Summer Fun: Ice Excavation and the States of Matter
July 1, 2009 by Angela
Summer does not mean that the learning has to stop. In fact, it is an ideal time to do this cool, hands-on science project!
It was so beautiful outside yesterday that after the kids were done playing I got the bowl I’d been saving in the freezer and set up a mini-excavation site on the back porch. I told the kids they could use salt, a spoon, and warm water to try and figure out the best methods for extracting all of the little things frozen in the ice. I also announced that the person who collected the most would win a prize. They loved it–and they learned a few things too about the states of matter. That is our theme this week!
Things you will need:
- bowl to freeze water in
- food coloring if you choose to color it
- little things from around the house like buttons, paper clips, etc. to freeze
- spoons
- salt
- water
- cups
- and anything else on hand you think they could use.
Here’s a tip–freeze it in layers or all of the goodies float entirely to the top or the bottom and that’s no fun!
Angela DeRossett is military wife, homeschooling mother, and an advocate for autism research. Angela can be found blogging at Homeschooling the Chaotic Family and Memoirs of a Chaotic Mommy.
I Spy….
June 29, 2009 by AmyS
I spy with my little eye….
…a future Picasso
…a foolproof and yummy recipe
…a fun feathered frenzy
…fabulous festivities for the July 4th
…a way for a wife to love her husband
…leafy lapbook learning
…a perfect way to plan and prepare for the new school year
Lapbooking - A Few of Your Questions Answered
June 6, 2009 by Suzanne
I’ve had several people (real life and this here life!) ask about our lapbooks. What are they? What do they look like? Where do I come up with ideas? Do the kids like them or are they just a Mama-thing? How much do you they cost? How do you fold them? Are they just for little people or do older kids do them too? What do you need to get started? And these are just a few. So I thought I would answer some of those questions. And start showing off my kids’ work a little along the way.
What are they?
A method of homeschooling. Or supplementing any other learning (public, private, or just free time fun stuff). The are basically scrapbooks that kids make. You can print off little “components” (see, I’m even gonna give you some lingo, so you feel “in the know”!), have the kids fill in the information, and glue them in file folders. Yeah, just those plain boring manila kind that you can buy a whole bunch for very little money at your local get-it-all store. Typically you refold the folders to where they open up like shutters in the front, but that depends on the lapbook and your preference. It’s a great place to keep their work (I’ve suggested them to my public schooling friends who don’t want to trash all that paperwork their children bring home from school).
What do they look like?
They look like little booklets that unfold and hold lots of cutesy pictures and fun folded paperwork.
Where do I come up with my ideas? And how much do they cost?
You can buy very cool preprinted packages from some very trustworthy and amazing places. A Journey Through Learning and In The Hands of a Child are great examples. I’m cheap and prefer free. That means a little more work on my part, but not much. My favorite site of all and great place to get started is HomeschoolShare. Wow. Free, constantly updated, exhaustive, and organized. Really, for homeschooling what more could you ask for?! You can go explore their site, but if you’re looking for the shortcut straight to the list of lapbooks they offer go here. Their lapbooks are then either listed exhaustively or broken down by age. They have lapbooks by topic (for instance lizards, the human body, and honey bees) and literature-based lapbooks (we’ve done Winnie the Pooh and Some Bees, The Mitten, and If You Give A Mouse A Cookie just to name a few). I love both, but am probably partial to the literature-based just because I can cover so many subjects in one place.
How do the kids feel about them?
Mine love them. And I have 2 boys and a girl ranging in ages from 7 down to 4 who currently participate in them. They like picking them out or seeing what surprise one I’ve picked out for them. They enjoy doing each component, and since mine are still so small I usually put them all together at the end for them, and they love that completed surprise when it’s all over. And here’s the amazing part, after about a year of doing them, they’ve started asking to go back through them. At bedtime it’s the number one asked for item over books or toys. When they see a show about a book or topic we’ve covered before they run to get that lapbook to look through it again.
Are they just for little learners or for older kids too?
As I said my kids are all under the age of 8, but they have some pretty advanced and very cool chapter book lapbooks, as well. And I look forward to turning over the entire putting-togetherness of it when they get just a bit older. I think you’ll be surprised what all’s out there for both genders and all ages once you start looking into them.
How do you fold them or the oft-heard “That’s very cool, and you make great ones, but I would never be able to figure out all that folding” ?
There are such great resources out there that take you step by step in the process. Remember, it’s one little fold and one little component at a time that eventually adds up to one whole complex cool lapbook. Don’t get overwhelmed by the finished products. At HomeschoolShare they have a whole section on blank resources if you care to do them yourself or expand on the lapbooks they have available for you. When you click on an already prepared lapbook each component is listed seperately so that you may pick and choose the items you want to include in your lapbook. With those items you print are instructions of how to fold them. They also include pictures at the end of each section to show you what their completed lapbook looks like. But it’s always just a suggestion. And I’ll always take comments or emails and talk you through any place that you’re stuck.
How do you know just how much to include or when you’re through with one lapbook?
This is a good question. You can play by the rules and print off the whole list and when you work through it, well, then you’re done. I’m not a good rule follower. I go by my kids’ levels of concentration. I pick components I think they would like (or let them pick), print them off, and have them on hand. I’m not a great planner or stick to it-er once I have a plan, so maybe I’m not a great one to ask. Or maybe I’m the perfect one to ask. You pick! Either way, this is how I do it. I print off the things I want, we jump in one morning and get started, when my kids start losing interest for the day, we quit. Then we do some more the next day. And we keep going as long as they show interest and aren’t fighting me on it. When they seem through, I quit, put it all together, and give it to them like a present. If they show more interest than I have printed items for, then I go get creative. I go to sites like Enchanted Learning (a paying site for the premium stuff - $20 a year last I checked, but very trustworthy, legitimate, and a WEALTH of resources), an awesome site full of free stuff is Jan Brett’s site, I do a search for the topic we’re working on, and/or there are usually related extra resource sites at the end of each lapbook on HomeschoolShare with lots of free printables to add to your finished project. This is yours and ultimately you’re in control of all of it!
How much do they learn, does it cover enough, and do you use it a your sole curriculum?
Hmm… Depends on who you ask, but since you asked me, I’ll answer! My kids have learned a ton and have retained nearly all of it. Really. When they see something in real like that reminds them of a once-covered lapbook they get excited and start reminding me about what they learned. It can be your sole curriculum and cover enough if you’re dedicated. They are great as a companion to Five In A Row. I have one friend who uses Abeka and plans to use these to kick off or wrap up each 6 week series they start. I have another friend who wants to use these mostly during the summer and do their “regular curriculum” during the “regular school year”. It’s up to you. Homeschool Share even has a scope and sequence checklist for the things you might want to cover with your child according to grade. Print that off, make a plan, work through it. And you have an entire school year ahead of you, if you’re that organized and so inclined. If you are, I envy you and dream of being you some day. For me, I’m kinda lazy. Or kinda busy (at least that’s what I tell myself, though I have a sneaking suspicion it’s more the former). So we do lapbooks according to their desires and fill in the blanks with workbooks and textbooks when I get tired of lapbooking (yes, it can happen, even for an enthusiast such as myself), or run out of one of the necessary items to lapbook.
Which brings us to another question I get..
What do you need to get in order to lapbook?
This is a running joke amongst my lapbooking friends and myself. Just go buy stock in glue sticks, printer paper, ink, and file folders now. I’m kidding. Kind of! Depending on how many lapbooks you do, how often you do them, how many children you have and how many of those children either contribute to one large combined lapbook or each have their own you may very well find yourself at one of the super mega supply stores buying in bulk. But when you consider the price you pay for curriculum or other fun learning projects then the price is nominal. If you’re a beginner I suggest you buy a pack of file folders (I buy the manila ones because I’m cheap - we have painted and decorated them before, but mostly just leave them plain, however, they do have colored file folders if you desire); several glue sticks (I like the sticks over the liquid, because when you’re doing that much gluing - your paper will tend to wrinkle - and well, that just drives me crazy); a pack of printer paper; a pencil; and some colors, markers, or paints; those brass brad things are handy, but not always necessary; a stapler; and sometimes you may want some clear contact paper for the things you want to keep “just so”. As with most things, they can be as simple or as elaborate you want.
An example of a simple literature-based lapbook my 3 year old daughter did is What Will You Wear Jesse Bear?
And an example of a more elaborate exhaustive topical lapbook is the Volcanoes lapbook my 5 year old son did kindergarten year.
Have questions I haven’t covered? Sites I haven’t mentioned? Or want to show off your own awesome lapbooks? Please do! We’d love to hear from you.
Suzanne is wife to one and mama to four and a half. The little ones are 2 boys ages 7 and 6, a girl who’s 4, a wild toddler boy who’s 2 and new baby boy expected this October. She eclecticly unschools with lapbooks the Charlotte Mason way. In other words, she doesn’t have the slightest clue what she’s doing, but does it anyway. She lives in a world where there are few absolutes. The dishes don’t stay cleaned, the laundry doesn’t stay put away, the children don’t remember what she told them yesterday. But in their chaotic lives they have found joy. And they’d love to share that with you. So, come on over, kick a path through the toys, have a seat on the couch and grab a cup of strong coffee. Just be ready to hone your skills of “interrupted conversation”! And be sure to stop by her personal blog at TheJoyfulChaos.
May We Just Keep Going, Please Mom?
May 13, 2009 by Kristina
And after April, when May follows,
And the white throat builds, and all the swallows!
Hark, where my blossom’d pear tree in the hedge
Leans to the field and scatters on the clover
Blossoms and dewdrops - by Robert Browning
Maybe, like me, you are thinking of spending more time out instead of in yet you aren’t quite finished up as many lessons as you were hoping to. Maybe, like me, you are already thinking of how much MORE fun next year is going to be and you are drooling over curriculum catalogues, making many excellent choices. Maybe, like me, you have one child that you are no longer going to be homeschooling come September and you are busy creating memories to last a lifetime while you still have time. Or, Maybe, like me, you are simply savouring each spring moment before the bees start steadily buzzing, the birds begin sweetly singing and the flowers fragrantly blossom before our very eyes. Let me fill you in on some great ways to create some artful beauty that won’t cost you an arm and a leg!
May is the perfect month to set up a wildflower press and start collecting. All you need are:
- Several pieces of cardboard.
- Ribbon or twine
- Strong scissors or a utility knife
- Regular white paper or waxed paper
- Flowers to press
Empty cereal boxes are not the best choice for this craft; use sturdy boxes to cut your squares from. You decide how large or small to make the wildflower press, just be sure that the squares you cut out are generally the same size. You will need around ten to make a press that will have enough weight to actually, well, press!
Take the flower specimen you would like to preserve and lay it on a sheet of white paper, cut to the same size as one of the squares in your press, making sure that each petal and leaf is displayed to your liking. Lay a second sheet of white, square paper (or waxed paper) on top of the flower. If you would like to press more than one flower at a time, simply repeat the process until you have your press filled to the brim with flowery goodness. Layer the cardboard pieces on top, with some also underneath, until they are stacked and ready to tie with your ribbon or twine. Place a heavy book on top of your press to ensure that your flower (or flowers) are pressed nicely. Check your flower’s pressing business (could not help myself) after three days to one week. It may take more or less time to properly press the flower depending on how small or thick your choice was.
My boys watched a group of Nationals weaving palm fronds into cool crowns. I do not know how to describe that for you, so I give you another very fun craft, a good old fashioned daisy chain. I did not know the proper way to do this until I read it in an out of print book. Maybe you did not know the right and best way either. I hope you are enlightened! You need:
- Daisies
- Fingernails
Take the stem of one daisy and slit into it, with your fingernail, about an inch from the end. Thread another daisy (or other flower for that matter) into this slit. Make a slit in this second flower’s stem in the same way, sliding yet a third flower into the slit. Continue with this crazy daisy stunt until you have a chain the length that you desire. I used to use dandelions when I was a small girl. Hmmm. That must be why my mother never objected to my making ridiculously long chains.
Speaking of the fresh outdoors, when we were still missionaries in Papua New Guinea, we had pineapples growing right outside our windows. I had never known just how a pineapple grows before making a tropical island my home. I also had never quite known how to grow a pineapple plant in Ontario, Canada, but let me share with you what I discovered … you can!
The next time your family eats a pineapple, be sure to save the top, saving a bit of the fleshy part. Leave it out to dry (hopefully little brother or sister will not try to eat the last little bit!) After about three days or so, place the pineapple top in some sandy soil. The sand is important if you consider the places in the world where pineapples grow happily … places where there is a lot of sun, sand and surf. Give your plant some water but not too much, and put it somewhere warm. It should sprout some roots within two weeks. You may then replant it as you would any other type of houseplant. You may not succeed on your first try, but you know the saying: if at first you don’t succeed, keep eating pineapple because it is really, really good for you!
Kristina Campbell is a happily married wife in her eighth year of homeschooling the flybytheseatofyourpants method. So far her two boys seem intelligible and relatively unscathed. She also mentors with Setting Captives Free and in her spare time loves to scrapbook, paint, make linoprints and write novel study guides. In your spare time, you should check out her blog OnFire in PNG.
Elementary Science: Chemical Reactions
May 2, 2009 by AmyS
“The more I study science the more I believe in God,” Albert Einstein once remarked. I couldn’t agree more with this eccentric scientist.
Vinegar and Baking Soda
Two everyday household ingredients. Both have been used since ancient times. The Sumerians used vinegar as a medicine, a condiment, and a detergent. They made this invaluable solution by leaving wine in an open container until it turned sour. The ancient Egyptians were known to use baking soda as a toothpaste, a body wash, and as the main ingredient for the mummification process. Baking Soda is pure Sodium Bicarbonate, which is a component of Natron. Natron can readily be found in many mineral springs throughout northern Egypt.
With these simple household materials, you can create what is known as “Fizzle Stones.” The beauty of these stones is that they “dissolve” to reveal a treasure inside.
“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” 2 Corinthians 5:17
When we allow Jesus into our hearts, we become much like these Fizzle Stones as Jesus dissolves away our ugly and sinful outer covering, uncovering the treasures of our heart.
Fizzle Stones
What you need:
-
1 ¼ cup baking soda
-
4 T water
-
Plastic jewelry, coins, small plastic toys or anything you can pass off as treasure
-
4 cups white vinegar
-
Large clear bowl or pitcher
What to do:
-
Mix baking soda and water in a small bowl to form a stiff dough
-
Make a “stone” by molding the dough around one of your “treasures”
-
Let the stone dry overnight or bake in a 150 degree oven for 30 minutes
-
Drop the stone into the bowl of vinegar
-
Watch as the stone fizzles away to reveal the treasure inside
“Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord God looks at the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7
Want to have more fun with vinegar and baking soda?
Blow up a balloon
What you need:
-
vinegar
-
baking soda
-
a bottle
-
a balloon
What to do:
-
Pour the baking soda in the bottle.
-
Pour the vinegar in the bottle.
-
Quickly put the balloon on the top of the bottle. My husband created this little stopper to help quickly get the balloon on top of the bottle. It is simply a small piece of cardboard, rolled up, and taped to fit perfectly into the bottle.
When the vinegar (an acid) reacts with the baking soda (a base) it forms the gas carbon dioxide, which exits the bottle and inflates the balloon.
Volcano
What you need:
-
6 cups flour
-
2 cups salt
-
4 tablespoons cooking oil
-
2 cups water
-
Plastic bottle
-
Red food coloring
-
Vinegar
-
Baking Soda
What to do:
-
Mix the first 4 ingredients until smooth and firm (more water may be added if needed).
-
Fill the bottle halfway with baking soda and add a few drops of red food coloring.
-
Stand the bottle in a baking pan and mold the dough around it into a volcano shape. Don’t cover the hole or drop dough into it.
-
Slowly pour vinegar into the bottle. Watch out - eruption time!
It is easy to become a scientist! Its as easy as combining two ordinary materials to make one very unusual chemical reaction. I hope you’ll have fun experimenting with your kids!
Amy is a devoted wife, Classical homeschooling mom to a seven-year-old Superhero and the co-owner of Heart of the Matter. She has a passion for genealogy and is aspiring to be a Proverbs 31 lady. Be sure to visit her blog at Milk and Cookies.
Thinking Inside the Box: Using the Workbox System
April 29, 2009 by HeatherW
How We Use Sue Patrick’s Workbox System to Structure Our Homeschool
If you visit even just a few homeschool blogs out there in the blogosphere, then it’s likely you’ve come across the “Workbox System”. So, what’s all the fuss about? Why are homeschooling moms clamoring to get this system in place in their homes?
Sue Patrick developed this system to help her autistic son have a more structured day from the time he was still a toddler on up into his school days. However, this little gem of a system can all help all moms make sure the school day is consistent and rich for each child.
The basis for the system is a little rack that holds 12 plastic shoe boxes. In general that means a wire rack with four shelves which can hold 3 boxes each. Each box gets a number velcroed to the front of it. When you purchase Sue’s book, you will get access to the printables you need to set up your workboxes. In addition to the numbers on the front of the box, there is a schedule strip where you have squares with Velcro in them. The schedule strip is used to order the child’s school day. In between the numbered boxes on the strip, you might have a break card, or a water the garden card, or a play with a sibling card. The idea is that kids follow the schedule strip and do what is in each box or otherwise directed on the schedule strip.
Sue has a lot of ideas on how to use the system in a variety of situations and her book gives you ideas on how to break down your current curriculum in a way that fits into the boxes. One of the hallmarks of the Workbox System, is the visual cues it provides. As the child completes a box, he sets it aside away from the cart. This way, he gets to see his progress as he gets closer to the goal which is to finish the work in all 12 boxes. Ms. Patrick has also built in other cues like “checking in and out” for the school day, “ask for help” cards, and “work with mom” cards.
Ms. Patrick’s book also describes how she uses centers and file folder games as a regular part of the daily routine. Would you believe her treadmill is part of the daily Workbox System at her house too? Be sure to check out her manual to see what else was important to her as she put together this structure school time for her family.
As you travel the blog circuit and see how others have chosen to implement the system, you’ll see all kinds of modifications and activities. There are no shortage of ideas out there on how families are incorporating the Workbox Systems into their school.
So, what goes in the boxes? All the school work for the day. I put regular school work in there plus all the extras you SAY you want to do but don’t get around to, because either you don’t have time or you forget or you lose steam or you didn’t prepare it ahead of time. I haven’t gotten up to 12 items yet, but I will get close soon. Our unit study goes in first, then I can switch around other things like math, silent reading my choice, silent reading their choice, a math game, writing time, spelling, sewing, guitar practice, snack, break, etc.
Who is it for? For any child at any level, the author says. High schoolers and young ones and special needs kids all do well with the system. It has a schedule but it can vary as much or as little as you want it to. There is structure but flexibility.
It works for ANY curriculum. You just have to know how you want to break it out. You just put the various things you do throughout your day into the boxes in the order you want the student to do them. It fosters some independent work ethic. It ends questions like, am I done yet? How much more school? Can I do ___?
I like it for the accountability for ME. In order for it to work, I have to be prepared ahead of time. It’s a lot of up front work, BUT it pays off when our day proceeds in peace. I am not looking for something I printed and can’t find (while the kids scatter), I’m not saying, hold it I need to get this or that (and the kids scatter). I put it all out and it’s ready to go.
I like it because to fill the 12 boxes I’m pulling stuff off the shelf that I always MEAN to do but never do, like those great 100s charts and the book that goes with it and lots of other games and fun things. I like it because I can put variety into my kids’ days without managing the effort at ‘go time’.
I had been having my kids do activity time before they get free time. It’s more or less structured “free” time. Now I can just load the boxes with the day’s activity and call it a day. I like it because I can get to those things we never seem to have time for – because I load it up in the boxes. Like my daughter’s sewing projects – I just prepare them and put the materials in her box.
It gives my preschooler pre-determined and set-up activities that he can go through without being disruptive or constantly asking for media time (in whatever form he desires at the moment). He loves it!
It works because it’s all ready to go and we just flow through the day with some level of peace. I’m less frustrated when the day begins because all my ducks are in a row.
For me it is a living checklist. I was working on a daily checklist for the kids when I saw this on a homeschool forum. It clicked with me. It fits right in with my word for 2009 which is “tenaciously purposeful.” I want to be tenaciously purposeful in working more into what we do during the day. So many times it seems like we are going for what we can “get done” in the time we have. I want more for my kids. The workbox system is a tool I can use to make that happen and it’s working! Perhaps it will work for you too.
Heather Woodie is a homeschooling mom of four kids ages 10, 8, 6, 3 and wife to a handsome chemical engineer for 13 years. Before raising a family, she taught middle school science and has a masters degree in curriculum and instruction secondary education. Now teaching at home means the chance to provide the extraordinary for her children. Between family and homeschooling time, she is working as volunteer staff for MOPS International as an Area Coordinator for NY State. She’s been homeschooling four years and you can read about those adventures on her blog, Blog She Wrote .
Genealogy for Kids: part 2
April 15, 2009 by AmyS
Now that you’ve succeeded in getting your children interested in digging into their roots, here are some tips and fun activities to help you trace your tree.
1. Start with you and work backwards. It is almost a given that you can trace your tree back at least 3 generations to your great-grandparents. After that you have a choice: concentrate on making your tree taller or wider. To make your tree taller, you focus on your direct ancestors, 2nd great grandparents, 3rd great grandparents, etc. To make your tree wider, add in all the children, siblings, aunts and uncles, and cousins of your grandparents and great-grandparents.
2. Interview all your living family members. Everyone has a story to tell. Your son may learn that his elusive great uncle shares the same birth date and was a chess champion as a boy, or your daughter may learn that her third cousin loves horses and studied ballet as a child. Your children could become life-long friends with far-away relatives. Download some interview questions here. You may want to video tape your interviews as well.
3. Use the phone book. One time I sent a letter to all the listings of a certain surname that I could find living in the county that I knew my ancestor was buried in. I included a copy of the family tree and asked them if any of the names looked familiar. Sure enough, I got a call and my brick wall was broken. This activity could also teach your kids about formal letter writing.
4. Focus on more than boring name and dates. Collect stories and photographs. Use historical books, fiction and non-fiction, to fill in the gaps.
5. Look up famous family trees. Got a Disney fan? or maybe an Abe Lincoln admirer? Imagine the excitement if you find a common ancestor.
6. Map the trail of an immigrant. Unless you are 100% Native American, you will find dozens of immigrants in your tree. You may have “old school” ancestors who came in colonial times or newer Ellis Island arrivals. Be a detective and try to figure out why they came to America. Read stories about ship life. You would be surprised at the condition in which your ancestors lived and the hardships they endured to obtain a new life. Read more about using maps here and here.
7. Create a family time capsule to benefit YOUR descendants. Ancient time capsules have been found in Egyptian and Babylonian tombs. Read this article to read more about buying or making your own.
8. Do some crayon rubbings at a cemetery – eerily fascinating for most kids. Searching for a headstone is like going on a treasure hunt. If the headstone is very old or crumbling, it is best to take pictures instead. Older upright headstones can easily fall over or break. Teach respect and responsibility by cleaning up the area around the headstone and maybe even leaving a flower.
9. Walk on the land of your ancestors. With the permission of the current owner, of course. Imagine where their house or barn stood. Think about why they chose that particular land or town. Visit the church that they attended.
10. Most of all, have fun with it! You never know what you’ll find. YOU might even learn that one of your best bloggy friends is actually your cousin!!
My favorite research tools
- Ancestry.com
- LDS Family History Library databases
- Heritage Quest Online (which may be available for free through your local library system)
- Search engine for hundreds of ship logs
- RootsWeb (an invaluable yet dangerous tool. Anyone can upload family trees here, so please double check all documentation and sources before you take anything at face value.)
- The USGenWeb Project (organized by county and state, and provides you with links to all the state genealogy websites which, in turn, provide gateways to the counties.)
- Cindy’s List
- Alternate spellings of surnames (this is helpful for common names like Smith which can be listed as Smithe, Smythe, Schmidt, Smitt, Smyth, Schmid, Smiths, Schmitt and more!)
- Dead Fred’s Genealogy Photo Archive (a free, fun photo genealogy research web site devoted to helping you visualize your heritage!)
- The most common occupations throughout history (discuss how many jobs are still available today.)
Information About Surnames
- Origins of surnames
- What you can learn from your last name
- Genealogy.com Surname Messages Boards
- Ancestry.com Surname Messages Boards
Forms
- Dozens of top quality free formsCute family tree forms for kids
- Another cute form for kids
- Scrapbooking set courtesy Scrapbook Scrapbook.com
- Free software
Amy is a devoted wife, Classical homeschooling mom to a six-year-old Superhero and the co-owner of Heart of the Matter. She has a passion for genealogy and is aspiring to be a Proverbs 31 lady. Be sure to visit her blog at Milk and Cookies.
Genealogy for Kids
April 13, 2009 by AmyS
The year after my husband and I were married, my father-in-law told me a story that changed my life. Ok, maybe not changed my life, but certainly changed how I began to spend my free time.
As a young Army mechanic stationed in his ancestral Germany during the late 1960’s, he spied an old book in a small bookshop that detailed his family history and even included a picture of the “family castle”. FAMILY CASTLE?! You can imagine the romantic thoughts going through my love-struck newlywed mind. I envisioned an enchanting trip with my handsome and chivalrous husband to visit the rebuilt ruins of this marvelous palace. I could wear my fake tiara on the tour and pretend I was a 13th century queen. But first…I had to find the place. (My father-in-law didn’t buy the book.)
With that little story, I was bitten. Bitten by the genealogy bug. Bitten hard. I have never recovered. Gone were the days of going to bed at 9:00pm. Every spare moment I had was spent on Ancestry.com, or in graveyards, or looking through dusty old books at the historical society’s archives. It didn’t stop when I found the family-in-law’s castle. Every day it was something new.
- “Hey honey, you and Thomas Edison are 7th cousins 5 times removed!!”
- “Hey you are also related to President Teddy Roosevelt!!”
- “Ha! Your Colonial 9th great grandmother got arrested once for calling another woman a fatted pig.”
- “Wow, your 5th great grandmother was kidnapped and raised by Indians!”
- “Sweet, I am descendant of King Alfred the Great!”
- “Hey, check this out, your 6th great grandfather owned a wampum factory.”
Needless to say, it became more than just a hobby for me and I always looked forward to hopefully passing on this passion to the next generation.
How Can Genealogy Benefit Your Children?
Connects them to their roots
By the time our son was born, I had already traced both our family trees over the ocean, sometimes back into Medieval times. I was eager to eventually share all my findings with our son. Reading all those statements above, can you see how fascinating genealogy can be, especially to a child? Knights, Kings, Presidents, war heroes, Indians! Imagine the delight in my little boy’s eyes when he hears stories like these:
Once upon a time, over two hundred years ago, the entire northwest corner of Ohio was covered with a dark, nasty, bug infested swamp. It was so scary and dangerous that the Native Americans wouldn’t even go near it. Wolves, bears and wildcats roamed freely among the wooded swamp and many people who ventured near the swamp got lost…never to be seen again. One day, a brave and adventurous man set out to tame that great black swamp. With his own two hands and his trusty ax, he was one of the first daring men to clear out a portion of that swamp, build a log cabin and start a farm. Do you know who that courageous man was? That was your daddy’s great-grandpa’s great-grandpa!
This story really sparked his curiosity and he immediately wanted to know all about the history of Ohio, and more importantly, the history of daddy’s family. He was fascinated with “Swamp Grandpa” as he called him.
Helps with self-esteem and sense of pride
Knowing the accomplishments of his many great grandpas has helped my son feel brave and eager to conquer his part of the world. Sometimes when something is challenging, I can remind him of such people like the grandpa who was wounded in the Civil War but still volunteered to fight another tour of duty, or the grandma who ran a farm and raised 8 children all by herself after her husband passed.
Teaches Valuable “Real-life” Skills
Genealogists are also detectives, always looking for the next little clue. Little do they know, they are learning the important skills of researching, organizing, categorizing and more!
Brings History Alive
“Did you know that one of Mommy’s ancestors is a real genuine Mayflower Pilgrim?!” or “Did you know that one of Daddy’s ancestors fought on the same battlefield with William Wallace?!” Suddenly the Pilgrims and William Wallace are real people instead of figures in a book. The voyages, battles, and other experiences can become real and exciting events instead of boring dates and places. Our ancestors can inspire a child to delve deeper into living history.
Develops Closeness and Appreciation
Studying your family lines can develop an appreciation for all family members, no matter what their job, lifestyle, or culture. Everyone has a story to tell. Everyone is fascinating in some way. Kids, and grown-ups, can learn to not overlook a certain person because they do not appear interesting. We found an ancestor who lived a meager, routine life as a struggling farmer, but tracing back through his childhood we learned that this farmer came to America on his own at the age of 15! Imagine the stories he has!!
Have you traced your family tree? I am very interested in hearing your thoughts. Join me tomorrow as we explore some tips and fun activities to help you and your children trace your family tree.
Amy is a devoted wife, Classical homeschooling mom to a six-year-old Superhero and the co-owner of Heart of the Matter. She has a passion for genealogy and is aspiring to be a Proverbs 31 lady. Be sure to visit her blog at Milk and Cookies.
April Showers Springboard Creative Powers!
For many of us, “April showers bring May flowers” is our happy mantra, keeping us motivated and putting a spring (groan) into our steps. Here, the sun shines far too intermittently for my personal liking, and the winds still carry that bitter chill that sends us back inside more often than we would like. So, to help you out of your “will summer never come?” doldrums, try some indoor ideas on for size. I have a feeling they might be just what the doctor ordered (unless you are ordering something tropical!).
Raffia Napking Rings
To make some really nifty raffia napkin rings (and, yes, I believe that *is* a tongue twister), you will need:
- a cardboard tube, either from the inside of an empty toilet paper or paper towel tube
- different colours of raffia (yarn or embroidery floss will also work)
- a pencil, some scissors and something circular to trace around that is the desired size.
Begin wrapping the raffia (or yarn etc) over the cardboard tube that you have cut to size (perhaps two inches in height is a good guide); overlapping the strands of raffia so they cover the cardboard very quickly. Whenever you run out of raffia, simply add a new strand by knotting the two together (old piece and new piece), making sure the knot is hidden on the inside of the tube, not on the outside where people can see it easily. Keep on wrapping raffia until the whole of your napkin ring tube is covered and no cardboard is showing. Weave any loose ends so they do not run the risk of coming unravelled.
Now comes the fun part!
Take a different colour of raffia, or yarn or embroidery floss, and make a design with it, either by braiding it and gluing it onto the outside of your napkin ring, or weaving it (using a needle) over and under the raffia you wound around the tube.
Use your own creative ideas for making your napkin rings unique. You can use comic strips and glue (letting the glue dry between applications allows you to still see any images but creates a shiny finish), buttons, beads and ribbons… Let your imagination run free!
Now is also the perfect time to either purchase or make a bird feeder. I know my brother told me just the other day how he decided to start feeding the birds earlier than usual this year, and he feels he has not only attracted some different sorts of birds, like finches and nuthatches as well as the usual blue jays, but he also seems to think the squirrels are paying less attention to the food. One can always hope!
I love the classic bird feeder out of a used (and empty … must specify for my kids!) milk or juice carton. All you need to do is attach some string to the top, in order to hang it from a tree or secure post, and cut a hole for the birds to take the feed from. We have hot-glued a twig on to the bottom section of the feeder in the past for a perch, just underneath the opening we cut for the food. If you do this, make sure that you are generous with the hot glue. We have also found that birds seem to enjoy a feeder that isn’t able to blow around a ton in the wind, so try to choose a semi sheltered spot for hanging, but one you can still watch the wildlife from.
Cool Treats
One last idea for today is to make some cool treats, saying goodbye to the ice and snow and thinking ahead to balmy days spent under the sun.
Coconut Ice
Image from www.bbcgoodfood.com
You need 2 ¼ cups of white sugar, 2 ½ cups of desiccated coconut, a saucepan, waxed paper, 1 cup of milk, red food colouring (if desired) and a 9×13 pan
1. lightly grease a 9×13 pan then line with waxed paper
2. put sugar and milk in the saucepan. Bring to a boil and continue boiling for about 3 minutes.
3. remove the saucepan from the stove, adding the coconut, stirring constantly. If you choose to add food colouring, add a drop at a time, until you obtain the shade of pink you like.
4. pour the mixture onto the 9×13 pan and leave it to cool.
5. when it has both cooled and set, cut it into squares or bars and store in an airtight container.
Peppermint Creams
Photo by Ben Dearnley
You need 1 ¾ of icing sugar (powdered sugar), 1 teaspoon of peppermint extract, 1 egg white, a large bowl for beating egg, smaller bowl for sifting sugar, wire rack for cooling/drying
1. Sift the icing sugar into a large bowl
2. Beat the egg white until stiff then add the sugar. Add the peppermint extract and mix until a stiff paste is formed
3. Sprinkle your counter with some icing sugar and roll out the paste until it is about ¼ inch thick
4. Make or cut into circles (using a cookie cutter if desired) and place on a wire tray until firm, may take over night.
Kristina Campbell is a happily married wife in her eighth year of homeschooling the flybytheseatofyourpants method. So far her two boys seem intelligible and relatively unscathed. She also mentors with Setting Captives Free and in her spare time loves to scrapbook, paint, make linoprints and write novel study guides. In your spare time, you should check out her blog OnFire in PNG.
Darcy’s Do’s and Don’ts: School Picture Day
April 9, 2009 by Darcy
I don’t remember much about grade school. Most of what I do remember has nothing to do with education at all, but rather bits and pieces of school uniforms, track and field day, adopting a senior citizen and school picture day. I was always one of the shortest kids in my class which means I was always stuck in the first row, usually front and center, holding the sign that announced the grade and teacher. Oh, how I wanted to hide in back with the big kids.
But now that I am *ahem* thirtysomething, I appreciate those little photographic tokens of my past. The predictable, now laughable, backdrops… the awkward poses and unnatural smiles… they are funny. But more, they capture 12 years of growth that sometimes my parents didn’t always capture.
So, I challenge you… take yearly “school photos.” Only you aren’t obligated to awkward poses and unnatural smiles. Instead, you can capture really great natural poses. Here are a few tips for successful portraits.
1. Turn your camera. Take the photo in portrait orientation rather than landscape. If you rather shoot in landscape, remember the rule of thirds: place the area of focus 1/3 or 2/3 of the way through the photo, rather than dead center.
portrait image:
landscape image:
2. Focus on your subject’s eyes and fill the frame. You have lots of chances to photograph other stuff, this time it’s about the person.
3. Take the photo outside. Have your student stand in a shady area. You don’t want squinting or partial shadows across the face.
4. Take a few silly ones first and allow your subject to loosen up. Most people feel a little like a zoo animal behind a lens.
5. Turn off your flash. It blows out your subject and often creates red eye.
6. Give them something to hold or a little instruction on what to do with their hands. Subjects don’t always know what to do, and holding something may keep a small child still or help your gorgeous teen not feel so strange ‘just standing there.’
7. If you can’t get sharp focus, use a tripod. If you don’t have a tripod, improvise. Set your camera on a picnic table, car or steady, stable, flat surface.
8. Take a lot of photos. If they’re digital, you have nothing to lose. Take 25 instead of 5. You’re much more likely to get the good one. If you don’t, try again another day. Unlike the school photographer, you have 365 chances to get a good pic that year.
9. Lastly, a little post-production goes a long way. Most photo-editing programs have ways to improve your photo with a simple click. If you don’t have one, try Picnik. It’s free. I use and recommend Photoshop, which you can get for an educator’s discount through Academic Superstore.
Maybe your photos will end up nothing more than fodder for good laughs over some future Thanksgiving dinner. But when your child is thirtysomething, she’ll be glad to have real portraits.
For more inspiring photography by homeschool parents please check out these blogs for tips and inspiration:
Homeschool Mom Photographers
Short on Words http://shortonwords.blogspot.com
Mt. Hope Chronicles http://mthopeacademy.blogspot.com
Pioneer Woman Photography http://thepioneerwoman.com/photography
Quiet Life http://www.booshay.blogspot.com
Pages of our Life http://www.pagesofourlife.com
Homeschool Dad Photographers
f/11 http://fxmixer.blogspot.com
Boybarian Photo http://www.boybarianphoto.com
These photos, minus the squinting shot, were shot by homeschool dad and amateur photographer, Handy Man (http://www.boybarianphoto.com) and photo-edited by his trophy wife (http://www.lifewithmy3boybarians.com).
Darcy is the mom to three boys ages 8, 7, and 5 and blogs over at Life with My 3 Boybarians. She is the owner of a blog design business at www.graphicallydesigning.com. She and Handy Man live in Iowa…nowhere near a Starbucks.
