Our School

This may eventually have to turn into a separate blog, but for now, you'll find it here. The children have begged to begin school right away instead of waiting until fall. This week, I gave in, and we began some informal lessons. I have not yet written out a schedule, but we have done a little history, science, reading, phonics, math, music, literature, and art each day. One of our science experiments this week dealt with using vinegar to remove the carbon from the shell of an egg, thus making it a soft-shelled egg. Anna recorded the steps of the experiment in her journal, along with their predictions and observations. Here are some pics.

Shortly after the egg was placed in the vinegar, bubbles began to form on the shell of the egg. The vinegar (acetic acid) and calcium carbonate from the egg reacted, releasing carbon in the form of carbon dioxide. Matthew had guessed that the egg shell would soften immediately; Anna didn't think it would get soft at all.
This is the egg on day two. As you can see, the shell is nearly gone; all that remains is a thin layer of white calcium, which is easily rubbed off. The next step is to leave the egg on the counter overnight. The calcium is supposed to grab carbon from the carbon dioxide in the air, reforming the egg shell of calcium carbonate.