Native American Unit Study



Last year, when I started planning for this year's history focus, I knew I wanted to do an overview of American History and familiarize my children with the United States map.  I was too cheap to purchase a curriculum when I knew I could put something together for myself.  Unfortunately, I had no idea how long doing something like that could take!  I spent some time putting together a 4-week unit on Native Americans and soon after was gifted the Adventures in My Father's World curriculum!!!!  We did go ahead with my unit on Native Americans and had a LOT of fun, so I thought I would share some of our favorites from the unit.  It is a perfect fit for leading into Adventures, which we are starting this Monday!  (I am so excited!)

Read Alouds we used for naptime and evening reads:

Night Bird

Kaya: An American Girl
Children of the Longhouse by Joseph Bruchac

Handwriting and Art:  we used Draw Write Now book 3.  I let Logan choose a page to do each week.  He spent about 10 minutes each day either drawing, copying sentences, or coloring.

Mapwork:  The books we read lent themselves to quite a bit of mapwork.  Occasionally I photocopied maps of the US to color in as we read.  We also kept a laminated map of the US out in our study area so we could use dry-erase markers to trace the movement of different tribes or the buffalo or to draw in rivers, etc.

We also did several activities out of the Native Americans book from the Evan-Moor History Pocket series.  I also used this book to give the kids an overview of several of the tribes we studied.  They give a nice summary as well as pictures to color for their portfolio.

Literature Focus:  we focused on the terms "myth" and "legend".  There are many Native American stories that offer opportunities to demonstrate these terms.  We read Genesis one at the beginning of our unit and drew pictures of what God created each day.  Then we read the following myths and legends from Native American folklore and compared them to the truth of God's word:

1. The Creation by Joseph Bruchac
2. Grandmother Spider Steals the Sun
3. The Legend of the Grand Canyon
4. The Indian Cinderella

 Week One:  Introduction to Native American as the original inhabitants of North America.

Books:

1. The Discovery of the Americas by Giulio Maestro - pages 3-7.  We did some map work with this.
2. Many Nations:  An Alphabet of Native Americans by Joseph Bruchac




Great Chief Want-More-Wampum


3. Geography From A to Z by Jack Knowlton - we looked up the definitions for the words glacier, strait, and peninsula and then used the sand table, water, and ice to demonstrate the possible ways people may have arrived on the North American continent.

Week Two:  The Seminole and Iroquios Tribes

Books:

1. Good Hunting, Blue Sky by Peggy Parish - This is an easy reader that I had Logan read aloud to me.
2. The American Story by Jennifer Armstrong.  Pages 4-5 give a nice introduction to the Iroquois tribe.
3. Little Runner of the Longhouse by Betty Baker -another easy reader Logan read to me.

Activities:

1. One day we made wampum beads (History Pockets page 82).  I wanted to make a little store for the kids to purchase items from with their beads, but never did pull it off.  The kids enjoyed making the beads though and creating a shopping list for them (History Pockets page 83).
2. We made longhouses
3. and a  canoe.




Making hominy


4. Our Native American legend for this week was Grandmother Spider Steals the Sun.  After reading it, we then painted little pebbles to look like the sun and attached magnets to the back.  We placed these on the refrigerator as a reminder that God is the only true creator and the light of the world.

Week Three:   Sioux Indians

Books:

1. The Sioux:  Nomadic Buffalo Hunters by Rachel Koestler-Grack.  I picked a few pages here and there from the book to read each day.
2. Where the Buffaloes Begin
3. Grandfather Buffalo by Jim Arnosky
4. A Mare for Young Wolf by Janice Shefelman - another easy reader.

Activities:

1. We made a tipi.
2. Had a snack of beef jerky and dried berries.



Making a Sugar Cube Igloo

3. Went on a "buffalo hunt".  This was simply an obstacle course I created in the yard and labeled as grasslands, mountains, and creeks.  The kids had to climb over the little tykes climber and slide down the slide, jump over the kitchen stools, run through the woods in our yard, do it all backwards, and run back to start.  This translated into a game the kids spent the whole afternoon playing!

Week Four-The Inuit

Books: 

1. The Inuit:  Ivory Carvers of the far North by Rachel A. Koestler-Grack.  I picked a few pages to read each day.
2. Knut:  How One Little Polar Bear Captured the World

Activities:

1. We made "ivory carvings" using soap bars and dull paring knives and



"Carving Ivory"

2. a sugar cube igloo.

The little unit was a month of fun.  One of the things I loved the most about it was how well it lent itself to further independent exploration.  The kids spent many afternoons creating Native American costumes out of paper bags and chasing buffalo and enemy tribes through the back yard.  They built longhouses out of lincoln logs and created elaborate stories with the little plastic Indians we bought at the dollar store.  They made tipis out of sheets and filled them with books they checked out of the library. 


Just a side note:  As chance would have it, we stumbled upon a recreated Native American village while hiking through Whitefish Dunes State Park on our vacation to Door County, Wisconsin.  Our vacation was smack-dab in the middle of our Native American unit and the basic little village provided Logan and Sierra with great fun!

Embrace the Toddler In Your Midst

She is a pure delight - our resident toddler.  But our greatest distraction from school work.  As we progress through a new school year, I've been finding a few things that work to keep her distracted. 

1. When using math manipulatives:  share.  Nothing makes Vayla happier than snapping together her own colorful unifix cubes and filling plastic cups with colorful counting bears.
2. During handwriting lessons I have found that she is easily entertained with a few washable, dry-erase markers.  They come easily off of her white, plastic high chair tray, so we dump a few onto her tray and let her create beautiful art work.  Before lunch, the colorful scribbles disappear with the wipe of a damp cloth.
3. During a painting project this week, she so wanted to join in the fun.  I gave her a piece of red construction paper, cup of water, and paint brush.  She loved brushing the water onto the paper, her face, and clothes.  And even more, she loved it when the older kids finished up there projects and came over to "help" with her watery art project.
4. Baby Phy. Ed.:  while working one-on-one with one older child, I'll set the other one to do a phy. ed. class with the toddler.  They dance, push her up and down the driveway in her stroller, climb on the plastic climber in the front yard, or roll balls back and forth. The older kids feel important when I tell them they are the coach for the day and she loves the activities with and older sibling.
5. Pull out a bin.  I keep a couple of lidded containers ready to bring out in an emergency.  They containg plastic animals or blocks or board books, etc.

And the toddlers nap is over, which means my blogging time is over.  I'd love to hear some of your ideas that work well!

10 Things I've Learned During the First Week of School





Looking forward to another
great school year with these two!

After our month-long summer break, the first week back at homeschooling has reminded me of several things:

1. Always begin with family devotions.   Praying for big and small concerns allows the kids to voice concerns that may distract them and for them to know the peace that comes with entrusting the Almighty with things they can do nothing about.  Discussions around the Biblical topic of the day also often speak directly to situations that arise later in the day and the Holy Spirit is already at work in little hearts, gently prompting them in the right direction.
2. Be flexible; what works for me probably won't work for them.  Just because I think my very organized schedule and goal sheet will save the school year, doesn't mean it will work for my free-spirited, independent daughter.  Logan would much prefer to sit in my lap all day and have me help him through his school work, while Sierra would be happier with a big stack of worksheets and learning games to do on her own.  Alpha Phonics did amazing things for Logan, but Sierra hates it.  The beauty of homeschooling is that we can accommodate many of these differences in personality and learning styles. 



Ejnoy the toddler in your midst

3. Enjoy the toddler in your midst.  Math can be done during nap time, but there are so few years of my little bundle of energy running through or math manipulatives screaming, "Huggy Bru-Bru"  (That would be "Hug, Brother" in baby language.) .
4. Don't sign them up for kindergarten just because of a few bad days.  And we had a BAD day this week!  And I really thought, "Oh, thank God school hasn't started yet.  I can still get her into the all-day program down the street."  But I was able to step back, change a few things, and the next day was amazingly productive and happy.  I'm pretty sure she learned more in one day than I ever taught a classroom full of squirmy five year olds in a week during my kindergarten teaching days.

5. In the midst of chaos, take time to hear that still, small voice. My five-year-old has taken to throwing daily temper tantrums, often 2 or 3 times a day.  Time-outs, spankings, and extra chores haven't seemed to effect any change. During the third all-out temper tantrum of the week, I sent her to the car to calm down.  In desperation, I shut myself in the bathroom and said a rather panicked prayer:  "God, I don't know how to stop these fits!  And I can't live with them day after day!"  And in the moment of silence that followed, I remembered hearing Dr. Ray Guarendi talk about "black outs", where the offending child basically looses privileges until the desired changes are made.  Now THIS is speaking my child's language.  I put a movie, her favorite CD, and a little paper with the words "computer time" written on it inside a Ziploc bag.  I took it out to the car where she was still sobbing and refusing to look at me and explained that she would not be allowed to watch movies, listen to her favorite CD, or use the computer until she earned back the privilege.  For every day that she went without throwing a fit, she could choose one thing out of the bag.  And every time the fit throwing reared its ugly head, one more thing would be put in the bag.  I mentioned things she loves like going to children's church (she would have to sit through the service with me), playing with her cousin, and Barbies.  To my surprise, she looked up with clear eyes and a big smile.  "So if I'm really good today I can get out my CD and then tomorrow I'll get my movie and stuff like that until I get it all out of the bag."  I nodded in surprise.  Then she said, "You know, Mom, that's a really good idea.  I think that will really help me!" Three days later and she's earning back her privileges and hasn't lost it even once!



Why read about American History
when you can DO American History?

6. Field trips are worth a stack of books.



Petting horses at the living history museum.

7. A good read-aloud is worth a day of lectures.
8. Manipulatives and messes generally mean learning is going on and should not be viewed as a bother.
9. Real life counts as "school time".  Make brownies instead of doing the measuring worksheet.  We recently invited an elderly lady from our church over for dinner.  Her stories about the post-great-depression era America were far more informative and memorable than any 6 week unit study on the subject.  Be willing to listen and answer questions.  Include children in grown-up conversations when appropriate.  Read the newspaper and other grown-up things aloud.  I'm convinced that a days worth of conversations, especially in the younger years, is worth far more than a mornings worth of worksheets.
10. And last of all I have been reminded of how glad I am that I won't have to put my kids on the bus next Tuesday morning.  I am so blessed to have the means and opportunity to spend my days watching them learn and grow.  What a wonderful, exciting adventure we have embarked on!!!





Re-organized toy/school room!

Previous bookshelf in the toy room

All summer I have been planning a total reorganization of our toy room to make it into more of a homeschooling/play area with at least some sense of organization to it.  Most of our school things were spread out between the toy room, the "office" (basically a dumping ground for all things without a place), and the end of the dining room table.  It was fatiguing just trying to find anything - let alone plan a lesson! 

Where's Mary Poppins When You Need Her?

As I browsed through my email this afternoon, my two oldest children were lying on the living room floor watching Mary Poppins.  She is one of their "favorite people in the world" and they have often discussed the idea that if I were ever unable to take care of them for a week or two Mary Poppins would be their first pick for a nanny.  Despite her stern demeanor and no-nonsense approach to childish indiscretions, they appreciate the order she brings to the Banks' home and the change brought to the children's behavior through her tough love.

Running a Rather Unpopular Race

The other day, while distractedly typing in the web address for my favorite search engine, I accidentally hit a few wrong letters and - BAM - my screen was full of very large, very uncovered breasts.  Horrified, I closed down the computer.

Remember Someone Forgotten for Memorial Day

Up the street from us there is an old, run down house.  Peeling paint, cracked sidewalk, and a rusted out car on the law complete the forlorn look of the place.  A tattered black POW/MIA flag flutters from a makeshift flag pole and a pot of faded plastic flowers hangs year 'round from a branch in the yard's only tree.  In the summer dandelions and tall grasses grow knee high and in the winter snow piles high around the house, smooth and fluffy except for a few footprints between the house and driveway.

The first time I saw the house, a little shiver went down my spine.  It looked so forgotten and unhappy.  At night it looked downright creepy.  Through an open window I could see the single bulb of a shadeless lamp spreading a feeble light around a room piled high with boxes, stacks of papers, and seemingly useless debris.  I wondered what kind of a person could live in such a house.