Gist Academy for Gifted Youngsters

On Friday even

On Saturday we decorated pumpkins with our SpiralScout Circle.

This week we focused on “real” reading. Usually we read out of our reader book, and do the follow up pages in the workbook. This week, we read Biscuit books. We read magazines, and boxes. It was a lot less pressure then the reading book, and I think it was a nice break.

For math, we continued to focus on counting from 1-100. DD is still reversing numbers, writing 21 for 12 and such. But we are practicing and she’s getting better.

We also have been reading about sea otters, in preparation for our upcoming trip to the Monterey Bay Aquarium on Monday. We made sea otter puppets, talked about how the wrap themselves in sea weed to keep from floating away, and colored pictures of their favorite foods.

Not super sure, LOL! Last week was a short week, two days of schooling really. Monday being a holiday and for some reason life got in the way of Thursday and Friday…

I did find a great puzzle for Jack-Jack at the Goodwill for $2! Still in shrink wrap

Of course our D is already missing, but I am sure it will turn up.

We have been focusing on keeping our living area (playroom excluded for the moment) neat and tidy. So everyone has been pitching in to help pick up toys, put our dishes in the sink and generally keep the place picked up so it won’t be such an effort to keep it clean. So far so good,

On Saturday at Scouts we were blessed to have a guest speaker, a Master Falconer! She brought out a Great Horned Owl and a Peregrine Falcon for the scouts to see, and she talked all about how they fly, hunt, live and such. It was really fun, and we learned a LOT.

We are waiting impatiently for our caterpillars to arrive.  Danielle got a Butterfly habitat for her birthday, and we have sent off for the caterpillars. She is so excited to have more living things to add to our ever growing zoo! I am thinking we might branch out into hermit crabs or something similarly small and contained after we release our butterflies.

So, that’s all for now from the Gist Academy.  I will try to update again soon, and maybe, just maybe my kids will put on clothes long enough to take some actual pictures!!

I know, most people would shudder at the thought of having worms in their kitchen, but mine are infact invited guests!

For the SpiralScouts gardening badge, scouts have to construct a Worm Tower, which is basically a high rise apartment for worms to live in. And those little worms will create compost for us! It’s kinda a neat thing for them to observe, food scraps go in, and compost comes out! Plus, each tower has a nice mint plant growing on the top, to add to the usefulness of the whole contraption!

Now, I am not so sure how long I am going to want to have worms in my kitchen, but for now, they are kinda neat to have around!  Plus, it teaches Danielle some great lessons about how things grow, how worms make compost, and how things work together. We are going to study the anatomy of a worm (no dissection!) and try to track what kinds of foods the worms seem to like best!