TGIF . . . perfect fit

This week I love homeschooling because sometimes we find resources that are a perfect fit for our family.

Finding a perfect fit is not easy, in any realm of life.  Clothing: everyone has their own unique body and style and meshing the two is a constant challenge (at least for people like me).  A home that suits your family, desires, and budget can take a lifetime (or a really amazing contractor).  Likewise finding the right style of learning, the right curriculum, and the right resources for homeschool can be a journey of epic proportions.

That is why it feels so amazing when you find a perfect fit.  I'm not foolish enough to think  these things will always be perfect for us, but it is nice to feel like we are doing well for right now.  Right now, math is getting done, and even getting enjoyed some days.  Right now, I LOVE the boys' language arts curriculum (and the one Athena will be moving into soon), and they are having a lot of fun with it as well.  Right now, the kids are all picking up information from history and remembering it.  Right now, we continue to have fun exploring science together, and I always come out understanding things better once I've shown them to the kiddoes at the most basic level (which should make things easier in our future schooling).

I can only hope that we will continue to be blessed in finding resources and styles that work this well throughout our homeschooling adventure.

--Little Miss Crazy

We're the Mesopotamians!

One of the ways we followed Myths, Maps, and Marvels was by adjusting our timeline to cover all of what's considered Mesopotamia together in one chunk instead of switching back and forth between this area and Egypt.  Although we had a lot of fun with this unit, looking back I took almost no pictures of our learning.

We learned that all the city states in the Fertile Crescent fought with one another, but were unified from time to time by various rulers.  The first of these was Sargon, the military dictator.

My favorite section was on Hammurabi and his code of laws; we discussed why they were considered fair for the time and what about them was not so fair (ie: the rich only had to pay in many circumstances, but the poor had no money and would have to face more severe punishments).  Afterward, the kids came up with a few rules of their own and had to explain why they thought they were fair.

We listened to stories about Mesopotamian gods and built a ziggurat out of Legos.
 
We compared Hammurabi to Shamshi-Adad, King of the Whole World, who did not follow the same laws he put out for his people.

We read a condensed version of the epic of Gilgamesh and drew pictures of what we think Enkidu might look like and other exciting moments in the story. 

We discussed Ashurbanipal's wish to be immortal and his decision to be remembered forever by building a library at Nineveh.  Also the kiddoes tried to imagine how much work it would be to gather clay tablets from all across the region together.

We built siege towers out of Legos.

We learned about how Nebuchadnezzar built the Hanging Gardens of Babylon and drew our own pictures of what we thought they might look like.

And of course we listened to "The Mesopotamians" by We Might Be Giants . . . a lot. lol The kids still ask to hear this song on a regular basis and were able to easily remember most of the rulers in Mesopotamia from the chorus.

Honestly, I loved learning about this area's history; I do not remember learning much about it when I was in school, so going through it with the kiddoes was a great learning experience for me as well.  I find myself learning along with them quite often, even when we're reviewing things I have studied before, which makes our experiences doubly rewarding.

--Little Miss Crazy

(belated) TGIF . . . unscheduled time off

I love homeschooling because it allows us to take time off when it suits us, scheduled or not.  (This post was not written last week because we have been in destruction and construction mode!)

At the beginning of the week, Mr. Crazy and I realized we finally had enough extra in the budget to get to work on our big project for the summer: rebuilding the basement walls that were ruined.  So last week was spent cutting down walls, putting up new walls, taping, mudding, sanding, painting, and a little fun decorating at the end.  I am so glad we did this ourselves; things are not perfect, but it just feels so good to complete a big project and get that sense of accomplishment.  And the kiddoes all finally have their own rooms, which has made the household a LOT less tight.  We still have some work to do, but the bulk of it is finished, and I am loving the results.  (The kids each got to pick the color for their room-- they all picked pastels, or salt-water-taffy colors, as I call them.)

Athena

Hulk

Goblin

A little flexibility in our schedule goes a LONG way during days like these, and I feel so blessed to be able to jump on an opportunity like the one that landed in our lap last week.

--Little Miss Crazy

TGIF . . . time for everything

This week I love homeschooling because we have so much more time for life.

When Athena went to public school, she got on a bus at about 7am and was brought home at about 3pm.  She sometimes had homework to be done and always had learning that needed to be worked on (reading practice, spelling words, etc.).  At that time, we spent 8-10 hours each school day on her schooling.  Now that we homeschool, our school day generally lasts 3-4 hours (for all 3 children), occasionally longer when the kiddoes get wrapped up in their learning.

That means that we have about 4 extra hours each day for other things that catch our interest.  More hours in the day for taking walks, planting gardens, playing games, singing songs, pretending to be pirates, building snow forts, reading books for fun, and a host of other possibilities.

But that is not the only extra time I get with my kiddoes now.  Since I am the one doing the schooling, we're together during that time, too-- and a lot of our school time is pretty fun, too, in my opinion.  Now we have all the hours of the day to enjoy the world together, both through our learning and through our play.  I get to spend my best hours and my worst hours with my children (and they get to spend their good and bad times with me), so we all get to grow together, instead of apart.  I am so thankful for the time we've been blessed with.

--Little Miss Crazy

Copywork

I started having Athena do copywork initially to work on her handwriting.  She just started writing in cursive last summer, so she is still working on getting many of the more challenging letters formed properly (especially capitals).  I don't insist on perfection, but I do insist that her work be legible, and I do insist that ALL her schoolwork be done in cursive.

Copywork has become a fun way to introduce enjoyable and thought-provoking quotes and literary snippets into Athena's week.  Or to draw attention to something from a read-aloud or other book we're using.  Sometimes we discuss what she copies and sometimes they are never mentioned again, but it is nice to know that she has been exposed to them in one form or another.

At the beginning, this process was drudgery for her; she would try to rush through and, inevitably, her work would be sloppy so she would have to fix it.  But now she does not mind it.  It certainly isn't her favorite daily work, but she likes to show off when she makes a particularly good letter or word.  She's starting to show pride in her writing instead of hustling through it and not worrying if anyone else can understand it.  Definitely a change for the better.

--Little Miss Crazy

TGIF . . . technology

This week I love homeschooling because it gives me an excuse to play with awesome technology!  (Yes, I do have some COMPLETELY selfish reasons for being thankful to homeschool, and this is the one at the top of my list these days.)

Our television broke a few weeks ago, and while Mr. Crazy and I were discussing options, we came around to the idea of buying a projector.  Now, we started talking about getting a projector about eight years ago; at the time, they were pretty expensive, and we didn't have any particular need, so the idea got shelved.  Since then, we've never really been in the market for one, but the idea has always lingered.  Replacing our primary screen with a projector was a great choice for us.  We saved money; it weighs a fraction of our last tv; and we can use it for so much more.

To make this purchase even more worthwhile in terms of school uses, we originally planned to purchase a good-sized whiteboard (or whiteboard paint for the wall) to project onto so I would be able to write on projected maps, pages, etc.  Instead, Mr. Crazy found some technology where I can use a special infrared pen to write directly onto the computer images we project. He made the pen, we got the software, and it works like a DREAM.

When we use a map in history, I bring it up on the projector so I can point out specific areas to everyone.  When we are using a web resource (such as an online video or informative website), I bring it up on the projector and circle worthwhile points or make notes.  When I'm teaching the boys a new handwriting stroke or letter, I use the projector and write it right on my wall (and erase it with the click of a button).

I would certainly have the opportunity to use technology like this without homeschooling, but it would primarily be a toy or something that quickly lost interest.  Now I have the satisfaction of knowing that this fun tech is also entirely functional for school, so we will use it a great deal.

--Little Miss Crazy

Mass, weight, and density

If I could go back in time, I probably would skip this week of science. I wanted to give the kiddoes some concept of what mass is before discussing Newton's second law.  Honestly, I probably could have just let them think it's the same as weight and moved on.  I don't think they really got much understanding out of our discussion or demonstrations.

However, there was one big bonus to my search for content for this unanticipated week of learning; this was the week I was introduced to Mr. Edmonds' science songs on youtube.  Believe me, I had a hard time finding resources on the differences between mass & weight suitable for my kiddoes' age range. "Mass vs weight" quickly became a favorite song around the house.  During our additional discussions, we did also listen to "Density," but it did not take off nearly as well in my house (I loved it, being a Wicked fan, but for the kids it was not easy to recognize or catchy enough.)

We started off trying to get an idea of the difference between mass and weight, which of course led to a conversation about weight on other planets compared to Earth.  The kids got real kick out of that discussion.

The week would have been awfully short if we had left things there, so I threw in some fun activities related to density.  We observed different liquids creating layers in a glass.  We tried different items to see what would float or sink.  We measured how much water was displaced when a heavy but small item sinks compared to a light but large item (bringing the discussion back around to the difference between weight and mass).

And of course, I got no pictures of science this week, so I'll leave you with a couple pics from our continued time playing with water: air takes up space!

The boys had a little trouble keeping the cup straight so the air didn't escape, but they had a lot of fun trying.

This was not part of our lesson or a planned activity, but there's always time for a little extra learning fun, especially when the kiddoes request it!

--Little Miss Crazy

Energy through electronics

Mr. Crazy is an electrician.  His abilities, interests, and occupations have ranged pretty far from the norm in that particular field, but at his base, he's an electrician.  When I asked him to "substitute teach" during our energy unit, he was pretty excited.  We both knew going in that he wouldn't stick with my plans and framework, so I asked him to be sure he discussed potential and kinetic energy (the base topics for the week) and then let him do things his own way.  He knew exactly what he wanted to do, and he found some pretty neat stuff to use for his demonstrations.

On random shopping trips, we picked up both a Radio Shack snap kit and Snap Circuits Light.  These are some awesome little kits.  I heartily recommend them to anyone with a kiddo interested in electronics (or a parent who wants their kiddo to see how things work).  This is a perfectly safe way to explore electricity, even with kiddoes at a relatively young age.  All the components snap together (hence the name) making simple and complex circuits easy to explain and understand.

Mr. Crazy started his circuits (aka racetracks) very, very simple and explained each part as he put it together. ("The light can't turn on because it isn't connected to the battery yet; we have to add a line to connect them.")  By the end of the lesson, his racetracks had gotten quite complex.  The kiddoes took guesses about what would happen when circuits were connected different ways (with switches, alternate paths, etc).  They identified where the energy/ electricity was in motion and where it was "waiting."  They had SO much fun with the crazy flying saucer and lights.

Mr. Crazy turned the flying saucer into a fan and everyone wanted to feel the air.

The kiddoes learned a lot about electric circuits, learned a little about energy, and got to have a lot of fun with their substitute teacher. (As an added bonus, Hulk was able to retain this information really well; he was very excited about it and really enjoyed learning electronics.  Now Mr. Crazy has some more one on one electronics fun planned for the two of them.)

Our continued discussion of potential and kinetic energy led to another very fun afternoon.  I used a simple rubber band to show potential (pulled back and held still-- holding all the energy from being stretched) and kinetic (let 'er rip and they really fly).  For more rubber band fun, check out E is for Explore!; I love combining topics!  Going a little farther with this idea, we made slingshots from rubber bands and toilet paper tubes (instructions at PBSKids Design Squad).  We used ping pong balls for the projectiles and brought out little green army men to test them out.  Crazy projectile fun ensued:

I had planned on doing some additional demonstrations, but the kiddoes spent most of the rest of the day setting up and knocking over little green army men, so they'll be left for another time.  We never complain when science activities get extended. :)

--Little Miss Crazy