Homeschool Happenings: Sorry for the Delay...

I know, I know...It has been a while since I have updated...

After a brief Elvis sighting...

and hurricane force winds followed by the "Great Blackout of 2008"...

...things are finally getting back to normal! (10 days without power sets you back a bit)

Last week, we had our co-op. We learned about mummies and mummification. After watching a video and listening to some books about mummification, we ended our class with mummifying a doll (a G.I. Joe and a Ken doll in our case). First we cleaned the dolls with white wine vinegar (the Egyptians cleaned the bodies with wine), then we drew a heart on our dolls (the Egyptians removed the organs, but left the heart because they thought it was the center of all thinking and emotions), next we covered the dolls in salt (the Egyptians would cover the bodies in natron - a salt like substance - and place the bodies on a slanted board with a grove cut out - the bodies would remain their for 40 days - this was their mourning period), next we painted our dolls with an oil and spice mixture (the Egyptians did the same), finally we wrapped our mummies with muslin that had been dipped into a flour and water mixture.

Here is G.I. Joe (Carter's mummy)

And Ken (Cooper's mummy - he had a little help from mom with the wrapping, but he did all the other stuff)

Later in the week, we went on a field trip to Woodland Cemetery. Woodland Cemetery is a very old, beautiful cemetery in Dayton. It is a National Historical site. The Wright Brothers, Paul Lawrence Dunbar and Erma Bombeck are all buried there.

Here is a picture of the old chapel (they now use it for the business offices). The windows on the sides are all Tiffany and there is a huge arched window in the back that is also Tiffany worth over $1 million!

Here is a picture of Erma Bombeck's grave site. There is no grave marker at this time and her husband has not decided whether he will put one or not. The large stone that does mark her grave is from her neighbor's yard in Arizona. Erma used to sit on this rock and write.

Here are some pictures from the Wright Brother's grave site. They are buried in a family plot with their mother and father, sister and infant siblings that died very young. Neither brother ever married.