Cowculus

On Friday, we officially kicked off our school year with a huge field trip. And I mean huge in every way. We drove to Indiana with my parents (Hi, Grammy and Grampy!) and went to Fair Oaks Farm. Fair Oaks is one of the largest dairy farms in the US. I am still trying to process the scale of the things we saw. Here are some of the highlights:

• We saw two calves being born. Hands down, this was the coolest part of the day. After the first birth (which was a little difficult), it was wonderful to go back in the barn and see both Mom and baby doing well. I would have put that little boy (he only weighed 60#) in the back of my van and brought him home if they had let me.
• We toured the facility in a climate controlled, bio-secure, luxury bus.
• We saw the "Dairy-go-round" carousel where they milk the cows 3 times a day.
• We learned how milk, cheese, and ice cream are made--and sampled some of each.
• We learned how the farm takes the manure and turns it into electricity to power their facilities. Yes, way. (or maybe I should say Whey.)

A little dairy farm math, or Cowculating, if you'll indulge me:

• FOF has 30,000 cows. 3,000 each on ten separate farms.
• They own 25,000 acres of land. 20% of that land is preserved in forests, streams and unfarmed buffer zones to support wildlife and prevent erosion.
• They have 80 some births a day. Boys are sold, girls stay (and are kept within the same herd for their entire life).
• Each milking cow produces up to 10 gallons of milk per day. I forget the exact numbers, but that's around 20,000 gallons every day (not all of them are producing milk all the time).
• Each cow eats up to 100 pounds of food and drinks up to 30 gallons of water per day.
• Each cow also produces (and you knew this was coming) up to 150 pounds of waste per day. About 60% of that is liquid. Which means, with 30,000 cows, the farm processes 1.6 million pounds of manure every day. I promise, I will never complain about cat boxes again. This was also where I stopped wanting to bring that little cow home with me.

There is a lot more, but at this point my brain starts hurting. If you are ever near Fair Oaks, I would highly recommend a visit. But maybe not with really little kids (below 1st grade). The birthings are...well, births. Exhilarating, but messy. Use your discretion. The place is very kid friendly, but you should know that you never come in direct contact with any of the animals. That is for the cows' protection (and yours), but if you're expecting a petting zoo, it could be a little disappointing (we knew, so it was okay). The information comes at you pretty fast, and much of it would be over the little ones heads. Oh, and if you have kids with sensory issues, you might want to skip the 4D mooovie (sorry).

How about some pics? I'll warn you...it was not our best photography day. It's hard to take pictures through glass, and of perpetually moving children.

Hamster Dam

I have already shared some of the 119 reasons why we home school with you. Today, we added a new reason.

The girls started learning about the Ottoman Empire this week and today was about Mehmen the conqueror and how he changed Constantinople to Istanbul. So, of course I had to find the song by They Might Be Giants on the internet and play it for them.

Only M was singing "Hamster Dam" instead of New Amsterdam and J laughed so hard so she got the hiccups. And now, if I dream tonight, I'm sure it will be of a dam breaking and a rushing river of hamsters coming to flood New York.

That never would have happened in Ms Culpeppar's history class.

And if my children were in a classroom somewhere, I would have missed that. So, if I ever get discouraged and start threatening to put them in school, all someone needs to say is "Hamster Dam". I'm sure I'll snap out of it.

119 Reasons: #32, 33

Columbus Day is not usually one of the holidays that we take off from school. That would fall under Reason #36 of Reasons for and Benefits of Homeschoooling, which may or may not appear in this blog at a later time. However, as everyone has what my Dad would call "the creeping crud", there will be no school today. Hooray!

• Reason #32: When taking a Sick Day, the Teacher is entitled to as the same wages as any other day. He/She may also reserve the right to hire as a substitute one said Ms. Frizzle of the Magic School Bus, or any other substitute deemed appropriate in His/Her place; at no extra cost to Him/Herself or the educational institution in reference. Any work or learning that was to have taken place on said Sick Day may be made up at any time between said Sick Day and Graduation of child/children involved, unless deemed otherwise superfluous and unnecessary by the educational institution. For information on Sick Days taken by Students, please see Reason #33.
• Reason #33: Student Sick days may be taken one of two ways. A Sick Day requiring the complete cancellation of School must be made up at a later date at some point before Graduation unless deemed superfluous and otherwise unnecessary by the educational institution. Or, a Sick Day requiring only the abbreviation of School may be taken without the necessity of a make up day.

At the risk of sounding like a Gunkie, I must confess that I am glad. I am not glad that my children are ill and miserable, but rather thankful for a legitimate excuse to cancel everything and just stay home. Every corner of my house needs attention. Not to mention the fact that my lovely family has generously shared the creeping crud with me. There ought to be a law against such atrocities.

Private Memories

My brother Eric, who could be a professional photographer with little trouble, has the philosophy that if you spend all of your time behind a camera or video lens there is a great deal that you can miss.
This plays out in our household on a regular basis. An interesting bird or animal shows up in our yard and I can choose to run for the camera or just sit and enjoy. If I go for the camera then I run the risk of the creature disappearing before I've had a chance to get a good look at it. On the other hand, if it stays then I might get a photo as a permanent memento. What a dilemma! It certainly allows me to see the advantages of Charlotte Mason's method of Nature Study~observe and draw it in your journal as soon as you can.

As the person with the super senses in our house (everyone knows that Moms hear, see and smell all), I am privy to conversations and happenings when my children are unaware that I am paying attention. This gives me the opportunity to provide guidance and correction where necessary. Perhaps what is more fun is that it also allows me to build up my own storehouse of memories that no camera could duplicate.

Yesterday, for instance, after we had finished with our history lesson on the Emperor Justinian and the Byzantine Empire, the girls were having a conversation about why they were glad that Justinian and Theodora had rebuilt the Hagia Sophia after the rebellion had been overthrown. Not only did the discussion tell me that they remembered the lesson well enough not to even need the test (which they got anyway), but it made me smile inside to hear my 7yo throw around terms like Hagia Sophia with such dispatch and talk about how she felt about an event that happened 1500 years ago.
This morning J came into my room holding a 9 inch blue ball under her chin and asked me if I thought she looked like a Frigate bird. Yes, I laughed. And then proceeded to hug her until she pretended she was choking. No photograph could possibly convey the context of that experience.

I'm sure that every mother has in her mind and heart page after page of such memories for which there can be no picture to do it justice.
I pray that nothing every happens to that scrapbook.

119 Reasons: #1, 26, 51

A very long time ago, I began compiling a list of reasons why we chose to homeschool our children. Just for fun, I thought I'd occasionally share a few of them here, in no particular order. While there are truly 119 "Reasons for and Benefits of Homeschooling" on my list, it seems unlikely that I will ever share all of them here.
I confess that Reason #51 got tweaked a little bit today after an incident at the school where my cousin's children attend.

• Reason #1: Sufficient evidence and sound reasoning having been presented, it is our belief that the desired will of God includes the private and personal education of JLC and MRC, hereby referred to as the Students, in a manner and environment which will best suit their individual needs. Therefore, the Parent Company has created an organization, hereby referred to as The Organization, to oversee the administration of said education. It is hereby noted that although there are sufficient other reasons (see #2-119) for said education, the Will of God is the highest reason and therefore must be followed regardless of the opinions and desires of any Faculty, Staff, Students or Others not directly involved in this education, Organization, or Parent Company.
• Reason #26: Inasmuch as the desired learning is accomplished and maintained by the Student, the Organization places no constraints as to the location that the learning takes place. The Organization sees no need in restricting education to the classroom, but deems the couch, the porch, and the tree house of equal quality and value so long as the location does not hinder or become a distraction to the learning process. Conversely, if the classroom itself becomes a hindrance, then it must be discarded in favor of a more suitable location.
• Reason #51: Inasmuch as the Organization has observed that the very safety of their persons, not to mention the concentration and attentiveness of the students is severely affected by such occurrences of the implementation of “Soft Lockdown” in the Public Schools, it is hereby deemed perilous and an unacceptable venue for learning. Wherein the singular incidence of lockdown in this Facility was due to the entrance of a wasp, the risk of bodily harm seems significantly less.

Disclaimer: It is hoped that the fact that the above mentioned Teacher, Principal, Parent Company and Organization are all one and the same will be looked upon as a convergence and reaffirmation of goals rather than a conflict of interest.

Periodic Asundries

Everything is finally coming together for our "official" study of the Periodic Table of the Elements. The wall displays that we ordered from the Oriental Trading Company arrived. They were folded up really tight and came out smelling like new vinyl, but the wrinkles are starting to hang out. The pockets were a bit snug on some of the trading cards and some of them had to be trimmed ever so slightly in order to get them to fit. To answer your question, Yes, they are clear on both sides so that we can see the backs of the cards as well.

Now I just need to figure out where I'm going to hang it! It's huge!


When we were at The Museum of Science and Industry last week, we were able to finish the Glass Experience exhibit (see previous post). One of the most fantastic displays was of Chihuly's Macchia glass bowls. There was a movie that showed how they make them. Incredible is all I can say.


I'm not sure, but I'd guess that some of these bowls are worth more than my car!

Part of the exhibit perfectly fit our study of the elements. They had display tables that featured samples of quite a number of the elements used in glass manufacture.

And of course, the wall displays were a big help!

It makes it fun that we have discussed the table enough that the girls are starting to recognize it's appearance and significance. When we walked into this hallway, Megan got excited and practically shouted, "Look Mom! Elements!"
My only fear is that the girls will start asking me "What element is that made of Mom?" and I won't be able to find the answer.

One last note: we bought a small Periodic Table poster (placemat size) in the gift shop at the museum. It has pictures of almost all of the "real" elements, or pictures of the person who discovered them, plus info on the back about each element. I'm sure I paid more than necessary, it being from a gift shop and all, but the info says you can buy it in different sizes from periodictable.com. And you can buy samples of the elements at element-collection.com. Now don't you just want to go right out and buy a piece of Praseodymium?

Silica Serendipity

Our choice to study the periodic table of the elements in school this year was largely guided by our participation in the group exchange of LTCs on Atlas Quest (ATCs to the rest of you). Receiving 118 miniature works of incredible art gives you a very strong desire to display them. And if we are going to take up all the space to display that many trading cards, we might as well use them in our homeschool. Thus began a wonderful story. Here is how the rest of it goes:
The Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, which is only a mere 75 minute drive from us, is hosting an exhibit called The Glass Experience (sadly ending in 4 days). Purchasing a museum membership was already in the field trip plans for school this year and I wanted the girls to see the glass exhibit. Glass is made from silicon, right? What better way to start our exploration of the elements! So last Thursday we packed some snacks, the camera, the kids, and a couple of grandparents into the van and headed to Chicago. Part of the exhibit is called "You design it, we make it!". Anyone can draw a picture, and if they pick your picture they will make it out of glass during one of their demonstrations. To shorten the story, I'll tell you what you've already guessed: They picked J's picture! And not only did they pick it out of hundreds of pictures, but they ended up picking it at the demonstration that we were at!! She drew a blue cat on a green rug. This is a brief explanation of how the glass lampworking process goes:

To start the process, a "glob" (yes, that was the technical term they used) of molten glass on a metal rod is shaped using various tools. Some were made of fruit wood soaked in water for a softer effect and because they don't draw as much heat from the glass.

Different companies have different "recipes" for glass, but this glass is made from silica, soda ash, limestone, and lithium. Other elements are added to create the colors.

This is the body being shaped. The gaffer forms a narrow break off point (sorry, I don't remember that technical term) so that they can separate the sculpture from the metal rod when they are finished.

Glass is best worked around 1500-1800 degrees, so it went in and out the furnace (2100 degrees) many times.

Here Rae (sorry if it's not spelled right) works on the green rug the cat is sitting on.

Now the head and facial features are added.
The completed piece is placed in an annealling oven to cool slowly over night, at about 100 degree an hour, to make the glass stable.
What a priviledge it was to get to see J's cat being made by two very talented artists! The hot glass portion of the exhibit was by the Corning Museum of Glass in New York.
Here is her drawing and "Siam", her blue Siamese glass cat.
Ta-Da!

I do have pictures that relate more to the elements, but that is for another post.

Some people would call this coincidence, luck, or fortune. But as someone who believes in the absolute sovereignty of God, I see the hand of a gracious Heavenly Father who takes an interest in the smallest details of the lives of His children.

One of my favorite quotes comes from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

"Our highest assurance of the goodness of Providence rests in the
flowers. All other things-our powers, our desires, our food-are necessary
for our existence. But the rose is an extra. It's smell and it's
color are an embellishment of life, not a condition of it. It is only
goodness which gives extras, and so we have much to hope from the flowers."

Or glass cats.