The Old '57 Chevy

Well, I’ve had lots of adventures with that old ’57 Chevy sitting abandoned in the field behind the barn, but perhaps I could tell you about those later. For now, let me tell you about how I got the Chevy. I actually started with the Chevy, but I didn’t want it. So I started a huge chain of swapping that all ended with me getting a newer car and my Chevy back. The car is a really old model that they don’t make anymore, so if I sold it right now, I would get a lot of money, but I really like the white color, the old radio, and the bumper sticker from the ‘50’s. The car has lots of rust on it, but it’s a great attraction for people who like old things.

My Favorite Place

MS has had several more different types of paragraph assignments in his Grammar Ace workbook. Today was the first day we'd had to get them edited and posted, hence the proliferation of new posts.


My favorite place is the Dead Sea Spa, were our family often goes on vacation. It’s a lovely place, not anything like a forest, (because most people’s favorite places are forests) but very peaceful in the nearby hotel, and nice and refreshing in the cool waters of the pools. The Dead Sea Spa is an area with several different pools, that all have amusements. With a nearby snack shop, and the fancy hotel, the Dead Sea Spa is the best place to go on vacation in Jordan.

Lego Star Wars

Last night, from eight to eight thirty, I helped the Republic in a huge battle against the Empire. I fought and defeated Count Dooku, then I played in a huge arena where you had to get 1000,000 Lego studs to win. I won, and got a gold brick as a reward. After that, the republic had a huge victory party!

Lego Star Wars Figures Bill of Rights

1. Every Lego figure is to be repaired immediately, if any parts are lost.
2. All Lego figures should be armed, unless not in war.
3. Any created lego figures can choose whether or not jump into pits.
4. Lego figures have the right to jump into dangerous substances.
5. Fights are allowed in the Cantina or anywhere else.
6. Lego figures have a right to destroy anything destroyable.
7. All varieties of powers can be used in battle.
8. Lego figures have a right to take any money found in a level.
9. Lego figures have a right to open every door in a level.
10. Lego figures have a right to use all defenses to keep from getting killed.

The Blog Read 'Round the World

Sensing the opportunity for a geography lesson, after I added a "ClustrMap" gadget to this blog, I asked a my e-maginary friends from the Sonlight International Board (where moms [and a couple of dads] homeschooling outside their home country gather) to visit here.

The kids, especially MS, were blessed to see so many dots appearing on their map, and we took some time one afternoon to take turns finding out which countries (and States in the US) were represented. We used our dining table map to determine the name of each country, and MS made a list.

Today, we finally had time for him to type up (and alphabetize, because I couldn't resist the opportunity to add another educational skill into the activity) the list. So, here it is.



Countries:
Argentina
Belgium
Bermuda
Brazil
Cambodia
Canada
China
Ecuador
Finland
Honduras
India
Indonesia
Japan
Jordan
Malaysia
Mexico
Mongolia
New Zealand
Philippines
South Africa
Thailand
U.A.E.
United Kingdom
Vietnam

States:
Alabama
California
Connecticut
Florida
Maryland
Massachusetts
New York
North Carolina
Tennessee
Texas
Virginia
Washington D.C.

(If you want to see an up-to-date map, you can always click on the ClustrMap icon on the right-hand side of the blog to see a larger version.)

Persuasive Paragraph

MS's assignment in his Grammar Ace workbook today was to write a persuasive paragraph about one of his parents. In spite of much campaigning and flashing of dazzling smiles by his maternal unit, he chose to write about his father.

My dad is the greatest dad in the whole world, for a lot of reasons. For example, he’s always there to help me. And we’ve gone on lots of fun trips, like to Wadi Dana, or to the Dead Sea Spa with the huge waterslide. He’s always willing to play Wii with me, and, as a matter of fact, he would rather play games with me than go to work.

Movin' on up!

MS received his Taekwondo green belt on Sunday. His thoughts:

Well, the greenbelt test wasn't much of a challenge. It was just a list of moves (about ten) that I had to memorize. My score was 6/10. Since the test (before getting the results), I've been sparring with greenbelts, which I believe to be part of the test.

Room-Cleaning Robot

(example photo; not actual robot)

MS's Language Arts assignment a couple of weeks ago was to state a problem and develop an invention that solved the problem. The second week, he was to do a brain- or cluster-map, which was a free-flow of his ideas with words and/or drawings related to his invention/solution. He then wrote out his solution from the prewriting.

Here’s the problem: to clean a room takes a really long time. The solution is to build a good robot that can clean rooms. If everything goes well, I’ll have a robot that gets more work accomplished and does the job in half the time a person can!

Of course, there are cons to this dream machine too: people will lose jobs and get less exercise (Although, the robot could remind people to exercise, and people could get jobs fixing the robot
The robot can do so much more than cleaning rooms, though. If it works well, the robot can work in garages, fix things; clean other places, just about anything!

My plan for the robot is that wires take information from the programming disk inserted to command central to different parts of the robot.

The outside will be lightweight and durable, and a “Job Done” light will flash when the job is completed. The robot also has small wheels on its feet that let it scoot quickly around the work area. The grabbers on its hands let it grip any kind of tool. Rubber on the robots arms and neck allows it to stretch.

All in all, the robot is a highly advanced and useful machine that, if invented, will help many people, and could be useful now and in the future.

Venn Diagram: Kit and Ruthie

MS's writing assignment last week was a Venn Diagram and then a Comparison/Contrast paper based on the prewriting in the diagram. All three older kids have been very taken with the American Girl books lately (don't worry, the boys are reading baseball and astronaut hero books to balance it out :-), so MS chose to compare and contrast two characters from one of the series.



Two kids that are so different, yet so the same.
Kit and Ruthie are the main characters for the Kit books in the American Girl series. Kit’s favorite book is Robin Hood, while Ruthie would prefer a fairytale any day. Kit likes to play catch or read on summer days, whereas Ruthie would do anything involving princesses. Kit admires Amelia Earhart, and Ruthie likes any princess character.
In many ways they are different, but in any situation, they are always there to help each other, and they don’t need to talk, because many times they just sit and think.