Alum Crystals

This week we are growing alum crystals. A friend of the family asked us to take this on as a homeschooling science project. She needs them for decorating purposes. Our goal is to grow them the size of golf balls.

I have asked the our homeschooling friends at the DC Learning Partners to join us. Eight families have committed to starting their crystals this week.

Here is a list of what we needed:
Alum (found in the spice section of your grocery store)
Water
String
Oil
Small Jars
Pencils
Measuring spoons and cups

This is a video of Nasiru guiding us through the project.



We post the outcome of the crystals and more pictures soon.

He Did It Again!

Nasiru had the opportunity to perform on Saturday, September 20th with Baba M's youth drumming group again. He has come a long way with is drumming skills. Several Mamas and I were there to support our boys at this community event. I was so proud. Nasiru is on the left in the video.

African Drumming and Dance Camp

Leilani

Nasiru

This summer Nasiru and Leilani participated in a dance and drumming camp for two weeks. Yaminah lasted for three days (that's another story). The organizers had the children do a presentation at Joe's Movement (Mt. Rainier, MD) on the last day. Here is a piece of the performance. See if you can find the KLYKids.

We Are Learning As A Community

View my page on DC Metro Learning Partners

We Have Officially Started

We started our 2008-2009 school year on Monday. I wanted to use a few different curriculum; however, I had to opt for a more economical options this year. We are using the PG County Memorial Library System.

Yaminah is now in kindergarten. She is very excited to have "work" to do. We borrowed Learn at Home Grade K from the Bowie, PG library.

I think that it is a great starting point for activities. Each week includes a list of assignments to be completed. We have already had to substitute some of them; however, it does not pose much of a problem.

I am also teaching her how to play the piano. She has been practicing daily. It is great to see her enthusiasm. Every morning she reminds me that she needs to play.

Dates

Yaminah has been enjoying Medjool dates this summer. This weekend she asked if we could grow our own dates. We researched online about how to plant date seeds. So, today we will start our experiment.

Day 1 - August 19, 2008

Soak seeds in a glass of water for 24 to 48 hours.

Day 3 - August 21, 2008

Place dates in a damp paper towel. Put them in a Ziploc bag. Keep them there until they begin to sprout.

We will posting updates weekly.