Our Homeschool Co-op is preparing for
our annual Learning Fair. This happens
when students and parents get together
to feature something they have learned
over the current school year.
This year's theme is....Books!
My 13 year old is busily preparing a display
about a series of books she devoured recently.
They are The Allison Chronicles by Melody Carlson.
She has been working on her display board and
writing a synopsis of the first story, complete
with her own drawings that would be more than
enough to meet the requirements of a ten page
report. Funny thing is she just wrote a ten
page research paper on dogs. The boys are
struggling to write ten pages on their chosen
subjects...and she just whips out two major
projects as if it were nothing.
Such are the differences we have with our
own students.
The boys are working together on a project
for the Learning Fair. It is on a book series
that Mikey has been reading this year. It is
a fictional trilogy about Mars. I am just over
anxious to see what they are coming up with for
that.
Some of the Moms were wishing we could have
tables to show off some of our recommended reading.
Now, that would be fun!
May your homeschool day be filled with peace,
love and joy today!
Showing posts with label Homeschool Day. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Homeschool Day. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Writing a Research Paper
O.k. the subjects are varied.
One is doing research on the band, Switchfoot.
Believe me, after weeks of trying to
get this one to choose a topic I am fine
with this. Wouldn't have been a few weeks
ago....but I am now...
Another is doing hers on Bowling.
Love it!
She has been so creative in the
layout and research for this paper.
The third...let me see...I am drawing a
blank...Oh, that's right...Coins!
He loves money! I took him to the Library and
set him loose in the adult nonfiction area with
the mission of finding a subject that interested
him enough to report on.
It is cool because his Grandpa had quite a love
of coins and because he worked with vending machines his
whole life had quite a collection of unusual coins.
Mikey has been able to peruse the collection and
learn more about the coins that intrigue him.
As far as I am concerned...finding the right topic is
the hardest part of writing a paper.
After that, the kids are on their way with the reading
and actual research. Finding several sources and creating
topical headings for the actual organization of the paper.
Now they are all in the stage of writing the body
of the papers.
Fun?
Would be for me.
Chelsea enjoys it.
Mikey is enjoying it more than he thought he would.
Jonathan? It is too soon to know. He took
so long in choosing a topic that his paper is in
its very infancy.
That is what we are in the midst of at Hospitality Lane.
Blessings on your day,
Becky K.
One is doing research on the band, Switchfoot.
Believe me, after weeks of trying to
get this one to choose a topic I am fine
with this. Wouldn't have been a few weeks
ago....but I am now...
Another is doing hers on Bowling.
Love it!
She has been so creative in the
layout and research for this paper.
The third...let me see...I am drawing a
blank...Oh, that's right...Coins!
He loves money! I took him to the Library and
set him loose in the adult nonfiction area with
the mission of finding a subject that interested
him enough to report on.
It is cool because his Grandpa had quite a love
of coins and because he worked with vending machines his
whole life had quite a collection of unusual coins.
Mikey has been able to peruse the collection and
learn more about the coins that intrigue him.
As far as I am concerned...finding the right topic is
the hardest part of writing a paper.
After that, the kids are on their way with the reading
and actual research. Finding several sources and creating
topical headings for the actual organization of the paper.
Now they are all in the stage of writing the body
of the papers.
Fun?
Would be for me.
Chelsea enjoys it.
Mikey is enjoying it more than he thought he would.
Jonathan? It is too soon to know. He took
so long in choosing a topic that his paper is in
its very infancy.
That is what we are in the midst of at Hospitality Lane.
Blessings on your day,
Becky K.
Saturday, December 15, 2007
Geography/History/Literature Tie-In
Last year I developed a curriculum element for the kids that on the surface may seem simplistic or young for my boys. However, this approach can lend itself to any age because you are choosing the books that it is based on.
We do a lot of reading of historical fiction. We also read biographies and science based history, i.e. stories about the Great earthquakes, or other natural disasters.
I decided last year that for every book we read we would study and draw or label a map for the country or area in the world that was the setting for the book. On one occasion our map inspiration came from a television program we watched together as a family. It inspired a curiosity about the area and so it was studied further and then mapped out.
We took the maps, after they had accumulated, and mounted them on matching background paper and then the kids designed a book. I made up two pages that went with each map on which the kids had to create their own illustration for the book and then answer questions specific to each book. They had to know whether the book was fiction/non-fiction, first person or other. Chelsea made good use of stickers to dress hers up, the boys drew accompanying illustrations on some pages but here is our book list from last year, as it applies to the Map Book.
The Hiding Place - Holland
The Broken Song - Russia
Chariots of Fire - England
Fire in the Hills - Italy
The Journal of Douglas Allen Deeds - America- The Wagon Trail
The Earth Dragon Awakes - America - California
Ask Me No Questions - Bangladesh/New York
Anastasia - Russia
Isabel - Spain
(Television Show) - Borneo
Mary Slessor Biography - Calabar, Nigeria
No More Tears - Nigeria
This was fun and the children learned a lot more than they have in the past from working straight from a text book. I am not against text books, I just think that sometimes we get burned out on chronological facts and we need a refreshing break.
This was very effective for us. I loved the discussions that were started from the books we read. I don't think that the kids caught on to the literature lessons they were receiving in the added on pages. They are used to seeing it in the form of lists and labels.
Of course, I have not included everything in this post that went into it but if you are interested you can contact me or draw up a book list of your own and check to see how many are available to you at your Public Library.
Just an idea that you can incorporate into your home school if you so desire.
Becky K.
We do a lot of reading of historical fiction. We also read biographies and science based history, i.e. stories about the Great earthquakes, or other natural disasters.
I decided last year that for every book we read we would study and draw or label a map for the country or area in the world that was the setting for the book. On one occasion our map inspiration came from a television program we watched together as a family. It inspired a curiosity about the area and so it was studied further and then mapped out.
We took the maps, after they had accumulated, and mounted them on matching background paper and then the kids designed a book. I made up two pages that went with each map on which the kids had to create their own illustration for the book and then answer questions specific to each book. They had to know whether the book was fiction/non-fiction, first person or other. Chelsea made good use of stickers to dress hers up, the boys drew accompanying illustrations on some pages but here is our book list from last year, as it applies to the Map Book.
The Hiding Place - Holland
The Broken Song - Russia
Chariots of Fire - England
Fire in the Hills - Italy
The Journal of Douglas Allen Deeds - America- The Wagon Trail
The Earth Dragon Awakes - America - California
Ask Me No Questions - Bangladesh/New York
Anastasia - Russia
Isabel - Spain
(Television Show) - Borneo
Mary Slessor Biography - Calabar, Nigeria
No More Tears - Nigeria
This was fun and the children learned a lot more than they have in the past from working straight from a text book. I am not against text books, I just think that sometimes we get burned out on chronological facts and we need a refreshing break.
This was very effective for us. I loved the discussions that were started from the books we read. I don't think that the kids caught on to the literature lessons they were receiving in the added on pages. They are used to seeing it in the form of lists and labels.
Of course, I have not included everything in this post that went into it but if you are interested you can contact me or draw up a book list of your own and check to see how many are available to you at your Public Library.
Just an idea that you can incorporate into your home school if you so desire.
Becky K.
Thursday, December 6, 2007
What do you do When...
Did you ever have one of those days when you really just did not feel like doing school work?
O.k. you are either laughing, yelling at the computer screen or just shaking your head about now.
Of course you have. Every homeschool Mom gets tired of school! If you are an exception, please don't tell the rest of us. We really don't want to know.
Every now and then...during a week...I can think of about a hundred things I would rather be doing than working out a word problem with Chelsea or struggling with Mikey as to why it is important that he write a paper.
So, what can we do to make this a more pleasant experience?
1. Imagine getting up about 6 am to wake your slumbering children, cook them breakfast and get them out to a cold snowy bus stop.
2. Try not to think about all of the hours you would have to yourself if you did that..because...
3. Imagine them coming home around 3:30 or 4:00 pm with hours of homework and a chip on their shoulder about things that happened during the day.
4. Imagine trying to help them with that homework that you had nothing to do with creating and you do not understand.
5. Imagine getting them tucked into bed by 9:00 so that you can get up and do that all over again.
6. Now think about your usual schedule, (here is how mine looks):
A. Get up about 6:30 or 7 am to come down to my computer for some quality blog time.
B. About 8 am begin waking any sleepyheads who are not up yet. This is usually a teenage male..or two.
C. While they are getting awake I can slip into the shower.
D. While I am in the shower they get their own breakfast.
E. 9:00 am we meet in the Living Room for reading and history. These we do together.
F. About 10 am we split up for math, typing, french, art, music and science. We do not do all these subjects every day, such as typing, french and art. They are in the mix during the course of a week.
G. I meander between children until about 11:30 when it is time for Mikey to grab some lunch and get to work. At his work he does inventory, runs the cash register, takes phone payments, carries customer orders, unloads shipments once a week, puts letters on the sign out in front of the store, sweeps, empties the trash and more.
H. At this point in the day, usually, our book work is complete and we are on to real life learning or gym class, an art project, home ec or home maintenance project. We take field trips, volunteer and otherwise keep busy until Daddy gets home around 5pm. Helping a Grandma, planting flowers, cleaning the home, planning a menu, bowling with homeschool friends, homeschool co-op with other families, a sewing project...these are many an afternoon project around here.
I. There is no evening homework, unless you count Youth Group, the History Channel, Discovery Channel Science Programs, Crocheting, Silent reading, listening to music, Watching a favorite movie together, playing educational games as a family, having Bible study with friends from church. Now these are the kinds of homework that help us grow together. More than once we have been gathered in the Living Room reading from our read-a-loud book at the time at the kids' request until 10:30 or 11pm. They really get into some of these books!
J. Crawl, satisfied, into bed at whatever time the family activities are completed.
Stretch and thank the Lord that HE called us to Homeschool!
I am so thankful for the opportunity to get to spend all of this time with my family. It makes the monotony of the book work worth while. Does this look like an average day for you ...or how do you do it differently?
Becky K.
O.k. you are either laughing, yelling at the computer screen or just shaking your head about now.
Of course you have. Every homeschool Mom gets tired of school! If you are an exception, please don't tell the rest of us. We really don't want to know.
Every now and then...during a week...I can think of about a hundred things I would rather be doing than working out a word problem with Chelsea or struggling with Mikey as to why it is important that he write a paper.
So, what can we do to make this a more pleasant experience?
1. Imagine getting up about 6 am to wake your slumbering children, cook them breakfast and get them out to a cold snowy bus stop.
2. Try not to think about all of the hours you would have to yourself if you did that..because...
3. Imagine them coming home around 3:30 or 4:00 pm with hours of homework and a chip on their shoulder about things that happened during the day.
4. Imagine trying to help them with that homework that you had nothing to do with creating and you do not understand.
5. Imagine getting them tucked into bed by 9:00 so that you can get up and do that all over again.
6. Now think about your usual schedule, (here is how mine looks):
A. Get up about 6:30 or 7 am to come down to my computer for some quality blog time.
B. About 8 am begin waking any sleepyheads who are not up yet. This is usually a teenage male..or two.
C. While they are getting awake I can slip into the shower.
D. While I am in the shower they get their own breakfast.
E. 9:00 am we meet in the Living Room for reading and history. These we do together.
F. About 10 am we split up for math, typing, french, art, music and science. We do not do all these subjects every day, such as typing, french and art. They are in the mix during the course of a week.
G. I meander between children until about 11:30 when it is time for Mikey to grab some lunch and get to work. At his work he does inventory, runs the cash register, takes phone payments, carries customer orders, unloads shipments once a week, puts letters on the sign out in front of the store, sweeps, empties the trash and more.
H. At this point in the day, usually, our book work is complete and we are on to real life learning or gym class, an art project, home ec or home maintenance project. We take field trips, volunteer and otherwise keep busy until Daddy gets home around 5pm. Helping a Grandma, planting flowers, cleaning the home, planning a menu, bowling with homeschool friends, homeschool co-op with other families, a sewing project...these are many an afternoon project around here.
I. There is no evening homework, unless you count Youth Group, the History Channel, Discovery Channel Science Programs, Crocheting, Silent reading, listening to music, Watching a favorite movie together, playing educational games as a family, having Bible study with friends from church. Now these are the kinds of homework that help us grow together. More than once we have been gathered in the Living Room reading from our read-a-loud book at the time at the kids' request until 10:30 or 11pm. They really get into some of these books!
J. Crawl, satisfied, into bed at whatever time the family activities are completed.
Stretch and thank the Lord that HE called us to Homeschool!
I am so thankful for the opportunity to get to spend all of this time with my family. It makes the monotony of the book work worth while. Does this look like an average day for you ...or how do you do it differently?
Becky K.
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