So that's when I have to take some time and put on my thinking cap and pull out a fabulous idea or some weird and whacky topic to feather out into a unit study so the kids can reboot and get their creative and questioning juices flowing. What I find frustrating is NZ based homeschooling resources and books are few and far between, whereas US homeschooling resources are in abundance. I can't help that but I do I feel like I am stretching it when it comes to new ideas.
I ferreted around in my school cupboard to come up with this book "Accidental Genius" by Richard Gaughan. Its amazing what you will find in my cupboard. Flicking through it I turned to this page A New World Starts with a Dye. Its all about William Henry Perkin who could almost be called the father of chemistry. He has a epic story about how he invented the first synthetic dye but also indirectly brought Chemistry into the science world.
So from his life story we are going to be learning about the Industrial Revolution, the Periodic table, elements and compounds, Malaria and Quinine and what it was originally made from, Coal, Natural Dyes and Synthetic Dyes. We hopefully have a go at dying material with natural dyes (like onion skins) and also synthetic ones, maybe even a spot of tie-dying thrown in for fun. Who knows what else we will discover along the way. Obviously I am expecting different things from the different ages but really you would be amazed at what the younger ones take in.
Am I expecting great whoops of joy when I launch this to the kids? No not at all...they very rarely do when a topic comes from me but they will catch the wave eventually...they always do.
Did you know that the first synthetic dye was actually purple and was called Mauveine?
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