New Year

Well, our new school year has started.  Several things are changing this year and several are staying the same.  First of all, we are continuing our volunteer work at our local park.  We've been twice already and are very glad to be getting back to filling the bird feeders and clearing the trails every Wednesday morning.  We are really looking forward to being in the park as Fall comes and seeing the change in the colors.  We are also continuing with our co-op, which is now growing.  We look forward to a year of great projects with our friends.

What's changing this year?  Well, after spending a lot of time this summer looking at different curricula and trying to decide how to more forward, I have decided to give Time4Learning a try.  It's a complete online curriculum for K-8.  We've been using it for about a month now and, so far, I'm very pleased with it.  I want to give it another few weeks and then I'll do a more in-depth review.  We are using it mostly for Math and Language Arts - I still really love our Unit Studies for History and Science.  That's where we get to do all the fun stuff!  But I can pull certain lessons from T4L to supplement our Unit Studies.  With a Grandparents Grant, the boys now each have their own laptop and work/read independently for much of the morning.

Ah, the beauty of the Periodic Table!

I'm also using BrainPop, another online resource to supplement all of our subjects (again, I plan to do a more in-depth review after a few more weeks of using it).  It's a great way to introduce a new topic and the boys really enjoy the animated videos with Tim and Moby.  I'm still cobbling together a lot of different resources, because I don't want the boys on the computer all day, but using the T4L curriculum gives me a strong spine to work with.  It also gives me reassurance that we are covering everything they need to cover.

So, to get us started this year, we are doing units on Chemistry and the Middle Ages. The Middle Ages is another one of those units like Ancient Egypt - there is so much to do, I can hardly squeeze it all in.  We have studied knights, the Feudal System, Heraldry, the Goths, Visigoths and Ostrogoths, the Crusades, and the Plague.  We have read two great historic fiction tie-ins (Crispin by Avi and Found by Margaret Peterson Haddix) and watched several movies/documentaries about knights, vikings and Robin Hood.  For projects, we made mosaic tiles and some really cool stained glass window stick-ons that now adorn our back door.

The Boys' mosaic tiles displayed with the painted ones they did in  co-op.

I loved how these turned out so much, I had to do one too!

We are going to finish up with Charlemagne, the Vikings (including some more cool mythology) and the Magna Carta.  The Boys have already started on their final projects - one on the Black Death and the other on the Crusades.

We are doing a Chemistry unit because the boys really liked that last year and because it has a lot of connection to the Middle Ages.  After learning about atomic structure and phases of matter last year, we are focusing on elements, compounds, bonds, and the periodic table.  So of course, we started with alchemy and then learned about Mendeleev and his periodic table.  Our first experiment was the electrolysis of water.  At first, the boys were a little disappointed that there was not some big explosion when I hooked the battery up to the pencils sticking in the water.  But when they saw the bubbles of gas forming on the ends of the pencils, they were fascinated.  We let it run all day.

For our chemistry unit, I am using a combination of the second Chemistry unit from Intellego and a wonderful resource I found from Ellen McHenry (http://www.ellenjmchenry.com/).  She has some great unit studies and a lot of free resources on her site.   All of her units have lots of experiments, board games and activities.  I love her hands-on approach to science.  Check out the Brain Hat - I can't wait to try that one!

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Field Trip!

So, what have we been doing since Ancient Greece and the Iditarod?  Well, we've been preparing for and going on our huge field trip to Washington DC.  Our friends over at Intellego have several excellent Unit Studies that we combined to give us an overview of the American Revolution, American Government and the Presidents of the US.  The Boys really enjoyed going through all the Presidents and finding out what they were known for and what was going on during different periods of history.  It gave us a good introduction to US History that we can build on as we go through it in more depth.

We also did a lot of planning, looking through the Smithsonian website (an excellent resource) and finding other interesting spots to visit in DC.  We checked out a few Washington DC with Kids guides and came up with long lists of what we wanted to see.

Then, finally, the trip came.  Needless to say, our list was much longer than the time we had to spend there.  But we got through our top picks:  Natural History, American History and Air and Space of the Smithsonian; the Mall, the Spy Museum, the Building Museum and the National Geographic Society.  The Boys loved riding the Metro everywhere and learned quickly how to navigate.  We also came back to the hotel most every evening in time for a swim in the pool.

Perhaps the highlight of the trip was at the National Geographic Society.  We went to see the new exhibit on the sinking of the Titanic (always a fascinating subject).  While we were there, watching the film about Bob Ballard finding the wreckage of the Titanic under 2.5 miles of ocean, who should walk in?  Dr. Ballard himself!  He was gracious enough to pose for a picture with the boys.  We've read more about him and his very interesting career since we got home.  We also found out about his Jason Project, a great resource for teaching science to middle schoolers.  We'll be using their Ecology unit in May.

The trip was full of interesting new discoveries and opportunities to see some of the things we've already studied.  We will be working on a scrapbook of our trip and possibly a project on the Titanic over the next few weeks. 

In May, we will be hosting our Homeschool co-op and planning four units of activities in History.  Needless to say, we have a plethora of materials to use!  We will also be doing a unit on Biology and Ecology.  I'm sure there will be several trips to zoos in our future.

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Ancient Greece and the Iditarod

I'm not sure how these two things came together, except that we were moving on to Ancient Greece and the Iditarod starts in March.  So we'll call it a calendar coincidence.

Our study of Ancient Greece has been a lot of fun.  The Boys are at a great age to study Greek Mythology - old enough so you don't have to gloss over the gory stuff.  The Mythology also really speaks to the need for heroes in boys (as evidenced by their love of comic book heroes).  Plus, it's just exciting stuff.  We have read stories from the Odyssey, the trials of Hercules, the lore of Pan.  We have studied the birth of democracy and contrasted it with the tyranny of the Pharaohs.  The Boys were fascinated with the differences between the artistic and democratic Athenians and the militaristic and minimalist Spartans.  We learned a LOT about archeology and how scientists date artifacts and piece together a picture of an ancient society.  Of course, we took a field trip to the Parthenon replica which just happens to be ten minutes from our house.  And, did I mention, we made a pretty vase!

 

  

 

We read the first two books in the Percy Jackson series as read alouds.  Again, I am really impressed with how Rick Riodan weaves the myths into a modern story while staying true to the original myth.  Even with all the mythology we were reading, we came across several references in the Percy Jackson stories that we hadn't heard elsewhere.  When we looked them up, we always found them to be almost exactly as he told them in the book.

So how does the Iditarod fit into all this?  Well, many years ago, I remember hearing a teacher giving an example of how she used technology in the classroom.  She had her class follow the Iditarod online.  I thought that was a really cool idea and it has stayed with me.  So when I saw the it was starting in March, we put it on our calendar.  We have learned about Alaska and its geography, the history of the Iditarod, the Junior Iditarod and a lot about dogs.  For our evening entertainment  (especially since it's pledge week on PBS and none of our regular shows are on), we are watching a Discovery Channel show about the 2008 Iditarod.  We've picked out our favorites and now we are tracking them in this year's race through the Iditarod site.  Pretty fun stuff.

The Boys don't want to end our study of Ancient Greece, but we're coming to the end of the unit.  They have decided to put together a two-man play of the Odyssey for their final project.  It's going to be adventurous and funny.  It will also double as their entry in the talent show our co-op will be doing in the Spring.  Stay tuned for more details.

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Chemistry Final Project

For our final project in chemistry, we decided to do a stop-motion animation.  I had been looking forward to trying this with the Boys and they really loved it.  We covered a lot more in our chemistry unit than the states of matter, but the moving molecules and different speeds made this the perfect subject for our first little film.  I think we'll do many more of these in the future - and Lego animation is definitely in the works!  If you have any toga-clad Lego people, please let me know.  I would love to stage the Odyssey in Lego-mation.

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Nature Therapy, Part Deux

Since we have left Egypt behind and finished The Red Pyramid, and because we've been spending so much time in the park, I decided to read My Side of the Mountain as our next read-aloud.  Boy1 and I read it together a few years ago, but he was more than willing to hear it again.  It was a big hit and very timely.  We ripped through it in a week because the Boys wouldn't let me stop reading.  We had to take turns reading when my voice got tired.  They are already begging for the next book in the series.  There is something about My Side of the Mountain that really speaks to this age - I know it did to me.  We also have a companion guide to the series that is full of project ideas.  I'm just not sure how we're going to fit it all in!

So now, in addition to birdwatching, the Boys have begun a new backyard project.  A tree that fell up against our swing set is now being turned into a new fort. Hmmm...I guess we're just going to have to live with the dead tree for a while.  They would kill me if I had it removed!

The Boys are collecting vines and sticks to weave through the branches of the fallen tree to enclose the space under it.  And they are working on carving some furniture for it.  The neighborhood boys have been over in the afternoon all this week to help work on it, even in the rain. Yes, there is mud all over my house.  No, I don't care.

Our volunteering at the nature park is going very well.  This past week, the Boys cleaned and refilled the bird feeders and got to help clean out the aquarium in the visitor's center.  I've already told the education person there that we are available for any projects she needs help on.  We also went back to the park the next day with two other homeschooling families for a hike and a picnic lunch up at the observation platform.

And, we hiked the trails and took the dog out for a good run.

We have finished up our Chemistry unit and for our final project, the Boys are going to do a stop-motion animation film to explain some of the concepts they learned.  We are also getting started on Ancient Greece.  I see more Rick Riordan books and plaster art projects in our future. 

 I downloaded a retelling of The Odyssey and some Herculean tales by Odds Bodkin.  I just can't say enough good things about Odds Bodkin.  If you have kids, you need to get some of his stories.  The Boys have been listening to him since they were in preschool.  His Little Proto tales, stories about a little protoceratops and his dinosaur friends and his Paul Bunyan stories are still favorites around here.  You can download his stories directly from his website now.  I highly recommend them.

 

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Nature Therapy

We started our volunteering this week at our local nature park.  We will be putting out bird seed at all the feeding stations once a week and checking the trails for obstructions.  The Boys were so excited to get out there for our first day, even though it was pouring down rain.  Unfortunately, I forgot the camera, so I have no pictures - but it was a great morning.  One of the adult volunteers took us around, showing us where they keep the seed and where all the feeding stations are.  The boys worked diligently to clean out and refill all the feeders and bird baths.  Afterwards, the staff made us some hot chocolate to thank us for coming out in the rain (they really didn't expect us to show up).  We sat in the rockers on the back porch of the Nature Center and watched the forest while we enjoyed our warm drinks.  Afterwards, the boys wanted to go in and watch the birds who came to the feeders through the observation window in the Nature Center, so we spent a half-hour identifying the birds.

They were so excited about their new bird-watching skills that they wanted to get a new feeder to put out on our back porch.  Now birdwatching is their new favorite activity.  This morning, they spent 45 minutes staring out our back door and recording all the different birds who came to visit our feeder.

Now, for those of you who don't know the Boys, let me just explain to you what a miracle this is.  These are two boys who "can't sit still", "can't stop distracting other students" and "who have trouble concentrating".  Yet here they are, sitting still and quietly, identifying and logging birds.  Amazing.

Later, we took our lunch to the park and hiked up to the observation platform where the Boys indulged in their other new favorite hobby: whittling.  They are both working on walking sticks.

I can see such a difference in the boys already.  In only one month, Boy1 has lost 10 pounds and stopped having the headaches he had 3-4 times a week when he was in school.  They are both much less focused on video games and popular music and their interests are starting to expand.

We have started several other new things this week - meditation, for one and using our new pedometers to track our daily exercise.  I hope to get a post up soon showing some of the books and other resources we are using.

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Side trip

One of the things I love most about homeschooling is the chance to take a side trip.  When I was thinking about homeschooling last year (a lot), I kept seeing opportunities that I would have jumped on.  The Royal Wedding- we would have gotten up to watch the wedding coverage, had a proper English breakfast, done a quick lesson on the British Monarchy, had a nap and probably ended the day with a Monty Python movie (oh, why not?).  The day of the last space shuttle flight - watch the lift off, visit the NASA and ISS websites, research the history of the shuttle program, watch Apollo 13 and then spend the evening identifying the constellations.

Well, nothing quite that big has hit since we started homeschooling, but today was the birthday of Lewis Carroll.  So, after math and reading, we took a little side trip.  We watched Alice in Wonderland (neither the Disney nor the Johnny Depp version, but the 1999 version which is much closer to the original story); had a proper English tea, complete with funny hats; and read several of Carroll's poems.

We discussed Carroll's writing style and how the Boys saw several similarities to Dr. Seuss.  We talked about how ironic it was that, despite his wild imagination, Carroll was a math professor by day.  And, most importantly, we discussed the joy of good tea.  We decided that we might make afternoon tea a weekly event.  Who knows?  Maybe I can even sneak in a few lessons in table manners!

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Adding on

Well, Egypt can definitely carry a unit.  Ancient Mesopotamia? Not so easily.  There was so much to do for Egypt that I really felt like we could have spent another week on it and still have stuff left over.  But we moved on to Mesopotamia last week and things got a little slow.  So this week, as we move into Ancient China, I'm moving away from focusing on just one unit at a time.  We added Chemistry this week and we are splitting our Unit Study time between the two.  It went very well.  We started on the study of matter and I had planned a few simple experiments about the states of matter.  The boys took off from there, wanting to see water go through the cycle of all three states.  So, out came the ice and the saucepans and we played with water for a good 30 minutes.

Then, we studied the properties of matter and played with gases.  Here they are making carbon dioxide in a measuring cup and trying to light a candle in it.

We'll be finishing up Ancient China this week.  Then we'll see if Chemistry can hold it's own for a week or two, because next up in Ancient History are the Greeks and the Romans.  That could take a whole month!

Also, three of my other main goals for us are more movement, more time outside, and volunteering.  It was 53 degrees today in January and we live right on the edge of one of the largest municipal parks.  So we grabbed Sanga and out we went for a hike.  It was gorgeous.  We stopped in at the nature center and after a short chat with their education specialist, we now have a weekly gig.  We'll be feeding the birds in the morning and checking the paths for obstructions before the school groups start arriving!

Here was our First Period today:

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Egyptian Unit - Final pictures

Even though today was officially a snow day (we plan to follow the regular school schedule, for now), we finished up our Egypt books today and did some more reading.  I am very pleased with how well the file books turned out.  And the best part?  The Boys both kept talking about how proud they were of the work they did.  Having them do something they were proud of, rather than the minimum required for the assignment, was one of my major goals.

Here are the Boys with all of their projects: the mummy mask, mini sarcophagi w/mummies, pharaoh portraits, clay ankhs and Eyes of Horace and their Egypt books (and the 3D pyramid puzzle we did over the holidays).

 Boy1's book:

Boy2's book:

OK - I can't figure out why one of those loaded sideways or how to fix it.  So just turn your head, ok?

Even though we used a double file book, which gave them 10 panels to work with inside, both Boys had topics left over they wanted to include.  I think they liked these so much because of how much they enjoy the "-ology" books.  We must have about 10 or 12 of them (Oceanology, Pirateology, Mythology, etc.).  They love opening the flaps, pulling things out of the little envelopes, flipping through the mini-books.  This was their own version of Egyptology, and a great final project for our unit. 

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Egyptian Unit Study

So, we have started with Egypt (a little bit of a skip-ahead in the Unit), for several reasons.  First of all, what's not to love about Egypt?  There is just so much to work with, from boats to pyramids to mummies.  There are so many resources about it, I've had to really narrow down the books and documentaries we are using.  Also, there was a large exhibit of Egyptian artifacts at our local museum - FIELD TRIP!

PBS's Egypt's Golden Empire series and website, the British Museum's Ancient Egypt site and the National Museum's of Scotland kids' site together gave us more lesson plans, information, pictures and interactive activities than we could get to.  The Boys have made a virtual mummy (which required some in-depth knowledge of mummification techniques), a real mummy mask, a mini sarcophagus with mummy.  We have discussed in depth the chaotic reign of Akhenaten and the brief reign of Tutenkhamun.  They have written in hieroglyphics, played Senet and built a pyramid.

Here's the mummy mask in progress.  We decided that plaster casts are a great project and they've already asked if they can do a mask from each civilization we study.

Here, they are starting on their folder books.  I was a little surprised at how well they took to the idea (even though it is a homeschooling staple).  They are having a great time putting them together.  I'll post pictures when they are complete.  Here they are starting with a map of Ancient Egypt.

Another very popular activity - bean bag tossing (see previous post about the Bal-A Vis-X program).  They are tossing bean bags while I read aloud from the Red Pyramid by Rick Riordian.

The Red Pyramid has been a great tie-in for reading.  We all really enjoyed the Percy Jackson books and this has been just as exciting.  It's also filled with references to Ancient Egyptian Gods.  The Boys are constantly jumping on the references as I read and filling in the details from what we have learned.  We're almost finished with our Unit - I'll post the final pictures of all the projects soon.

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Our Approach

To introduce you to a little of what we are doing...
We are definitely from the Eclectic Homeschooling camp.  I have pulled together resources from several different curricula, depending on what I think will appeal to the Boys.  We have started with the Ancient Civilization unit from Intellego.  I really like how their unit studies are put together - just enough structure, links, ideas and resources to give me a framework.  Combine that with a few dozen library books, some documentaries and tons of hands-on projects, and we've got a month's worth of Unit Study.  The Unit block takes up the biggest portion of our day and I've been tying in anything I can think of to our Unit: art, reading, writing and even math. 

For our math studies, I have chosen Life of Fred, a very unconventional, but very thorough, reading-based math study.  So far, the Boys are really enjoying it.  Reading is a constant at our house, so I have just been giving the Boys reading time every afternoon.  We also are always doing a read-aloud together, sometimes more than one (one with Dad in the evening, one with me during the day).  Writing, on the other hand, has always been a chore for the Boys.  Santa brought them each a copy of The Boys' Doodle Book by Andrew Pinder (smart Santa!).  It's a great way to get boys to doodle and write using some very imaginative prompts.  They also each got a new journal and spend some time every few days writing in it.

There are several other priorities that I am working on.  Movement is a big one.  We take a break during Unit study time and toss some bean bags around.  I am following the Bal-A-Vis-X method that I bought several years ago to give us some good throwing patterns that work on crossing the mid-line.  We also do some tossing back and forth each day standing on the balance board.  We'll work up to the ball bouncing as we get better at the patterns.  Here's an good introduction to the program:

Another great resource I've found is Energizing Brain Breaks.  There's a book and several videos on YouTube.  I'm trying to take baby steps and add only one thing at a time - we'll be adding a short meditation time soon and then maybe some yoga. Since the winter weather has held off, we go for several walks a day, sometimes 3 or 4.  Our dog Sanga is getting a LOT of attention.

So far, I am very please with how well we've been covering the major topics each day - Unit study, math, reading, writing, movement and art.  The Boys have been enjoying it so much, it hasn't been as difficult as I though it would be to stay on task!

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The Beginning

We finally took the leap!  After several years of frustration with the public school system and many years of wondering why both my boys hated school so much, I finally quit my job and pulled the boys out of school.  Our experience in public schools has been mixed, at best.  My boys were lucky - we got a lottery slot at one of the best elementary schools in the county.  They have both had wonderful teachers - caring, experienced and so willing to work with us on any issue that came up.  So many of them were so inventive, working within the curriculum to give the children hands-on experiences.  And yet, it was a daily struggle to get the boys to school and to get their homework done.

I know...boys who don't want to go to school and don't want to do their homework.  What's new about that?  But then I started to question, why does it have to be that way?  My boys are naturally very curious and love learning about stuff at home.  They are voracious readers (when it's not an assignment).  Why does school have to be so different?

Part of the problem is just being boys.  My boys are active, antsy, silly and talkative.  All things that don't go over well when someone is trying to herd 25 students along on the same lesson.  My boys are distracting to others.  They can't sit still for very long.  And they need breaks and recess.  Desperately.  They need physical activity.  They are an unstoppable force; and, unfortunately, schools have become an unmovable object.

What if there was a way that they could learn without being made to feel like they could never do anything right?  What if it were ok to bounce and jump around while listening to a story?  What if you could write about what interested you?  What if you were allowed to follow your own passions?  We plan to find out.

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