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| Sorting pennies |
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| The math game Nicholas created |
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| Taking baby for a walk |
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| The War of 1812 continues...hiding from the enemy in the bushes |
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| Swings! In winter! |
Friday, 18 January 2013
A week in pictures
Thursday, 17 January 2013
Club Day. The Nature Version.
Today we welcomed back the Nature Club for the first time in 2013. Today we had a sweet-smelling time together. The herbs we picked back in September were now very dry and we used them to make some home remedies, all of which are described in Roots, Shoots, Buckets and Boots.
We talked about how earlier in history people needed to rely on nature to feed them, clothe them, and make them well when they were sick. Then we reviewed the herbs we had picked in the fall...peppermint, lemon balm, and sage. We talked about how the chemicals inside the herbs seem intensified when they are dried because they are now not "watered down".
We used the peppermint to make some tummy tea. The peppermint contains menthol, which has anesthetic properties. We simply picked the dried peppermint leaves off the stems and crumbled them into Teeli Flip bags (unbleached empty tea bags used with loose leaf teas). The tea can be used to soothe upset tummies or relieve indigestion. The tea could also be used as a morning eye-opener. The peppermint smelled so yummy - one clubber astutely exclaimed that it smelled like her mama's gum, and wondered if peppermint gum would also work to cure a sore tummy. We wondered whether gum contains real menthol - sounds like a good experiment to me!
Next, we made a sage gargle by picking the sage leaves off their stems and placing them in an empty glass jar. Then, we poured apple cider vinegar over the leaves. This gargle is an infusion, and it needs to be shaken for two weeks to get all the good antiseptic tannins out of it - I hope all the clubbers remember! The gargle can be used to relieve a sore throat. It was interesting to learn that the sage leaves would still be quite soft, despite the long drying period.
Lastly, we made a herbal bath bag. We raided my scrap basket for fabric for making the bags. Then we poured lavender (the only herb that didn't grow too well last summer and I had to buy) and crumbled the lemon balm leaves off their stems into the middle of our fabric squares. Lastly, we bunched the sides of the fabric together and tied them with ribbon. Our bath bags can be used to relax muscles (and minds). We talked about how it could be perfect for bath night, or perhaps saving for one of the flus that leave muscles feeling sore and achy. We wondered if the bath bags could be reused, or if they were a one-time use thing - another great experiment! If we thought the peppermint smelled good, the lemon balm was divine!
While I hope the clubbers don't get sick, I also hope that if they do, that these little remedies provide some relief.
We talked about how earlier in history people needed to rely on nature to feed them, clothe them, and make them well when they were sick. Then we reviewed the herbs we had picked in the fall...peppermint, lemon balm, and sage. We talked about how the chemicals inside the herbs seem intensified when they are dried because they are now not "watered down".
We used the peppermint to make some tummy tea. The peppermint contains menthol, which has anesthetic properties. We simply picked the dried peppermint leaves off the stems and crumbled them into Teeli Flip bags (unbleached empty tea bags used with loose leaf teas). The tea can be used to soothe upset tummies or relieve indigestion. The tea could also be used as a morning eye-opener. The peppermint smelled so yummy - one clubber astutely exclaimed that it smelled like her mama's gum, and wondered if peppermint gum would also work to cure a sore tummy. We wondered whether gum contains real menthol - sounds like a good experiment to me!
Next, we made a sage gargle by picking the sage leaves off their stems and placing them in an empty glass jar. Then, we poured apple cider vinegar over the leaves. This gargle is an infusion, and it needs to be shaken for two weeks to get all the good antiseptic tannins out of it - I hope all the clubbers remember! The gargle can be used to relieve a sore throat. It was interesting to learn that the sage leaves would still be quite soft, despite the long drying period.
Lastly, we made a herbal bath bag. We raided my scrap basket for fabric for making the bags. Then we poured lavender (the only herb that didn't grow too well last summer and I had to buy) and crumbled the lemon balm leaves off their stems into the middle of our fabric squares. Lastly, we bunched the sides of the fabric together and tied them with ribbon. Our bath bags can be used to relax muscles (and minds). We talked about how it could be perfect for bath night, or perhaps saving for one of the flus that leave muscles feeling sore and achy. We wondered if the bath bags could be reused, or if they were a one-time use thing - another great experiment! If we thought the peppermint smelled good, the lemon balm was divine!
While I hope the clubbers don't get sick, I also hope that if they do, that these little remedies provide some relief.
Wednesday, 16 January 2013
Dem bones. And a recap on Birds of Prey.
Yesterday, my husband took the reins for the day's homeschooling adventures, while I was on a training course. When I asked him how the day went, his only word was "fast". Coincidentally, the first Birds of Prey Club meeting of 2013 was yesterday. So, he was responsible for coming up with an activity, sharing it with the club members' parents, and then following through on those plans. I did ask him if he wanted to do a guest post, and while he didn't say no, he didn't say yes either. So here's a little recap of their afternoon.
Chris wanted to introduce the Club to bird calls. First though, he wanted to give them a sense as to what it would be like to track an animal in the wild. Being in an urban area, there isn't reams of wildlife - squirrels, small birds, cats and dogs rule the day here - so they played Let's Go Hiking (see here for more on our other experiences with the game). I understand the room quieted down quite a bit once they got into the thick of it, and they had to negotiate with one another a few times.
Chris found some bird calls here. He gave the club hints, like what the bird looked like, where it lived, what it preferred to eat, then he played the call. As I understand it, the boys were begging to try just one more call as the end of club time was drawing near.
Today, I led our homeschool co-op through some learning about bones. The co-op moms decided we would focus on all things science during the winter. With limited planning time (if a week and a half is limited), I was a little mystified with what I could do, and what I would feel comfortable teaching. After all, the last time I did anything related to "science", beyond gardening and cooking, was...hmmm....when I tried to take a university physics course by correspondence, and stumbled all over Newton's laws. But before that, I had a love affair with anatomy and physiology. This too I hummed and hawed over, because I didn't know if the kids would be interested. Then I thought about some of my awesome teachers, and how the subject came alive simply because they were so passionate about it. And I remember how I became more amazed and in awe of the human body just by better understanding how it worked. So surely, if I showed up with the same amount of enthusiasm, it would rub off on someone.
The next trick was finding a suitable level of challenge for all in our group. It was possible I would be working with children whose ages ranged from 4 to 10. I decided to have some very basic things (singing "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes" and "Dem Bones") while also providing challenge by introducing the words in a different language (French), and the scientific names. We talked about how the scientific names helped scientists speak in the same language and communicate about the body very precisely. Then we talked about how many of the bony structures in a human body are named the same as those in another animal's body.
While I was planning, I found I was struggling with how to give the children something to explore with their hands. I wondered if I could borrow a human skeleton from somewhere. I wondered if using anatomy colouring pages would really give the children the depth I wanted to provide them with. With my brow furrowed, deep in though as to how to make bones tangible, I stumbled across the last of our stash of owl pellets. Yes - I had that hands-on experience I wanted to provide, just in the form of a rodent instead of the human form I was more familiar and comfortable with.
There was some apprehension from some of the children because of the tactile sensation of touching wet fur (we soaked the pellets before dissecting them). It seemed, though, that once they saw a peak of their first bone, the apprehension fizzled away. And I had a great time sharing some of my knowledge with these little ones. We had a few exciting moments - one was when we found a vole skull fully intact - we could see the opening where the brain stem would leave the skull, which was a first for all the pellets we've been through. I heard one child shout out "I found a humerus!" (upper arm bone), and was delighted that the songs we sung may have helped her remember the scientific names.
Here are some websites I found that may help you and yours dive into the world of bones:
~ Build a skeleton on-line
~ Spongelab Build-a-body
~ Student activity page for dissecting an owl pellet, with links to the human skeletal system
Oh, what a fun afternoon!
Chris wanted to introduce the Club to bird calls. First though, he wanted to give them a sense as to what it would be like to track an animal in the wild. Being in an urban area, there isn't reams of wildlife - squirrels, small birds, cats and dogs rule the day here - so they played Let's Go Hiking (see here for more on our other experiences with the game). I understand the room quieted down quite a bit once they got into the thick of it, and they had to negotiate with one another a few times.
Chris found some bird calls here. He gave the club hints, like what the bird looked like, where it lived, what it preferred to eat, then he played the call. As I understand it, the boys were begging to try just one more call as the end of club time was drawing near.
Today, I led our homeschool co-op through some learning about bones. The co-op moms decided we would focus on all things science during the winter. With limited planning time (if a week and a half is limited), I was a little mystified with what I could do, and what I would feel comfortable teaching. After all, the last time I did anything related to "science", beyond gardening and cooking, was...hmmm....when I tried to take a university physics course by correspondence, and stumbled all over Newton's laws. But before that, I had a love affair with anatomy and physiology. This too I hummed and hawed over, because I didn't know if the kids would be interested. Then I thought about some of my awesome teachers, and how the subject came alive simply because they were so passionate about it. And I remember how I became more amazed and in awe of the human body just by better understanding how it worked. So surely, if I showed up with the same amount of enthusiasm, it would rub off on someone.
The next trick was finding a suitable level of challenge for all in our group. It was possible I would be working with children whose ages ranged from 4 to 10. I decided to have some very basic things (singing "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes" and "Dem Bones") while also providing challenge by introducing the words in a different language (French), and the scientific names. We talked about how the scientific names helped scientists speak in the same language and communicate about the body very precisely. Then we talked about how many of the bony structures in a human body are named the same as those in another animal's body.
While I was planning, I found I was struggling with how to give the children something to explore with their hands. I wondered if I could borrow a human skeleton from somewhere. I wondered if using anatomy colouring pages would really give the children the depth I wanted to provide them with. With my brow furrowed, deep in though as to how to make bones tangible, I stumbled across the last of our stash of owl pellets. Yes - I had that hands-on experience I wanted to provide, just in the form of a rodent instead of the human form I was more familiar and comfortable with.
There was some apprehension from some of the children because of the tactile sensation of touching wet fur (we soaked the pellets before dissecting them). It seemed, though, that once they saw a peak of their first bone, the apprehension fizzled away. And I had a great time sharing some of my knowledge with these little ones. We had a few exciting moments - one was when we found a vole skull fully intact - we could see the opening where the brain stem would leave the skull, which was a first for all the pellets we've been through. I heard one child shout out "I found a humerus!" (upper arm bone), and was delighted that the songs we sung may have helped her remember the scientific names.
Here are some websites I found that may help you and yours dive into the world of bones:
~ Build a skeleton on-line
~ Spongelab Build-a-body
~ Student activity page for dissecting an owl pellet, with links to the human skeletal system
Oh, what a fun afternoon!
Monday, 14 January 2013
A peaceful compromise
Here we were today, all four of us gathered in the bathroom as we finished getting ready for the day - teeth brushed, hair combed, me wrestling with a little one's diaper as she tried to climb on the potty. The children were about to start their quiet time work - no morning walk today as it really is too frigid (-30C).
I asked Nicholas what he would work on today. He mentioned he would work on Language Lessons, he would like to play a math game, and he wasn't sure what his writing work would look like. I mentioned looking at the next Writing Strands lesson, for he might like it - he was to write about a friend. He got a look of fear in his eyes, then brightened up. "What if I made a game?"
I hesitated, feeling my gut twist up a bit and my mind revving its engine. How was a game writing? But I resisted the urge to blurt out the question and responded curiously instead with, "What kind of game?"
"I don't know....what about a math game?" Nicholas answered.
Still not sure how he was tying writing into this game, I asked, "What will you write about?"
"The instructions. And I'll need to make cards with the questions on them, and the cards will tell the person how many spaces to move if they get the question right. And I'll need to make a game board." Nicholas replied, his voice sounding more excited and his eyes sparkling just a bit more as he continued to formulate what his game would look like.
Both of us satisfied, he went off to his room to start his quiet time work while I finished getting Astrin ready for the day and headed downstairs to help Jaelyn.
Later, Nicholas brings down the instructions he's written. I ask him how he would like us to go through the words he had trouble spelling. This time, he would like to go through it together, admitting that there were a few words he had trouble with. We go through spelling and punctuation, have a few giggles along the way, then he heads back upstairs to make the cards and board.
Peace ensues. What a great feeling.
I asked Nicholas what he would work on today. He mentioned he would work on Language Lessons, he would like to play a math game, and he wasn't sure what his writing work would look like. I mentioned looking at the next Writing Strands lesson, for he might like it - he was to write about a friend. He got a look of fear in his eyes, then brightened up. "What if I made a game?"
I hesitated, feeling my gut twist up a bit and my mind revving its engine. How was a game writing? But I resisted the urge to blurt out the question and responded curiously instead with, "What kind of game?"
"I don't know....what about a math game?" Nicholas answered.
Still not sure how he was tying writing into this game, I asked, "What will you write about?"
"The instructions. And I'll need to make cards with the questions on them, and the cards will tell the person how many spaces to move if they get the question right. And I'll need to make a game board." Nicholas replied, his voice sounding more excited and his eyes sparkling just a bit more as he continued to formulate what his game would look like.
Both of us satisfied, he went off to his room to start his quiet time work while I finished getting Astrin ready for the day and headed downstairs to help Jaelyn.
Later, Nicholas brings down the instructions he's written. I ask him how he would like us to go through the words he had trouble spelling. This time, he would like to go through it together, admitting that there were a few words he had trouble with. We go through spelling and punctuation, have a few giggles along the way, then he heads back upstairs to make the cards and board.
Peace ensues. What a great feeling.
Friday, 11 January 2013
A week in pictures
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| Ready to go sledding |
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| Our littlest one working hard while the others are working too |
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| Best papa ever rockin out with his little one (the Christmas tree will get put away this weekend!) |
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| Send in the clowns! |
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| Fun in the snow |
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| LEGO dino-world, by Nicholas |
Thursday, 10 January 2013
Adjusting routines
I cherish our routines, because it gives all of us something to look
forward to - we know what's going to happen next in our days. Upon entering January, though, I felt compelled to look hard at our homeschooling routine. Some of the dynamics in our family were changing - having a potential non-napping toddler hanging around during our quiet time, for starters. Plus, despite it looking like this winter will be long, long, long, I really want to commit to getting us all out and discovering the beauty of a crisp winter day. So we're going to tweak things and see how they go.
Our first tweak is to go for a family walk once everyone is ready to face the day. We've gone every day this week, and I've been delightfully surprised at all there is to discover in this neighbourhood we've called home for the past three years. Tuesday's discovery was a little band of brightly plumed birds, and today's was a mysterious coniferous tree that is one-of-a-kind for our part of town.
The second tweak is to do our quiet schoolwork in the morning instead of the afternoon. This change was mainly because Astrin is showing signs of outgrowing her afternoon naps and there tend to be more places to go or things to do in the afternoon than in the morning.
The third tweak is to our approach to math. We were originally using workbooks to go through math concepts. While Jaelyn is happily zipping through her book, Nicholas has resisted every step of the way. He is a bright boy and understands the concepts, and while he complained that his class at school progressed through math too slow, he also complained that we were going to fast. He's insisted several times that the grade fours were absolutely not going through concepts that we were.
I don't feel I have the emotional energy to prod, negotiate, and so forth, yet I do think that repetition and practice is needed to "do" math efficiently. So we're using several different tools to get in the repetition I want, in a way that suits Nicholas. And where did these tools come from? They were rediscovered while we were cleaning our basement. One is called "Math Factory" and the other is called "Three Steps Ahead" and we purchased them when Nicholas was a newborn - some salesperson came to prey on us as new, tired, naive parents and convinced us that our child would have difficulty in school if we didn't purchase them. And what do you know - almost ten years after we purchased them, we're finally using them!
Our first tweak is to go for a family walk once everyone is ready to face the day. We've gone every day this week, and I've been delightfully surprised at all there is to discover in this neighbourhood we've called home for the past three years. Tuesday's discovery was a little band of brightly plumed birds, and today's was a mysterious coniferous tree that is one-of-a-kind for our part of town.
The second tweak is to do our quiet schoolwork in the morning instead of the afternoon. This change was mainly because Astrin is showing signs of outgrowing her afternoon naps and there tend to be more places to go or things to do in the afternoon than in the morning.
The third tweak is to our approach to math. We were originally using workbooks to go through math concepts. While Jaelyn is happily zipping through her book, Nicholas has resisted every step of the way. He is a bright boy and understands the concepts, and while he complained that his class at school progressed through math too slow, he also complained that we were going to fast. He's insisted several times that the grade fours were absolutely not going through concepts that we were.
I don't feel I have the emotional energy to prod, negotiate, and so forth, yet I do think that repetition and practice is needed to "do" math efficiently. So we're using several different tools to get in the repetition I want, in a way that suits Nicholas. And where did these tools come from? They were rediscovered while we were cleaning our basement. One is called "Math Factory" and the other is called "Three Steps Ahead" and we purchased them when Nicholas was a newborn - some salesperson came to prey on us as new, tired, naive parents and convinced us that our child would have difficulty in school if we didn't purchase them. And what do you know - almost ten years after we purchased them, we're finally using them!
Wednesday, 9 January 2013
Into the thick of it
Well, now that all the reveries into past and future are done, it's time to be fully in the present. And in the present we are. It seems that all the activities that we were on hiatus from for a month are now knocking on the door. Plus a few new ones have been added to the mix. I almost cringed as I turned the weekly calendar page, as we went from a week with very few markings to many. On paper, it looks like bodies are moving in all directions.
In the fall, I felt like our pace of life was pretty reasonable, and I'm scratching my head as to why things feel so hectic now. In truth, both children are only doing one more activity than they did in the fall, and they are doing it together at the same time and in the same place. Perhaps it is because we have notices of new events entering our inbox more often and find ourselves torn but ultimately saying "no" to more - just the act of saying "no" signals that we are tapped out or short on time. Perhaps it is because we've needed to figure out what we're doing in the spring at the same time that we're registering for activities for the winter. Perhaps it is the extras that have hit the calendar - like Scouting camps and activities, a trip to visit relatives, clubs that meet occasionally. Or maybe this is just how it always feels when returning to the fray after blissfully empty moments of time during the holidays.
As I was perusing my reading list, I was struck by the timeliness of an article from the author of Project-Based Homeschooling. It discusses the huge value of granting a child (or an adult, for that matter) time to dive deeply into a given topic. One of the reasons my son was dissatisfied with his school experience was because he was often being dragged away from following his intense, passionate interests. As I imagined a hectic winter, I was only focused on how it impacted me. I didn't even consider how it would be impacting the children.
So here we are, half a year into our rookie year. I'm again mindful of my ongoing shaky walk to cover all aspects of balance in providing an environment for an enriching learning experience - balance between learning some fundamentals (math and language arts) and giving the children room to follow their interests; balance between learning from me and learning from other experts in our community; balance between private time and time with others. And now this very timely article sends another spiral of questions my way. If I give them time to explore a topic and they don't really use it to deep dive (but would prefer to use it to fight with one another), how do I right the ship? Am I, indeed, giving them enough time? Should I be looking for something tangible at the end of a dive, or during a dive? How can I tell the difference between the "book" facts and "made-up" facts that my children share with me, and gently ask my children to consider the sources of their information?
I don't have any answers now. I do know that I will strive to protect and honour my children's free time. I will listen to my gut, for it often a reliable compass. I will trust that my children are experts at learning and they will follow their passions. I will accept that how they go about following their interests may look different that my preconceived notions. I will be gentle and accepting of all of us.
In the fall, I felt like our pace of life was pretty reasonable, and I'm scratching my head as to why things feel so hectic now. In truth, both children are only doing one more activity than they did in the fall, and they are doing it together at the same time and in the same place. Perhaps it is because we have notices of new events entering our inbox more often and find ourselves torn but ultimately saying "no" to more - just the act of saying "no" signals that we are tapped out or short on time. Perhaps it is because we've needed to figure out what we're doing in the spring at the same time that we're registering for activities for the winter. Perhaps it is the extras that have hit the calendar - like Scouting camps and activities, a trip to visit relatives, clubs that meet occasionally. Or maybe this is just how it always feels when returning to the fray after blissfully empty moments of time during the holidays.
As I was perusing my reading list, I was struck by the timeliness of an article from the author of Project-Based Homeschooling. It discusses the huge value of granting a child (or an adult, for that matter) time to dive deeply into a given topic. One of the reasons my son was dissatisfied with his school experience was because he was often being dragged away from following his intense, passionate interests. As I imagined a hectic winter, I was only focused on how it impacted me. I didn't even consider how it would be impacting the children.
So here we are, half a year into our rookie year. I'm again mindful of my ongoing shaky walk to cover all aspects of balance in providing an environment for an enriching learning experience - balance between learning some fundamentals (math and language arts) and giving the children room to follow their interests; balance between learning from me and learning from other experts in our community; balance between private time and time with others. And now this very timely article sends another spiral of questions my way. If I give them time to explore a topic and they don't really use it to deep dive (but would prefer to use it to fight with one another), how do I right the ship? Am I, indeed, giving them enough time? Should I be looking for something tangible at the end of a dive, or during a dive? How can I tell the difference between the "book" facts and "made-up" facts that my children share with me, and gently ask my children to consider the sources of their information?
I don't have any answers now. I do know that I will strive to protect and honour my children's free time. I will listen to my gut, for it often a reliable compass. I will trust that my children are experts at learning and they will follow their passions. I will accept that how they go about following their interests may look different that my preconceived notions. I will be gentle and accepting of all of us.
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