Too Cool Not to Share!

http://www.sciencejim.com/

Offers online web classes in science for ages 9 and up!  Very reasonable prices too!  (And coming from me, 'reasonable' can also be read as 'cheap')

Go over and check it out!  I am seriously doing this with my kiddos.

The American Adventure Series

I came across a few of the books in this series at our local used book store during the summer and thought they might be a nice addition to our history studies this year.

We LOVE this book!

It's written for ages 9-12 and is full of historical information.  And its actually an interesting read!  You find yourself really rooting for the main characters, John and Sarah Smythe, as they make the trip to North America on board the Mayflower.  Historic figures are brought to 'life'...William Bradford, William Brewster, John Alden, and Captain Jones.

I don't know about you, but anything that provides another 'facet' of learning gets me excited.  We have enjoyed this book as a read aloud as we study this period of American history.  Did I mention the kids love hearing it?  As much as I have enjoyed reading it out loud to them.

There are several books in this series.  I'm tempted to buy some more!

The History of the World, Part 1

And no...I'm not talking about a campy Mel Brooks film, which, by the way, still makes me laugh.

I'm talking about one of the more popular subjects in this house.....HISTORY.

We love us some history.  This is why....

 Story of the World was written by homeschoolers for homeschoolers.  It's written as if the history were an adventure story,  not just a dry list of dates and names.  My kids love this curriculum!  We've used it since the beginning, when my kids were 4th and 1st grades, respectively.  Story of the World (or SOTW) also comes with a fantastic activity book which includes a map for each chapter of study, so you get a healthy dose of geography as well.  Personally, I feel the maps help you visualize how historical events developed.  I mean,if you can see the relationships between countries, empires, etc, you gain a better understanding of why or how something happened.  Now,  the older my kids have gotten, I will say the other activity pages are not 'enough' for them.  I almost abandoned the SOTW ship this year because I knew I wanted hands on activities...just at a slightly higher caliber. 

Then I met History Odyssey....

 It was just what I was looking for!  History Odyssey is more or less an outline, helping you use different resources to teach with.  It also has a list of historical fiction works to coincide with the periods studied.  And lucky me, the used book store in town had 90 percent of the books needed!  It also includes maps for each chapter studied and copies of famous documents studied.  It took a little 'fanangling' on my part to make up lesson plans using this with SOTW simply because, although they teach the same period in history, some things are taught at different times.  But there was such a wealth of information here I couldn't say no.  My only concern was that I got Level 2 instead of Level 1.  Level 1 just seemed a little too 'young' for my kids, and Level 2 at times seems a little advanced...but the beauty of homeschooling is that I can tailor it to fit their abilities.  And I'd much rather teach 'up' than 'down'.

Another perk from History Odyssey was their timeline.  As you study, you can add events and people to the timeline and get a greater understanding of the sequence of events.  It was sold separately but I splurged anyway. 

One of the resources heavily used througout History Odyssey was the Kingfisher History Encyclopedia....

Great reference tool!  Has an illustrated, two-page spread for each topic throughout history AND it's written in chronological order.  My kids scooped it up as soon as it came in the mail and read it like a story book.

What about you?  Do you have a history curriculum that you love? 

Art, Art, Bo-Bart

If I were left to my own devices, I would only teach art, grammar, creative writing and Latin.  Maybe geography.  As a kid, the only class in school that I truly loved and couldn't get enough of was art.  Many homeschool moms (and public school for that matter) may view art as 'fluff', unimportant to education.  I disagree.  It's the one subject where there is NO WRONG ANSWER.  You can express your thoughts, feelings and emotions in a way that is safe.  I also love to mix in art history as well, focusing on the great artists and their lives and great works.  To me, that is all part of a well rounded education.  So, even if my kids end up with jobs where they have to ask "Do you want fries with that?" they will still be able to tell you who painted 'Washington Crossing the Delaware'  and 'Sunflowers'.

 I LOVE THIS BOOK.  It not only provides a brief biography of each artist, but includes an art project 'in the style' of that artist.  My kids love to do the projects.  It is so convenient to have all of that together in one place.  (Something else I have planned are cultural art project coinciding with our history/geography lessons...for example, when studying Japan in history, we will use a Japanese artist and ther technique.)

 This one is a new one for us.  It is more of a technical curriculum, focusing on things such as line, shape, value, balance, etc.  It too includes bios and examples of great artists and their work AND tells a bit about what was going on in that time in history.  Very cool.

Okay, so I know this isn't art, it's music,  but it's another subject viewed as 'fluff'.  You get lessons on each great composer AND a cd with selections of their music.  Which I plan on playing as we do our art lessons.  Because I am kooky like that.

So, there you have it for my 'fluff' stuff!  How about you?  Are these subjects important to you?  What approach do you take with your kids?

Fun Math Stuff...yes, I said FUN!

I have to say, I love the notebooking thing.  We have used notebooking in our history and science in the past and it really adds another dimension to our studies. 

Yesterday I was perusing one of my favorite blogs, http://jimmiescollage.com/  (Jimmie's Collage) and she had some wonderful ideas for math enrichment.  And truth be known, anything that makes math appealing in this house is so worth it. 

She introduced me to the idea of notebooking for math.  I know, I am sure everyone else has caught on to this idea but me, but it was like someone smacked me in the forehead.  GREAT IDEA!  So I went on Amazon and ordered this:

I believe that learning about the great mathematicians in history is a wonderful enrichment idea.  Jimmie also has a Squidoo lens all about math notebooking ideas  (  http://www.squidoo.com/math-notebooking  )-go check it out!

We will also be using these sources for our Fun Fridays...meaning, Fridays will be reserved for our hands on, out of the box, exciting stuff....

"Hardhatting in a Geo World" by  AIMS Education Foundation, which integrates math, physics and engineering, and

"Family Math" by Jean Kerr Stenmark, which has lots of fun, hands on math activities which are also at times heavy on the logic.   Both books are avaliable on Amazon.  And of course, our work from these books will go into our math notebooks as well.

For those of you with math whiz kids, I totally envy you.  Maybe some of my plans for math this year will at least make it more appealing and enjoyable than it has been in the past!

2011-2012 Curriculum: Language Arts

In school, I was the kid who was off the charts in English, grammar, reading, spelling ....and off in the deep end without a paddle in math.   I have always loved Language Arts, and I guess that's why this area was the most difficult to choose a curriculum for. But, after much searching and gnashing of teeth, I decided on a few different things this year.  Here are some of our choices for Language Arts:

I waffled over grammar more than any other subject this year.  I wanted Easy Grammar but, well, for me it is just really d-d-d-r-r-r-y-y-y.  And I happen to love Evan Moor's products.  So we will try this program and see how it goes!

 We loved Sequential Spelling last year!  It's like taking a spelling test every day, with no writing down thousands of spelling words over and over and studying them everyday.  (If you want to know more about their approach, please visit their website!) This program was designed for children with dyslexia and/or ADHD.  I was a tad skeptical at first because it was NOTHING like I remembered from school...however, my third grade daughter scored in the 7th grade level for spelling in her ITBS test, so it must be doing something right! (For the record, my son scored on grade level, and he is horrible at spelling, bless his heart.)

Another shot in the dark with this one.  This is a writing program that I have heard wonderful things about.  I am hoping we will love it too.

For reading, our history program requires lots of historical fiction and biographies as part of its program, so I will not have a separate assigned reading list.  Any other reading will be for pleasure! (I will discuss it sometime in the future.)

2011-2012 Curriculum, Part Deux

Logic is something I want to focus on this year.  My plan is to have 'regular math' four days a week and on the fifth day have some sort of hands on math as well as logic problems.  Here are some of our resources:

For me, education is more about teaching 'how' to think.  If you can teach children to think logically and critically...they will spend the rest of their lives educating themselves.

How about you?  Do you teach logic/critical thinking skills?  What resources do you use?

Some of Our Curriculum for 2011-2012

Here are a few things we will be using this coming school year.

 We're studying Latin this year. Because we can.

 I love the method of teaching vocabulary through Greek and Latin roots.  I can still hear my 9th grade English teacher droning out vocabulary words, always tagging on "...and this comes from the Latin/Greek word  _____  which means  ______..."  I believe it truly helps you to understand the meaning of the word.

Okay-this text may be a little in depth for my youngest, but I will modify lessons for her.  I love Apologia.  If any of you have a great science curriculum, please share!  We love science in this house.

Nature Study

One thing I love about reading 'mommy blogs' is the variety of resources one can find useful.

http://handbookofnaturestudy.blogspot.com/

Handbook of Nature Study is one of those.  Go on over and take a look...there is way too much information on that blog for me to even attempt to provide any over here! 

I also came across these two books:

 These two books have been added to my 'wish list' for our curriculum next year.  The handbook is more or less a guide on how to conduct a nature study.  Obviously the other is a guide on how to get started on a nature journal.   Basically you go out, find examples of what you are wanting to study, and use the journal to sketch, document information, etc.

We will plan on spending at least one hour a week outdoors observing something specific, i.e. a particular type of plant, fungus, creature...or even clouds, weather, etc.  This is otherwise known as...

the Outdoor Hour!  On the Handbook blog you can find a weekly challenge for your nature study that week.  I think the kids will love this for a number of reasons- it's like a scavenger hunt/playtime outside/art.  My son in particular is an avid photographer and he will enjoy snapping photos of what we discover.   I will love it because it will help with scientific observation, such as classifying, observing, documenting, hypothesizing.  I am sure it will also lead to interesting and thought provoking conversations. 

THIS is why I homeschool.  To get my kids outside, in the real world, to learn.

How about you?  Do your kids love the great outdoors like mine?  Do you do a nature study?

Works For Me Wednesday

I have used Saxon Math since I first began homeschooling three years ago...mainly because it was the only math curriculum that I heard about from other homeschoolers.

We strayed last year and ordered a computer based program in order to inject a little 'fun' into the learnin'.  That was a mistake.  Both of my kids are begging for Saxon.

When I pulled my son out of school he had just completed 3rd grade.  Math was his weakest subject and he had lost a lot of confidence in his math abilities.  He has issues with attention span and distractibility, so if he missed a key part of a lesson, he was lost.

What we love about Saxon is the 'spiral' technique of teaching, where a concept is introduced and you are given several practice problems on that topic.   The rest of the lesson is review of other topics you studied previously...but not too many.  Maybe three division, three multiplication, about five word problems, etc.  That way there is constant review of concepts to keep them fresh.

Another plus (for me) is that Saxon, once you get to level 5/4 ( advanced 4th grade or average 5th grade) the textbooks are set up for the student to work independently.  The instructions are written to the student in a simple, straightforward way and there are at least three examples to illustrate.  The earlier grades do require more teacher-student time. 

I will add that I never bought the manipulatives from Saxon, but instead used household products.  We didn't do the 'meeting book' either as it was geared to a classroom setting. 

Some friends say they didn't think Saxon was advanced enough for their children, or fact paced enough.  I happen to prefer that my kids really "get" a concept before moving on and not trying to push them to far to fast. (Of course, they are average math students...I am sure if your child is a math whiz the best thing is to let him/her soar on ahead!)

It is also very affordable compared to other curricula if you opt out of the manipulatives and 'extras'.  I will add that if you want something colorful and 'fun'...look elsewhere.  But this is a good, solid math program.  We will save our colors for art. ;)

And the best part-my son now says his favorite subject is math.(yay!)

So there you have it.  Affordable, constant review of concepts, set up for independent learning.  It works for us!

Curriculum Choices for 2011-2012

Because this is the time of year when homeschool mommas everywhere start thinking all things curriculum (or shipping the kids off to public school!) I have been evaluating my curriculum choices for next year.

Language Arts:  Easy Grammar, Wordly Wise (vocabulary), Sequential Spelling, Writing Strands

Math:  Saxon 5/4 for daughter and Saxon 7/6 for son

History:  Story of the World Volume 3-Early Modern Times

Science:  Apologia Physical Science plus smaller units on topics of interest

Latin:  Latina Prima (I think that's the name of it)

Art/ Music:  Monthly studies of various artists and composers, in addition to music classes

Logic:  Mind Benders, Red Herring Mysteries

But I need a good Bible Study program. Any suggestions?

Geography Songs

Ever notice how you can remember the lyrics to dozens of songs but you can't remember where you left your car keys?  It's because our brains retain information much more easily if it is set to music. 

Geography Songs is a CD/workbook combo that we love in this house.  There is a song and a map for each continent, or portion of continent, plus pages that highlight landmarks in each area. Each song lists the names of the countries in a lyrical fashion and each is set to culturally appropriate music, and the words are printed so you get a visual as well.   Yes-the songs are sometimes a little hokey....but once you get the tune in your head, there is no way to forget it!  I have caught my kids singing the Provinces of Canada while playing, and that was studied last year.  I love it because we can pop the CD into the van CD player and work on learning the songs while we are on the go.

We have expanded on this to include art from the various regions we learn about and include the art and maps in a three ring binder. 

I have to say this is one of my kids favorite subjects in school anyway, but to learn it in a relaxed, fun way makes it even more appealing. 

But I will warn you-these songs *will* get stuck in your head and once they are in there...they are THERE!

Who Says Shakespeare is Complicated?

We are studying the Middle Ages in history and of course we had to come across Shakespeare.  The Shakespeare Can Be Fun! series is an awesome addition to our studies!  Lois Burdett has retold some of Shakepeare's classic plays in a way for children to understand, but she still includes several original quotes and keeps with the poetic feel of each play. 

I'll admit- I was daunted thinking of reading a Shakespeare play with the kids, but then I remembered...these plays weren't written for scholars and educated people.  They were written for the public. Many of whom, back then, would have thrown a  half eaten sausage onto the stage if he didn't like or understand what was going on.  So, I think we will fare just fine!