Seven Wonders Unit

We recently finished our history book (Story of the World: Ancients by Susan Wise Bauer) and I didn't want to begin the Middle Ages book until our next year "officially" begins next month. I found a neat book at the library about the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World and we decided to do a unit reviewing the Wonders we learned about throughout the past year (and learning about the 2 or 3 Wonders we missed.)

First, El made a layered foldable (directions here) with 8 tabs. Each day, we would read one chapter in the book Seven Wonders of the Ancient World by Lynn Curlee. Then he would draw a picture of the "Wonder" (often an interpretation since we don't know how the actual ancient monument would have looked.) Underneath that, he would write a little about it. He chose to write the height and estimated date next to his drawing. Finally, he would go over to our timeline and add the dates of the monument's completion and its final demise (if the dates were listed.)

Drawing the Colossus of Rhodes

The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus

El's (almost complete!) 7 Wonders foldable

My favorite drawing, the Statue of Zeus at Olympia

After this was all done, we would hit Google and YouTube up for extra ancient fun. We especially liked the videos on The Museum of UnNatural Mystery's YouTube page, but there are many, many others to choose from.


El had a lot of fun working on this unit!

My Favorite Time of Year

The week or so that stretches from the summer solstice to the Fourth of July is my absolute favorite time of year. Okay, maybe it has something to do with the fact that I was born during that time, but that's not entirely it. I just love the long, hot days of summer, the thunderstorms that cool the air at night, the jars of lightning bugs and lemonade (separate jars, of course) ;-) my homemade iced coffee drinks, fresh local produce, bright mornings and no bothersome pollen or flu viruses floating around. Sometimes you have chilly nights in early June. Sometimes you have dead grass or ragweed in the air in August. From the solstice until the Fourth, though, it's just quintessential summer.

Beets, blueberries, a beautiful pepper and some local honey all for $8: I love farmers' markets!

Em decorates a homemade birthday cake for mom with "fireworks"

We have been taking it pretty easy with school. I planned a full, 5-day week last week and we have been working through it leisurely over a 2-week period.

El, making a foldable book of the 7 Wonders of the Ancient World.

El has been working on a creative writing unit to go along with The Little Prince. Basically, he copies the first two or three sentences from the first paragraph of a chapter, then he predicts what will happen next. I have found that this works much better than open-ended journal prompts for El. Prediction involves creative writing, but at the end of the day you can go back to the already-written story and safely move along to an already-written next chapter. This method presents its own difficulties for a child with some occasional perfectionist tendencies, but for whatever reason it still seems to be far less daunting than those dreaded open-ended journal prompts were.

I really am amazed at how far his writing has come since the beginning of the year. Here are a couple of sentences from September:
Once I wound up in a time macine. Bad: titanik! Good: seince! I was born after the ship sank I wasn't really on the ship meaning I could not sink. So I was able to save people!

Here are a couple of sentences from the other day:
I was looking for cactus water when I came across a boy, standing by a large piece of metal. I asked him what he was doing and he said "Waiting for help." I told him he couldn't just stand there so he came with me and showed me where a grove of cacti were.

We weren't really able to focus on any kind of nonfiction writing this year because, when he began grade 3, El was really struggling with forming basic sentences. As I wrote earlier in the year, he would write a few words then start drawing pictures with thought or speech bubbles. He would usually just end with just pictures or words like "WHAM!" and "Pow!" or, the always funny, "Seince!" (Science.) I would love to say that I discovered some amazing curriculum or method which helped him learn to write better sentences, but I think it had far less to do with writing instruction and more to do with just reading well-written books. And time. And maturity. (And less exposure to fragment-happy word-inventing blogtastic writers like his mom.)

Speaking of well-written books, we just finished up the Narnia series, which was highly enjoyed by all. Most surprising, though, is our current read-aloud: Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin. Wow! Books like this are the reason I can't really schedule literature ahead of time. You never know what will catch our eye in the library and turn out to be one of the best books of the year. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who loves folk tales or Wonderlandesque adventures.

Our Favorite Midday Snack

I've been in the midst of planning for next year (as well as enjoying summer) so I don't really have a lot of time to update this blog right now.  I still have some purchasing to do, but I think I feel pretty good about the upcoming school year. We have some fun stuff to work on!

However, I thought I'd pop in and share our favorite super-cool snack since the weather is really hot right now. We sometimes try new things, but this is our old standby. Everyone loves this smoothie and it is super easy (and inexpensive) to make:

2 FROZEN bananas (peel before freezing)

1 1/4 c. milk

3 T. chocolate protein powder (or 1 pkg. chocolate Carnation Instant Breakfast)

3 heaping T. of Greek yogurt (plain!)

Aaaaand... blend. That's it. So easy!

Makes 3 small smoothies or 2 big ones.

(Warning: Do not try with unfrozen bananas. Resulting smoothie will be gross. Also, do not try to be creative and add instant coffee. Resulting smoothie will be even grosser.)

It's Em-approved! Really, it is. She was so busy drinking that she couldn't be bothered to appear enthusiastic for the camera. ;)

History of Civilization Timeline

I have been wanting to make a timeline for the past few months. We have been using one I made at the beginning of the year but it is really small and to scale, which means it has virtually NO space for the modern era. I knew I needed to make a not-to-scale timeline, despite the fact that not-to-scale timelines make me want to bang my head against a wall. A few days ago, inspired by the ideas on this site, I set out to make my own timeline.

First of all, I wanted a top-bound spiral notebook with nice drawing paper and a plastic spiral binding (the metal doesn't seem to survive daily use and ends up tearing up my bookcase or injuring a fidgety-fingered child.) I couldn't find what I was looking for for under $11, so I purchased a cheap $2 tape-bound drawing book at Staples, ripped the tape off, and had them put a spiral binding on the top for $3.99.

I took the book home and drew a line down the middle of each page. Then I marked off years. The earliest pages show 500 year periods and are marked with 100 year blocks, while later pages show one decade marked off in 1-year blocks.

I color coded each section corresponding to the history periods we will study in our 4 year history cycle. (Em helped label the years.)

I then used scrap paper and to decorate the cover on the front and the inside so that the cover would be sturdier. I created a title for the book.

El thought we needed a table of contents, so I made one...



Also, I glued our old timeline to the back of the book so that we could continue to reference a properly scaled timeline. (On the opposite page is an envelope for any loose or unglued pieces.)



I'm pretty excited about our new timeline. It should last us though at least one 4-year history cycle and we will be able to add artists, musicians, scientists, and literature along with traditional historical events. The kids were excited to start in on it-- by adding their birthdays, of course. ;)

Total cost, with tax: $6.47
Total time to complete, with children: A few hours, but totally worth it.

(Mostly) Wordless Wednesday: Break Week

Pizza Box Math: Multiplication

Naked Egg

Reading (and hiding from the camera!)

....and the most exciting thing of all: Bike riding without training wheels!

What I Learned in Year One of Homeschooling

I am extraordinarily thankful for:
My library (and its nifty online catalog & my account feature)
The internet
My supportive family (I mean, really. How many homeschoolers can say that their entire family is behind them?)
My "Hey, why not? I'll try anything!" son
My constantly-hugging-me daughter
The freedom to homeschool
Things that are spiral-bound

I don't really like:
Big binders
Cheap pencils
Neverending supply/book shopping
Constantly buying printer ink!
Things that are comb-bound

I totally forgot to teach:
Test prep

I feel like _____ went really well this year.
Math
Language Arts (with the exception of writing)

I feel like _____ did not go as planned this year.
(Sigh) Writing
Planned group activities

Things I might not have learned if I didn't homeschool this year:
If I'm at home, I cook while I'm waiting for someone to finish a task.
El loves bird-watching.
El loves Latin.
Em loves poetry.
Em hates nonfiction, but is okay with biographies.
El is incredibly easy-going and mature (as long as Em isn't around.)
Em is incredibly thoughtful and patient (as long as El isn't around.)
Increasing a child's capacity for memory work does not increase a child's capacity to remember to do the same thing you have been asking him to do every single day for the past few years.

Next year, I would like to do more:
Notebooking
Games
Nonfiction writing practice

Next year, I would like to do less:
Trying to do it all. (Covering state standards and Classical Education while trying to incorporate the best of Charlotte Mason and reading every book suggested.)

Em learns to sew

A Brief and Incomplete Update

El started his new math book, and with that we began keeping a somewhat "interactive" math notebook. He will use this throughout fourth grade.

Em lost another tooth so she is sporting a whole new smile, of which she is very proud:

We discovered that our 15 year old Betty Crocker Essential Cookbook is good for more than just sauce recipes:

Three Cheese Pesto Pita Pizzas, before...

and after.

Yesterday was our last day of school for two weeks. This will be our longest break since Christmas. I am forcing myself to take time off and focus on the house. In fact, I should be cleaning right now so that's where I'm off to. Happy Memorial Day weekend!