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!!!





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.

It's Six O' Clock: the True Story of a Day in My Life

It's six o' clock and Dad's almost home:

The baby attempted to completely unload the clean laundry basket.

The local chemist is hard at work on a top-secret potient.

Brilliant minds work at this table.  Think Dad will be impressed with our completed bean sticks for learning place value?

The baby emptied the kleenex box.

Playing outside was lots of fun, but the fire place was so inviting.  "We'll hang up our coats after we have some hot chocolate, okay, Mom?"  Was that really two hours ago?  Where does the time go?

I was going to vacuum....really, I was.

Breakfast, lunch and snacks....oh, my!

Someone decided to move into the living room, packed ALL their clothes into a laundry basket, sat on top of it all, and asked their brother to push them down the stairs.  Mom was so relieved that there was no blood or broken bones she forgot to have the mess cleaned up.

Oh, well.  At least there's chili in the crockpot....if we can only find a place to put our bowls so we can eat it.

Some Fun Things We've Done Recently - Feb. 21, 2011

I haven't posted anything along these lines for awhile because my creativity with hands-on projects has been put on hold for a bit now that the baby has learned to crawl.  Our fun stuff has turned into reading lots of books and coloring or drawing pictures to put in our portfolios and playing lots of games.

We've read so many fun books recently, it would be impossible to list them all here, so I've tried to pick our top 10:

Changes for the New Year

After not really blogging for what seems like a LONG time, I feel as if I should come up with something profound.  But when it comes down to it, when I read homeschooling blogs, I don't necessarily look for profound.  I simply enjoy hearing what everyone is doing.  So, if you are looking for words of wit and wisdom read no further.  For the rest of you...

Thanksgiving Break and the (Sort-Of, but Not Really) Case for Unschooling

Dentist appointments, well-child visits, and cleaning out closets all seem to get pushed aside in the busyness of life.  So, we (sort of) called off school for two weeks, scheduled doctor visits, let the kids run wild and free, and I tried to get caught up on domestic duties.  And, I have once again, been forced to give heed to that little voice in the back of my head that occasionally whispers the idea that perhaps unschooling is not as bad as I have made it out to be.

Some Fun Things We've Done Recently (11/8/2010)

Here are a few of the fun things we managed to fit in this week amidst our regular Explode the Code, beginning readers, math workbook, etc.  (Not that those things aren't fun, they just aren't as much fun to write about.)

Some Fun Things We've Done Recently (11/1/2010)

One of the things Logan enjoyed doing this week was sorting the vowels out of our bucket of letters.  This is my child who benefits from a lot of review, and we have been taking a break from our Alpha Phonics studies to solidify some of the basics.  In this activity, I wrote one vowel in the bottom of each of 5 muffin liners.  He then sorted the vowels accordingly and dumped the consonants into the empty holes of the muffin tin.

mathwire.com is one of our favorite go-to web sites when we need a little fun added into our math routine.  The Pumpkin Jumble Game in the October portion of the site gave us some practice with shapes and patterns and also some graphing fun as we tracked the numbers we rolled with our dice on a separate graph.  Another activity we enjoyed from mathwire last week was the Jack-O-Lantern picture my son created from plotting coordinates onto a graph. I knew the Jack-O-Lantern activity was tailor made for Logan when I saw it and he spent two glorious math periods working on his project, which he was extremely proud of in the end.  This would not, however, be a project for a six year old who does not enjoy somewhat detailed, tedious activities.  (I will probably NOT be doing this one with Sierra anytime soon!)

Sierra LOVES to "read".  While she knows her letter sounds, she is still impatiently working on getting down the idea of blending.  I have been working through the book  Wow!  I'm Reading ( Wow! I'm Reading!: Fun Activities to Make Reading Happen (Williamson Little Hands Series) and was fortunate enough to come across this little sentence-making activity for her.  We started out by cutting pictures of things she likes out of magazines and gluing them onto 3x5 cards and labeling them.  I then wrote her sight words that she knows (words like I, and, the, like, see, etc.) onto separate 3x5 cards.  Using the word cards and the picture cars together she can make sentences like "I like jello" or "I see a horse and a doll."  As you can see from her smile, she finds great satisfaction in her new-found ability to write and read sentences!

For a fall science project this week, we read Fletcher and the Falling Leaves, a cute story about a little fox who worries about his favorite tree losing its leaves in the fall.  We then drew pictures of trees in each of the seasons and decorated them appropriately: spring and summer with lots of green and bright colors, fall with fall leaves we gathered from outside and glued on, and winter with lots of silver and blue glitter to recreate the sparkling frost-encrusted tree at the end of the story.  The kids had a lot of fun working together in their tree "masterpieces". 

Logan's mapping activity this week turned into a full-scale neighborhood for his hotwheel cars to race through.  It was a big hit until it was destroyed by those of us walking through and eating in the dining room.  Next time we'll have to find a more out-of-the-way spot to create such large projects.

In the beauty department, our resident fasionista somewhere discovered the idea of these sponge curlers.  (Certainly not from me.  I have a life-long distaste for them stemming from the time my mother made me sleep with them in my hair when I was four or five years old.)  Sierra, of course, found the discomfort quite bearable with the promise of wonderful curly hair in the morning. 

Some other fun things we did this week:

Took a field trip to Underwater World at the Mall of America.  Expensive, but well worth it.  Sharks inches from your head, a room full of illuminated jellyfish with their strange movements, and starfish to touch.  And then, of course, we had to hit LegoLand and the American Girl Doll store.  For lunch at the food court:  McDonald's for Sierra who thoroughly enjoyed her meal and REALLY spicy Thai food for the rest of us who pretended to enjoy our meal amidst sweat and multiple glasses of water. 

Another highlight:  during "recess" one beautiful fall morning, the kids and I went out to play soccer.  Our elderly, but very spry, neighbor came out to join us.  I loved watching my kids interact with her and felt good all over again about our choice to homeschool.

Every day feels like a good day to homeschool.  Somedays I feel overwhelmed and under-qualified, but at the end of the day, when I look at them sleeping in their beds, I am so glad I had the whole day with them!

A Typical School Day At Our House

From the start I said I wanted to homeschool because little children, especially boys, are not made for school.  I wanted a different approach for my children that allowed them to explore subjects through good books and hands-on projects.  But I still found myself very drawn to the idea of a schedule to be followed and certain subjects to be covered on a daily rotation.  It was the school teacher in me that didn't easily go away.

Apple Week

We're right in the middle of fall and apple season is in full swing.  This past week we took some time to celebrate the season with some good books, apple snacks, and art projects.

Books we read:

         
Snacks we had:

1. Apples with caramel dip:  This was snack and reading lesson combined.  I created a scavenger hunt for the kids and included as many of their sight words as possible.  I created cards that said things like  "Go to the bath tub." Or "What will Dad wear today?  Look in his closet." After a few of these cards, they discovered the one that led them to take four apples out of the fridge.  A note in the fridge had them wash the apples, and they found the caramel dip in the sink.  The final clue sent them to me for the recipe.  They sliced apples into 8ths, added a tablespoon of caramel to each, and spooned on a few walnut pieces.
2. Apple crisp: a simple recipe allowed us some simple math lessons.  We also managed to slip in a health lesson by discussing cleanliness in the kitchen and the benefits of eating fruits and vegetables.
3. Apples faces:  We spread apple halves with peanut butter and the kids went to town creating faces with dried fruit.
4. Our final snack was one Logan had seen in a magazine awhile back.  He has been so excited for this.  We made them with a cake mix, red frosting, tootsie rolls, and green tootsie rolls rolled out and cut into triangles for leaves.     

 

Projects we did:

1. Collected leaves and made leaf collages.
2. Made homemade cards by stamping apple halves onto cardstock.
3. Colored pictures of leaves.

The Big S

It was the socialization conversation.  As homeschoolers, we've all had them with the concerned friend or relative.  Yesterday, it went something like this:

 Concerned Relative:  "I hear school has started at your house."
Me:  "We've actually been at it for a few weeks now."
Concerned Relative:  "How does Logan do with other kids his own age?"  (This relative is actually quite encouraging in my homeschooling endeavors, but does seem to have a bit of a fear that my kids will end up in taped glasses, high waters, and suspenders while slurping their soup and picking their nose at Thanksgiving dinner.)
This is the point in the conversation where I generally go into defense mode and start listing: "Well, the kids are in dance, soccer, Sunday School, Wed. night kids' church, TWO homeschool coops, a playdate group...."  (Just saying it usually makes me tired.)  But, having just come off of Vacation Bible School season, I decided to be honest.
Me:  "Actually, Logan has a few good friends his age but, for the most part, he doesn't enjoy large groups of children his own age." 
Awkward silence.  But, really, I felt good.  In fact, it felt really good to have the truth out in the open.
Me:  "He finds them to be rude and mean a lot of the time."
Concerned Relative (chuckling):  "Oh, there's the Mamma Bear coming out.  But that is the real world and he's going to have to learn how to deal with it."
Me:  "Of course he will.  I'm just not convinced that a bunch of other six year olds are the ones I want teaching him how to deal with conflict.  I mean, what's a little kid going to do?  Whatever it is, he is probably going to pick up on sarcasm or underhanded meanness. Or he's going to get into an all-out brawl, which is not acceptable in our house.  Or he's going to be labeled a tattle tale, annoy all the teachers, and not fit in anyway."
Concerned Relative:  "Oh.  The weather is beautiful here!  What's it like up your way?"

Later, as I was thinking about the conversation, I found it somewhat intriguing that very few times has anyone expressed concern about my children's education, morality, or relationship with God.  One time when Logan was three an early-education teacher handed him a pencil and asked if he could write his name.  He looked at her blankly, as if he had no idea what his name was anyway.  She clucked disapprovingly and lectured me on the virtues of early childhood education.  But that has been about the extent of it. 

Does it seem at all strange to anyone other than myself, that socialization by peers seems to be the #1 concern when it comes to our children?  And that the term "socialization" always refers to spending time with others our children's own ages? 

I have yet to understand why socialization seems to be the #1 concern of the homeschool opponent.  Yes, I understand that a homeschooling child could possibly be under-socialized (although, in reality, homeschooling children generally spend MANY more hours a week socializing than main-stream schooled children do.  But, that is another rant for another day.).  However, if you find socialization by peers to be pretty low on my list of priorities, it is because I feel that I can better prepare my child for the real world by creating a Biblically-based curriculum that puts godly principles and biblical truths at the core of what we learn.  I would also rather them be "socialized" by us - their family - and by the parents and children who share our values.  I would rather my children be "socialized" by the wise men and women of faith with whom we spend one morning a week with at the nursing home.  And I would rather focus on things at the top of my priority list and, um, I hate to break it to you, Dear Concerned Relative, but socialization is not anywhere near the top at this time. 

So, if you truly find cause for concern and feel my child is become a social deviant, please feel free to let me know.  However, please be sure there is true cause for concern.  If he is simply missing the sarcastic "whatever" in his vocabulary or doesn't speak to you as an equal but with submissive respect or prefers a face-to-face conversation to his Nintendo DS, then I'm not going to be real concerned.  Now, if you notice his clothing is a bit out of style and he's looking a little nerdy, then I would LOVE some pointers.  Fashion, along with socialization, is - as any Concerned Relative would know - pretty low on my list of priorities as well.

First Day of School (2010-11)

August 16, 2010.  Homeschooling at our house has officially started for the year!  And what a kick off it was.  I sent the kids to bed last night with promises of wonderful surprises at breakfast and a fabulous day together.  It was all I had hoped for, even though the really cool looking back-to-school snacks I stayed up til one a.m. making looked more like colorful dog droppings than crayons and the kids thought the peanut butter, honey, and powdered milk snacks mixed with red food coloring looked like raw hamburger rather than pink school erasers.  But they were tasty and, along side the blueberry muffins, the kids thought they had finally made it to Paris, France (the place, in their minds, where you go for fabulous, fancy food).  Kids who eat a concoction of oats, flax, and dried fruit for breakfast six days a week are easy to please.

mathwire.com

I set the table and stuck a candle into each of the kids' muffins.  I had wrapped their little school-supply boxes filled with brand-new supplies up in festive wrapping paper, and my husband and I sang a goofy little "Happy First Day of School" song to them as they entered the dining room.  It was the perfect start to the year.  The only thing that would have made it better would have been a few more hours of sleep!

After breakfast, devotions, and chores, I sent my 4-year-old, Sierra, off to play while I spent the first half hour of "school time" working with my six year old, Logan. Logan tends to loose focus early on in the day when it comes to school work, but his reading and math are my top two priorities for this year, so I've decided to attack those first.  If the baby is cranky or the rest of the day falls apart, I will at least have those two things done.  We snuggled on the couch for our ten minutes of reading, and he got through an Alpha Phonics lesson that made him laugh out loud.  Something silly about a hen falling into a bath, I think.  He took his Explode the Code out onto the deck while Sierra and I read the Dr. Seuss's ABC book and decorated the Aa page in her alphabet notebook (an idea I got from the Homeschool Share Website). Although Sierra has somehow managed to teach herself all the letter sounds and how to read simple words, I am going to start pretty basic with her.  We may mover pretty quickly through the alphabet, but I want to make sure she really knows it thoroughly.  For math, we used the measuring links and measured a pile of her toys, estimating their lengths and discussing the concepts of longer and shorter and the importance of measuring.

Then we all gathered back together and did some group work:  Read a poems from A Child's Garden of Verses by Stevenson, calendar work which includes lots of counting and discussion about tens and ones, and filling in our weather graph that I swiped from mathwire.com.  We then moved on to our history lesson.  I had gathered several photo albums and we sat on the couch thumbing through them and laughing at ourselves throughout our brief little "history" together.  Then we read the first chapter of History for Little Pilgrims, which gives a good introduction to the concept of history.

Lastly, we did a little music lesson.  I am going to use some ideas from a book I picked up from our local library book sale called Music Crafts for Kids (Music Crafts for Kids: The How-To Book of Music Discovery).  Today we talked about how nature provides a music of sorts.  We went outside and listened to the wind and the birds.  Then we made streamers to dance in the wind with by tying long, multi-colored strips of crepe paper streamers to the ends of wooden spoons.  The children danced joyfully around the house for close to an hour, the wind blowing wildly at their streamers, and it was the perfect end to a wonderful morning.  As we sat around a lunch of chow mein and rice, it was declared a success by all!

Scope and Sequence Broken Down in a Makes-Sense Way

My brother in law has done quite a lot of research on homeschooling and what should be covered under each broad subject.  We've all seen the year-to-year scope and sequence lists, but he has created a nice overview of a normal school career and includes some great extras like life skills, etc.  Check it out here:   http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fdocs.com%2F1GG5&h=d0a71TlCbJqhlvg9f4MfjCGkaRw

Thanks, Chris!

A Year of Great Memories

Although we will continue schooling some throughout the summer,I find myself getting into the summer mode.  This has been our first year of official homeschooling and I am having a hard time saying good-bye to it.  It was such a wonderful year.  Perhaps some of our highlights will help you remember why you homeschool, give you some ideas for your own children, or just give you something to do so that you can continue putting off the laundry and dirty dishes.

Back to School in May

While most people are thinking of finishing up their school year, we are finally feeling like we can get back into the swing of things after the birth of little Vayla two months ago.  Here is a little bit about what we have been up to.

Perhaps We Should Have Done It This Way

I am a teacher at heart.  I loved my years spent in the classroom.  I couldn't believe I got paid for all the fun I had with my students.

When I found out I was pregnant, there was no question in my mind that I would homeschool our children.  I couldn't wait to get started.

Ten Things We Love About Homeschooling

There are so many reasons that homeschooling works well for our family.  Here are a few of the big ones.  I'd love to hear your reasons for homeschooling....or not homeschooling....if you care to share.

Our Current Curriculum for Son (age 5) and Daughter (age 3)

I always find it interesting to hear what other people are doing during their homeschool hours, so I thought I would post what we have ended up doing this year with my son, age 5, and daughter, age 3.