Inchcape Rock, Balloon Racers and Stubborn Husbands - Young Explorers

Good day dear friends! Can you believe we are almost finished block 3 of YE? Only one more day left in this session! Here's a recap of what we did today.

1. Icebreaker
We each thought of a one-word topic, similar to table topics, but in this case you gave your topic to the person on your left.  The topics the kids came up with? Aliens, flowers, pigs, Kate's dirty diaper, toilets (but Maria interpreted that as tulips), dollhouses, and apples. Diverse! Happy to report that most of the kids are making it to the 30 second mark easily, so that's a huge success!

2. Socratic Discussion - Stubborn Husband, Stubborn Wife
This is a cute Persian folktale about a husband and wife who can't stop arguing, and make a wager that whoever speaks first has to feed the calf from now on. The wife goes out for the day while the husband sits on the bench outside, as he usually does (somewhat lazy!). While he's sitting, several people come by - a beggar, a barber, a lady peddling cosmetics, and a thief. The husband thinks each person is really being paid by his wife to make the husband speak first, so he doesn't utter a word to any of these visitors, who then take advantage of him. They think he's a deaf-mute. The guy ends up losing all his food, hair and beard, being mistaken for a woman and given a make-over of sorts, and finally the thief takes all their valuables from inside the house.  Next week we're going to discuss this story in more detail ...

3. Poetry - Robert Southey's Inchcape Rock
This poem is totally cool. It generates discussion on justice and what it is, who doles out justice, is justice always served? This poem is a favorite of my homeschool facilitator. We were discussing the YE program and the poetry aspect at our last meeting. How its important to just let the kids love it (poetry). And so we pick our poems accordingly - poems that capture the kids' attention somehow. Sometimes its funny, other times its the story behind the poem that captivates them. Other times still, its the story in the poem itself. That's the case here! 

There is a famous reef off the coast of Scotland, where sits Bell Rock Lighthouse.  Its called Bell Rock because the Abbot of Aberbrothok installed a bell to warn sailors of the surrounding   shallow and dangerous reef, especially important when the waters surged and hid the rock completely from sight.  In the poem, Ralph the Rover (translation - wicked sailor) cuts off the bell.  Justice is served though, when eventually he himself perishes at the hands of the bell-less rock. This is real Inchcape/Bell Rock, where they've built a lighthouse:

And a short excerpt to get a feel for the rhythm and rhyme:

His eye was on the Inchcape Float;

Quoth he, "My men, put out the boat,

And row me to the Inchcape Rock,

And I'll plague the Abbot of Aberbrothok.

The boat is lower'd, the boatmen row,

And to the Inchcape Rock they go;

Sir Ralph bent over from the boat,

And he cut the bell from the Inchcape Float.

and later in the poem:

Sir Ralph the Rover tore his hair,

He curst himself in his despair;

The waves rush in on every side,

The ship is sinking beneath the tide.

Read the entire poem here, on the Bellrock website. And, as always, I use my discretion to sensor out an offensive word here and there :).

4. Composer - Mozart's Sonata in C, (K545).

Wonderful. Who doesn't love Mozart? Did you know he only lived till he was 35? 

5. Art - Andy Warhol

I know I know. 

But he is just so darn interesting!! 

Andy Warhol is considered the father of pop art - a movement that looks at relationships between art, celebrity, and advertising. Makes icons out of icons, and leaves us to think and consider what this says about our culture. I showed the kids various items from a "Pop Art Box" I picked up at a Warhol exhibition. We talked a bit about his life and how he took some of those everyday "American" items, like the Campbells Soup Can, or a famous celebrity image, like Elvis or Marilyn Munro, and basically immortalized them.  He also became one of the first to experiment with mass-producing art - for example he silkscreened Marilyn Munro's public image multiple times, but each with different color representation, and did this in the same month she died. All of this made him highly controversial! I wonder if Van Gogh or Monet would be horrified. Then again, Van Gogh was not appreciated for his painting methodology at the time either, and Monet rocked his world by painting out of doors. Now, let's be clear, I personally cannot equate Warhol with Van Gogh or Monet. I think there is something divinely beautiful in the work of the masters of old, that somehow doesn't equate with pop art. But art is also defined by how we, the viewers, react, and in that respect Warhol is an artist worth studying.

We took headshots of the kids today, because next week we are going to be using them to make our own pop-style images, like Warhol's Marilyns.  

6. Living Science - Balloon Racers

We wrapped up our living science for the year with Newton's third law of motion: For every action there is an equal and opposite re-action.  Balloon racers - balloon-powered cars - rely on this third law, because as the air of the balloon streams out, it pushes the racer forward in the opposite direction.  We used the methods from  E-Science which I absolutely love, but you can make something very similar here.  We used popsicle sticks as our chassis, stiff cardboard for wheels and a clothespin to hold the balloon. Some of them were flying off the table! It was a great hands-on project that the kids really enjoyed.

And that's it that's all folks! Have a great day and swing by again soon.

Reverse Pulleys and Tolstoy in Young Explorers - Block 3 Day 2

1. Icebreaker
I let the kids come up with an icebreaker this morning and this is what they chose: If you were going to a cabin in California, what one item would you bring and what book? One of the kids brought "Tim Horton's," and that child has now become near and dear to my heart haha! One child brought her mom, another brought a DS or other video systems, another brought a suitcase and one boy brought the Toys R Us store. So he could shop for whatever he wanted. As for books, The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings are alive and well!

2. Oh Canada
Reviewed how to conduct, and then sang and conducted. We are getting good!

3. Poetry - More Roald Dahl
We read the poem Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf.   You have to read it! It is so funny, and this is the stanza the kids loved the best (by their extreme laughter):

'That's wrong!' cried Wolf.
'Have you forgot
To tell me what BIG TEETH I've got?
Ah well, no matter what you say,
I'm going to eat you anyway.'

The small girl smiles. One eyelid flickers.
She whips a pistol from her knickers.
She aims it at the creature's head,
And bang bang bang, she shoots him dead.

My daughter has been busy making her own versions since yesterday.

4. Socratic Discussion - Tolstoy's What Men Live By

We are reading this over two days and discussing as we go. This is a short story about a Russian peasant couple who take in and care for a young man, Michael, who has been found shivering and naked on the roadside. They have zilch themselves but give him some clothing and bread, and offer to teach him the trade of shoemaking - he will work in return for shelter and food. He becomes famous - an expert at this trade - and the peasant couple begin to be more well-off. But the couple still do not know his story, for he rarely speaks, laughs or smiles. One day a rich man knocks on the door ... and that is where we left off today. We spoke about doing acts of kindness and everyone agreed the peasant couple did the right thing to take Michael in. However, what is their reward? Is there ALWAYS a reward for the kind things one does? Some said eventually you'd get your reward in heaven. I maintain that their IS a reward, right at the time of doing the act of kindness, but I'm letting them think on that one till next week and we'll discuss it further.

5. Art Picture Study - Emily Carr's Totem Walk, Sitka

Isn't it magnificent? I have this print, framed, from an Emily Carr exhibit I attended in Victoria, BC. Most of the kids were not familiar with this Canadian painter and poet, and we talked a little about Totem Poles and their place in Canadian history. I'm toying with the idea of doing some Emily Carr style art for our art day next week ... 

6. Composer - Debussy's "Goliwog's Cakewalk."

Debussy wrote 6 little themes and put them together to form The Children's Corner. Altogether they are supposed to be reminicent of childhood and the Cakewalk certainly has that flavour. Debussy was a French composer who entered the Paris Conservatory at age 10. Debussy was a contemporary of the Impressionist painters, and took that concept and applied it to music! You can listen to the music and learn more about Debussy here.

7. Living Science - Reverse Mechanism Pulleys

Have you ever searched for a pen and couldn't find one? If so, you are in desperate need of a reverse mechanism pulley system to keep your pen close-by. Like the one my son has in his room, handy to his calendar which is taped on his bedroom door. Pull it down when you need a pen, let go and it springs back up. This is what we constructed in our living science today.

This was another e-science project and is simple and easy to do. Except that we didn't use fishing line, we used a good strong kite string that I think was just too thin because it twisted up.  You don't want to use a thick string because it increases the friction, but the kite string is maybe a bit too flimsy. I guess that is the concept with science is that you aren't always going to get it right on the first try. You have to look at different variables - like the string thickness, the weight of the wingnuts, the weight of the pen. Regardless though, the kids have great plans for these pulley systems. You can attach pulleys to tree houses and haul baskets of treasures up. We are going to be working with pulleys this block in living science, so more fun to come!  

We had a few minutes left at the end of our morning so back to our Tolstoy story.  The kids like to do a little sketching while I read, it keeps their hands busy and their attention focused. 

Have a great week!

Nim, Catapults and Tolkien - This Week in Young Explorers

Wow, what a whirlwind week! We had two full mornings with YE this week; I had some shopping to do for a Xmas party; my hubby was away all week; extra practices for show choir ... so I'm a bit exhausted and this post is a bit late but its ALL good! Ha!

Here are some highlights from our week.

Icebreakers and Oh Canada continue to be a big hit with the kids and they are getting better at both! I taught them some basic "conducting" and we all conduct ourselves during Oh Canada. And I have to laugh because Alexa is singing our national anthem all the time. What kid does that?

Socratic Discussion
We have dived into Tolkien's short (but long) story, Farmer Giles of Ham, which we will finish next week. This is an AWESOME story to discuss the topic of what is a hero, in literature and in real life.  Throughout reading this story, I keep hearing comments from the peanut gallery such as, "I can't believe Tolkien wrote this!" These kids are all familiar with The Hobbit, and LOTR, and all of Tolkien's elements (dragons, knights, giants, and lots of dry humor) are present. Yet, they didn't expect that he wrote short stories too.  I have A nice little collection on my handy dandy kindle but I think you can probably find the stories free on Gutenburg.

Something that worked quite well this week during socratic discussion was to get the kids sitting around the table, give them a pencil and a piece of paper, and let them sketch while I read. I think many of us homeschooling moms let the kids play quietly during a read-aloud, and so why not here too?  Normally we sit on the couches and while that is cozy and heartwarming and all that, the kids can get fidgety.  The tables were set up for science anyway, and so now I'll keep this practice going forward.

Composer - William Tell Overture by Rossini
Can you picture the bow and arrow as you stand with the apple on your head? Great music, great opera and very fun story about a Swiss hero who was such an expert with the bow and arrow he could shoot an apple off his son's head. Yup.  You can hear this piece and learn more about Rossini over here at Classics for Kids.


Living Math
We focused on logic puzzles/brain teasers in our living math this week and the kids LOVED it.  I used this book as my inspiration.

Have you heard of the classic game of Nim? There are many variations. We used the version for two players where you set up 16 toothpicks in rows - the first row has one pick, the second row has 3 picks, the third row has 5 picks, and the last row has 7 toothpicks. You can use buttons, beans, whatever you have on hand.  The object of the game is to NOT be the one to pick up the very last toothpick. Each player takes turns picking up as many or as little toothpicks as he wants, but you can only take from one row at a turn.  You can pick up an entire row on your turn if you want.  First, I had the kids play against me to get the hang of the game, then I turned them loose.  I found this was a game all ages could play and enjoy.  There is strategy involved, and I'd encourage your kids to keep playing it in order to figure out the pattern to win.

From there, we moved on to similar logic games using a "gameboard" of 16 dots placed in a 4x4 square.  The first game, take turns linking two dots either vertically or horizontally. You can only link 2 dots together, and then you can't touch those dots anymore. The goal of the game is to NOT be the one with no dots left to link.

Using the same 4x4 dot gameboard, two players can play "Up and Over." The game starts in the lower left corner, and to win you need to get to the upper righthand corner.  The players take turns joining dots either vertically or horizontally, as many dots as they want but ONLY vertical OR horizontally at a turn. You win if you are the person to reach the upper righthand dot.

Logic puzzles and brainteasers are an important part of a math education, yet somehow it feels like cheating because they are just so fun. You can find some great puzzles at Archimedes' Lab. You can also play the computer at Nim, but I will forewarn you its highly addictive and the computer always wins. They even explain why :)

Living Science
We continue our love of all things physics.  Building upon our study of motion, we learned all about catapults and then built our own out of popsicle sticks, rubber bands, plastic spoons and clothespins.  I was glad to have my son to help us out with this project!  You can find a ton of catapult instructions online, but I was happy to have the whole package from Supercharged Science, our escience program.

And that's a wrap.  We didn't make it to an art picture study because the science was quite intensive this week, but not to worry, we will be back at it next week.  Next week also marks the LAST DAY of Block 2.  I love wrapping up school-y stuff in order to slow down (a bit) for Advent.  The big kids do have some online classes well into December, but for the little girls it means a nice change of pace.  Looking so forward to it!

Have a lovely weekend!

Hovercrafts, Poppies, Ambition and Greed - Young Explorers

Wondering what these things have in common? Well, nothing specific, but we touched on these topics this morning in YE.  It was a busy morning! So busy, in fact, that the time ran away from us at the end and I didn't have a chance to snap a few pics of what we did ... no matter, I'll improvise!

1. Oh Canada and Icebreaker - we sang this again. I think we will begin our mornings this way. For our icebreaker, each of the kids had to think of a question to ask the person on their right. That person would then answer the question; then ask the next child a question.  Questions included: What is your favorite color? Do you like to get into mischief? Do you like Knights?

2. Poetry - In Flanders Fields - by John McCrae.
This morning, we talked about the poppy and I asked the kids why it is a symbol of Remembrance Day. I got all sorts of answers - from its color representing blood, to a very interesting theory that poppies grow in cemeteries because they receive nutrients from certain decomposing um parts ... oh my goodness ... but the kids were very surprised to learn the poppy is actually a symbol of life.  We talked about Canadian John McCrae in quite a bit of detail, and read his poem using a beautiful illustrated copy.

3. Socratic Discussion - The Fisherman and His Wife (Grimm Fairy Tale).
This is an awesome awesome fairy tale; wonderful for socratic discussion.  Some of the kids thought they heard this story before, and I think it actually has a few variations out there.  A fisherman and his wife live in a hut near the sea. One day the fisherman catches an enchanted flounder, who he releases back.  When he tells his wife about it, she sends him back to ask the flounder to grant them a wish as a reward for letting the flounder go.  The wife wants to live in a nice cottage. The fisherman goes back to the flounder who grants them a lovely cottage.  It isn't enough for the wife, who then wants a castle, then wants to be king, then emperor, then pope, then a God. Each time she sends her husband back to the flounder, the husband is reluctant. He knows its wrong. He wants his wife to be content with what they have. But he doesn't take a stand (one child picked up on this right away and thought the husband was partially responsible!). Eventually, when the wife asks to be a God, they both find themselves back in their original hut.  Another interesting part of the story is that every time the wife asks for more, the weather and the landscape outside become more and more threatening. One student picked up on this parallel.

Here are the questions we asked: Why did the wife keep wanting more and more?  Kids answered that she was greedy, but again we asked WHY? What is it about humans that we sometimes aren't content even when we reach our "desires." We talked about "ambition" and most of the kids did not know what this was.  We talked about having a healthy ambition and an unhealthy ambition.  The kids had to share what things were on their Christmas list, and I asked them if that would be it - in other words, if they receive their object of desire, will they be content forever more? Will they never "want" anything else?  So I hope you have a good discussion over dinner, about greed, ambition, and being content. Do things have the ability to satisfy? Where should we look for our happiness? What happens when someone is too ambitious? Actually, the kids picked up on this question right away, acknowledging that   by reaching and reaching for one step higher than the previous, you can ignore your family and friends and relationships on the way- that is a high price to pay for something that really doesn't make you happy in the end.

4. Composer - Nicholai Rimsky-Korsakov and his ever famous Flight of the Bumblebee.  There are a ton of renditions if you search - we actually listened to the piano version modified by Tchaikovsky, followed by a full orchestra version, and it really does sound like bumblebees!  The most fun about this piece, however, is the story of the opera for which it was composed.  I'll let you check it out, but the part relating to this song is when the prince must disguise himself as a bumblebee during one of his adventures :).  The kids loved this piece well enough ... but they continued to beg me to play Grieg's piece from last week.

Classics for Kids Activity Sheet
The Classic Tale for ipad

5. Picture Study - Monet's Poplars

Monet painted an entire series of poplars one particular year, at varying times of day and varying times of the summer. The poplars were located quite close to his home in Giverny, and only two in the series were painted from his rowboat. This is one of them!  Click here for an excellent video on Monet's poplars, by Khanacademy! I knew Khan Academy did math and science ... but art?  Cool!

One of the kids likened this painting to a caterpillar, and it really does remind you of that! We compared Monet's poplars to the poplars in our own backyard.

6. Living Science - Friction and Hovercrafts!

This week, using the wonderful e-science program by Aurora, we talked and played with the concept of friction.  How when you rub your hands together fast you get heat from friction. Or if I try to glide in my running shoes on the carpet (which I demonstrated and nearly broke a leg), I can't because of friction.  How rubber tires have a tread in order to grip the road.  Now, scientists used to think friction only involved molecules adhering to each other, but now we know that magnetism is also involved. Anyway, to play with the concept of friction, we talked about hovercrafts.  Hovercrafts use wind-power to create a cushion of air between the bottom of the hovercraft and the water/land surface, thus minimizing friction and allowing it to glide.

Our science project this week was to build a very simple hovercraft using an old CD, a sport-bottle cap (the kind that pops up), a paper cup with the end cut off, and a balloon.  You can see something like the e-science version we made over here at Science Squad.

So, many of our hovercrafts worked, and when they went flying across the table, everyone thought that was super-cool!  But many of our hovercrafts were being difficult :), and the kids had to just keep trying.  The next thing we knew, it was time to go!!  But hey, that's real science. It doesn't always work out perfectly the first time. You have to use your observational and critical thinking skills to figure out why, or how to make it better.  Things like the depth of the actual cup, the number of holes in the bottle cap, how big the balloon is blown up, how smooth the surface is - all of these things are variables that affect the outcome.  By the way, this is the same principle that air hockey tables used. Neat, hey?

One last thing, because we were so busy and under a time crunch with our hovercrafts, we didn't get a chance to go over our pyramid puzzles! One child did show me during the break, and we were planning on chatting about it as a group ... but didn't have time. So my dear students, I know some of you are waiting to teach me your method of solving the puzzle and I will look forward that next week!!

Till next time, happy homeschooling!!

Young Explorers - Block 1, Days 5 & 6

So I had every intention of getting a recap of both days of Young Explorers, but gosh, the days have just gotten away from me! So this is more of a "week in review," which is what I'll probably switch to from now on.

1. Icebreakers
... were very casual for us - no standing in front of the group - we just shared interesting things. There were lots of visitors at your houses this weekend; lots of nanas and papas and grandmas and grandpas ... the kids enjoyed telling all about it.

2. Habit #5 from the 7 Habits of Happy Kids - "Seek first to understand, then to be understood.  Listen first, then talk."
Jumper Rabbit asked Goob to play, but Goob was not in the mood; he had lost his butterfly net. So, Jumper moved on to Tagalong Allie's house. Allie was very upset and kept saying some phrase which Jumper couldn't decipher.  Lily listened hard to Allie, not just with her ears, but with her heart and eyes, and figured out that Allie's sweater was on backwards.  This inspired Jumper to return to Goob, and really listen to why he was sad; they found the butterfly net together and all learned an important skill - a way of really listening.

3. Habit #6 - "Synergize!" In other words, use your strengths and talents to work as a team. Together you are better.
This was a cute story involving most of the Oak Street Gang.  They were playing soccer when the Big Bad Badgers came along and challenged them to a soccer game. The story describes each of the Oak Street character's strengths and how they made a big comeback to win the game by working more cohesively as a team. We had a good discussion about teamwork, which led to discussions about sports teams and being a poor loser or a good loser ... the kids had lots of interesting perspectives here. I was very touched by their general attitude of compassion towards the pouting poor sports. One sweet sixer said:
    "If someone is being a sore loser, and pouting, you should go and talk to him and make him feel better. You should tell him, "Its okay."
Then, a sevener said:
    "Everybody is going to make mistakes sometimes."

Next week we will read the last story from the Habits book. The kids are all hoping the main character is Tagalong Allie (but it is not).  I have to say, the kids have really taken to this book - maybe its the animal characters that everyone can relate to, not sure, but I highly highly recommend checking this one out of the library.

3. Socratic Discussion with Dramatic Classics for Children - The Fox and the Crow
In this fable, the Fox outsmarts Madame and Miss Crow, and gains himself a piece of cheese. Miss Crow is holding the cheese in her mouth, and Fox flatters the crows with compliments. But ... what a pity Miss Crow is unable to speak, bemoans Mr. Fox.  That's not true, replies Madame, and tells her daughter to "Caw like she has never cawed before."  To prove she can indeed speak. And out falls the cheese.

Like all fables, this one was excellent material for socratic discussion. Who is responsible for the crow losing the cheese? So the fox is sly ... but wasn't Madame Crow full of pride? Did Miss Crow also suffer from pride, or was she just super-obedient to her mother? We talked about the saying "Pride goes before the fall."

Then we acted out the play, several times so that anyone who wanted to could have a turn to play a role. The great thing about this play is that Miss Crow doesn't have any lines except to caw. This was a perfect role for our young-non-reading girls. And eventually, we were one big group acting out the play because we made it into a family of crows (Madame and her many daughters), outfoxed by several Mr.Foxes acting at once.  The kids seemed to really enjoy this activity; we kept it casual (just sat around the couch and read/acted) and also we laughed alot!

4. Picture Study
We starting to compare different artists' sunflowers; this week we looked at Monet's Sunflowers.

5. Composer
We listened to Freddy Kempf's version of Beethoven's Pathetique Sonata. We heard the 1st Mmvt. on Monday and the 2nd on Tuesday. I think we are all in love with the playing style of the Kempffs!  Next week, perhaps we'll listen to some symphonies as a little change from the piano sonatas.  They're just all so good.

6. Living Math - Citiblocks and Estimating
Have you ever heard of Citiblocs or Keva Blocks?

Well they are absolutely hands-down positively one of our family's favorite go-to toys that spans ALL ages! I first heard about them on the Living Math website, and happened across a couple of boxes on clearance for a steal. I don't think many people know what a goldmine they are and maybe they aren't big sellers? We have built up our collection over the past few years.  There are educational lesson plans online, citibloc galleries, and just so many possibilities.

After the kids got warmed up with building using the blocks, we used the educational lesson plan on estimating. Teams were given a basket with a specific number of blocks and asked to build either on edge, on end, or flat; they could build whatever they wanted using this guideline. Then, we estimated how many blocks were used. 

These boys were attempting the Leaning Tower of Pisa. 

So proud!

Babes and toddlers love citiblocs too. This is an older pic of Maria and Kate.

7. Living Science

We are progressing through experiments about force; and today talked about gravity. We performed the classic experiment of seeing which objects touches the ground first - the heavier one (golf ball), or the lighter object (ping-pong ball).  Everyone got to try this out firsthand, after making our predictions. Some of the older kids were already familiar with the concept (good job you homeschooling moms!). However, we put a bit of a twist on the experiment when the kids were asked if the same result would happen if you throw one ball (completely horizontally and not "up") and drop the other straight down at the same time. Which will hit the ground first?

Same principle applies, my friend! Even a bullet shot directly horizontal will land at the same time as a bullet dropped straight down.  Is that cool or what. The only glitch is if you drop a feather and a hammer - the feather will not hit the ground first due to air resistance.  However, if you are on the moon, both will hit the ground at the same time - you can check out a You Tube video of an astronaut performing this experiment on the moon.

Gravity is such a neat force.  Its the only force that pulls exclusively, versus push and pull.  It accelerates every object equally (but it pulls harder on the heavier objects).  

So ... after these experiments ... the kids asked if they could have a little more time with citiblocs as they had enjoyed them so much during the living math component.

8. Poetry. POETRY!!  Was so fun this week!

We read limericks! Good clean ones!! Then we did some group composition of limericks so they could get the feel of it.  Here is a taste of what I recall we composed:

There once was a superhero from France,

Who had a really big lance,

He ran into a rock,

And got a really big chicken poc,

... and they finished this limerick with something about pooping his pants.

There were several others we composed, so have fun making up limericks with your children :)

9. Wolves of Willoughby Chase

Its getting good ... Bonnie's parents have left and Miss Slighcarp has turned even more evil - wearing Bonnie's mother's best dresses, firing the servants, selling the horses, boxing up and selling the toys, and locking Bonnie in the closet for protesting the wearing of her mother's dress.  We also met Simon, the boy who dresses in animal skins, lives in a cave in the nearby woods, raises geese and lives on chestnut-flour cakes.  Simon saves Bonnie and Sylvia from wolves. We also find out Mr. Grimshaw is in on the shenanigans ...

I'm sad to say I don't know if we will finish this book by the end of next week ... so you may have to put in a hold at the library ...

And that's a wrap!!!

Young Explorers - Block 1 Day 4

Sorry this post is up a little late, but I had to run out and buy a zipper and peruse some fabric ... there are always urgent sewing projects on the go at my house you know!

We are officially halfway through Block 1 - the "pilot" block of community homeschool! Here's what we did today.

1. Icebreaker
Today's icebreaker was a blast! First off, I was very excited about showing our new artwork for picture study, so I asked if anyone was thirsty ... if anyone needed to "drink" something ... with their "eyes." We talked about how we can enjoy a feast for our eyes, and artwork falls into that category. The icebreaker then, before viewing the art (had to leave them in suspense), was to stand up in front and tell the group what they like to feast their eyes on.  Oh, they were so sweet.

"I like to feast my eyes on nature."
"I like to feast my eyes on Jesus." (at least two kids)
"I like to feast my eyes on food."
"I like to feast my eyes on fall colors." (there were lots of these)

2. 7 Habits of Happy Kids - Habit #4 - Always Try for a Win-Win Situation
This was an interesting story of Lily Skunk who wanted a garden, but her mom was reluctant as she imagined she would end up doing all the work in the end.  Poor little Lily.  She could have pouted (Lose-Win), she could have defied her mom and planted a garden anyway (Win-Lose), but instead she wrote a letter to her mom outlining exactly how she would be responsible for the work of the garden. Her mom agreed (Win-Win).  We discussed different situations and how we always have a choice in how we react.  We should try to make choices where everyone can benefit if possible - like if you're fighting over a toy with your sibling, try to find a solution where you and your sibling can "win."

3. Picture Study
Ah, more Van Gogh, and can you really get enough?  I showed the kids a large, framed print of "Sidewalk Cafe at Night," and we all studied it for awhile then the kids were invited to try a narration. I think because I was so hyped up about showing them this art, THEY were also really hyped up about viewing it. We counted the number of people, the number of tables, and wondered what the people in the cafe were eating :).  Later in the day, Alexa was inspired to pull out the Van Gogh coloring book, and as we speak she is describing Van Gogh's Starry Night to her dad.

And this is the real cafe! Its now called Cafe Van Gogh:

I should mention that right now, we are focusing on just viewing and enjoying the art - we don't delve too much into analyzing paint strokes and such. But as they see more of the same artist, they are able to intuitively recognize the style of an artist. I think that is the magic of exploring art in this way - we don't reduce it to technical aspects. Van Gogh never did.

4. Poem
The poem today was a short one, a famous one, by Christina Rosetti: Who Has Seen the Wind?  I challenged the kids to memorize this selection, if they like, and recite it to the group next week.

Who has seen the wind? 
Neither I nor you.
But when the leaves hang trembling,
The wind is passing through.

Who has seen the wind?
Neither you nor I.
But when the trees bow down their heads,
The wind is passing by.

5. Living Science: Forces and Bridges

We are still exploring physics and force - this time we talked about forces of nature (wind, hurricanes, earthquakes, etc) and how engineers have to consider these forces when designing buildings and bridges.  We made our own buildings and bridges today, after a little demonstration.  First, we propped up an index card on top of two blocks and put some "clay" people on top - watched them fall. Not a strong bridge. But when we turn that index card into an arch and place between two blocks, it holds more clay people. And when you add a foundation (clay), its even stronger.  We also explored a pleated index card and noticed this is also a very strong shape. Who knows what common material uses a pleat to make it strong? Anyone say cardboard?  In fact, if you look at a torn piece of cardboard you will notice the paper pleat. So ... the concept is that you can use the same materials in different ways to make them more functional.

Using blocks, index cards, modelling clay, straw and paper clips, the kids went to work designing and building. They split themselves up into a few groups, with the girls all going together and even naming themselves: The Scientific Thunder Tower Girls.  Or something like that.  The girls built all sorts of details into their bridge - including a boat for under the bridge, a lamp-pole to light the bridge, lovely little clay people and even a clay snake sauntering over the bridge - it was so cute.  The boys formed several groups and were more concerned with making a strong foundation and building very masculine structures. Ah, the difference between men and women :)

A great pleated-over-arch bridge!

Not a bridge ... but you just can't interrupt that creative process!

Check out the green snake!

A great jumping point from this physics lesson is Usborne's Flap Book on Famous Buildings.  We viewed the page with the Eiffel Tower, noting how the foundational substructure deep in the ground allows the tower to withstand a lot of force!  Alexa got into this book later in the afternoon :).

If you want to try more of this at home, check out File Card Bridges over at the Exploratorium.  Great fun!

6. Socratic Discussion
We continued our discussion about the Proud Grain of Wheat from yesterday and compared the proud grain with the more humble and learned grain. The kids focused on the learned grain and I asked them how he became so smart.  The story says the humble grain of wheat spent more of his time thinking rather than talking.  Does "thinking" make you wise?  What is wisdom anyway, and how do you get it?  Someone said you just have to think. Tee hee, so we all spent a few seconds "thinking" and found out that really didn't work.  I'll let you pursue this discussion about wisdom at home, but I would suggest that a great place to start would be the Bible, especially the story of Solomon and the book of Proverbs. Would be a great jumping point!

7. Read-Aloud: Wolves of Willoughby Chase
We are enjoying finishing up the morning with this exciting classic.  Lots happened today - a wolf jumped into Sylvia's train compartment (crashed right through the window); we more formally met Mr. Grimshaw and all the kids believe him to be a nice gentleman (hmmm, will that pan out?); and Sylvia arrived at Willoughby Chase.

8. Handing out of the Script - The Crow and the Fox
Next week we will be branching into drama! If you check out the Block 1 Booklist you will find a link to the book of children's classics in dramatic form.  Essentially, they are Aesop's fables in the form of a play.  This particular play has 3 parts - Madame Crow, Miss Crow, and Master Fox.  Everyone can choose which part they want to play and we'll just take turns acting it out in groups of three.  The kids can read right off the script or memorize their part if they wish.  Performing is fun!  We will also discuss this fable socratically :)

9. Composer Study
I had hoped to listen to Beethoven's (Pathetique) Sonata 8 in C Minor but it wouldn't load for me at the time so we will do it next week.  This sonata is one of my personal favorites; the Rondo movement was my go-to piano piece back in the day, and you will all recognize the second movement by the song "Midnight Blue" by Bonnie Rait I think? Midnight blue, so lonely without you ...  If you're game, check out Wilhelm Kempff's Pathetique here for the second movement, and here for the FANTABULOUS 3rd movement, the Rondo.

And finally, a word about how its going for me.  As this is the half-way mark, I can make some small assessments.  This is what I know for sure:

* The kids are engaged, ready to be inspired, and truly NEED to have their buckets filled with good things.

* They really CAN learn to "think" via socratic method if you allow it to happen naturally. I've witnessed that in only 4 classes.

* If YOU are excited, its contagious. And that excitement doesn't seem to end when class ends.

* They REALLY need a mid-morning break of physical activity. LOL!

* My Maria is a loose canon. Sometimes I feel discouraged :(
and

* I love it all - the talented kids, the LOVE they seem to have of learning, the material we expose ourselves to :).

Have a great week and God bless!

Young Explorers Block 1 - Day 2

Isn't that a creative title for this post?

Another great morning for my Young Explorers!

Icebreaker
Before the kids went home yesterday, I encouraged them to discuss "courage" with their family at the suppertable. This morning, I asked how that went and heard all sorts of ideas about courage! Each child had an opportunity to speak if they wanted. I also asked them to share a time when they or their parent/friend displayed courage.

Icebreakers are not a waste of time even if you repeat them every class, and here is my thinking: They are an opportunity to develop confidence in speaking in front of a group of peers. What I'd like to lead up to is a morning recitation from each child - something a little more formal than a casual icebreaker - but something where they can share a passion or idea. And they are so capable of this!! After the first day yesterday, Alexa told me she was nervous to even say her name but she just "squeezed her hands together and spoke." She was very proud of herself. I want to build on that with all the kids.

Read-aloud - Habit #2 from 7 Habits of Happy Kids
The second habit featured Goob the Bear and Jumper the Rabbit. Goob sets some financial goals! He wants to buy a bug-collecting kit, a birthday present for a friend, go to a movie and put some money in the bank. He begins with the end in mind, which is Habit #2.  He and Jumper Rabbit run a lemonade stand and come into a nice little stash of cash - but Jumper blows his share on candy right away. Goob had a plan, and so was very purposeful with his money.  The story very sweetly illustrates the concept of setting goals and making plans right from the start.  The kids shared some of their experiences with how they spend money, or how they have set goals in their day-to-day lives. We talked about how you can make plans in even the small stuff, like setting out your clothes for the next day or cleaning your room.

Composer Study - Beethoven
"Who's the most famous composer you've ever heard of?" I asked them.

Gotta study Beethoven. And probably most of the children have formally studied him at some point during their homeschooling, because he is quite simply, a classic. There are lots of resources for kids, especially the widely popular book and CD "Beethoven Lives Upstairs" I have personally been to Beethoven's house in Bonn, Germany and was able to share that with the kids, showing them some of my old postcards and portraits of Ludwig the Man. I played for them Fur Elise because I knew they would recognize it. But the sonata I really wanted to share is nicknamed the "Tempest" Sonata. Its more popular at the moment because an excerpt is featured in the movie Total Recall (bad movie, don't bother, but the sonata is awesome!). I played them the motif, then we watched this You-Tube video of Wilhelm Kempff playing this famous sonata, officially called Sonata 17 in D minor (3rd movement).  We discussed that you can't just sit down and be an amazing pianist; it takes practice and you have to start from the beginning, but you CAN do it if you persevere and work hard for what you want.

Picture Study - Klimt's "Avenue of Schloss Kammer Park"

Yay, some of my artwork arrived yesterday!  The kids had amazing enthusiasm for inspecting and drinking up this beautiful print:

Living Science - Physics of Motion
I hated physics in school, but I bet I would have loved it had the concepts been explained in a more lively and interactive manner. I am really impressed, so far, with Supercharged E-Science by Aurora Lipper.  A monthly subscription gives you access to hundreds of experiments and teleclasses, which is what I'm basing all of our Living Science on. I just wish the main Supercharged website weren't so cheesy and gimmicky, with all the red and yellow flashing sales pitch and special offers. I linked you to the curriculum page which is much better and more professional, but if you sign up for emails you will receive a constant sales pitch. All that said ... Wow, its an amazing resource! And although the videos of the experiments can be played and viewed independently by your child, I'm using it as a personal resource for me to watch - then deliver to the kids in my own style.

Today we began a little physics! We demonstrated the power of force, objects in motion stay in motion while objects at rest stay at rest; gravitational force; air resistance; and centripetal force. This was fun because I swung a bucket of water in a huge circle to show that the water doesn't come splashing out.  Kind of like a roller coaster!  Then we moved on to building our own roller coasters out of foam pipe-insulation (cheap at a hardware store) and testing our designs with a marble.  The kids had to figure out how to create more velocity, how to make loops and U-turns, and well ... there was a whole lot of construction and teamwork going on.

My kids were really inspired by the roller-coasters, and Dawson (who helped us out in YE this morning), found some interesting resources for building your own paper roller-coasters.:

Read-Aloud and More Socratic Discussion - Wolves of Willoughby Chase
We spent a good hour building our roller coasters, so by that time we were ready to wrap up with some more read and discuss.  The kids were spent, I think, and were happy to settle back down on the couches for some introspection.

We read the first chapter of Wolves, where we meet the young girl Bonnie, and her new governess Miss Slighcarp. She is an evil character and the kids immediately picked up on that. Its really important to give kids a clear idea of traditional symbols in literature, where the villain is clearly portrayed as such. The first chapter also describes Bonnie's house, Willoughby Chase, as a warm and inviting building, so I asked the kids: What makes a house a home? Most all agreed that it was "family living there" that makes the distinction, but does that mean if your grandma lives alone she is not living in a "home?" It was great food for thought, and I asked them to discuss it at home with their parents.  What does make a house a home? I hope that if you carry this discussion far enough with your kids, THEY will come to the conclusion that it is LOVE and RELATIONSHIPS that make a house a home, whether one person or many persons live there, because love begins in one's heart.

And that was that!

Young Explorers Living Science - Block 1

Good morning everyone!

Just a quick note to let you know about the Block 1 plan for Young Explorers Living Science segment - the kids are going to love it! And that's the whole point at this age, right? It won't matter if they don't fully understand scientific concepts like "all things in motion stay in motion unless acted upon." But, they will remember whether science was engaging and fun or boring and hum-drum or whether it occurred at all; and if they feel excited about science as a kid, chances are they will be willing to do the hard work later on, such as in high school/college, etc.

We're going to become a bit more acquainted with Newton. That means experiments in things like force, gravity, friction, motion ... physics of all sorts! We'll learn a bit about who Newton was, but then we'll get right to work, using www.sciencelearningspace.com study units as a loose spine.

Can't wait to see the kids build a giant roller-coaster made out of foam pipe insulation!

Looking forward to bringing out our inner engineer by building cities out of wood blocks, straws, clay and index cards, then testing out the forces of weather and lego minifigures. How will the arch stand up? Will the paper-pleat design withstand an earthquake? Will any of us survive the famous barrel roof? Hmmm ...

Which soup will win, the chicken or the clam? I'm not kidding with this question, we are going to test it.

I may throw in some pop rockets for fun. Might need safety glasses :). I'll let you know.

One other hint if you're joining us. Quite often, and I know you've experienced this yourself as a homeschooling parent, an exposure to something will get your child all excited. And he will want to go a bit deeper. There will be a little spark of interest and inspiration. THAT is the time to pounce!!! THAT is the time to pull out the library books you just happened to pick up, related to the spark of interest. Or to take a run to the dollar store to grab some supplies for your child's "what would happen if?" moment. So, you may want to mark on your September calendar to scout out some fun library books on topics such as Newton, roller-coasters, bridges, famous structures around the world, how to earthquake-proof a building, earthquakes, famous barrel roofs or barrel roof design, buildings and forces of nature, etc.

Strew them around the house and watch the learning come alive!  

Just another manic monday ...

five kids
+
beautiful weather
+
inspiration acted upon
= 
a hand-crafted bow and arrow; 
a refurbished yellow tanktop;
the start of an ant gel colony in the name of living science;
a sweet ruffly skirt with jaunty orange flower; 
five happy kids; and
one happy mom

The Education We Choose

The great and wonderful thing about home-educating the kids is the freedom to explore a great diversity of interests in the manner we choose - the manner that best suits each child.  To connect with them on their terms, so that real learning occurs.  Not to be tied to whatever is on the agenda for a group of 30 kids in classroom A or B.  And, not even to be tied to MY agenda. 


My kids have a hunger for learning!  It is soooo evident with my littles, especially Miss A, who is five.  Here are some of the highlights from her day:


Science Tuesday
I purchased several Magic School Bus science kits for the littles.  Nothing formal here!!  All hands-on, living science.  Today we began using the kit "Secrets of Space" since Miss A has been really interested in planets and the night sky.  This kit is perfect for about ages 5-7.

  Its a really wacky 3-D of the solar system - she painted each planet according to its properties (eg Mars is red due to the iron in its soil) and positioned them according to distance from the sun. She LOVED this. So simple. And WACKY! 


Phonics - Spell to Write and Read (SWR) by Wanda Sanseri

Really focusing on the basics, letter formation and phonograms; putting sounds together to make words.  We do this in a number of ways.  Love the dry-erase whiteboard that comes with lines already marked - what we call the sky, the fence, and the ground - all reference points I learned about somewhere along the way. So the letter t will start at the sky and go down to the ground.  The letter a starts at the fence.  The letter j starts at the fence and goes into the ground. You get the idea.  I have two boards because M (almost 3) likes to practice her letters, too!  We also use little chalkboards, saltboxes (salt in a shallow tupperware) to form a letter with your finger, and our all-time favorite, Phonogram Bingo. Yeah!  Use smarties as the bingo markers and they get to eat them when the game is done!



Read Alouds
A staple in our family is story time.  Good quality literature, not the "junk-food-for-your-brain" stuff.  I try to incorporate a wide range of topic matter such as living math or living science, poetry, literature, etc.   For the littles, I'm using a mix of fun picture books and chapter books. I usually do read-alouds while baby K is sleeping. 

Lots of Outside Time
It was a beautiful fall day!  By late afternoon, it got quite hot considering its October! Can you count four of them on the tramp?

In pursuit of Sanctity
We have been gathering in the late evening with the olders for evening prayer which includes a look at the day just lived.  Looking at our blessings but also our sins and asking God's forgiveness in an "informal" sort of way (then get to Confession).  I think, in my family, most of us are doing this in our hearts and heads prior to closing our eyes to sleep, but we haven't been good about doing this as a family.  Its a good exercise to verbalize what you are thankful for each day!  Attitude of gratitude!


... and a little bit of sanity
I was able to knit ONE row while sitting on the deck watching the kids in the backyard. Yippee!! One row is progress nonetheless!  And tonight I have enjoyed some quiet time and managed to knit THREE rows.  I am almost done this sweater for Miss A and can't wait to post a pic!



Have a great day and thanks for peeking!