Solar Power!

We met up with the homeschool group on Friday at Solar1 (a green energy center).  The kids learned about sustainability and renewable energy.  The Solar1 building is cozy and is powered fully by solar energy - the whole roof is paneled.  The kids all sat around a table while watching a slide-show with one of the instructors explaining various types of energy and how they're used.  The kids asked and answered a lot of questions and worked in groups figuring out in what time period certain energy sources were used.  Then they each got to make their own solar-powered car.  These were great and went so fast.  They raced each other and figured out how to short-circuit the wires so it won't run and how to switch the circuits so it goes backwards.  W loved it and I'm sure he learned so much.  We were right on the East River and it was beautiful.

Discussing energy sources

W's solar-powered car

Right outside Solar1

This week's academics went very well.  W helped me tweak our schedule and we had a nice flow all week.  Each day, we watched and discussed CNN Student News, he did a few pages of Saxon Math, I read something to him and he gave a spoken or written narration, he did 1 lesson in one of the language arts workbooks (spelling, grammar, vocabulary, etc), he read a book silently for 20 minutes or so (right now it's a bio of Thomas Edison).  And Friday was a field trip.  Throughout the week, W did some science and cooking experiments, watched a few documentaries, did plenty of artwork, played basketball, tag, and X-box with friends on the block, and went to choir (he may have a solo this session!).

I took W and K out for our annual start of fall breakfast.  This time it was at IHOP.  I hadn't been there in at least 8 years.  I forgot how great it is.   J danced in a street fair on Sunday with the whole studio company.  Several hundred people came over to watch!  It was a nice set of their best stuff from last season.  This season is well under way with lots of new choreography.  I think I'm hearing that the first competition will be before the end of the year!