Sep. 1, 2006
Ancient History
I am so excited to be beginning Ancient History with the guys!
Seriously!
I have one more book that we are waiting to receive in the mail and begin we will. We have the COOLEST timeline books and I can hardly wait to get started. I should have ordered one of those books for myself - I guess I can make my own from old scrapbook materials...........gee whiz.
In recent days or over the course of last week or so (the days are zipping by here lately), Spunky has had some really good posts w/continuing dialogue (...doesn't she always?) challenging the government schools to explain why they believe their system works and why it should be the only way our children are educated and so forth.
So in that same spirit of dialogue, I have a question for the public school experts:
Having attended (previous grammar edited!) the public school system for 12 years , myself (I attended private kindergarten), and having graduated from this so called system of educational expertness as well as having attended a State University, how is it that I NEVER had world history - ever?
The closest iota of ancient history was when I was in the 8th grade and my English teacher required us to read Homer. That's it. Done.
As I have been reading through our history materials and preparing lessons, I sit amazed and excited that I will be learning Ancient History at the age of 45 right along with my sons!
I hope everyone has a fun holiday weekend - be extra safe if you're traveling!
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Aug. 12, 2006
Is It Okay to be Proud?
I hope so since I couldn't be any prouder than I have been all this week ~ our oldest son has been so faithful and diligent to his latest assignment on sports writing. He has taken his true love for the game of baseball and is putting it to work over at his blog - Treehouse Island.
A few days back, I posted about using a blog as a school tool and this is a great example of guiding your child's interests with real world application - and in Sam's case, he's giving it his all with reporting on all the latest of Major League Baseball.
Please take a minute or two and check out his Baseball Highlights over at Treehouse Island and leave him a comment about his sports reporting ~
Thanks!
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Aug. 3, 2006
Blogging as a School Tool
If your child hasn't joined in with the blogging world yet - consider helping them set up a blog (here at HSB) to use in conjunction with your homeschooling. A blog can have excellent real world application for our kids ~ especially with writing and reporting skills.
Our oldest son loves baseball and has for many years. He is simply passionate about the sport. He plays it, watches it, follows it, wants to go to Cooperstown and has given serious consideration to doing "something" baseball related as a career - either before or after he becomes a marine biologist.
When he was ten, he received the current year baseball almanac. He read it; he memorized it; he re-wrote his own version of it! This summer, he has been consumed with knowing all the player stats and watches all the sports highlights at 7 a.m. every morning to know who's playing, who's winning, who's leading...................and then he wants to relay it all to ME - usually as I'm pouring my first cup of coffee and my eyes are still shut.......
A Mother's Brainstorm: since he already enjoys blogging, I suggested he take his passion for this game and all that goes with it and begin his own sports report column at his blog. Bingo - we have a winner. He loves it! He's already written two and I hope you'll check out his own highlights and reports HERE.
Other suggestions for using blogging as a school tool: it makes for a great display of school work, science projects, photography, artwork, as well as field trips from their point of view. Nancy Baetz has just finished up sharing all about their local fair entries and experiences and shares the projects and artwork that her kids have made! Check them out HERE.
Since we live in a rural area, we are not as easily able to participate in big academic fairs where our sons' work might be displayed very often. A blog might be something to consider allowing your kids to display some of their hard work. Our youngest son enjoys photography and has posted some on his blog. He has more coming soon - he is currently entrenched in a writing project (that he decided all on his own....) that continues to lengthen with each chapter he writes. He plans to begin posting the chapters of his "book" along with his own illustrations in the weeks ahead. Our oldest son posted his spring science research project HERE.
A WORD ABOUT BLOGGING/INTERNET SAFETY: The internet represents the entire world. Therefore, without proper attention, guidance, supervision and precautions - our children are at risk with contact by some unwanted world-wide visitors. I am very pleased with the experience we've had with our sons blogging here at HSB. When setting up a blog for your kids - there are features here that allow parents to limit who can access your child's blog as well as control the email and comments features. If you choose, you can limit comments to only HSB members. I have email features set to mine so all comments posted to their blogs - hit my email box first. When "friends" want to be added - I see who they are first. I'm proud to be a helicopter parent by choice - and when it comes to internet safety - there is no such thing as being too cautious.
If your children are young elementary ages - consider an all-inclusive family blog where each member has input and posts - even if the child dictates to Mom or Dad for typing purposes. When proper precautions are taken, blogging can be an effective and fun school tool as an added element to your homeschooling.
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Jul. 21, 2006
Have Some Fun on Friday
A friend sent this to me:
Can you spot the fake ones?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/humanbody/mind/surveys/smiles/
I spotted 14 out of 20; this was an intriguing excercise.
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Jul. 19, 2006
Botany in Action
This summer we have been putting our Botany Unit Study in action with our family garden here at the Farm on the Dirt Road. Here is my oldest son's post displaying our most recent harvest despite our current drought and heat wave here in Georgia.
I may be meeting the ever so famous Peter Rabbit face-to-face finally; we'll be harvesting okra tonight - in the dark with flashlights - in an effort not to sweat to death.
I know, I know - come this January/February - I'll be singin' the cold weather blues...........
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Jun. 21, 2006
Wee Can Ski
I am really looking forward to an upcoming event in South Carolina that our whole family will be volunteering with: Wee Can Ski.
Wee Can Ski provides opportunities for special needs children to have a fun filled day of water activities including .... water skiing! We found out about the program and this volunteering opportunity through a co-worker of my husband's; her husband is actually involved in the design a making of the special equipment that allows these children to be able to ski! What an awesome vocation!
What will we be doing as volunteers? Helping the kids with fishing, face painting, serving lunch and helping anywhere we are needed. I hope this will be the first of many times that our sons and our whole family will be involved in this type volunteer and community service work.
What are some ways that your families serve others?
I'll be sure to post about our day and this wonderful opportunity to help others have a fun day over the weekend.
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Jun. 17, 2006
A Family Funny
Today was a day well spent out in our garden (a.k.a our Botany Unit Study in action ~ full blown!). I will be the first to say that every member of our family (including many of our cats............and chickens....) have had their hands (...and feet...) involved in this year's garden: it's planning, it's preparation, it's planting and it's watering and weeding......and chasing the chickens out of it, too!
Today was a day of weeding.........not everyone is too thrilled with weeding (I'm not naming ANY names - so if you just by accident clicked that hyper-link - well, may the force be with you - did I mention I'm not naming any names?). I did, however, have an extra set of hands to help out with weeding the last of our newest boxed crops (...again, I'm not mentioning any names here....).
So while me and my extra set of hands were deeply engrossed in weeding, mulching and the like, an extra set of eyes appeared and decided to observe our work. After a while of being observed and observed and obviously, being observed some more, I looked up and asked, "Well, hey there, Honey ~ whatcha doin'?"
And my precious, last born, precious, all too logical and bright son that he is replied, "Hey Mom - I'm just sittin' here watchin' the gardening episode on the DIY network."
Isn't he the comedian? (tongue in cheek)
My extra set of hands and I will certainly be enjoying the next episode of "Jacobs Academy: Busy Work"......................(kidding)
Not.
Maybe.
Maybe not.
Happy Father's Day to all!
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Jun. 8, 2006
I've Learned a New Word This Morning ~
I subscribe to a couple of vocabulary resources via email (My Word A Day and A Word a Day from Wordsmith); I like to use these just as supplemental and fun excercises - especially the history and origin of some of the words that come through.
I must admit ~ this week's theme of looooong words from Wordsmith's A Word a Day has really grabbed my attention. Here is this morning's word for today:
FLOCCINAUCINIHILIPILIFICATION
"This week's theme: looong words.
floccinaucinihilipilification (FLOK-si-NO-si-NY-HIL-i-PIL-i-fi-KAY-shuhn) noun
Estimating something as worthless.
[From Latin flocci, from floccus (tuft of wool) + nauci, from naucum
(a trifling thing) + nihili, from Latin nihil (nothing) + pili, from pilus
(a hair, trifle) + -fication (making).]
This word was coined by combining four Latin terms flocci, nauci, nihili,
pili, all meaning something of little or no value, which were listed in
the well-known "Eton Latin Grammar" of Eton College in the UK.
The Oxford English Dictionary shows the first use of the word by William
Shetstone in 1777: "I loved him for nothing so much as his
flocci-nauci-nihili-pili-fication of money."
The word seems to be popular in the US government. It has been heard from
the mouths of White House Press Secretary Mike McCurry, Senator Robert Byrd,
and Senator Jesse Helms among others. Maybe that tells us something about
the US Congress's interest in the floccinaucinihilipilification of taxpayers'
money.
-Anu Garg (gargATwordsmith.org)
"A number of you have phoned me saying that the BBC has plumbed the depths
of nationalist floccinaucinihilipilification by simply making up the
daftest imaginable Scottish name for the chairman of the Gigha community
land steering commission - they haven't. I've checked. He really is called
Willie MacSporran."
Giles Coren; Willie MacSporran; The Times (London, UK); Oct 31, 2001.
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(1889-1975)
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Pronunciation:
http://wordsmith.org/words/floccinaucinihilipilification.wav
http://wordsmith.org/words/floccinaucinihilipilification.ram
Permalink: http://wordsmith.org/words/floccinaucinihilipilification.html"
Our politicians have been heard using this word?
Yikes! Should we be worried?
I'll be sure to throw this word around the next time I'm at a flea market or yard sale when I find something I really want to buy in order to get the price down.......whatcha think?
Meanwhile, perhaps we should submit this word for consideration in next year's national spelling bee; we'd already be ahead of them.....or would we.....
hee hee.
Harriette
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May. 8, 2006
PBS' American Experience: Annie Oakley
Tonight's featured presentation on PBS' American Experience was on Annie Oakley. It was great! The guys were amazed at what this gal could do with a gun! It was only an hour long presentation but was an insightful and inspiring biography of this amazing American woman.
In addition to the biography shown in tonight's presentation, PBS.org has additonal information and resources on Annie Oakley including a gallery of posters from her era in Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show, a timeline of her life as well as a teacher's guide.
In the event you missed tonight's presentation, it will be aired again next week. You can check the local listings for your area here.
Here are some additional links on one of the best sharp shooters in American History:
http://www.lkwdpl.org/wihohio/oakl-ann.htm
http://www.cowgirls.com/dream/cowgals/oakley.htm
http://www.dorchesterlibrary.org/library/aoakley.html
http://www.pocanticohills.org/womenenc/oakley.html
http://www.bbhc.org/bbm/biographyAO.cfm
http://www.linecamp.com/museums/americanwest/western_names/oakley_annie/oakley_annie.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annie_Oakley
hkj
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May. 6, 2006
How Well Do You Know Your U.S. Geography?
Here is a great web site to practice the 50 states by "dropping" the designated state where it belongs on a blank map:
http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/states_experiment_drag-drop_Intermed_State15s_500.html
When you finish, it will give you a grade and your within # of miles average of any you may have missed. With my first test, I scored an 88 - but I was within a 19 mile average when I err'd. My second time through, I scored a 94 with only a 6 mile error average.
Give it a try and see how you do.
hkj
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