses on how they affected the replication of viruses that infect bacteria.

He had many false starts and job changes over the years, eventually finding himself working in England, which is where he started on the path leading to the Nobel Prize.    His work led him back to the United States.   Working with RNA (Ribonucleic acid)  he, over a period of 20 years, discovers catalytic RNA, thus earning the Nobel Prize.

If you want to know more about this work


 
Mr. Altman remains a Canadian Citizen, though he is dual citizen with the USA.  His work with RNA continues. 
Sidney Altman, Canadian Citizen, winner of the Nobel Prize, Holder of the Letter A for this week of Blogging through the Alphabet. 

 

Feel free to link up your family friendly posts using the letter A this week. 
A Net In Time Schooling
A Net In Time Schooling