Game Schooling - Mad Libs card game

Mane LOVES Mad Libs. I don't think I can express in words just how happy Mad Libs make her. If we get her nothing but Mad Libs books for her birthday, Christmas, and Chanukah this year, she would be over the moon. This is serious.

So, when I saw a Mad Libs card game at the thrift store for $1 the other day, I bought it. Don't let the serious face fool you, Mad Libs require your full attention:

As most of you probably know (but just in case you don't), Mad Libs are great for learning parts of speech and sentence construction. The game is played like Rummy, requiring players to make sentences of different lengths for each of six rounds. Cards are color coded for parts of speech.

We'd love to see Mad Libs get rid of the words "weirdo" and "dummy," though, and we'd love to see extension sets with better vocabulary. This game, which can be played similarly, is on our wish list: You've Been Sentenced.

Game Schooling - Bible Challenge

It's been a struggle for me to find what I'm looking for in a Bible/Theology study for Mane. As a 7th grader, she's past just learning the basic stories but still needs reinforcement of the facts and practice finding things in scripture. There's a whole lot I have to say about teaching and studying theology for kids and middle schoolers, but today I'll just feature the games we've been using as that base for solidifying the facts and scriptures...

Mane made a set of these popsicle sticks with the books of the Bible written on them. They are color coded for genre. She is using them as a way to learn the order of the books. Scrambling them up and putting them back in order is great practice!

We are also playing a game called Bible Challenge as a part of our regularly scheduled curriculum! I grew up playing an older version of Bible Trivia, and I credit that game with helping me learn a great deal in a way that I still remember it today. This version does not give multiple choice answers to the questions, making it a bit more challenging. Players collect rings in seven different colors representing categories of questions in order to win the game.

Mango recently sent me a link to a American Radio Works radio show called The Science of Smart that was primarily about how people learn and retain information. Researchers have found over and over again that the best way to study information in order to retain it is to be quizzed (or to quiz yourself) on that information. It seems to me that trivia games are a great way to accomplish that repeated quizzing that helps us remember!

Game Schooling - Prestel Art Game

This year "Art Class" is about reading poetry (over tea, in bed at night, with breakfast, while studying theology...), listening to Classics for Kids radio, hearing excerpts from renowned pieces of literature, looking at types of architecture, placing styles of art & artists on a timeline, and....playing the Prestel Art Game!

We've been playing this for several weeks now, and it's pushed us to learn art terminology, recognize famous pieces, and learn about eras in art history. One thing I really appreciate is that you don't have to start out knowing a whole lot about art and artists in order to progress in the game. There are enough questions that are, "What do you think?" type questions to keep it moving. We use our creative and critical thinking skills to imagine what artists might be trying to say with a piece, what the subjects in a painting might be thinking, and what is most striking about certain pieces of artwork and why. Players "compete" with those questions by seeing if their answers match up with the answers of other players. There are also some "Pictionary" and "Taboo" type challenges.

As a way to extend the learning with this game, we keep the laptop around to look up other pieces of art by some artists or to search for similar styles and eras in art history!

Game Schooling - Rummy Roots

We have always loved a good game here at Peregrin House! And this year I've been focusing on ways to integrate games into our regular schedule and curriculum. I'm thinking that we should begin calling ourselves Game Schoolers, rather than Home Schoolers. I've been clogging my facebook feed with photos of us playing all our new (and old) games and decided it's high time I get them all recorded in the blog!

One of my very favorite new games is Rummy Roots! I'd been considering all kinds of vocabulary curriculum ideas for the latter half of this year, once we finish Logic of English and was on the brink of purchasing some workbooks when I ran across this game at Heppner's Legacy Homeschool Resources store in Elk River, MN.

 

The first version of the game is basically "Go Fish," except the draw pile is the "Root Pile," and you "Go Dig!" Both Greek and Latin roots and their English translations are in the deck. You ask for either the Greek/Latin or the English root word to make your match. Players have a cheat sheet with all the roots listed. Later versions of the game are played like Rummy, combining the Greek/Latin roots to create words. A small lexicon is included for assistance in playing the Rummy version of the game.Scanning the list over and over to find the matching root is good practice for using alphabetical lists and good eye training for children with dyslexia. Memorization happens without a person even noticing!

For now, we're going to forgo the root word workbooks and play games!

Rummy Roots has a web page here: http://rummyrootsgames.com/

Tour De Nature Centers - Houston, MN

While on a camping trip in southern Minnesota, we took the opportunity to stop at Houston Nature Center, home of the International Owl Festival and the World Owl Hall of Fame! Houston Nature Center is also the trail head for the Root River Trail, a 60-mile paved trail connecting the MN cities of Houston, Rushford, Peterson, Whalen, Lanesboro, Fountain, Preston and Harmony.

The nature center features a Natural Playground:

 

Bicycle Sculptures:

And an indoor space with educational exhibits on OWLS...and caterpillars and turtles:

Tour De Nature Centers - Richardson

On our way home from the Cleary Lake camping trip we stopped by Richardson Nature Center. The exterior building design AND the indoor interpretive center space blew us away! If you live in the city with children and you want a nature-filled place to go without driving far, this is your place!

 

From the indoor viewing windows, we checked out the four resident beehives, hummingbirds, bluejays, chickadees, and a wild turkey!

Outside we encountered a goose and her babies, a painted turtle, and a fort-building space!

Again, we are worried about the summer mosquito population, but we just might brave it anyway to bring Mane and a group of her homeschool buddies out for a day of fort-building.

Tour De Nature Centers - Cleary Lake

While technically not a nature/interpretive center, Cleary Lake Regional Park offers plenty of wide open space and nature-centered activities for nature-seekers like ourselves! The building features a "snack shop," fireplace, and indoor/outdoor seating.

We camped at one of the "hike-in" campsites in the Basswood Campground over Memorial weekend. There were carts for hauling stuff to the campsite. (Alas, if only we could have snagged one of those on this busiest of all busy camping weekends, though none of the sites were so far from the parking space that hauling everything was overly burdensome.)

The campground does not have showers, but it does have clean pit toilet buildings (solid wood structure, cement floors  - not standard outhouses), and the main visitor center and beach building both have flush toilets and sinks with running water.

We enjoyed a trip around the two islands in Cleary Lake on a paddle boat. The park rents out paddle boats, canoes and kayaks. (And there's a group camp site on one of the islands!)

The beach was a busy place during the daytime, but the chilly mornings & evenings found it still and  quiet:

Cleary Lake also offers a Pavilion rental space for events. They were setting up for a wedding inside. Otherwise, I might have taken more photos! The round fireplace in the center of the building, along with the vaulted ceiling and windows overlooking the lake make the building both seem cozy and expansive...

A view from the campground peninsula of the beach & rental building across the lake:

We are a little worried that the mosquitoes might be bad here in the summer. There are lots of little marshy areas and ponds. But it was a lovely place for a spring camping trip - less than 40 minutes from home and tucked back in the trees!

Summer Fun 2014

It's that time of year again! There are so many things to do in our beautiful city over the summer and so many of them are FREE! I need a place to keep track of them all, and a blog post seemed like the natural place to write it all down and SHARE it, too!!

Minneapolis Music and Movies in the Park:
There are free concerts and movies in the park EVERY night in Minneapolis all summer. The inflatable mobile movie screen makes an appearance at a different park each night. Bring your picnic blankets and/or lawn chairs, snacks, drinks, and bug repellent! We tend to go early to appreciate the playgrounds, pools, splash pads or large fields for flying kites! Lots of kids come in pajamas with their pillows for an easy transition to bed once the movie is over.

Nine Nights of Music:
Tuesdays, July 1st-August 26th. Dance instruction by the Tapestry Folkdance Center begins at 6:30pm. Concerts are from 7-8:30pm. Each night features a different culture and style of music.

Ordway's Summer Dance Series:
Offers free dance lessons and live music at Rice Park in St. Paul on Thursdays June 19th-July 24th. Lessons at 6pm, Music at 7:15pm.

Cromulent Shakespeare Company:
Presents free performances of The Comedy of Errors in various parks around Minneapolis and St. Paul throughout the month of June.

Minnesota Orchestra:
Presenting Symphony for the Cities June 30th in Hudson, WI and July 1st in Plymouth, MN. These are free evening outdoor concerts! 

The Medalist Concert Band:
A group of 70 volunteer musicians from around the Twin Cities offer free concerts at various locations in June and July (including Como Pavilion, Lake Harriet Bandshell, and Centennial Lakes Amphitheater). We have a friend playing in this one! 

MN State Fair Non Fair Events Calendar:
Check out the Non Fair Events Calendar and find horse shows, pet a palooza, car shows, book sales, jewelry shows, train shows, beer events, etc, etc, etc... all year round.  (Note: some of these events are NOT free.)

Como Park Groovin' In the Gardens:
A free outdoor concert series at Como Park Zoo & Conservatory every Wednesday June 18th-August 6th 6-8pm. Entertainment includes, not just music, but a climbing wall, bounce house & lawn games!

Three Rivers Park District:
Visit a nature center! The Three Rivers Park District nature centers are phenomenal! Offering both indoor and outdoor exploration, for any kind of weather, these are some of our favorite places to get out of the city hubbub.

MN State Parks:
Check out the MN State Parks calendar of summer events! Most of the events are free, and there are a variety of parks within reasonable driving distance of the Twin Cities.

Benefits of homeschooling...

School in bed! Mane organized her history binder while listening to her history book on audio...in bed!

Notice all the handy items scattered about: water bottle, lamp, speakers, notebooks, colored pencils, hole puncher, books, teddy bear...

Power of Play

I recently finished reading Free to Learn by Peter Gray. The book's subtitle says it all: "Why Unleashing the Instinct to Play Will Make Our Children Happier, More Self-Reliant, and Better Students for Life." The book has a very unschool-y bent, as it features the democratic school of Sudbury Valley. I don't "buy in" to unschooling, as it has been presented to me, though I've had a couple of other people state that they view us as unschooling. I don't see it that way, since we use curriculum, and I have certain expectations for covering material each week. On the other hand, I work for Mane's "buy-in" with the curriculum. I try something else if the thing we're doing is making her hate the subject matter.

But I do "buy in" to the power of play. Mane has clearly had artistic potential from a very young age. I've signed her up for art classes from time to time, and she's enjoyed them. BUT, she hasn't taken time with her artwork. She hasn't focused on creating a finished product that is truly the best she can do. She simply hasn't been interested. She wants to have fun and didn't see a lot of point in doing a great deal of work to turn out a masterpiece. Until Recently. Recently, she and her friends have developed a fantasy play game that they play regularly when they get together, and they needed a "blueprint" for a bronze dragon. Mane spent the better part of a day drawing a dragon blueprint, using the book cover of one of the Percy Jackson books and several images off the internet. I was totally impressed by what she turned out. I honestly didn't know she had THAT kind of potential. Once it fell into the category of fun, she far exceeded what I even thought was possible. I've also been seeing her read...and read...and read because she wants fodder for the same play mentioned in the above paragraph. Play is fueling her "work."