This year in school we are using Layers of Learning year 4. Week sixteen of school we did unit 9. Our arts topic was abstract art.
We made some Kandinsky-style art using concentric circles.
We learned about Picasso.
We made some art in the style of Picasso’s Cubism.
We made art to music, drawing whatever we felt like the music was telling us to draw.
We did scratch art.
And we made pieces of abstract art however we wanted to make it.
This year in school we are using Layers of Learning year 4. Week sixteen of school we did unit 9. Our science topic was volcanoes.
We learned about how volcanoes erupt.
We erupted baking soda and vinegar.
Baking Soda and Vinegar Eruption
We learned about the parts of a volcano.
We squeezed toothpaste out of a tube like it was magma.
We labeled a volcano.
We watched some videos of volcanic eruptions.
We squeezed Jell-O out of a baggie like it was lava.
We learned about types of volcanoes.
We played with a non-Newtonian fluid, cornstarch and water.
This year in school we are using Layers of Learning year 4. Week sixteen of school we did unit 9. Our geography topic was US economics.
Fritz told the story of The Three Little Pigs and we used it to discuss opportunity cost.
We learned about supply and demand.
We learned about marketing.
We planned a birthday party by selecting things we wanted for it, but staying within a budget.
We learned about scarcity.
We learned about giving.
This year in school we are using Layers of Learning year 4. Week sixteen of school we did unit 9. Our history topic was totalitarianism.
We added to our timeline. We broke into the 1920s for the first time.
We learned about various dictators. The boys decided Mao was the worst.
We learned about the Weimar Republic and hyperinflation and how that led to the Third Reich.
We learned about how the Third Reich looked good from the outside at the beginning, but was actually awful.
We learned about the Roaring Twenties.
We learned about Prohibition.
We learned about tariffs and specifically about the Fordney-McCumber Act of 1922.
This year in school we are using Layers of Learning year 4. Weeks fourteen and fifteen of school we did unit 8. Our arts topic was expressionism.
We looked at and discussed a whole bunch of paintings by expressionist artists.
We made pictures of the sound of things.
We rolled dice to determine how we should create a piece of art in the style of Kandinsky.
We looked at and discussed a whole bunch more paintings by expressionist artists.
We learned about Dada.
And made a Dada-esque compilation of some toys.
We learned about the Treachery of Images and drew things that were not.
This year in school we are using Layers of Learning year 4. Weeks fourteen and fifteen of school we did unit 8. Our science topic was earthquakes.
We watched some videos of earthquakes.
We made a seismograph using a cup, string, box, and pen. Then we made “earthquakes” to see how it worked.
We put clay in one paper towel cover toilet paper tube and sand in another. Then we pushed into the clay and sand to try to push it through the paper towel. The clay pushed right through while the sand absorbed the pressure (that is until Adrian stuck his finger through the paper towel so he could see the sand all drain out).
We learned about P and S waves.
We demonstrated how a strike-slip earthquake works by dragging a brick across rough wood using a heavy duty rubber band.
We showed how an earthquake affects buildings by building a Jenga house on top of a cutting board on top of marbles.
We learned about earthquake measurement scales.
This year in school we are using Layers of Learning year 4. Weeks fourteen and fifteen of school we did unit 8. Our geography topic was the plains states.
We did mapwork.
We learned about Mount Rushmore.
And the Badlands.
We did some butter carving.
We learned about loess soil.
And about bird habitats.
We figured out which things weren’t from Kansas.
We learned about how a perfect arch is made.
We added Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, and Missouri to our passports and colored them in on our big maps.
This year in school we are using Layers of Learning year 4. Weeks fourteen and fifteen of school we did unit 8. Our history topic was World War I.
We learned about the Franco-Prussian War and what led up to World War I.
We learned about the Schlieffen Plan.
We added to our timeline.
We learned about trench warfare.
We did mapwork.
We learned about the tanks used in World War I.
We learned about Sopwith Camels and made paper models of them.
We learned about the Battle of Verdun.
And about Big Bertha.
We learned about the Battle of the Somme.
And about German U-boats.
Mama Bear from Amazon!
We have tried so many different diapers over the last few months. With twin babies, they both have different issues with diapers so finding the right one for them both has been quite the experience.
The worst diaper? Luvs. They stink, they leak, and they left Baby B with a mega rash and Baby A with a mild one. No good. They claim to last up to 12 hours. In reality they last maybe two pees. And neither baby only pees twice in 12 hours. Luvs are the only diaper we didn’t even finish the pack.
Pampers are okay. They smell weird and the tabs rip off way too easily. They don’t leak which is a huge plus, but they kind of keep the babies’ bottoms too dry. The liner in the diaper sticks to them because it’s so dry. But the worst thing about them is the SAP in them is always stuck to their bottoms at every single change. I don’t like that at all.
Wal-Mart brand (Parent’s Choice) are about equal to Pampers. They fill up really fast so while they are cheap, we need to change the babies much more often making them not so cheap. What makes them a little better than Pampers is the fact they don’t leave SAP beads all over the babies’ bottoms.
Second place goes to Kirkland’s (Costco) and Huggies (because they are essentially the same diaper). They fit the babies well and don’t leak. Well, they don’t leak pee. They don’t have a weird smell and the tabs are very secure. They get second place because Baby B blows out of them (up the back) constantly. He blows out of most diapers, but Kirkland’s and Huggies seem to be the worst offenders for him. Not sure why. (We used Huggies with Adrian, though he was a bit older than the babies are now, and they worked fantastically… plus they looked like little jeans so I couldn’t resist.)
So why are Mama Bear Gentle Touch diapers from Amazon the best of all the diapers we tried? No leaks, no blowouts, no SAP beads all over their bottoms, no weird smell, and they hold lots of pee. The Mama Bear diapers are a little longer than the Kirkland’s/Huggies and the elastic gathering at the back is much tighter. That combination keep the poop inside the diaper. The leg gussets are also bigger and so contain messes that way, too. They don’t leave any marks on the babies chubby waists or legs like some of the other diaper brands do. Just an all around excellent diaper for these two babies.
Oh, and our favorite wipes, after trying four or five brands is definitely Up and Up (Target) for sensitive skin. They have just the right amount of wetness to get the baby clean easily, they are a good size, and they don’t smell bad. They are our favorite by far.
This year in school we are using Layers of Learning year 4. Weeks twelve and thirteen of school we did unit 7. Our arts topic was post-impressionism.
We played with geometric shapes and colors.
We looked at the Starry Night on the boys’ wall and drew the shapes we saw in it.
We made teeny tiny paintings.
We drew pictures using oil pastels.
We drew pictures of animals popping out of the jungle.
We learned about pointillism and made hot air balloon pictures.
We learned about Rodin and made a sculpture out of aluminum foil.
Smaller on the Outside 