TGIF . . . progress

This week I love homeschooling because I am always aware of my children's progress.

Athena had her standardized testing this week (and I put together a little informal something for the boys as well), so the idea of their educational progress has definitely been at the forefront of my mind.

The feedback parents receive from their children's teachers always seemed completely uninformative to me.  I was always confused by Athena's weekly reports because they were either too general (informing us how the class as a whole was doing) or too specific (listing pages from the workbooks that they accomplished, which meant nothing since I didn't have access to those books).  Most frustrating was when the report came home for an average week: all the check boxes marked at their highest level and a two word personal remark: good week.  It got to the point where I stopped looking at the reports entirely because it would make me irrationally angry to see those meaningless marks as my only indications of my daughter's progress.

Now I ALWAYS know how my kiddoes are doing in their studies because I'm right there with them.  I always know how they've been behaving because I can see them and call them out on problem behaviors when they happen.  I can tell when they're not quite getting something or falling behind because these are the only kids I have to watch out for.  Good or bad, fast or slow, progressing or falling behind: I know right where they are and that's right where I want us to be.

--Little Miss Crazy

Ancient Africa

Although there is not much information about the peoples in Africa during ancient times (other than the Egyptians), we discussed the movement of people around the continent because of changes in climate (expansion of the Sahara desert) and stories passed down in African folklore.

We read a few of the stories about Anansi, the spider; the kiddoes enjoyed his stories a great deal because he is a bit of a trickster and a dreamer.  We just read the ones in SotW, but there are other books with these stories and some videos as well.

For a fun activity, we used the suggestion from the activity guide of painting hands with geometric designs.  The kiddoes traced their hands onto a piece of construction paper, then used markers (instead of paint since I wanted an easier medium for them to make their designs-- you could also use pencils like the family from Creekside Learning) to add whatever designs appealed to them.

Hulk knew exactly what design he liked and he added it big and bold on both his hands to start out.

Goblin got hooked on the idea of putting rings on all his fingers, which added something fun and funky to his hands.

Athena wanted a little bit of everything for her designs.  She spent a lot of time getting them each just right.

After the designs were finished, they cut their hands out so they could display them in their rooms.  Later on, I might glue them into their history journals so they don't get lost (if they haven't already disappeared when the time comes).

 

 

The kiddoes had a lot of fun with the stories and art from ancient Africa.  I would really have liked to try out some of the great recipes listed in the activity guide (fried plantains sounds so simple and delicious), but the imagery was so fun that we couldn't pass it up, even for food!

--Little Miss Crazy

Field trip to the Zoo

At the beginning of the month, we took the kids to the Como Park Zoo and Conservatory with my parents.  For a little something extra, we turned our family trip into a field trip.  We challenged the children to a little bit of learning and I think it made the trip more fun for everyone.

First, I made each of the kiddoes their own scavenger hunt for our trip to the zoo.  Goblin had to find animals with different physical features (feathers, fins, etc.); Hulk had to find animals that lived in different types of homes (in the water, in a nest, etc.); and Athena had to find animals based on their classifications (mammals, amphibians, etc.).  They all had a good challenge that was right on par with their learning level, and we had so much fun figuring out where to find animals that would fit their lists.  Once they found an animal that fit their question, they would draw a picture of it and/or write its name.

Next, we used maps to navigate around the zoo.  Each of the kiddoes got their own maps (one for the zoo and one for the gardens) and was able to keep track of where we were and figure out how to find areas that we needed to reach (the restroom is always a good one to quiz kiddoes on, since they inevitably need to go many more times than the adults.)

Finally, each of the kiddoes had to choose one animal to use as their nonfiction project for the month.  While at the zoo, they had to find the animal, and write down anything they could learn about it from the exhibit: what they look like, what they eat, where they live, etc.  Over the next few weeks, they've also looked up information about their animals online and found books about their animals at the library.  I can't wait to see how these projects turn out when they're all done, because the kiddoes have all learned a ton (and so have I)!

Goblin chose giraffes.  Hulk chose the poison dart frog (which we found in the new rainforest exhibit.)  Athena initially chose tamarin, but changed her mind to sea lions.

We had a wonderful visit to the zoo.  The kiddoes (and the grown-ups as well) learned a lot and had a lot of fun searching for animals.  Next time, I'll have to make up a scavenger hunt (or something similar) for the gardens as well; this time they had the map to follow but no extra activities, and they were definitely not having as much fun through those areas (except when they were able to goof around on stone bridges).

It goes to show, though, that with a little bit of planning, any simple trip (even to a place you've been many times before) can be a lot more engaging and can turn out to be a real adventure for everyone.

--Little Miss Crazy

TGIF . . . maps

This week I love homeschooling because maps are considered necessary decor.

I know anyone can put a map on their wall.  Regardless of their schooling choices.  But it seems to me that anytime a homeschooling family is showing pictures of their homeschooling space, there will ALWAYS be a map.  Or a globe.  Or a slew of them mixed together (which would be my dream room :D).

Honestly, I am a little bit obsessed with maps.  Before deciding on the kiddoes current nicknames, I was strongly considering calling them Legend, Latitude, and Longitude.  If you peek into my home decorating board on Pinterest, there are a LOT of map-based items and ideas (that and a lot of organization ideas-- another regular for a homeschooling household).  Mr. Crazy and I have done our fair share of travelling and plan to do a lot more in the future, and we really want our home to represent that interest.

Maps are a little bit fun and a little bit functional, and I've found them to greatly enhance many of our homeschooling discussions.  I couldn't imagine my home without a few maps.

--Little Miss Crazy

TGIF . . . schooling in pajamas

This week I love homeschooling because (if we want to) we can wear our pajamas all day every day.

Most schools have a variety of goofy fun days where students and teachers are meant to dress to a certain theme-- one of the most common themes is pajama day/ come as you are day.  When the kiddoes and I all wear pajamas for school, I call it Monday. :)

It is very freeing to know that when we don't have to go anywhere and we won't have any company during the day, we can just stay in our pajamas and be lazy and comfortable.  Honestly, I love pajamas.  I have some really fun sets (gotta love Garfield!) and some plain ones (solid blue), but all of them make me feel more at ease and cozy.  It's nice to be able to just relax and get moving a little slower some days.

Most of the time, we change out of our pajamas some time over the course of the day, but often enough, at least one of us stays in our comfy clothes throughout our school time.  We don't need to impress one another, and a little bit of freedom goes a long way toward everyone's daily happiness.

--Little Miss Crazy

Speed, acceleration, and velocity

We discussed our terms for the week-- speed, acceleration, and velocity-- but more than anything else, we just had a lot of fun using our speed.  We raced cars down ramps.  We measured distances with our measuring tape.  We used a stopwatch to time ourselves running up and down the hallway, the backyard, the road, etc.  We were introduced to another great song from Mr. Edmonds. We ran and ran and ran. 

If there's one thing boys enjoy, it's running.  They will do it every chance they get.  Throw in a couple fun tools, like a measuring tape and a stopwatch, and they'll do it even more.  And sometimes, it's just that simple.

--Little Miss Crazy

Ancient China

Ancient China is such a rich area that we could have spent months covering it.  We focused on the subjects covered in Story of the World since it is our spine for history.

First we discussed the story of how silk was discovered and made, then the kiddoes put the pictures from this worksheet in order to show the process of silk-making.

Next we moved on to Chinese writing.  First, I showed the children examples of early Chinese pictograms, then compared these to more modern Chinese calligraphy.  We used a few pages from Ancient Civilizations from Scholastic (I bought this ebook-- among others-- during dollar deals for only $1. Scholastic has a lot of ebooks that work very well as supplements; I've purchased some for nearly every subject).  For a fun, hands-on project, the kiddoes made ancient books following the tutorial from Jimmie's Collage and wrote stories on them primarily using the pictograms from Ancient Civilizations.  I was not daring enough to let the kiddoes paint their pictograms, but some good pens worked well enough and everyone still enjoyed getting to make these.

Next we discussed how the various states in China were constantly at war, similar to the other areas we have studied, and were eventually united under a conquering emperor who took the name Shi Huangdi.  He began the building of the Great Wall to keep out invading Mongols and searched for the Water of Eternal Life, until his death when he was buried in an underground city guarded by an army of life-size terracotta warriors, horses and chariots.

Building their own Great Walls to protect their side of the Lego empire

We finished up our study of ancient China by discussing the life and teachings of Confucius.

We will definitely be taking a more in depth look at ancient China on our next cycle through history.  We used some resources from Squidoo in our study, but there is a huge wealth of information available.  I can't wait until our next study of the far east.

--Little Miss Crazy

(belated) TGIF . . . full days

This week I love homeschooling because it fills our days.  (::Sigh:: I tried to get this posted on Friday before our field trip, but apparently I didn't know what I was doing, so yet another belated TGIF post . . . this time following a long blogging break.)

We are homeschooling year-round with a relatively laid back schedule.  We have had a LOT of time off this summer due to household projects, family commitments, and what I like to call "life happens" (hence my temporary disappearance from blogging).  But this week, we finally had a regular school week again, and things simply went SO much smoother than they have during our partial weeks and off weeks over the past month or so.

When we have too much unscheduled time, I think everyone gets a little bit crankier wondering what the expectations are and how to fill their time.  After a period of disruption, slipping back into regular routines is the easiest way to make everyone feel comfortable and stable again.  The kiddoes might not always love their school work, but our daily grind provides a level of predictability that can be quite soothing.

When we follow our schooling routine, there's less time for everyone to get bored.  We generally always have something that needs to get done, or at least something that we want to look into farther or take more time on.  A full day is definitely a happy day in our home.

--Little Miss Crazy