Did you know that cork comes from trees that grow in Spain & Portugal. In The Story of Ferdinand, Ferdinand likes to sit under a cork tree and smell the flowers. So, today we watched a youtube video on how corks are made:
Friday, October 30, 2009
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Unschool
This week's schooling has looked largely like unschool. I'm impressed with the results and feeling comfortable with where this week went, even as I'm ready to get back into a schedule.
Mane read early readers from the library for her reading practice this week. She finished 1st grade Hooked on Phonics last week, and I wanted to spend a week reinforcing reading skills before moving to the 2nd grade materials. She's eager to get started, too, and I wanted to build that enthusiasm a little.
Mane is about ready to finish chapter 11 of MUS, after her huge leap in math lessons last week. I practiced reading price tags with her at Savers this week, and she's been practicing the money counting all on her own.
Monday night we took a close look at the section on India in the book Wonders of the Ancient World. Mango was with us and asked a lot of excited questions, which was good review for Mane AND an opportunity to find out more. Tuesday we had a friend from India come over to make Indian food with us:
We continued talking this week about Ferdinand and the country of Spain. Mane asked a lot of questions about how the Mexican people came to speak Spanish, since the Spanish language comes from Spain. So, we talked about how countries sometimes take over other countries, about the way that many European countries formed colonies all over the world, including the United States. I explained that Mexico used to be made up of the Aztec and Mayan people, just as the United States used to be a whole bunch of Native American tribes. We talked about why countries take over other countries, especially about how it usually involves taking the other country's natural resources. This led to a discussion of natural resources, naturally occurring elements, and the periodic table. Whew!!
Mane read early readers from the library for her reading practice this week. She finished 1st grade Hooked on Phonics last week, and I wanted to spend a week reinforcing reading skills before moving to the 2nd grade materials. She's eager to get started, too, and I wanted to build that enthusiasm a little.
Mane is about ready to finish chapter 11 of MUS, after her huge leap in math lessons last week. I practiced reading price tags with her at Savers this week, and she's been practicing the money counting all on her own.
Monday night we took a close look at the section on India in the book Wonders of the Ancient World. Mango was with us and asked a lot of excited questions, which was good review for Mane AND an opportunity to find out more. Tuesday we had a friend from India come over to make Indian food with us:
We continued talking this week about Ferdinand and the country of Spain. Mane asked a lot of questions about how the Mexican people came to speak Spanish, since the Spanish language comes from Spain. So, we talked about how countries sometimes take over other countries, about the way that many European countries formed colonies all over the world, including the United States. I explained that Mexico used to be made up of the Aztec and Mayan people, just as the United States used to be a whole bunch of Native American tribes. We talked about why countries take over other countries, especially about how it usually involves taking the other country's natural resources. This led to a discussion of natural resources, naturally occurring elements, and the periodic table. Whew!!
Friday, October 23, 2009
When something suddenly clicks!
Wow! I think I've been waiting for this moment without even really knowing it. It is SO FUN to see Mane learn things. I remember being amazed all through her babyhood as she learned how to grasp and roll and crawl and walk. Now I'm starting to see that with knowledge.
So, here's the story... We've always played around with counting money. She seemed to understand how much each coin was worth and how to add them up to dollars. Then, yesterday we did the Math U See lesson where the unit blocks represent pennies, the ten blocks represent dimes, and the hundered blocks represent dollars. Mane's response? "MAMA, you can use MATH to count money?!!!" She then proceeded to dump out her piggy bank and count the entire contents. She counted $12.53 in coins. It wasn't that she used any different method than we had always used to help her count coins, but she kept exclaiming over and over again about how it easy it was, and it was clear that SOMETHING finally made sense to her about counting coins. It was so fun to see her so excited.
So, here's the story... We've always played around with counting money. She seemed to understand how much each coin was worth and how to add them up to dollars. Then, yesterday we did the Math U See lesson where the unit blocks represent pennies, the ten blocks represent dimes, and the hundered blocks represent dollars. Mane's response? "MAMA, you can use MATH to count money?!!!" She then proceeded to dump out her piggy bank and count the entire contents. She counted $12.53 in coins. It wasn't that she used any different method than we had always used to help her count coins, but she kept exclaiming over and over again about how it easy it was, and it was clear that SOMETHING finally made sense to her about counting coins. It was so fun to see her so excited.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
A Day in the Life
I think Mane is a genius. But that shouldn't surprise you, right? I'm a little biased. She sailed through her reading lesson today. Then she did lessons 8 AND 9 in math!! She took test 9 and is ready to start lesson 10 tomorrow. I can't believe the ground we covered today. Wow. One little nice thing about homeschooling is that this can happen. We can plod along for a while and then sail through when we're ready.
She also colored the flag of Spain today. And I read her chapter 2 of The Hobbit. We'll be doing some more "schooling" tonight. Not sure how it's going to evolve exactly, but we've got some time this evening while Mango does some "homework."
She also colored the flag of Spain today. And I read her chapter 2 of The Hobbit. We'll be doing some more "schooling" tonight. Not sure how it's going to evolve exactly, but we've got some time this evening while Mango does some "homework."
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Ferdinand
Yesterday we began rowing The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf.
This is a sweet little book, and it really ought to be in every child's library. It's a story of a young bull named Ferdinand, who grew up to love sitting under a cork tree smelling flowers rather than fighting like all the other bulls. Mane and I discovered today that Disney made a movie of the story, and you can watch it on youtube:
While we read the book for the second time to day, Mane picked out common & proper nouns, as well as the one interjection in the story. She drew a page for Ferdinand in her school notebook this morning while I read more to her out of the Jewish holidays book. She's finished memorizing Psalm 23, and we began work on The Lord's Prayer this morning.
Last week I didn't write here at all. It isn't that we didn't do anything, but, rather, that we were extremely busy. On Monday we did all our regular math & reading, read a book called A-Z India, and made fresh squeezed orange juice. We ended up talking about fractions while we made orange juice because we saw how much juice we got from one orange & then from two oranges, and we estimated how much would be needed to make a cup of orange juice. We talked more about how we know that a food is a fruit (because it has seeds in it) and printed a page of pictures of fruits with the seeds showing for her school notebook. We also split up the big long timeline we began two years ago and put it in a three ring binder in order to make it easier to add things to the timeline in the future.
Tuesday we went to the Minneapolis Institute of Art with some other homeschoolers. We made our way through a whole lot of the museum and then spent time letting the children play together in the family room at the Institute. It's so inspiring to see Mane recognize pieces of art that she's seen before and watch her discover new things. I'm always interested to see the types of things that interest her.
Wednesday we rode our bikes to Bible Study. When we got home Aurora's grandma came to pick her up and she went to spend the night with grandma so that Mango & I could go to the Education Minnesota conference on Thursday. I went to an absolutely excellent workshop on teaching U.S. history using picture books. The workshop was done by 6th grade teacher and children's book author, Pat Bauer, and her husband, a children's book illustrator, David Geister. After the workshop we went to the keynote address entitled "Life in the Next America," regarding the influence of immigration on America today by Ray Suarez. Here an interview with Ray Suarez here.
Friday we had a birthday party for Vespera. She had some friends come for dinner, a movie, and a sleepover! Mane got to watch reading Rainbow episodes and play, play, play for most of the day while we all made preparations for the party.
Today we have our homeschool group in the afternoon. Mane took test 7 in her math book & is ready to move on to lesson 8. She's about 2 weeks away from finishing 1st grade Hooked on Phonics, and then we'll be ready to begin the 2nd grade level!! Yeah! She's paying attention to signs and reading everything everywhere. We've seen tremendous improvement with practice and a solid program. The repetition of Hooked on Phonics seems to be the key to success for her.
This is a sweet little book, and it really ought to be in every child's library. It's a story of a young bull named Ferdinand, who grew up to love sitting under a cork tree smelling flowers rather than fighting like all the other bulls. Mane and I discovered today that Disney made a movie of the story, and you can watch it on youtube:
While we read the book for the second time to day, Mane picked out common & proper nouns, as well as the one interjection in the story. She drew a page for Ferdinand in her school notebook this morning while I read more to her out of the Jewish holidays book. She's finished memorizing Psalm 23, and we began work on The Lord's Prayer this morning.
Last week I didn't write here at all. It isn't that we didn't do anything, but, rather, that we were extremely busy. On Monday we did all our regular math & reading, read a book called A-Z India, and made fresh squeezed orange juice. We ended up talking about fractions while we made orange juice because we saw how much juice we got from one orange & then from two oranges, and we estimated how much would be needed to make a cup of orange juice. We talked more about how we know that a food is a fruit (because it has seeds in it) and printed a page of pictures of fruits with the seeds showing for her school notebook. We also split up the big long timeline we began two years ago and put it in a three ring binder in order to make it easier to add things to the timeline in the future.
Tuesday we went to the Minneapolis Institute of Art with some other homeschoolers. We made our way through a whole lot of the museum and then spent time letting the children play together in the family room at the Institute. It's so inspiring to see Mane recognize pieces of art that she's seen before and watch her discover new things. I'm always interested to see the types of things that interest her.
Wednesday we rode our bikes to Bible Study. When we got home Aurora's grandma came to pick her up and she went to spend the night with grandma so that Mango & I could go to the Education Minnesota conference on Thursday. I went to an absolutely excellent workshop on teaching U.S. history using picture books. The workshop was done by 6th grade teacher and children's book author, Pat Bauer, and her husband, a children's book illustrator, David Geister. After the workshop we went to the keynote address entitled "Life in the Next America," regarding the influence of immigration on America today by Ray Suarez. Here an interview with Ray Suarez here.
Friday we had a birthday party for Vespera. She had some friends come for dinner, a movie, and a sleepover! Mane got to watch reading Rainbow episodes and play, play, play for most of the day while we all made preparations for the party.
Today we have our homeschool group in the afternoon. Mane took test 7 in her math book & is ready to move on to lesson 8. She's about 2 weeks away from finishing 1st grade Hooked on Phonics, and then we'll be ready to begin the 2nd grade level!! Yeah! She's paying attention to signs and reading everything everywhere. We've seen tremendous improvement with practice and a solid program. The repetition of Hooked on Phonics seems to be the key to success for her.
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Apple Cidering
Today we went to Eastman Nature Center and made apple cider!
Pour the apples in the grinder...
Turn the crank...
Grind the apples...
The pieces are caught in a cloth bag, and the juice runs out the bottom...
The cloth bag is closed up, and a wooden "foot" is placed on top to press it down...
Turn the crank to press out the rest of the juice...
YUM! Apple cider...
Pour the apples in the grinder...
Turn the crank...
Grind the apples...
The pieces are caught in a cloth bag, and the juice runs out the bottom...
The cloth bag is closed up, and a wooden "foot" is placed on top to press it down...
Turn the crank to press out the rest of the juice...
YUM! Apple cider...
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Apple Trees
I'll review this week backwards starting with today! Right now, as I type, Mane is drawing a progression of pictures that show how rain makes applesauce, since we just finished the book...
The book is a bunch of silly talk, but in the end it turns out that rain DOES actually lead to applesauce. This is a 1965 Caldecott Honor book, and it lives up to its award!! The pictures are strange but fascinating, and the text makes us laugh every time!
Earlier in the day we read...
And we traced the trip the apples made from Iowa to Oregon on the map. We printed another map that shows the places where Johnny Appleseed planted apples.
Yesterday was full with the regular math and reading AND then the long bus ride to our homeschool group. On the bus we read a book about India...learning about how people lived, what they wore, what the government was like, and the kind of religions the people followed.
Homeschool group was a total blast!! We used the multipurpose room at a community center, but the rules have changed since last year. The kids cannot play with balls. We stood around scratching our heads for a while. Then the kids got out the tumbling mats and a bunch of chairs. They built houses and tents with the tumbling mats. Then they used one of the mats to set up a stage curtain, and a bunch of them worked out a play while the others lined up rows of chairs to watch. They *did* actually tumble on the mats for a while, too, and they played various and sundry animal games. I couldn't believe how the group of them could have so much fun with so little!!
On Monday we rode our bikes to Savers. It was a little cold and wet out, but we managed to go for a walk and collect leaves when we got home before it really started to rain. Mane made leaf rubbings and practiced identifying leaves:
We talked about various leaf shapes and how leaves from different trees turn different colors in the autumn.
That pretty much covers the basics of what we've been up to this week. Tomorrow we have a field trip to go on a tram ride to see the autumn leaves and then we'll learn about apple cidering!
The book is a bunch of silly talk, but in the end it turns out that rain DOES actually lead to applesauce. This is a 1965 Caldecott Honor book, and it lives up to its award!! The pictures are strange but fascinating, and the text makes us laugh every time!Earlier in the day we read...
And we traced the trip the apples made from Iowa to Oregon on the map. We printed another map that shows the places where Johnny Appleseed planted apples.
Yesterday was full with the regular math and reading AND then the long bus ride to our homeschool group. On the bus we read a book about India...learning about how people lived, what they wore, what the government was like, and the kind of religions the people followed.
Homeschool group was a total blast!! We used the multipurpose room at a community center, but the rules have changed since last year. The kids cannot play with balls. We stood around scratching our heads for a while. Then the kids got out the tumbling mats and a bunch of chairs. They built houses and tents with the tumbling mats. Then they used one of the mats to set up a stage curtain, and a bunch of them worked out a play while the others lined up rows of chairs to watch. They *did* actually tumble on the mats for a while, too, and they played various and sundry animal games. I couldn't believe how the group of them could have so much fun with so little!!
On Monday we rode our bikes to Savers. It was a little cold and wet out, but we managed to go for a walk and collect leaves when we got home before it really started to rain. Mane made leaf rubbings and practiced identifying leaves:
We talked about various leaf shapes and how leaves from different trees turn different colors in the autumn.
That pretty much covers the basics of what we've been up to this week. Tomorrow we have a field trip to go on a tram ride to see the autumn leaves and then we'll learn about apple cidering!
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Rainy Day
It rained and poured, and was oh-so-cold today. So, we lit a fire again, and here's Mane doing her math work:
We read and looked around on the internet about the life cycle of an apple tree. The Mane painted the life cycle:
Her apple tree picture from a few days ago:
Then, we began reading The Hobbit today, and Mane wanted to look at all the pictures before bed:
We read and looked around on the internet about the life cycle of an apple tree. The Mane painted the life cycle:
Her apple tree picture from a few days ago:
Then, we began reading The Hobbit today, and Mane wanted to look at all the pictures before bed:
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