In My Backyard

Civil War Resources

(Note:  This is a working draft.  I'll add to it if need be, and add all links, when I have time.)(ETA:  Links added!)

We're going to organize our study of the Civil War using In the Hands of A Child's Civil War Lapbook template.  We will be using the lapbook as a means of displaying what we've been learning from a variety of sources, rather than as an end in itself.  I plan to spend at least 3 (more) weeks on this, though depending on how much interest is generated, we may spend considerably more.

We won't necessarily follow the lapbook exactly, however (because that's just the way we roll around here).  We'll be using a variety of resources, many of which are included in Sonlight's Core 4 curriculum, but also a number of other resources, as well.  At the end of the unit (not sure exactly when), we will plan a visit to my sister in Gettysburg (how's that for a resource?), taking advantage of the many places, events and activities so richly available there (and drinking all of her exceptionally delicious coffee). :)

We've already started this study by delving into historical fiction and biographies, and beginning to discuss the events that led to the Civil War.  Despite the fact that there exists significant controversy regarding exactly "why" our nation engaged in so terrible a battle, we're going primarily with the two reasons Lincoln gave:  (1) The preservation of the Union; and, ultimately, (2) The end of slavery.  This is a "northern" perspective, of course; but my money is on reason (2) as a just cause regardless of the economic and constitutional issues (states vs. federal rights) that certainly played in a significant way. Was a war necessary at all?  I guess I can't answer that one; it's certainly a tragedy that it occurred, and the loss of life almost incomprehensible.  While we will do our best to understand the "southern" perspective, however, other reasons pale in significance to the grave injustice that is slavery.  It is absolutely right that slavery was ended in this nation (indeed, a tragedy that it was ever accepted, let alone defended, at all), and we are fortunate that the Union survived. That's the worldview I'm handing on to my children.

(Update, 10/14:  There's much more to it that that, I think.  Today, Taz (age 6) looked at the cover of The History of Us Vol 6 and asked, "Who are the good guys?"  I answered, with actually a sad heart, "They all are, honey.  They're all Americans, fighting each other.  It's the saddest war, ever."  That's when I realized how incomplete my thoughts above really are.  The Northerners may have been willing to lay down their lives to stop slavery, but I sincerely doubt that any of the soldiers from the South were willing to die specifically to keep it.  The Southerners loved their state first, their country second; and that's really why they were willing to fight, and die if need be.  It's abhorrent that slavery is one of the things they were protecting with their lives (and disingenuous to say it wasn't an issue at all); but that really wasn't the heart of the issue for them.  I really do get that.)

I'm particularly excited about a very special resource of ours -- one about which I expect to write a great deal more as this unit unfolds.  About a dozen years ago, two men paid an unexpected visit to The Chief and his two young daughters, as part of their research regarding a play the two men were writing about the Civil War.  Mr. NIck Nerangis and Mr. John Andrews were in the process of writing and producing a play for Wayside Theatre in Virginia, based on the letters of one Clarence A. Johnson who served in the Union Army.  Turns out young Clarence lived ... HERE!  In this very house, my house!, which was built by Clarence Johnson's father!  Mr. Nerangis sent us a complete copy of transcripts of Mr. Johnson's letters, along with the transcript of a speech given by his aunt, Ms. Lydia Selina Johnson, regarding her experiences as a nurse serving in the civil war.  I have long known that my husband had these letters in his possession, but until last Sunday, had never actually read any of them.  Ms. Johnson's speech moved me to tears at least three times as I read it aloud for the first time.  And, while I haven't read all of Clarence Johnson's letters, the few I have read randomly indicate that, among other things, he was present at Appamatox for Lee's surrender.  (And that lice infestation was a significant problem, which he described in one letter in the most digusting terms ...)  I will be posting exerpts from Clarence Johnson's letters, and Lydia Selina Johnson's address in its entirety, on my main website, as soon as I get a chance.  (These letters were not presented to us as copyrighted material, though I will confirm that before posting.)

Meanwhile, here is a rundown of the resources we are and/or will be using:

Primary Sources:

• Letters of Clarence A. Johnson, transcribed by (I believe; at least procured from) Mr. Nick Nerangis; other copies on file in the State of Virginia Archives, Richmond Virginia; Petersburg Park, National Battlefield Park, Richmond Virginia; and the U.S. Army War College Historical Library, Carlisle, Pennsylvania.

• Speech given by Miss Lydia Selina Johnson, Nurse in the Civil War, "the first nurse to be granted a pension and that by a special Act of Congress."  Address given to the Literary & Historical Society of Lyndonville NY, February 22, 1898.  Copy received from Mr. Nick Nerangis; origin unknown at this writing.

• Copy of Village Map, showing our home and propery belonging to Mrs. Bessie B. Johnson (wife of Clarence Johnson), dated sometime between 1910 and 1916

• Photograph of our home, dated about 1900, procured from XXXX, childhood resident of our home (and xxxdaughter of Clarence Johnson ???) (I have to look that up!) :)

• The Gettysburg Address, as published in a book by Stuart A. Kallen  

• "Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory," Julia Ward Howe's first person account of how she came to write the Battle Hymn of the Republic, in Mine Eyes Have Seen:  A First-Person History of the Events That Shaped America 

• Lynhaven Cemetery, Lyndonville NY, burial ground for Clarence A. Johnson, Lydia Selina Johnson, and many of their relatives

General Resources:

• A History of US, Vol 5-7, selected chapters
• In the Hands of a Child Civil War Lapbook, Notes and Timelines

Biographies:

• Freedom Train, the Story of Harriet Tubman
• Lincoln, A Photobiography
• Seven Miles to Freedom:  The Robert Smalls Story
• Angel of the Battlefield, in The Children's Book of Faith (Clara Barton)

Historical Fiction:

• Meet Addy, An American Girl
• Civil War on Sunday (Magic Tree House 21)
• Freedom Crossing
• The Perilous Road
• Across Five Aprils
• Turn Homeward, Hanna Lee

Civil War Era Recipes:

• Civil War Cooking:  The Union
• Civil War Cooking:  The Confederacy
• Youtube:  A Taste of Civil War Foods

Websites:

• Civil War for Kids
• Mr. Nussbaum's 1800s US History Timeline & links
• Famous Women of the Civil War
• National Geographic:  Underground Railroad Interactive

Music:

• Wee Sing America
• The Music of the American Civil War
• Confederate and Union Civil War Song Lyrics

Videos (Animated Hero Classics):

• Harriet Tubman
• Abraham Lincoln

Field Trips:

• Murphy's Orchard, Burt NY:  Underground Railroad Tour
• Lynhaven Cemetery, Lyndonville NY:  View & make rubbings of the grave markers for Clarence A. Johnson and Lydia Selina Johnson
• Freedom Crossing Statue Unveiling, Lewiston NY (via webcam) (Update, 10/15:  Site now has links to local TV coverage of the statue's background and unveiling -- good stuff!)
• Visit to Gettysburg, TBA

4-Week Update: History & Geography

This post will be the first in a series that, to everyone else, will probably be mind-numbingly boring – it’s just about halfway through the first quarter in our homeschool, and I just want to summarize for the record what we’ve accomplished so far.  I’ll save reflections for another post; this will just provide a mile marker toward the writing of a quarterly review at the end of the quarter, and give me a sense of how much we have/likely will accomplish. To keep the posts to a reasonable length, I’ll tackle this one subject area at a time.

History & Geography: 

”He’s got the whole world in His hands!” Part of our daily review includes singing about & locating/matching the geographic features we’re studying. Taz likes to spin the globe and randomly stop it with his finger – to see if he can name the continent or ocean where the globe stops.

Taz:  General introduction to continents, oceans, poles and equator and related climate; map vs. globe; emphasis on North America (where we live) and South America (our first continent study of the school year).  NSEW, with orientation to our own home (lake is north of us; next town is south of us; sun rises in the east, behind our home; sun sets in the west, in front of our home).  Next up:  create an “aerial” picture map of our neighborhood, with directions to our pond.

Junie B.:  Review map basics; begin to discuss latitude & longitude; location of Tropic of Cancer & Capricorn and tropical climate.

Both:  Focus on South America, using this unit study as a spine; begin a pinpunch map of countries of South America; introduction to Andes Mountains, Las Pampas and the Amazon Rain Forest; focus on Saints of South America (so far, St. Peter Claver of Colombia; next up Our Lady of Aparacida, the patroness of Brazil); sampling of regional foods.  Placing historical events and people under study in our Book of Centuries.  South American Stories:  Caps for Sale, a delightful favorite folktale, which the author placed in Paramaribo, Suriname; Shoes for Everyone, about a Surinamese machinist and inventor who came to the United States and revolutionized the shoe industry.

Related Side studies:  Our Lady of Fatima (including a field trip to Fatima Shrine as part of our first day of school celebration) and St. Lawrence Ruiz (our patron saints for August and September, respectively – here’s how we come up with our patron saints);  locating Portugal/ Europe and The Philipines, Japan/ Asia on the map.  Next up:  Feast of the Korean Martyrs; locating Korea/ Asia on the map; sampling of our favorite Korean foods & discussion of Korean customs (e.g. Hanboks); and , of course, the importance of Korea to our own family.  New patron saint for October, TBA.

 

Junie B. (with Taz often included, but not necessarily), mostly via historical fiction:  Discussions of the impact of the Erie Canal (including an excursion through the locks at Lockport NY); California Gold Rush; Oregon Trail and settlement of the West; Treatment of Native Americans and the Trail of Tears/ The Long Walk; Tragedy of Slavery in the Americas and Europe; The Underground Railroad (just starting); Harriet Tubman and William Wilberforce.  Next up:  Focus on Underground Railroad and its connection to our area.

Books from Sonlight’s History Curriculum, read so far:  Everyone:  Simon Bolivar:  The Liberator (4); Shoes for Everyone (4); Caps for Sale (with fun side discussion of the architecture in Suriname’s port city of Paramaribo, and monkeys – not from Sonlight, but perfect!); William Wilberforce (4) (begun); The Apple and the Arrow (1) (begun).  Taz:  Living Long Ago (1) and Usborne Children’s Encyclopedia (1) (perused)

Up next:  Junie B. will write a short essay on one of the following topics:  California Gold Rush; Oregon Trail; Trail of Tears; Underground Railroad; Erie Canal.  She will use one internet resource (either Mr. Nussbaum, or Enchanted Learning) and one simple book selected from the library and/or the appropriate section in Hakim’s Story of US.  We’ll focus our writing lessons over the next two weeks on note taking and topic organization, and use this Writing Process approach to lead to a final essay.  Since this will be her first attempt to write something like this, it’ll be a lot simpler than it sounds! :)

This Year's Resources: Grade 1

As promised, here's (finally!) a rundown of the resources I'm using with Taz, my intrepid 1st grader.  I actually wrote this post back in July , when (Joy!  Rapture!) the new books were rolling in, and, 4 weeks into our first semester, I've already made some changes (some of which I've noted below.)  As time goes on, I hope to post many examples of the kinds of activities we are doing in each subject area.

Here I'm mostly re-using resources I used with Junie B., but filling in the missing titles and instructor manuals from Sonlight where appropriate.  In a year or two, I should be all caught up, and will only need to purchase curriculum for Junie B!!

Sonlight K:  Introduction to World Cultures

The readalouds that go with this level are outstanding, and since I didn't use them last year (I didn't think Taz was quite ready for listening to chapter books at the time, but he certainly enjoys them now), I wanted to make sure we did.  Plus, starting next year, this puts his curriculum on par with the history sequence I want to use with Junie B. for 5-8th grades (Ancient cultures, Middle Ages, Early American History, Modern Times).  Works for me! :)

• History & Geography
• Literature

Reading:

• Little Angel Readers Series, books & workbooks A-D. I used this with Junie B. and found the stories delightful! I didn't like that it combined handwriting with reading -- she was only 4 at the time, and while she was very ready to read, she was not ready to begin handwriting instruction until she was nearly 6. I don't think a "program" exists that addresses the fact that reading readiness and writing/spelling readiness are different, and can develop at wildly different rates. But that doesn't seem to be Taz's issue in any case; from that perspective, it will be fine. I may not use the whole series, though, switching perhaps to a trade book approach once we finish the preprimer level. At the risk of sounding like a "multiculturalist," I do have some discomfort with the fact that the illustrations in the Little Angel series, while sweet, are almost exclusively of traditional "white" families and communities -- people of color are clearly an afterthought here (and mostly the object of mission work, if they are referred to at all). I probably wouldn't even have noticed that myself if it weren't for the fact that my family is multiracial; and I expect that the "whiteness" of the illustrations will not escape my boys' notice on some level, either, even if they don't say so. Issues of racial and cultural identity, especially in a family like ours, are very real, and while outright bigotry is much rarer than it used to be, I believe it's important to be vigilant for our sons' sake. I'm not sure how to address it, other than to provide them with lots of other, better-illustrated books without much, if any, comment. The point, of course, is that I don't want my sons thinking there is a value judgement to be made about race, and seemingly innocent things like this are a part of what I want to be aware of, in order to avoid that.  Just saying.
• Starfall online reading program. We already use this, and love it. The fact that he can scroll over the illustrations to animate them totally grabs his attention, and often makes him laugh!  The phonics readers will be used to supplement the Little Angels readers, and he already loves the ABC pages and games. (Update at 4 weeks:  He can read Zac the Rat!  This is so exciting!) :)
• Kelly's Kindergarten -- what a great resource this has been! -- has lots of simple games and activities that are perfect for practicing phonics skills and sight word recognition.  Cars Uno (4th game down) is one of our early favorites -- Junie B. even enjoys playing!  (Don't be misled by the "Kindergarten" moniker -- the activities are perfect for early reading practice at whatever age you begin.)

Language Arts:

• Writing Strands Level 1
• Language Experience activities (writing down what he says, and then helping him recognize familiar written words within it), including a daily journal (draw a picture then describe it, or tell what happened, then draw a picture to illustrate it); labeling drawings and encouraging "kid writing" as part of any drawing/describing activity
• Handwriting:  daily fine motor/sensory activites to continue to develop finger strength and eye-hand coordination; handwriting practice included in reading program, and via homemade games like these.  I may add in a formal handwriting program, but I doubt it will be necessary at this point.

Math:

• MCP Math 1.  (LOL Update:  Famous Last Words about to follow ...) I have it; it's cheap; I'm going to use it.  Junie B. hated this program.  We'll see how it goes over with Taz. If he also hates it, we have Right Start for next year, ready to go! (Update at 4 weeks, continued:  What's the definition of insanity again?  Oh, I just find this program unbelievably awful.  It sucks the lifeblood out of any innate mathmatical interest my children have, and I have once again cast it aside.  I thought I could get away with using it as a primary program, and then supplementing it with lots of fun games; but, well ... no. Oh, well -- at least it only cost me the price of the student workbook!  Will somebody please remind me of this before I try to use this program with Sunny-boy, too?!)
•  Math Their Way, heavily adapted to meet the needs of a class of one :) (Yes; it includes the lesson I should have already learned about why not to use MCP with Taz; but I've a thick skull sometimes -- probably from hitting it against a brick wall so much, no doubt!)  :)
• Workjobs II 
• Simple Math Journal, to provide a fun, daily practice of newly-developing skills, and a way to record progress along the way (I hope to have many samples of what we're doing with this, along the way this year!)
• Daily calendar activites, including practicing patterns, counting, numeral recognition, skip counting, plus/minus 1 and 2, etc.; counting the days with swizzle sticks and placing into "place value cups" labeled with the number of sticks inside (three cups side by side; when the far right "ones" cup has ten sticks they are taken out and banded together, and put in the middle "tens" cup.  I'll post what this looks like another time; here's how we did it last year.)  Simple, fun and effective.

Science:

• Nature Monday crafts and activities; simple Nature Notebook
• Easy as 1, 2, 3 -- for guidance in adapting Junie B's science program to Taz's level, mostly.  I bought this many years ago, but never really used it.  We'll see how well it fits the bill this year.

Religion:

• See my notes on Junie B.'s 4th grade program and these posts on Patron Saints of the Month for our approach to Religion with my children. 
• St. Joseph First Communion Catechism -- reading and discussing together, a little at a time, overthe next two years
• Beginning a First Communion Notebook, highlighting Bible stories, Sacraments (especially Reconciliation and Eucharist, of course) and prayer
• Participation in 1st Grade Religious Instruction at our parish (I'm not sure this is really worth a whole lot, other than to establish good faith with the pastor, who is fairly new to our parish and doesn't yet know us very well).
• Year-round liturgical activities, including some Mass preparation, celebration of our Patron Saints and favorite Saints, and major feasts/seasons of the Church year.

Writing Practice Games for the Anti-Worksheet Kid (K-1)

Taz (my 1st grader) has no patience for worksheets.  That's ok; I'm actually with him on that one!  But some things only improve with drill, and the correct early formation of numerals and letters falls into that category.

What to do?

Why, make a game of it, of course!

Here's our Numeral Writing Game:

Materials: 

• 1 die (ours is an electronic one from a board game, which adds to the fun)
• 1 30-60 sec hourglass timer (also pilfered from a board game)
• 1 sheet of primary writing paper, with at least 6 lines on it; 1 sample of each of the numberals 1-6 at the beginning of each line
• Pencil or marker

Number of players:  One

Object:  To write as many numerals as possible, correctly, during the time afforded by the timer

How to play:  Give child a numbered paper, a writing instrument and a die.  At the first roll of the die, the hourglass is turned over.  The child writes the numeral shown on the die, and rolls again.  This is repeated as many times as possible, until the timer runs out.

That's it!  My son loves this game, and will play it several times in a row.  He likes to see which numeral will "win" -- that is, whichever numeral is written the most times on his sheet.  Way better than a worksheet! Plus he has the added benefit of practicing how quickly he can determine the number of dots on each face of the die without counting.  Fun!  This could be done with a deck of cards depicting abacus beads, signal dot stickers, tally marks or pictures of held-up fingers, as well, to increase the variety of numerals being practiced.

This game could also easily be adapted as an addition game (for the anti-flashcard crowd), using the die to determine the addends for each problem (or even rolling two dice for the same purpose), the goal being to complete as many addition problems as possible until the timer runs out.  I think I would just have him write down the answer to each problem -- or even just make a tally mark to keep track of how many problems were completed -- while practicing adding the numbers mentally.  Again, using cards instead of dice, or even re-labeling the dice with stickers to limit the addends, could help control which addition facts were being practiced.

And here's our Letter Writing Game:

Materials:

• Writing paper with a target practice letter written at the beginning of each line, and at least 6 spaces to fill in per letter (I made mine on an Excel spreadsheet, but a few simple lines or boxes drawn on a regular piece of primary writing paper will do), one sheet prepared for each player
• A die, with the dots covered over with a signal dot sticker, on which 6 target practice letters have been written
• A second, unaltered, die
• A writing tool of your choice for each player

Number of players:  Two or three

Object:  To be the first to completely fill the writing sheet with correctly-formed letters

How to play:  Player one rolls both dice, to determine which letter he will write, and how many times.  If the number rolled is higher than the number of letters left to be written, the player may choose to write only the number needed (for example, you already have 3 Ps written, but then you rolled a P and a 6.  You can write 6 more Ps if you want, but you don't have to).  If all the spaces for a given letter are full and you roll that letter, the player passes.  Play continues until one player has completely filled his or her sheet.

Variations:  You could practice both upper and lower case of any letter by adding a rule such as "even" numbers mean upper case and "odd" numbers mean lower case.  You could increase the number of target letters covered in a single game by using a deck of homemade ABC cards instead of dice.  You could even make a similar game using onsets and rimes (i.e., single consonants on one die, and _at, _ad, etc. on the other die) to practice both writing and early reading skills, too, filling up a preset number of spaces for words rather than letters.  Whatever you and your child think of as fun will work!

This Year's Resources: Grade 4

Two weeks into our school year, and I'm just now getting around to posting my curriculum choices!  Here's what I'm using with Junie B, 4th Grader (Taz's 1st grade resources coming soon!):

General:  Sonlight Core 4:  Introduction to American History, Part 2 (mid-1800s to present day).  Includes History, Readers and Literature Read-alouds; extensive list of resources can be found by following the link.

History studies is a work in progress around here.  I purchased all the books for the 5-day program, but we really have not been doing focused History studies on a daily basis.  So far, we've worked on Sonlight's South America unit, which coincides with my goal to familiarize my 1st grader with the names of the continents and general map features, as part of our daily review-and-drill sessions (much more fun than that sounds!  I'll eventually post details of how we do things like this over on my other site, In My Backyard.)  I plan to focus more on regions, with some fun cuisine-sampling and mapmaking activites, and of course, Saints of South America.  Junie also has several Top Secret Adventures focusing on South American countries, and we're working our way through those as well (and so far actually spending a great deal more time on this than Sonlight sets aside).

Also, 4th grade is the traditional year for focusing on state history.  We live in an historically rich area, so in addition to completing this simple state study guide, we will be enjoying a number of field trips!  (Our own humble home was built at the time of the civil war.  We actually have transcriptions of the letters written by the son of the original builders of our home while he was serving as a soldier for the Union!  A one-man play has even been written about that soldier based on those letters, and apparently opened in Washington DC.  How cool is that?)  A NYS travel guide from AAA will come in pretty handy, I think.

Math:  After two consecutive years of using RightStart -- and really appreciating its approach -- I decided we really couldn't afford to spend over $200 every year on a math program, even if it would ultimately be used for more than one child.  So this year we're going with Saxon 5/4, with the DIVE CD.  You know, I had expected Saxon to be harder than it is.  (That doesn't worry me at all, actually.  I know it can make me feel good to have my kids succeeding all over the place well beyond their grade level, but in truth, if they're not bored and they are actually improving their skills, that's more than good enough for me, even if they find the work easy.)  Right now, the emphasis is surprisingly on very basic math facts (addition and subtraction) -- but what's turning out to be great about that is that Junie is getting a lot of practice -- and confidence -- in these basics.  She's doing 4 lessons each week, along with online facts drills at the Math-U-See website (in lieu of the written drills from the workbook), and for the Mixed Practice section she does either the even or the odd-numbered examples based on the date (e.g. on the 26th she completed the evens).  So far, she's been doing the lessons entirely on her own, with me checking her work or assisting as needed -- and she seems to really like that.  The 5th day each week is set aside for math games from the resources & materials we already purchased over the last two years from RightStart, and/or playing Math drill games from the websites we found last year (here's a favorite of my little fashion maven!)  The balance so far seems just right. 

Junie completes her work in a "Math Office" which so far, really, is just a 3-ring binder with pockets inside the cover.  There is a log for the results of her MUS drills, and a log for the games we're playing; then there's just a lot of notebook paper for taking notes during her DIVE sessions, and working her Mixed Practice problems each day.  As the work becomes more complicated (if it ever really does), we'll add sections more akin to an "office" style resource as needed (traditional math "mini office"example here).

Science:  We're continuing to have our Nature Monday experiences as the backbone of our science program.  Getting the kids out of bed on Monday mornings is easy -- all I have to do is call them with a cheery, "It's Nature Monday!" :)  For a text, I decided to go with CHC's  Behold and See.  Junie will be reading this mostly on her own, then filling me in on what she read; we'll do the experiments together as a family, and coordinate the lessons whenever possible with what we're already doing on Nature Monday.  While we've never followed any of these exactly, the Outdoor Hour Challenges from Handbook of Nature Study are wonderfully inspirational.  I also really enjoy getting emails from Kramf chock full of other simple experiment ideas.

Language Arts:  For grammar, we've just started using (and loving!) Easy Grammar and Daily Grams (4th grade level).  Since the simple focus of the program is eliminating prepositional phrases in order to more easily identify a sentence's subject & predicate, we've been enjoying this Schoolhouse Rock video on youtube! :)  Spelling:  Natural Speller's 4th grade lists, with daily lessons inspired by Donna Young's approach and A Reason for Spelling's great sensory ideas.  Writing has presented something of a challenge in the past, but over the summer we gave Writing Strands (WS) a try with wonderful success.  We're going full-bore with that now, picking up where we left off in WS-2, and, when we're done with that, moving into WS-3.  I'm also having her complete a simple summary/favorite scene worksheet following completion of a reader (which she moves through waaaaay too quickly -- it's hard for me to find the time to keep ahead of her on the books I've never yet read myself!!)  Handwriting:  Junie is really enjoying her first foray into CHC's Handwriting series, level 4, and is especially getting a kick out of its use of Latin ("Mom, I looked ahead -- they actually have the Latin for how much wood could a wood chuck chuck!" Very clever, and the book itself is beautifully published.)  Keyboarding:  We started using Typing Instructor a couple years ago, but without much focus; while she is able to type some things quickly (like the password to get on the computer), this year I'd like to see Junie refine those skills to make them actually useful for composition, perhaps by (school) year's end.  We'll be continuing our habit of visiting the Library on at least a bi-weekly (often weekly) basis as well, with an ongoing focus on using the library search engine to identify resources, and locating those resources on the shelves.

Religion:  I almost hesitate to post anything about this, because anyone who might happen upon this blog via 4Real, Catholic Mothers Online, Catholic Blogs or the Liturgical Year Circle has access to far more interesting, insightful and creative ideas in this area than anything I could ever come up with.  I don't really like using text books for the study of our faith -- maybe it stems back to what The Chief calls "Peace, Love and Jesus" texts from our own early post-Vatican II childhoods, but they always give me kind of a bored, stilted feeling when I leaf through their slick pages.  (Yes, even the Faith & Life and Image of God ones.)  My children get plenty of that at CCD at church, anyway.  Besides, I can state unequivocally that everything important I learned about our Faith as a child came from home, not from school -- and I'd like to think my children could say the same, even if we weren't homeschooling. 

I like reading to my children from the Bible (Vos' Children's Bible has a lovely, Parent to child storytelling tone); talking about Jesus as both our Lord and God who insists on a certain way of life and behavior as well as being our loving and forgiving friend; learning about Mary and the Saints (primarily by celebrating their feasts and invoking their intercession in prayer), preparing for and participating in Mass and the Sacraments (if only by example), praying together, placing our negative behavior choices (including some of my own) in the context of what is demanded of us by God and owed by us to each other in love, and completing Liturgical Year notebooks, crafts and other activities.  My focus will be on beginning preparation for Taz's First Confession & Communion, which will hopefully take place next school year.  For inspiration, I love CHC's A Year with God, Cay Gibson's Catholic Mosaic, Jessica's endless supply of enthusiastic and creative ideas for celebrating the liturgical year with her own children atA Shower of Roses, Mass preparation ideas from Catholic Mom, Castle of the Immaculate and Footprints on the Fridge, Alice Gunther's Liturgical Teas and Crafts found at her beautiful Cottage Blessings site and Kimberlee's wonderful First Friday activities at Pondered in my Heart; and the invitingly simple Big Book of Catholic Customs.  Little Acts of Grace is one of my all-time favorite books for introducing children to little loving "Catholic-isms."  And, of course, where would our feast day celebrations be without the huge selection of tasty entrees, desserts and snacks available at Catholic Cuisine! :)

Finally, Assessment. In New York, formal assessments must be completed at least every other year beginning in 4th grade.  We experimented with the IOWA last spring, and I was very pleased with both the testing situation and the results, so we'll be doing that again this coming spring, and formally submitting the results for the first time.  (I've been submitting narrative reviews every year up until now.)  In January, I'll probably order the 4th grade Scoring High book and manual to help Junie B. prepare for the testing situation, but I expect she'll do quite well either way.

So, that's pretty much it!  So far, so good:  We're looking forward to a wonderful, family- and faith-centered year!

2009-10 School Year: Divisions and Deadlines

Here's how I'm divvying up the school year this year, for the purposes of setting a date for Quarterly Reviews, and establishing the legally-required 180 days.  The dates for the QRs have been included on the IHIPs already turned in to the district, so those dates are inflexible (more or less; I'm sure if I really needed to change one due, say, to catastrophic illness or something, there is a process in place for doing that.  But I don't expect to avail myself of any such.) The rest of the calendar year is actually very flexible if needed, so long as I can show we have completed the required 180 days sometime between July 1, 2009 and June 30, 2010.  I actually like having our school year defined ahead of time, though, to the degree possible; and here is what I've come up with for the current school year.

Junie B:  Grade 4; Taz:  Grade 1.  Sunny-boy:  Coming along for the ride. ;)

First day of school:  August 15, 2009.  Last day of school: May 28, 2010.

First day of school is completed with a tremendous amount of fanfare.  Last day, not so much.  By the time we've reached the end of the school year, we're mostly tying up loose ends, reorganizing toys, and putting books away -- and that, at least the latter two, continues more or less throughout the summer. If specific lessons need to be completed (especially if in reading or math), we will continue for as long as it takes to complete them.

I designate time off at the end of each quarter, which mostly just gives me time to adjust my plans for the next quarter, and get my Quarterly Reviews written and submitted to the district.  Our actual daily schedule during those weeks really doesn't change much, though there's no "pressure" (on  me; hopefully the kids never feel pressured about their schooling) to complete any "lessons."  Because of inflexible dates like Christmas and Easter, those weeks off don't always coincide exactly with the period between quarters, but they always serve a similar purpose.

Patron Saints' feast days, birthdays and major Liturgical celebrations/observances are noted for each quarter; other dates may be celebrated as well, but these are the ones we will definitely observe.

============================================================

Q1:  August 15-October 16.  No school planned for Oct 17-25.

Q1 Reports due to the district: October 23, 2009.

Important family celebrations in Q1:  Feast of St. Lawrence, Aug 10; Feast of St. Helen, Aug 18; Feast of the Korean Martyrs, Sunday Sept 20; Junie's 10th (!) birthday, September 22.

=====================================================================

Q2:  October 26, 2009-January 8, 2010.  No school planned for Nov 26-27 (Thanksgiving) or Dec 26-Jan 3 (Christmas).  Dec 23-25 are so rich with family faith, history and tradition that they are included in the school year.  That's just how we roll.

Q2 Reports due to the district:  January 8, 2010.

Important family celebrations in Q2:  Thanksgiving, Thurs Nov 26; Sundays of Advent, beginning Nov 29; Sunny-boy's 4th (gasp!) birthday, Dec 14; Planting St. Lucy's Wheat, Dec 13; St. Lucy's Breakfast, Dec. 20; Christmas Eve-Eve, Dec. 23; Gramma's Christmas Eve Party, Dec 24; Christmas Day, Dec 25.

======================================================================

Q3:  January 11-March 19.  No school planned for February 13-21 (only because plugging away at school at that point in the year can be hard; this could change, depending on how well we happen to be clicking at the time.  Also, I wanted to keep all of Lent & Holy Week in the school year, and 13 consecutive weeks of "school" just sounded hard.) :) No school also planned for April 5-11 (except for formal testing).

Q3 Reports due to the district:  March 19, 2010.

Important family celebrations in Q3:  Step 1's 22nd birthday, Jan 21; Taz's Airplane Day, Jan 30; Ash Wednesday, Feb 17; Sundays of Lent, beginning Feb 21; My :) birthday, Feb 25; Feast of St. Patrick, Mar 17; Feast of St. Joseph, Mar 19; Holy Week, Mar 29-Apr 2; Easter Vigil, April 3. (As with Christmas time, Holy Week and the Easter Vigil are so rich with family and faith tradition they are included in the school year.)

Iowa Testing Dates (expected, but not yet announced):  Sometime week of April 5.

======================================================================

Q4:  April 12-May 28 (flexible).  No school planned for the month of June.

Q4 Report due to the district:  June 4, 2010.

End of the Year Evaluation due to the district:  June 25, 2010 (That's my date, only; I don't believe I'm committed legally until June 30.  This year, I'll just be submitting Junie B.'s Iowa results; for Taz, I'll be writing a narrative review without any formal testing.)

Letters of Intent for 2010-11 School Year due to the district:  June 30, 2010; IHIPs for 2010-11 due August 15.

Important Family Celebrations in Q4:  Feast of St. Joseph the Worker, May 1; JPII's birthday, May 18; Sunny-boy's Airplane Day, May 26; Memorial Day, May 31; Feast of the Visitation, May 31; Taz's 7th (no way!) birthday, June 3; Step 2's 19th birthday, June 16; The Chief's birthday, June 28. (4th of July weekendis pretty big around here, too, but technically, that falls in the next school year) :)

Just a Quick Note on What We've Been Doing

Today is the last day of our 3rd Quarter.  The first 5 weeks we spent our afternoons almost exclusively on science (plant biology in particular) with great results; the last 4 weeks on History (Lewis & Clark expedition, primarily).  We've been using Sonlight's reading list for history, read alouds and reading, gotten some inspiration from Serendipity's unit on the subject, and made use of pretty much every resource the library had available.  Junie B. will be finishing up a Lewis and Clark-themed lapbook (mostly via Homeschool Helper) over the next few days, and completing that has been a fun way to introduce online research, as well. 

Probably the most fun and memorable thing we did was to include all three children on a frozen exploration of our backyard and pond area.  The children were equipped with "Discovery Corps Explorer's Journals" with the goal of discovering and "naming" land forms and waterways, plants and animal tracks "just like" Lewis & Clark and the Corps of Discovery did.  Since we'd had a thaw followed by a deep freeze right about then, we had a blast discovering new frozen "rivers" and "skating ponds" that weren't there before!

In addition to this, we've spent some laid-back but highly productive time learning the shape and placement of the 50 states, memorizing their names and capitals, and learning some general information about the geographic makeup of the United States (we'll be doing more with this next year).  We've also collected all but 4 of the 50 States Quarters, which has provided a fun focus for our explorations here.

We've discovered a few online games that have really captured Junie B's imagination in practicing her multiplication tables with excellent results; I'll try to post on them soon, but her favorite, by far, is one called Math Models, which combines practice in recognizing multiplication facts with her love of fashion paper dolls.  Cute -- and the clothing seems inoffensive to me (if a little off-beat to my taste). :)

Finally, Junie B. will be taking her first formal assessment -- the IOWA -- in April.  It isn't necessary for her to do so this year -- in NYS, we may submit narrative reviews through 4th grade, then are required to submit formal test scores every other year; and we won't be submitting the scores she gets this year.  However, since she will be taking the test "for real" next year, we thought it wise to give her the experience of taking the test as a "practice" experience, first.  In any case, we've spent some time using the Scoring High test prep program over the last few weeks as well.  I'm finding it very instructive, actually -- she needs a lot more practice in correctly using punctuation and capitalization than I thought, and the science section, which I thought she'd breeze through, really tired her out.  I'm not crazy about formal testing, but I'm not opposed to it, either -- we're looking at this as an opportunity to see how we're doing in general, and to give Junie B. an opportunity to hone her test-taking skills.  She's actually pretty excited about it.  I'll let you know how it works out.

"Magic Writing"

This is a fun way to extend "pretend" writing into phonics-based writing, for the pre-reader.

I don't know if anyone else calls it "magic writing;" I heard of it many years ago when a friend showed me her son's Kindergarten school work, and it may simply have been his teacher's name for it.  It's a great "kid writing" approach to encouraging little ones to apply what they already know, to their spontaneous writings.

Today, Taz decided to "write" a list of his favorite dinners, as I worked on this week's grocery list.  I glanced at his work and saw that he was making nice left-to-right scribbles, one scribble per word.  Since his interest in the activity was so high, I took the opportunity to show him how to extend it using "magic writing."  It's pretty simple:  The child writes the sounds he knows, in the position in which he hears them; and simply draws a blank line to represent the sounds he doesn't know.  I showed him how to write an initial sound for two of the dinners on his list:  Chicken [and] Biscuits and Chicken Pot Pie ("____  B_______; ____  P___ P___").  He was excited by the idea, and took a stab at pancakes,  waffles, syrup and (oh, how I love this), "woast beef." :)

Taz has really struggled with making the "next step" from individual sounds to blending -- I'm very encouraged to see that, without prompting, he is able to identify at least some initial, middle and ending sounds, and position them correctly on his own. (I've actually backed off quite a bit from formal reading and math instruction with Taz at this point, since it seemed to frustrate him.  I think he just needs more time to play and explore, and make use of his really excellent spatial and mechanical skills.  We'll be taking a fresh stab at Kindergarten with him next August.  More on that another time.)

As for the "magic writing" technique:  Ideally, as I recall it, the goal is to have the child use the combination of letters and blank lines, showing awareness of whole words vs. syllables and the sounds within them; later the teacher would use the blank lines to fill in the missing letters.  I'm not doctrinaire about most things educational, though, and am just happy to see him make a great first attempt!

Taz the Science Kid

Five year old Taz is a smart little thinker.

Last week, he was making a snowman all by himself, but when it came time to stack the boulders, he found that they were too heavy for him to move by himself.  When he came to ask for help, I suggested he try using a shovel.

"Hmmm, let me think," he responded thoughtfully.  "I'll need something to put under it."  And then he grabbed a large firetruck and a shovel, and proceded to construct a lever and fulcrum!  (He wasn't able to lift and control the huge snowball enough to actually succeed without my help, but still -- Wow!)

(He got the idea from a recent episode of Sid the Science Kid.  Don't try to tell me TV's all bad!)

Then, today, we were making apple-honey muffins for breakfast.  Taz peeled the apple all by himself; then I cut it in half and cored it with a melon baller so he could grate it.  When his piece of apple started to get too small, I warned him against grating his knuckles -- whereupon he picked up the melon baller, pressed the piece of apple into the scoop at the smaller end, and safely finished the job!

That Taz. :)

Worms!

Q:  How do you avoid the Third Quarter Blues?

A:  Load up a bin with compost and worms, and have at it for the first 5 weeks of the quarter!

We have not experienced cabin fever this quarter.  No one is bored.  School has been fun.  We’ve even been relatively healthy!  Could it be that indoor compost actually has health benefits beyond the growing of good food? :)

In addition to our gardening activities and experiments, our study of worms has been remarkably interesting and fun, breathing life into our science program and setting the second half of our school year on the right track.  Here’s a look at some of the resources and activities we’ve especially enjoyed:

 

Our “spine” for this study was Homeschool Share’s Earthworms unit, an invaluable resource – the end product of the study is a lap book chock full of creative, information-rich mini-books.  The two books recommended for this study, Wiggling Worms at Work and Diary of a Worm, are probably two of the best picture books on the subject (at least for their appeal, which matters when the subject is ... worms), and are widely available.  Diary of a Worm (by the same author as the silly and fun Click Clack Moo, Cows that Type) is hilarious, and set my kids into fits of giggles more than once.  (I introduced this book by teaching them the Hokey Pokey, so they could “get” one of the funny comments in the book – that in itself was a lot of fun!)  Wiggling Worms at Work is a well-researched informational book that is also visually appealing, simple and beautifully illustrated,  with cut paper collage illustrations.

In looking up these books at our local library, I also came across another wonderful resource, More Picture-Perfect Science Lessons (all the more appealing since it reminds me of Cay Gibson). :)  Using these same two books, the authors developed a 5-day series of lessons and blackline masters that are just excellent.    For this unit, there is a Worm Journal for keeping track of observations and experiments, a fill-in-the-blank activity entitled “How Do Worms Help the Earth,” a “Save the Earthworms” poster activity with a 4 pt scoring rubric, and a simple Worm Quiz.  There are several suggested simple experiments and observation activites using live worms, as well.  Pure gold.  I’m definitely planning to purchase this one, and I can’t wait to try out more of their literature-based lesson ideas!  (I also want to get my hands on the first volume!)

All of these lesson and activity ideas are geared to a wide range of ages, and it has been gloriously easy to adapt every activity to include both my kindergartner and my third grader.

I highly recommend this kind of study -- it's nature studies, hands-on, literature based, memorable, fun:  Everything learning should be.

 

Earthworms' bristles are hard to see ... but they sure tickle!

 

Do earthworms prefer wet or dry places?  A simple 10-minute experiment leaves no doubt.

"Worm Words" vocabulary cards and folders for the lap book -- definitions, illustrations, and an exceptionally proud 5 year old.

"Diary of a Worm" gets a few extra readings from eager new fans.