Carl Linnaeus

If you read a thumbnail biography, in an encyclopedia or on a website, you're liable to be told that Carl Linnaeus was "the father of taxonomy"—that is, of biological classification—or that he created the Latin binomial system of naming species, still used today. Those statements are roughly accurate, but they don't convey what made the man so important to biology during his era and afterward. You might read that he coined the name Homo sapiens for our own species and placed us, daringly, within a category of mammals that included monkeys and apes. That's true too, but somewhat misleading. Linnaeus was no full-blown evolutionist. On the contrary, he heartily embraced the prevailing creationist view of biological origins, which stipulated that studying nature reveals evidence for the creative powers and mysterious orderliness of God. He wasn't such a pious man, though, that he sought nothing but godliness in the material world. Here's what makes him a hero for our time: He treasured the diversity of nature for its own sake, not just for its theological edification, and he hungered to embrace every possible bit of it within his own mind. He believed that humankind should discover, name, count, understand, and appreciate every kind of creature on Earth.

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2007/06/linnaeus-name-giver/david-quammen-text/2?rptregcta=reg_free_np&rptregcampaign=20131016_rw_membership_r1p_us_se_w#close-modal

The Period, by Richard Armour

Fat little period, round as a ball,

You’d think it would roll,

But it doesn’t

All all.

Where it stops,

There it plops,

There it stubbornly stays,

At the end of a sentence

For days and days.

“Get out of my way!”

Cries the sentence.”  “Beware!”

But the period seems not to hear or care.

Like a stone in the road,

It won’t budge, it won’t bend.

If it spoke, it would say to the sentence, “The end.”

Silliness Presenting Inventor Presentation

Alyssa gave the inventor she was presenting the name of Hannah's inventor... and was simply being silly!

Sculpting Like Michaelangelo

Medieval Times Lapbook

Robin Hood's Cure for a Boring Day

by Hannah and Alyssa Jaffe

Find an adventure.

Make a bow and arrow.

Look for someone to feast with.

Ask Allan a Dale to play the harp.

Enter archery contests to win prizes.

Blow my horn and call my Merry Men.

Steal from the rich to give to the poor.

Take walks and whistle through the forest.

Count the birds near the Greenwood Tree.

Trick the Sherriff of Nottingham with disguises.

Nutrition Magician

We went to our local library for one of their summer programs for the kids.  This magician was funny and very knowledgeable in nutrition, proper exercise and how to read Nutrition labels.  Neighbor Logan joined us too! Click here for more pictures

Mrs Sutton's Science Day

A day of Biology led by high school home school students.  Fourteen booths and and four hours later, we learned a lot about animals, sheep brains, worms, cells, fetal pigs, ostrich egg, house fly legs and Tools of the Trade.

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Painting like Michaelangelo

The girls took turns under the dinning room table creating their own masterpieces!

Ancient China

As part of ancient history, we have been spending some time in ancient China.  We went to Chinatown with Daddy this year, this time just days after the Dragon parade.  We missed out on the strawberry cake at Phoenix Bakery as they sold out of the individual cakes!  The girls enjoyed the Mochi instead.

We went tot he Central Plaza and found the statue of Dr. Sun Yat Sen, founder of the China Republic, the Wishing Well, and five tier pagoda.  After lunch we went to the Phoenix Bakery for Mochi, then onto a Tao Temple.

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Seasons Change, by Hannah Jaffe

When autumn changes to winter,
and Christmas season is near,
wandering close winter,
is lovely time here, yet?
Yes, the lovely season is here.

Heavenly breezes blow,
leaves that lasted fall,
the sun is coming from the south,
butterflies migrate and grass wilts.
That is the lovely season,
but, how does autumn turn to winter?

"The season changes because of me," says God.
"It is me that makes the earth change by season.
I order autumn to change to winter."

"I make the heavenly breezes you know.
It is I that make leaves that lasted fall,
I make the sun come in through the south,
I make butterflies migrate south.
Do you not understand that I make the seasons change?"

Classical Conversations Timeline Weeks 1-4

Ancient History Writing

We are learning about ancient civilizations this year.  Today we specifically tried our hand at writing on clay tablets...

Cleopatra Exhibit @ CA ScienCenter

We are studying ancient civilizations this year, so it was exciting to see that the Cleopatra Exhibit was in town!  Alyssa's favorite part was listening to Cleopatra telling her story on the audio tour.  Part of the fun with that was finding the numbers throughout the exhibit to punch into the wand to listen.  There were a lot of fascinating objects discovered under the sea.  Hannah liked seeing one of the tiny hand held mirrors and the many pieces of jewelry.  Most impressive to me was the huge statues of two of the gods which flanked the entrance to the temple where Cleopatra was crowned queen of Egypt.  Pictured with the girls is Taylor, a family friend who is going to school here in southern CA.  The girls like to call him their cousin.  They are having fun hanging out with him as he waits fro school to start.

Walking With the Harbor Seals

Today we went to the LA Zoo and had a behind the scenes tour of the Harbor Seal exhibit.  One of our home school friends knows one of the zoo keepers there.  The girls got to feed the seals and use hand motions to have them do some tricks.  The highlight was to "walk" the seal by using a q-tip like stick to show the seal where you wanted it to go. 
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Reading List for Girls

Came across a few reading recommendations that I want to consider:

Madeline L’Engle – A Wrinkle in Time

Patricia Beatty - Campion Towers

L.M. Montgomery – Anne of Green Gables

Robin McKinley:

Beauty: A Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast (1978)
The Door in the Hedge (1981)
The Blue Sword (1982)
The Hero and the Crown (1985)
The Outlaws of Sherwood (1988)
Deerskin (1993)- this one is probably a little too mature for you daughter.
Rose Daughter (1997)
Spindle's End (2000)

I found this link to a friends blog with a nice list as well:
Virginia Sole Smith  

Beezus and Ramona

We just finished reading Beezus and Ramona by Beverly Cleary.  The girls got the movie, Ramona and Beezus, in their Easter basket and were told that they could see it AFTER the book was read.  With school and other books of interest, we didn't get around to reading it until recently.  The girls LOVED it and were so disappointed when it ended... but of course want to see the movie right away.  We will probably wait to see it on Friday.

This is a story the relationship Beezus has with her exasperating little sister Ramona and how she longs to have the same kind of friendship her mother has with her sister, Aunt Beatrice.