The Little Nemeceks

This week, we studied India.  Because Indian food is very popular take-out here, we decided to order our cultural meal so that we could sample a bunch of Indian dishes.  We had Tandoori Butter Chicken, Prawn Korma, Chicken Tikka Masala, Mixed Biryani, and Lamb Rogan Josh.  The kids also sampled some cheese naan, as well as some kebabs for appetizers and mixed vegetables as a side.  We purchased some rice pudding for dessert, but the kids didn't like the texture.  They did like the Indian food!  Later we played Ludo, the UK version of Pacheesi, the Indian national game (called Parcheesi in the States).  In art, the boys made sculptures out of coffee cups.

In other news, Avila has determined that she is ready for a toddler bed, and picked out her very own pink princess bed, which she is very proud of!

David's sculpture

Nathan aligned the cups to create a pattern and then made an amplifier for a phone's speakers.

A very happy Avila in her new princess bed

Our Indian dinner spread

Playing Ludo

Saturday we drove to the east coast of the UK, to Bempton Cliffs, a few miles south of Scarborough. Over a quarter of a million seabirds nest here in the spring and summer, and are easily identified from the lookout points. Puffins are the main attraction here, but they make their nests deep in the rocks and are difficult to see at this time of year. We did see thousands of gannets and kittiwakes, plus a few other types of seabirds.

We spent this past week learning about Iraq, from ancient civilizations up through the end of Saddam Hussein's rule. The kids were very interested to learn about Josh's deployment there and how he got to see Saddam's palace and other landmarks.  For art, the kids did a music inspired piece, with the assignment being to draw what the music made you think of. Avila spent most of the art time dancing to the music :). For science, the boys created their own homemade solar oven and toasted a cheese sandwich inside, which they really enjoyed. Our cultural meal this week was lamb chops with rice and pistachios, with a tomato and cucumber salad, and cardamom cookies for dessert.

David explains his artwork to the teacher

Nathan's marching band picture

Building the solar oven

The completed oven with sandwich

Nathan works on his mapping assignment

Avila added the almonds to the cookies

Dinner and dessert

This week was another two activity week, as the kids continued their art lessons with a session on making marks (i.e. painting without using a paintbrush.) Nathan challenged himself to create a centaur using this method and worked very hard to complete his challenge.  The boys also attended their monthly Discovery STEM session: learning about thermocromatic super polymers and making ooblek (non-newtonian fluids). Nathan's group also did presentations, and he created a newspaper article.  For our lessons on Saudi Arabia, the boys have been learning about Islam and how it differs from Christianity. They were especially struck by the lack of religious freedom in Saudi Arabia despite their wealth due to oil, as well as the many restrictions placed on women. For our cultural meal, we ate All Kasba - Saudi saffron rice and chicken, and we had gluten free ma'amoul for dessert.

A sweet picture on a day they were not acting sweet

Nathan gives his science presentation

Nathan's newspaper article

His take home items

David's classes mixes up super polymers

And gets to play with them as well

Saudi chicken and rice

Gluten free ma'amoul