Finishing curriculum

We have a lot of transitions going on in our homeschool right now.  We just finished up our survey of ancient history using Story of the World vol 1, and we are very close to finishing up our physics for science (we've had so much fun, but it has definitely lasted much longer than I expected).  I've started adding in Language Lessons Through Literature (which has been much enjoyed by myself and the kiddoes), and typing lessons for the kiddoes have FINALLY been implemented.  Plus, last week Goblin finished up RightStart A for math!

Since history is an unending story, we're continuing to follow it right into Story of the World vol 2: Middle Ages.   We do some review each time we transition between cultures, so now that we've discussed the fall of Rome, we're due.  However, I prefer to review science and history at the same time, so this will wait until we've finished physics, so I have time to put together our Jeopardy-style review game.  Plus, the first few sections of volume 2 are still dealing with Rome, so we'll take this time to do a proper round-up for that empire.

When we finish physics, aside from going through our reviews, we'll move on to another area of science.  I was planning on hitting chemistry next, but the kiddoes have been crazy for the human body and brain models we found in the store around the holidays.  So the plans have changed.  Our next area will be a study of the human body.  Depending on how long we spend on that and the kiddoes interest, we might round it out into a biology/ life science study afterward.  I must admit, it's sooo much easier to find resources for a young elementary study of humans than it was physics, which has been really nice.  Of course now, I have to be much more critical of what resources I do use or else we'll all be overwhelmed!

Since Goblin finished up a level from one of his individual programs, I gave him a week off from math.  Technically, he still did some math, but it was our fun filler math activities, rather than his usual program.  We're going to move into RightStart B, but we'll be taking it pretty slow.  He's understanding well and could probably fly right through a lot of this level as well, but since he's already ahead of where he needs to be, I like the idea of slowing things down and leaving more time for playing.  We'll lessen the number of days we spend in his 'program' and fill the rest in with other things, reading math story books like Number Stories of Long Ago and One Grain of Rice and practicing with our math games.

We seem to have settled into a very comfortable routine for our homeschooling days, which has brought me a lot of peace of mind.  For now, we are staying the course with curricula that have been working and adding in additional supplements for subjects we haven't covered well (I am not great about making time to study music, but that is one of my goals for 2014).  I am so happy with where we are right now, and looking forward to more fun as we keep moving along!

--Little Miss Crazy

Fun with Math

Goblin has been having a great time and flying through RightStart A's final few lessons.  This week we completed the whole level!

Although the math balance wasn't used in many of the lessons this level, he still played around with it a lot.  His number sense and understanding amazes me.  One of his last lessons was all word problems, and he buzzed right through them in no time flat.

During one lesson using the balance, we put different amounts of weights on each side of it, then Goblin had to figure out how many to add to the smaller side to make them equal.  Plus, I had him write out the equations we figured out this way.

I could not be more happy with how well RightStart is working for Goblin.  He doesn't always want to do his school work, but as soon as I pull out the abacus, he ALWAYS gets excited for math.  Lots of manipulatives, games for reviewing, and variety in lessons really make RightStart a winner for him.

We're going to take a full week off from math (formal math, at least) to celebrate finishing this level.  Then we'll move into RightStart B and keep plugging along.

--Little Miss Crazy

Looking ahead in Language Arts

I've been looking for a new language arts program. Don't get me wrong, I still LOVE Logic of English.  But soon my kiddoes will be through the programs. So I decided to start searching for our "next step."

One of the best things about LoE has been that it covers all of language arts: reading, writing, literature, handwriting, grammar, vocabulary, phonics, and of course spelling.  It is great to have all those bases covered for now, and it would be amazing to find another single program to do it all again.  I am still on the lookout for that perfect program to combine all that and not be prohibitively expensive.  But in the meantime, I'll be piecing together what I know, what I have, and what I feel can give us a simple but thorough approach.

I know I will continue to use the tools from LoE to practice phonograms and probably move on to the advanced ones to give my kiddoes a good base, coupled with review work on spelling rules.  So, my primary focus has been on finding something to cover the other areas of LA like literature, grammar, and writing.

I've decided to jump in with both feet and try out Language Lessons Through Literature for our primary curriculum.  This will determine our readings, grammar practice, copywork, and additional narrations.  It even includes some picture study for a little bit of art appreciation, which has certainly been missing from our schooling.

We'll be coordinating our language arts work with our read-alouds.  LLTL covers one grammar concept at a time using examples and practices from those readings.  The kiddoes will also need to begin doing oral narrations based on fables as well as some from the picture studies.  LLTL also includes a daily copywork or dictation assignment from those readings and narrations.  It does a very nice job of tying all the learning to the literature selections, which I really appreciate (and those selections are all public domain books, which keeps the expenses down).  This allows the kiddoes to see grammar and literature elements in their actual reading, rather than random exercises, so they can more easily connect them to something real.

Copywork and dictation are the basis for writing in LLTL, and should be plenty for the boys.  I'm still looking for something to add in a little more structured writing work for Athena.  I may just choose one concept (outlining, introductions, etc) to work on and assign a monthly project (a la BraveWriter), rather than trying to find another full program to add in, although this is definitely up in the air (I'm having a lot of fun researching programs, even though I still haven't found one I want to use).

We'll continue with our poetry and hot cocoa days, since the kiddoes love those, but LLTL also includes a poem to read with each lesson.  If they don't enjoy having it as part of their daily work, we can always skip it; and I'll make sure to read those poems during our usual poetry time. :)

The best part of LLTL, for me, is that I can begin to add it in now.  The program is laid out for only 3 days a week and can be very flexible.  I have been meaning to give the boys the chance to slow down in their progression through LoE Foundations, and this should be a good way to substitute a day or two a week and still be doing something worthwhile.  A gentle introduction to grammar and an increase in their writing awareness should be just the ticket to keep everyone working without getting burnt out.

--Little Miss Crazy

Flying apples, flour, and racing in circles

Newton's second law is best summed up with the formula F=ma or force equals mass times acceleration.  It seems like it should take a lot of math to explain newton's 2nd law.  But in fact, it takes a marshmallow and a golf ball. :)  Let me explain.

Gravity is always our go-to force to study, since we can easily see it in every day situations.  When the apple falls onto the knife, it de-celerates because of the addition of friction, which changes the downward force until it finally comes to a stop.  This demo left the kids a bit confused, so we looked into something a bit more fun . . . and messy. :)

We filled a container with flour (sand would have been less messy, but I didn't have any on hand). Hulk held up a golf ball, and Goblin held a marshmallow.  Then, they dropped them into the flour. 

Then we measured how deep the holes made by each object went into the pan.  Since they had different masses (golf balls are much heavier than marshmallows), we can see the difference in force at which they hit the ground based on the difference in the impacts (the depth of the hole they made).

Since the boys were covered in flour, I made them go outside to shake it all off, which I think was everyone's favorite part of school for the day. Science should always be a little bit messy and a lot of fun.

--Little Miss Crazy

Introducing the Jewish nation

Along with our discussion of Egypt, we talked about the Jewish nation. The Story of the World uses Bible stories to explain their origins and how they ended up in Egypt.

First they related the story of God telling Abram (later Abraham) to go to Canaan and obey him, and he would make Abraham father of a nation.  The family line continues from Abraham to Isaac to Jacob.

Then we have the story of Jacob's sons. He had 12 sons; the youngest was Joseph.  He is best known for his coat of many colors. But he also was taken away to Egypt because of his brothers' jealousy, where he eventually became very important to the pharaoh.  He even warned the pharaoh about an upcoming famine and was put in charge of grain rations.  Eventually his brothers were also hit by this famine and came to Egypt for grain. The family was reunited, and Joseph encouraged them all to move to Egypt, which is how the Jewish nation and the Egyptian empire came to be in the same place for a stretch of history.

The kiddoes each painted their own coat of many colors, and they all turned out very differently.  They each started with the same template but came up with very different ideas of what such a special coat would look like.  Goblin even drew in the man within the coat on his picture. :)

This week was strange for me, since it was more of a Bible study weekthan a typical history week. Of course, a great deal of the information we have about our history comes from religious texts, since those have been considered the most important documents to preserve.  In the end, it all does come out to be a very cohesive story, and at this stage, that's what it's all about

--Little Miss Crazy

Calendar building

Right after we celebrated New Years, the kiddoes felt very interested in keeping track of the passage of time (another happy outcome of making resolutions and plans for the entire coming year).  I jumped on this frame of mind and pulled out some resources I've been holding onto .

The kiddoes (well Athena and Goblin anyway) built their own calendars that they plan to use to keep track of the days.  They have had calendars before but still always get lost during the weeks, since they have very little desire to pay attention to the days and months passing.  This time, since they have made their own personal calendars together, I am hoping they will feel more motivated and hopefully keep one another in check (everyone likes to show they're just as good or better than their siblings).

Goblin only made the first two months for his calendar (January and February), but he has been doing a pretty good job of marking off days as we go through the month.  Some nights he forgets, but usually he is very excited to cross out each day when he goes to bed.

Athena made the full year's worth of calendar pages along with fun holiday decorations.  She hasn't been crossing off the days, but she does tell me what day it is when she wakes up in the mornings usually.
 

Although Hulk said he wanted to make a calendar too, he never got around to it.  He was too busy reading Ten Apples Up on Top!.  And I can't say I'm unhappy about that distraction, though. :)

--Little Miss Crazy

Hieroglyphics and Cuneiform

I wanted the kiddoes to understand that the civilizations building in both Mesopotamia and Egypt existed at the same time.  To bridge the two cultures, we spent a week discussing the similarities and differences in the writings that survive today from each culture.

In Mesopotamia, their writings were carved into clay while it was still wet, then baked to preserve the message.  The Egyptian writing, on the other hand, has been found on 2 mediums: stone tablets and papyrus.  Early writings were carved into stone tablets, and a few hundred years later, the Egyptians found a way to make paper from reeds and used this for writing.

The kiddoes used some alphabet charts from the Story of the World Activity Guide to draw their names in both languages.  Since the later Egyptians wrote on paper, they wrote their names in hieroglyphics on paper.

But cuneiform (the Mesopotamian writing) was formed with a series of wedges carved into wet clay.  So we formed our own tablets out of wet clay.

The kiddoes used pencils and other tools to recreate the wedge shapes to form their names in the clay.  We also used a straw to make 2 holes along the top of each tablet, and after letting them dry (we used air dry clay), we ran a string through the holes, and the kiddoes got to hang their cuneiform tablets on the wall in their rooms.

This project was a favorite of mine.  Putting your name (or a common word) into different languages is a fun and simple way to learn to compare and contrast.  They already knew how their names looked in English, and now they know how might have looked in other cultures.  They also had to create each, so they can understand similarities and differences in the "how" as well.  The final bonus: the kiddoes were so excited to display their creations and tell about what they learned.

--Little Miss Crazy