Nov. 26, 2008
When Learning Spills Over into Play
Posted in History
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In Karen Andreola's book A Charlotte Mason Companion: Personal Reflections on the Gentle Art of Learning, Chapter Four tells us that Education is a Science of Relations. I have always said that we make connections with what we already know.
I get so excited when I see my kids making connections. During the month of November, I have been reading Pilgrim Stories by Margaret Pumphrey to them. All the while, they are building their Thanksgiving notebooks. Yesterday, I walked past the living room where my daughters were playing with a friend of theirs. Their friend was wrapped up tight in a blanket and I asked what they were doing. They said they were pretending it was the Pilgrims' first winter at Plymouth and the friend was pretending to be Priscilla Mullins and dd10 was pretending to be Mistress Brewster. Priscilla was sick and Mistress Brewster trying to bring her back to health. DD11 was pretending to be Squanto and was showing them how to grow food. Inside my brain I did a loud "WOOHOO!!!!!" because this form of play shows me that they got something out of what I read to them. They made a connection! This also tells me that they will remember what we learned about Thanksgiving for a long, long time. They didn't learn anything for a test only to forget it right away.
Here are a couple of pictures.
  We are not so sure that Squanto had eggs to bring, but in our version, dd11 went to our chicken coupe in our back yard and brought eggs to the ailing pilgrims.  Mistress Brewster also took care of sick babies at our Plymouth hospital.  |
Sep. 16, 2008
Roman Roads
Posted in History
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A special project we did today involved making a Roman road. The Romans built roads over 2000 years ago that are still in existance today. I find that completely amazing. Compare that with the roads we drive on today in America. As we work through the Story of the World by Susan Wise Bauer, we supplement with activities from other resources. Today we used an idea from Ancient Rome! Exploring the Culture, People & Ideas of this Powerful Empire. We first read about the roads the Romans built and then we made models. All 3 of my kids enjoyed this project - from the 11 year old to the 4 year old. Here are some pictures.
   I thought the Playmobile Roman soldier was a nice final touch.
That's grass seed on the sides of the road, so the kids will be able to water it and watch the grass grow, too. My 9 year old asked if she could cut her grass when it got tall enough. The 11 year old wanted to know if she gets paid to cut her grass (like when she cuts the neighbor's yard.) |
Aug. 30, 2008
Nineteen Eighty What????
Posted in History
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My dearest friend told me recently about trying on one of her dresses from high school and it still fits her!!! As she described the dress to me, I could clearly see it. I think we must have gone to the prom the same year. Even though I poked fun at her at a homeschool planning meeting, it was nostalgic to think of and I hope one day to get a chance to see her dress. In the meantime, I reminisce about the 80's with all the things I experienced as a teen - growing up afraid of the Russians, seeing Mount St. Helen's explode, Ronald Reagan being shot, the space shuttle going up for the first time, big hair, MTV, etc., etc. What a plethora of history I have seen in my own lifetime that can be shared with my children and future generations. All of us have stories of where we were on important days in history. Write them down. Teaching history should come from primary sources. If you write down your personal experiences, you are creating a primary source! It's inexpensive and a wonderful way to liven up your history curriculum. Speaking of the 80's - here is a picture of me in 1986 at the age of 17. The first thing my girls said when they saw the picture was that my hair looked the same as those ladies in the Walk Like an Egyptian video. (Yes, I pulled that video up on the internet when we studied ancient Egypt. It was fun dancing around the kitchen to that tune and walking like an Egyptian.)  My mom, me and my brother |
Mar. 26, 2008
Grecian Fresco
Posted in History
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We are starting our study of the ancient Greeks and it is going very well. We are using the Story of the World - The Ancients Vol. 1 as our core and we are using the Usborne Internet-Linked Encyclopedia of the Ancient World, Ancient Greece: 40 Hands-on Activites to Experience this Wondrous Age along with books we find at the library to enhance the study. This week we are focusing on the Minoans of Crete and one of the activities I found in our books was to do a fresco painting using plaster of Paris. This makes it very easy to include ds(3) in our activities.
Here is the finished product.
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