Our first task of the day was playing some quiz games on  http://www.brainpop.co.uk

'M's gym class was next, while we sat down and read a few chapters of a book together. Followed by the park as usual. Will miss the warm sunny days :-(
Afternoon was very computer based, more stuff on brainpop and then some various subjects on this one http://www.echalk.co.uk/

'C' did a few experiments using a kit we seem to have kept in the cupboard for ages. Some of it was a tad young for him even though it states 10+ on the box. I thought there might have been more chemical mixing going on in there somewhere but the first few pages are pretty basic ice and water based experiments. We flicked though to do a task on filtration using water, sand and salt. First filtered though filter paper to leave the sand behind. Now sat on the window waiting for evaporation to take place and leave the salt. Still pretty basic for 'C' and I am hoping the tasks get a little more interesting.

Football training this evening for 'C'.
Now I don't know how many people know about bear yoyos and I'm talking a food here not an actual bear or yoyo. Anyway in these packs of fruit/sweet thing you get a little info card which is supposed to contain a fact. Very nice you'd think however the card they got in one tonight read 'the tongue is the strongest muscle in the body' now curiosity got the better of me and the boys so we decided to have a google. Only to find that the fact isn't strictly true as it all depends on how you measure that strength and there are differing opinions on the matter.

In truth, this is a difficult question to answer, as the human body has three different types of muscles: smooth, skeletal, and cardiac. There are also different ways of measuring strength: endurance, absolute strength, dynamic strength, and elastic strength. It is one of the hardest working muscles in the body, to be sure. It constantly pushes saliva down your throat as you sleep, aids in digestion, constantly moves and contorts to help form letters for communication, and even helps filter out germs courtesy of linguinal tonsils. However, due to the various sorts of muscles in the human body, it is really a true challenge to definitively say it is the strongest muscle in the body. Reference: www.loc.gov

So anyway I wasn't too impressed with this supposed fact as it wasn't quite accurate and I'm glad 'H' came to tell me it so that I could correct them. It does make me wonder though who comes up with these facts and why not just pick something easier and less debatable than trying to confuse kids in the first place. After this big debate we sat down to finish the book we had been reading earlier on in the day, a complete marathon of reading for me as they begged me to carry on. Doesn't matter how old they get they still like me to read to them :-)