A great little autumn unit study...plus many other great pages worth checking out
Strangers & Pilgrims on Earth blog
Showing posts with label Unit Studies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Unit Studies. Show all posts
Thursday, September 20, 2012
Monday, July 30, 2012
Mapping out the Middle Ages
We will begin the next season of schooling here the end of this week, with a jaunt thru the Middle Ages. We have an interest here with knights, castles, Robin Hood and King Arthur's legends so I'm planning out the next year to focus on this time frame.
I am totally not above exploiting a current interest for the sake of schooling!
So, for the past few weeks I have been browsing websites and book lists, printing reams of pages for lengthy lapbook and notebook selections, organizing our necessary readers here at home, downloading free resources to iBooks and our Kindle app, and browsing used books for deals on good books to use this next season. I have been to AmblesideOnline, Tanglewood Curriculum We will utilize the idea of notebooking and lapbooking for the majority of our work this year. With a topic like Medieval Times, we probably won't stick to conventional lapbooking though, and will put together a mutated version combining the best of both styles. I am looking at inexpensive artist sketch books for our notebook foundation. If I can't find them on the cheap, we will probably just go with bulk cardstock or cover stock paper and 3-hole them into binders.
I have now re-organized our main school shelves to accommodate our resources, loaded several large binders with print-outs ready for use, set up the work boxes to organize the daily work, and I am hoping to find goodies to decorate our bulletin board as well.
So...what are our plans? Varied, of course, with my range of ages from 6yo up to 14yo. My main helper day to day will be my right hand, 17yo daughter. Here's our general layout...
Bible
Calvary Children's Ministry lessons, 1-2 lessons/week, keeping the subject together
Understanding Charlotte a CM blog has some reading plans already laid out as well We will probably pick up with these and notebook/illustrate each reading for our notebooks
Amblesideonline's Hymn Study, 1/week
Little Folded Hands, Prayers for Children for memory work and skills
Math/Grammar
Our core in these areas has been Rod and Staff texts for the past handful of years, and we're not making any changes there. I do go back and forth using Ray's Arithmetic and the original 1836 version of McGuffey Readers for supplement and quiz work though. Dollar Homeschool has a good price for the entire eclectic education series' (Rays, McGuffey, Harvey's, Thalheimer's and Norton's) all contained in CD form.
We always find bits and pieces online to pad out our lessons and supply extra work or just fun work, such as here
In addition to this, we have spelling daily, and the middles do a lesson in Apples daily.
We will be reading thru Poems Every Child Should Know, 1/week plus illustrating it for our notebooks. This will work into copywork as well.
History
This will be our spine this year, our main reading to lead our Middle Ages study and lapbooking season. Our core texts will be An Island Story, 2 chapters/week on Mondays and Wednesdays, A Child's History of England, 1 chapter/week on Tuesdays, and Story of the World v2, 1 chapter/week on Thursdays.
Our lapbook and notebooking resources have come from all over the Internet. Great sites like HomeschoolShare and Dynamic2Moms filled my lapbook binder, I've been bookmarking all manner of Medieval Times websites, information on castles, knights, and more. I'm sure we won't use all of them, but I'm all about the over-kill :-)
Geography
We'll do as we usually do and map our the locations and such thru our reading. With a spine taking us thru The British Empire of old as they really grew their roots, we will have plenty to do. Our study starts with the Vikings so we will hit the gate running with plenty of adventures in mapping.
Science/Nature Study
This has since changed in the plans. We really enjoyed using God's Marvelous Works (Rod & Staff) last year, so we are going ahead with God's Marvelous Works book 2 this year. There are 4 units for the year, covering 30 lessons. We will study thru Algae and Fungi, Mammals, Sponges, Mollusks, Sea Worms and Jellies, and Amphibians. We will take 1 week to study each lesson, making notebook.lapbook pages and so forth. The unit of Mammals will most likely pad us out an extra 6-8 weeks to complete the entire year.
We will continue along with reading lessons using AlphaPhonics, Word Mastery and 100 Easy Lessons. Here are the great worksheets for the lessons in 100 Easy Lessons, from Donna Young (also a great site for just about every single thing you can think of for planning and organizing your school year!)
We will work on handicrafts and other projects that tie into our time frame, such as stained glass 'windows' and maybe a chain mail project.
And now, the book list. It's definitely not all-inclusive, but I have browsed around, and these suit our interests nicely. I am using as many free, online or downloadable texts as I can find, but we will purchase a few books (used) to add to our library here. For our own library, I try to locate inexpensive hardcover volumes to keep.
Henty has a great assortment for us, including:
In Freedom's Cause
Winning His Spurs
St. George for England
A Knight of the White Cross
The Dragon and the Raven
The Boy Knight
At Agincourt
Wulf the Saxon
Ivanhoe, Walter Scott
H.E. Marshall books free online, Baldwin Project has so many good titles to read online
The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood, Howard Pyle
Otto of the Silver Hand, Howard Pyle
Stories of King Arthur's Knights as Told to the Children, Mary MacGregor
King Arthur and His Knights, Maude L. Radford
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, Mark Twain
Viking Tales, Jennie Hall
Viking Adventures, Clyde Robert Bulla
The Legends of King Arthur and His Knights, Sir James Knowles
Legends of the Middle Ages, Hèlène Adeline Guerber
Sir George and the Dragon
Harald and the Stag
Miss Frizzle's Medieval Adventures
Castle, Robert Macaulay
Robin Hood
Knights of the Round Table
The Usborne Book of Castles
The Door in the Wall
The Kitchen Knight
50 Hands-on Activities for Knights and Castles
Days of Knights and Damsels activity guide
In the Days of William the Conqueror
When Knights were Bold
King Arthur and His Knights
The Knights of the Silver Shield
Other Resources we may utilize:
Storm The Castle has a great list of projects we will definitely be putting into the works here during the year! There are catapults, shields and masks, swords if you're interested, diorama projects and so much more. Thank you Eddie for the heads-up in the comments! We would have missed this great addition! edited addition 8/3
History.com site for The Middle Ages
A Book in Time, Middle Ages
A Book in Time, World History reading list
Chronicles of The Earth blog Story of the World and lapbook resources Story of the World V2 Resources
Busy Bee Kids Crafts
Middle Ages Games and Activities
Mr Donn's Middle Ages links
Webtech Middle Ages
Sacred Heart of Jesus Academy has a nice collection of book ideas for Middle Ages
Learning Adventures Curriculum, Collection of info pages
Kickbutt Crazy Lapbooks page for Medieval Times
Mattman's Arthurian Resources
Paula's Archives Literature to Supplement History
History for Kids, Middle Ages Projects
AtoZ Kids Stuff pages
Castle craft project, younger levels
Britain Express Medieval History
England in the Middle Ages
The Middle Ages, Chivalry, and Knighthood
Classical Homeschooling's History on the Internet list
Viking Network Ireland, The Vikings
a great school page on The Middle Ages
Lady of Shallot poem, Alfred Lord Tennyson
King Arthur and the Knights of The Round Table information
Interactives The Middle Ages
Travel to The Days of Old These pages are from Beacon Learning, there are a lot of lessons to glean from here
FunSchooling Unit Study Archives, Kings, Queens, and Castles
Listmania! list of Kid's Books for Middle Ages and all ages books on Middle Ages
On another note, just for great reading, Classic Reader Online has a lot of good reading in various genres free, online. There is also FullBooks.com, but I haven't checked that one out much yet.
Many titles are available free online thru resources like Project Gutenburg, Baldwin Project, archive.org, and other free text sites, with some available as audio reads as well. Where I could, we utilized these free resources and downloaded them for reading via iBooks or Kindle. Definitely don't go by just my suggestions here for book locations...Google them for yourself and find the source that suits your own needs best.
Ambitious, I know. We will never read everything, but with so many great titles available free online, how could I refuse to load them up just in case we need more free reading fun? I love having too many options than coming up short. There are far more titles and resources available out there than I've listed here. So many great bloggers have been thru the Middle Ages and have lots of notes, ideas, and projects to share. If anyone finds any blog notes out there, please do share here in the comments!
- Blessings from Abundant Blessings Homestead!
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Blog tidy and new unit notes
Obviously our Little House on the Prairie roll has slowed down here. We aren't counting it as gone and done yet, but it has slowed considerably as we drifted onto the Civil War trails. And we intend to get back on track, but we are still running with some Civil War era reading.
I am gathering some extra resources and units to blend into the HomeschoolSwag CM Summer unit above. No, we probably won't just go the as-is 6 weeks schedule, but you probably knew that, right? We will definitely do the whole map/geography skills and mini country lessons with Around the World in 80 Days, of course. We could really dig deep with such a collection of locations routed in the book: London, France, Egypt, India, Singapore, China, Japan, Hong Kong, San Francisco, New York and Ireland. Each with its own rich history, culture, landmarks and more. The potential for handcrafts and other hands-on propjects, not to mention the culture-rich food studies...the possibilities are quite lengthy, fun and potentially delicious!
We will look into various connecting threads with Little Women and do some projects or crafts (might even go ahead and add Little Men to our reading. Did you know Netflix has brought back the entire Little Men TV series? Definitely a fun watch and I'm so glad to see it back!)
These resource lists can go on and on and on...mountains and islands are one thing, there's the whole survivalist theme that forms the foundation of both stories and that opens an entirely new bunny trail of possibilities for lesson plans. And the nature studies to be had...OH MY! One could easily go into a 2 year science run with just these two books...add in Robinson Crusoe and we're talking 3 years of some very interesting science lessons, nature studies of plants and animals, survival/wilderness skills, potential field trips and outings...not to mention you get to read some totally awesome books with your children.
What a bonus!
American History Links, Ambleside Online about half way down the page you'll find plenty of Civil War, Abraham Lincoln, U.S. Grant, and more. Nice unit here as well.
If you are looking for some good titles and need to place an order, definitely visit Amy Puetz for some Civil War resources.
Also plenty of free online sources here at Old Fashioned Education We have a well-loaded iPad and Kindle with reading to enjoy!
On our trail ride thru the Civil War, we branched off recently and found a quick summer reading unit from HomeschoolSwag, using Little Women (audio here), Swiss Family Robinson (audio here) and Around the World in 80 Days (audio here).In fact, if you are on a Charlotte Mason plan with your schooling (or even if you aren't), there are some great planners and prayer page downloads at HomeschoolSwag's network of pages you'll enjoy so go check them out!
I am gathering some extra resources and units to blend into the HomeschoolSwag CM Summer unit above. No, we probably won't just go the as-is 6 weeks schedule, but you probably knew that, right? We will definitely do the whole map/geography skills and mini country lessons with Around the World in 80 Days, of course. We could really dig deep with such a collection of locations routed in the book: London, France, Egypt, India, Singapore, China, Japan, Hong Kong, San Francisco, New York and Ireland. Each with its own rich history, culture, landmarks and more. The potential for handcrafts and other hands-on propjects, not to mention the culture-rich food studies...the possibilities are quite lengthy, fun and potentially delicious!
An obvious favorite resource here is The Trail Guide series. GeoMatters has a great selection of unit studies and curriculums for geography, and for what it might be worth, I highly recommend them!...Lesson Tutor has some chapter reviews/quiz pages (for several books and authors)...Links to All Things Free for Homeschoolers has a great collection of links, including these for geography and cultures...JoyfulPamela has a nice Squidoo Lens...Homeschool in The Woods geography links...SCORE pages on Around The World in 80 Days...World geography links by chapter and country...Homeschooling Ideas has several great pages, including a page of geography links and Around the World in 80 Days ideas
We will look into various connecting threads with Little Women and do some projects or crafts (might even go ahead and add Little Men to our reading. Did you know Netflix has brought back the entire Little Men TV series? Definitely a fun watch and I'm so glad to see it back!)
Little Women study from GradeSaver...Little Women vocab lists, puzzles, and more from EdHelper...Various free and paid resources from Lesson Index (The Marching into Civil War Times is neat)...online flashcard vocab listing...Links and ideas from Web English Teacher.I know we can find many great trails to branch off with reading the Swiss Family Robinson. In fact, we might save Swiss Family and work it together with our My Side of The Mountain reading we plan to do. The nature/animal studies alone in those two stories could easily fill an entire school term science run.
EasyFunSchool lesson plan for Swiss Family Robinson...LessonPlanet suggestions (maybe my olders should read Robinson Crusoe...they liked the TV series Crusoe, and you have the Pierce Brosnan movie...see how I bunny trail so easily?)...I love the links shared in this Squidoo Lens...For My Side of the Mountain we have these: Scholastic Teachers page discussion questions...Scholastic Book File, a 61 page PDF...University of Missouri eThemes page...Kid's Wings Activities page paid unit (a bit loud with the music and roaring, LOL, so check your volume)...Teacher Planet generic mountain pages...a Go Teach It 114 pg Paid PDF unit...Lesson Corner mountain worksheets...
These resource lists can go on and on and on...mountains and islands are one thing, there's the whole survivalist theme that forms the foundation of both stories and that opens an entirely new bunny trail of possibilities for lesson plans. And the nature studies to be had...OH MY! One could easily go into a 2 year science run with just these two books...add in Robinson Crusoe and we're talking 3 years of some very interesting science lessons, nature studies of plants and animals, survival/wilderness skills, potential field trips and outings...not to mention you get to read some totally awesome books with your children.
What a bonus!
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Have I mentioned needing some accountability in my life?
We are so close to "finishing" school for the season, even though I don't school to a calender really. We school year-round here, changing grade levels as the time comes, in various subjects.
However, calender schooling or not, I can always use accountability to keep me spurred along. As I mentioned, we now have Prepare and Pray and Blessed Assurance to start delving into, and by the week's end we will have Paths of Exploration, the first of the Learning Adventures series, as well as Light for The Trail Bible study. I hopped onto Amazon and found hardcover unabridged copies of The Swiss Family Robinson, Robinson Crusoe, The Sign of The Beaver...and added in the Nourishing Traditions and the Traditional Foods cookbooks for good measure. Can't always fit things into the budget, but when I can without stress and strain, it's time to go for it.
So, I've looked over Prepare and Pray/Blessed Assurance....and I'm leaning toward starting backwards. yeah, don't I always go against the flow? We are wanting a bit of a lighter reading as we get our feet wet this summer. The Sign of The Beaver, moving off into Robinson Crusoe, sounds like something more doable at this point. Then we can shift gears again and go for The Swiss Family Robinson. Am I wrong in thinking that way? Should I just buckle up and go along with the designed flow?
Then again...I do have the Paths coming....maybe we should just start there.
LOL...I'm nothing but indecision. I think too much for everyone's good I believe.
The general days will play out like this...
Rod & Staff math lessons, flashcards, review sheets, etc.
Rod & Staff English lessons, Working with Words
Our Bible will flow mainly from the lessons of the unit studies...there are memorization passages, Scriptural notes, character traits, and with Paths, we have Light for the Trail.
There are all manner of trails to follow on both unit studies...
under Science you have animal studies, clouds, weather patterns, levers and simple machines, outdoor activities (building shelters, rafts, camp items, etc)
and History is covered, obviously...
The olders have the CLE Home Ec series to finish through as well...
That gives us a rounded program I believe. I can easily work the youngers in with alternate stories and coloring pages, and we like reading aloud, and narration times. I think we can easily work the olders in, focusing more along the history sides and science trails with a bit more indepth work on their part. I don't believe for one minute that being written for "grade such and such thru such and such" locks me in in any way, shape or form. Adjustments are always there if you want them. I have ages 3 1/2 on up to 17...I always make adjustments to include everyone in as many areas as I can. I have to. There's only one of me and 8 of them. I'm out-numbered!
So...what do you think? On top of all this, I have a 17 yo not the least interested in finishing her assigned graduate work, and a 14 year old determined to graduate by years' end. Always something tossing rocks in my road I guess.
However, calender schooling or not, I can always use accountability to keep me spurred along. As I mentioned, we now have Prepare and Pray and Blessed Assurance to start delving into, and by the week's end we will have Paths of Exploration, the first of the Learning Adventures series, as well as Light for The Trail Bible study. I hopped onto Amazon and found hardcover unabridged copies of The Swiss Family Robinson, Robinson Crusoe, The Sign of The Beaver...and added in the Nourishing Traditions and the Traditional Foods cookbooks for good measure. Can't always fit things into the budget, but when I can without stress and strain, it's time to go for it.
So, I've looked over Prepare and Pray/Blessed Assurance....and I'm leaning toward starting backwards. yeah, don't I always go against the flow? We are wanting a bit of a lighter reading as we get our feet wet this summer. The Sign of The Beaver, moving off into Robinson Crusoe, sounds like something more doable at this point. Then we can shift gears again and go for The Swiss Family Robinson. Am I wrong in thinking that way? Should I just buckle up and go along with the designed flow?
Then again...I do have the Paths coming....maybe we should just start there.
LOL...I'm nothing but indecision. I think too much for everyone's good I believe.
The general days will play out like this...
Rod & Staff math lessons, flashcards, review sheets, etc.
Rod & Staff English lessons, Working with Words
Our Bible will flow mainly from the lessons of the unit studies...there are memorization passages, Scriptural notes, character traits, and with Paths, we have Light for the Trail.
There are all manner of trails to follow on both unit studies...
under Science you have animal studies, clouds, weather patterns, levers and simple machines, outdoor activities (building shelters, rafts, camp items, etc)
and History is covered, obviously...
The olders have the CLE Home Ec series to finish through as well...
That gives us a rounded program I believe. I can easily work the youngers in with alternate stories and coloring pages, and we like reading aloud, and narration times. I think we can easily work the olders in, focusing more along the history sides and science trails with a bit more indepth work on their part. I don't believe for one minute that being written for "grade such and such thru such and such" locks me in in any way, shape or form. Adjustments are always there if you want them. I have ages 3 1/2 on up to 17...I always make adjustments to include everyone in as many areas as I can. I have to. There's only one of me and 8 of them. I'm out-numbered!
So...what do you think? On top of all this, I have a 17 yo not the least interested in finishing her assigned graduate work, and a 14 year old determined to graduate by years' end. Always something tossing rocks in my road I guess.
Paths of Exploration unit...
I broke down and ordered it. I've wanted it for some time now. We have really enjoyed GeoMatters' Trail Guide to US Geography, and wanted more like it.
I'm becoming a unit study junkie, I think.
We ordered the complete unit, text and all resources. I needed another copy of The Handbook of Nature Study as ours is pretty much nothing but duct tape and prayer binding at this point. Wonder if I can get it spiral bound? It's rather thick...probably not. And I really wanted most of the resources they use for our own shelves. I like reading for fun sorts of books, but I want a library built on resources and references, with fun fictional reading added as a secondary focus, not as our primary focus.
So, between Pray and Prepare, Blessed Assurance and Paths to Exploration I think we have another year covered pretty well. Math continues along, as does core English work (spelling work, parts of speech, etc) and areas of bunny trailing as usual.
Maybe I can stick to it for a while...?
I'm becoming a unit study junkie, I think.
We ordered the complete unit, text and all resources. I needed another copy of The Handbook of Nature Study as ours is pretty much nothing but duct tape and prayer binding at this point. Wonder if I can get it spiral bound? It's rather thick...probably not. And I really wanted most of the resources they use for our own shelves. I like reading for fun sorts of books, but I want a library built on resources and references, with fun fictional reading added as a secondary focus, not as our primary focus.
So, between Pray and Prepare, Blessed Assurance and Paths to Exploration I think we have another year covered pretty well. Math continues along, as does core English work (spelling work, parts of speech, etc) and areas of bunny trailing as usual.
Maybe I can stick to it for a while...?
Monday, April 5, 2010
History, Science and Unit Studies...
If you know anything about me from the regular blog, then you already know, I'm eclectic...to put it loosely. Really loosely. (LOL...that just doesn't seem grammatically correct there, but you get the idea...)
I am settled, happily, with Math and Grammar, spelling, Bible, and so forth. We are using Rod & Staff and it's working really well for us. I know some folks don't like it, but that's what "homeschooling" is all about, right -- the choices are in the thousands for style and materials. My 'home' isn't your 'home' in the schooling realm anymore than it is in the decorating realm, the meal planning realm and so on. Ahhh, the colors of life :o)
Go figure...I digress...
While my core there might be settled and content, the various off-shoots to complete a rounded sort of education are most certainly not. This is where the eclectic comes into play. I'm all over the place with science and history topics here. It isn't that they aren't important to our schooling really, but more like they just seem to drag us down. It's all in the method, I know. My method just isn't interesting I guess. We really are a rather boring family here, just mundane daily stuff. We hit on a gold strike every so often, but by and large, we are just plain vanilla folks here. The schooling tends to be the same way, at least with science and history.
But, that really does have to change. And it should at some point before ALL of them leave the school of the dining room table, don't you think?
Take History, for example. Where do you begin? If I flow with the interest level here, we will certainly miss a lot of history. This family lives in the 1860's. Always has. We don't mind a good mummy now and then, maybe a pyramid or something, and even a Torrey thrown in for good measure. But something as long and extended as several weeks of them? No, but thank you for asking. It's just not our cup of tea. Give us the Civil War/War Between the States, we're there. Give us the Westward Expansion, we're johnny pioneer ready with the wagon train. Hey, toss in a Little House on The Prairie or even one of the old Bonanza episodes and we're yours, 100% attention included. We're Gene Autry, Roy Rogers and Trigger, The Lone Ranger and Tonto, The Gold Rush, The Donner Party, The Pony Express. We don't even mind venturing a bit farther back and picking up a pilgrim, those lost folks at Roanoke, or even Daniel Boone. Bring em' along! It'll be a hoot-nanny of grand proportions :o)
But to stick with pyramids, Pharaohs, ancient Mesopotamia for more than a week at best, I don't know. We like our prairie land. Deserts just aren't our dessert tray.
But look at all the HISTORY we miss that way! We miss Cleopatra. We miss the intricacies of King Tut and that awesome tomb. We miss mummies and cats...and the Cat of Bubastes! We miss dinosaurs. We miss huge bugs and various ecosystems I know these guys would find an interest in. I may not be a desert person myself, but when you start talking weird bugs of the desert, my brood would be all over it and wanting to cover the yard in sand to build their own biodome on the homestead.
Maybe not for 6 weeks or so, but still.
History connects. And Science does too. They interlock with each other. You can sort of force a connection with grammar, spelling and math, but really, history and science just snap together very easily, truly effortlessly. Even for me, who isn't totally in love with the pair as a whole. And by skipping through the part of history we really really love, we are missing out on a lot of science and creating rather large gaps in our learning.
I'm looking at unit studies to help with these areas. I love the idea of unit studies, and am beginning to grow some really nice appendages there for the concept of notebooking and lapbooking in terms of putting some FUN into history and science studies. We already enjoy using some of the 'units' or challenges over at Handbook of Nature Study blog. That is by and large one of THE BEST books I've ever bought. I can't imagine anyone schooling, or just being outside, without a copy. We like to choose from the resources and ideas of a more Charlotte Mason-style method, using Ambleside Online for nature studies, as well as other areas. And I've been really looking over my resources here for a full history plan, incorporating some science as it comes along (no, we probably won't be mummifying anything other than maybe the stray doll...). In the resource department, I have alot here really. Even a stash of worksheets and information bites perfect for lapbooking. And I do think we could find plenty of enjoyment with it all. Ancient stuff, that is. I like antiques ;o)
When I look around at scheduling ideas for history, I pretty much find the same thing...a rotation of 4 to 6 years, building one upon the other.
Notice the point?? Durn history starts at the ancients...we have to study them. We don't get a full view of the world without them And I have several texts here...including the first volume of Mystery of History, sad to say we've never really put it to good use. We've read it, just never really taken it to any hands-on level. I'm a curriculum junkie. I like the security of having books available...I just don't use them as well as they should be used. Their full potential is just lost here most the time.
What resources do you have for units on History and Science? How do you use them in your day to day schooling? What is your science plan? Where is your history going? I need some help here! :o) Share!!!
I am settled, happily, with Math and Grammar, spelling, Bible, and so forth. We are using Rod & Staff and it's working really well for us. I know some folks don't like it, but that's what "homeschooling" is all about, right -- the choices are in the thousands for style and materials. My 'home' isn't your 'home' in the schooling realm anymore than it is in the decorating realm, the meal planning realm and so on. Ahhh, the colors of life :o)
Go figure...I digress...
While my core there might be settled and content, the various off-shoots to complete a rounded sort of education are most certainly not. This is where the eclectic comes into play. I'm all over the place with science and history topics here. It isn't that they aren't important to our schooling really, but more like they just seem to drag us down. It's all in the method, I know. My method just isn't interesting I guess. We really are a rather boring family here, just mundane daily stuff. We hit on a gold strike every so often, but by and large, we are just plain vanilla folks here. The schooling tends to be the same way, at least with science and history.
But, that really does have to change. And it should at some point before ALL of them leave the school of the dining room table, don't you think?
Take History, for example. Where do you begin? If I flow with the interest level here, we will certainly miss a lot of history. This family lives in the 1860's. Always has. We don't mind a good mummy now and then, maybe a pyramid or something, and even a Torrey thrown in for good measure. But something as long and extended as several weeks of them? No, but thank you for asking. It's just not our cup of tea. Give us the Civil War/War Between the States, we're there. Give us the Westward Expansion, we're johnny pioneer ready with the wagon train. Hey, toss in a Little House on The Prairie or even one of the old Bonanza episodes and we're yours, 100% attention included. We're Gene Autry, Roy Rogers and Trigger, The Lone Ranger and Tonto, The Gold Rush, The Donner Party, The Pony Express. We don't even mind venturing a bit farther back and picking up a pilgrim, those lost folks at Roanoke, or even Daniel Boone. Bring em' along! It'll be a hoot-nanny of grand proportions :o)
But to stick with pyramids, Pharaohs, ancient Mesopotamia for more than a week at best, I don't know. We like our prairie land. Deserts just aren't our dessert tray.
But look at all the HISTORY we miss that way! We miss Cleopatra. We miss the intricacies of King Tut and that awesome tomb. We miss mummies and cats...and the Cat of Bubastes! We miss dinosaurs. We miss huge bugs and various ecosystems I know these guys would find an interest in. I may not be a desert person myself, but when you start talking weird bugs of the desert, my brood would be all over it and wanting to cover the yard in sand to build their own biodome on the homestead.
Maybe not for 6 weeks or so, but still.
History connects. And Science does too. They interlock with each other. You can sort of force a connection with grammar, spelling and math, but really, history and science just snap together very easily, truly effortlessly. Even for me, who isn't totally in love with the pair as a whole. And by skipping through the part of history we really really love, we are missing out on a lot of science and creating rather large gaps in our learning.
I'm looking at unit studies to help with these areas. I love the idea of unit studies, and am beginning to grow some really nice appendages there for the concept of notebooking and lapbooking in terms of putting some FUN into history and science studies. We already enjoy using some of the 'units' or challenges over at Handbook of Nature Study blog. That is by and large one of THE BEST books I've ever bought. I can't imagine anyone schooling, or just being outside, without a copy. We like to choose from the resources and ideas of a more Charlotte Mason-style method, using Ambleside Online for nature studies, as well as other areas. And I've been really looking over my resources here for a full history plan, incorporating some science as it comes along (no, we probably won't be mummifying anything other than maybe the stray doll...). In the resource department, I have alot here really. Even a stash of worksheets and information bites perfect for lapbooking. And I do think we could find plenty of enjoyment with it all. Ancient stuff, that is. I like antiques ;o)
When I look around at scheduling ideas for history, I pretty much find the same thing...a rotation of 4 to 6 years, building one upon the other.
Ambleside/Charlotte Mason:And you HAVE to check our Oklahoma Homeschool site...great ideas and resources to get me off and running. We will be using their suggestions alot.
Year 1 -- early history, focusing on people rather than events
Year 2 -- 1000 AD - Middle Ages
Year 3 -- 1400 - 1600 (Renaissance to Reformation)
Year 4 -- 1700's up to the French Revolution and American Revolution
Year 5 -- 1800 to 1920 up to WWI
Year 6 -- end of WWI to present day, then a term in ancient history
Year 7 -- 800-1400's Middle Ages (Alfred, King Arthur, Joan of Arc)
Year 8 -- 1400-1600's (Reniassance to Reformation)
Year 9 -- 1688-1815 including French and American revolutions
Year 10 -- 1815-1901 including the American Civil War
Year 11 -- 20th Century
Year 12 -- ancient history
History/Geography-Year 1
Ancient World History: Creation, Ancient Middle East, Ancient China, Mayas, Incas
(9 wks)
Ancient World History: Egypt (9 wks)
US History: Early Settlements, Pilgrims (9 wks)
US History: Colonial Days (9 wks)
Beginning Mapping Skills & Current Events
History/Geography-Year 2
Ancient World History: Greece (9 wks)
Ancient World History: Rome (9 wks)
US History: American Revolution (9 wks)
US Government: Presidents, Government, Elections (9 wks)
Mapping Skills & Current Events
History/Geography-Year 3
World History: Middle Ages (12 wks)
World History: Renaissance, Reformation (12 wks)
US & World History: Explorers (12 wks)
Mapping Skills & Current Events
History/Geography-Year 4
World History: 1700-1800 (6 wks)
US History: Westward Expansion & Frontier (6 wks)
Oklahoma History (18 wks)
US Geography (6 wks)
Mapping Skills & Current Events
History/GeographyYear 5
World History: 1800 - 1900 (6 wks)
World Geography—Eastern Hemisphere (6 wks)
US History: Civil War & Reconstruction (12 wks)
US & World History - Industrial Revolution, Prohibition, Labor Unions (12 wks)
Mapping Skills & Current Events
History/Geography-Year 6
US & World History - World War I (3 wks)
US & World History - Stock Market Crash, World War II, Depression, New Deal (6 wks)
US & World History - Korean War, Cold War, Civil Rights, 1950-1960’s (3 wks)
US & World History - Vietnam War, 1960-1970’s (3 wks)
US & World History - Space Race, 1970’s-1980’s (3 wks)
US & World History - Middle East Conflict, 1990's - current (6 wks)
World Geography—Western Hemisphere (6 wks)
Mapping Skills & Current Events
Notice the point?? Durn history starts at the ancients...we have to study them. We don't get a full view of the world without them And I have several texts here...including the first volume of Mystery of History, sad to say we've never really put it to good use. We've read it, just never really taken it to any hands-on level. I'm a curriculum junkie. I like the security of having books available...I just don't use them as well as they should be used. Their full potential is just lost here most the time.
What resources do you have for units on History and Science? How do you use them in your day to day schooling? What is your science plan? Where is your history going? I need some help here! :o) Share!!!
Friday, April 2, 2010
Pondering Unit Studies...
I'm looking at Prepare and Pray, using the novel Swiss Family Robinson, which is a favorite of ours for reading aloud. This blogger has a good collection of links and ideas for this novel as well.
I'm also looking at a site called Learning Adventures. They seem to have a great deal available for some really good looking unit studies. The blog I shared above has several really good links and pages for various studies/units.
Anyone have any hands-on experience with either of these unit study curriculum? A dear online sister is sending me her copy of Prepare and Pray to check out...I'll let you know what it looks like soon. But I'm wondering, with our fondness for reading books here, aloud or alone, perhaps we could get a bit more out of another study similar in design to the Prairie Primer. It would certainly cover our history and science, which is where we always find gaping holes.
Here are some of the things I found so far for Swiss Family Robinson...
Homeschool Helper pages
The book itself, Swiss Family Robinson (here's the Plain text...)
I'm also looking at a site called Learning Adventures. They seem to have a great deal available for some really good looking unit studies. The blog I shared above has several really good links and pages for various studies/units.
Anyone have any hands-on experience with either of these unit study curriculum? A dear online sister is sending me her copy of Prepare and Pray to check out...I'll let you know what it looks like soon. But I'm wondering, with our fondness for reading books here, aloud or alone, perhaps we could get a bit more out of another study similar in design to the Prairie Primer. It would certainly cover our history and science, which is where we always find gaping holes.
Here are some of the things I found so far for Swiss Family Robinson...
Homeschool Helper pages
The book itself, Swiss Family Robinson (here's the Plain text...)
Monday, February 22, 2010
Using Henty for Unit Studies, Vocabulary, and Character
As any Charlotte Mason follower will tell you, reading good, solid, living books is the best way to instill the good things you want into the hearts and minds of your children. Reading trivial fluff, as most "literature" that mills out today could be (perhaps loosely) described, only serves to provide time usage. Reading the living books of generations where honor, character, integrity and morals were highly prized and strongly emphasized, instills so much more into our children, and is hardly a simple usage of time.We just don't have the same understanding of moral character and true values in our society these days. Personal honor ranks rather low as something to cultivate in the general population.
We love Henty if for nothing more than great family read-alouds. Forget the fact you are learning a great deal of actual history in the process, or witnessing those true events through the eyes of characters with a strong moral direction in their lives. They are just plain good, quality reading :o) To have them as free texts online, available to print off and incorporate into our studies and home libraries is just a huge bonus!
We are downloading and saving the texts that are available here onto a falshdrive for ease in reading on the mini netbook, or to print ourselves and bind. Staples, Office Depot, OfficeMax and other similar shops will take your flashdrives or CD ROMS and print them and spiral bind them at a cost. Either way, you will have a great library ready for cozy reading and fun homeschooling.
Here are some notes from the Robinson Curriculum site concerning the Henty stories and some of their homeschool usage:
Using Henty as a Charlotte Mason-style vocabulary resource:
Uusing Henty for unit studies:
There are two types of fiction: hard fiction and soft. Hard fiction takes place in a reality that is as true to science, engineering, and history as possible with drama and characters added to make the story. Henty writes hard historical fiction.
In G. A. Henty's, Cat of Bubastes, topics such as irrigation, deserts, and crocodiles are discussed in the context of the story. This is true of the stories in general so that the student, while reading the books, is given a history lesson, since each story takes place in an actual historical setting, as well as topical studies as characters interact with the environment around them.
Military discussions often take into account the engineering and science involved.
Some notes about Henty reading, courtesy of Timberdoodle:
We love Henty if for nothing more than great family read-alouds. Forget the fact you are learning a great deal of actual history in the process, or witnessing those true events through the eyes of characters with a strong moral direction in their lives. They are just plain good, quality reading :o) To have them as free texts online, available to print off and incorporate into our studies and home libraries is just a huge bonus!
We are downloading and saving the texts that are available here onto a falshdrive for ease in reading on the mini netbook, or to print ourselves and bind. Staples, Office Depot, OfficeMax and other similar shops will take your flashdrives or CD ROMS and print them and spiral bind them at a cost. Either way, you will have a great library ready for cozy reading and fun homeschooling.
Here are some notes from the Robinson Curriculum site concerning the Henty stories and some of their homeschool usage:
Using Henty as a Charlotte Mason-style vocabulary resource:
In addition, the vocabulary and sentence structure of scholars in Henty's time were far superior to those of most writers today. While the reader is enjoying a tale of adventure and learning history, he is also subconsciously learning his writing and reading skills by means of the example set by the writer. It is by emulation of others that these skills are best obtained, and Henty sets a superb example - while strongly holding the student's attention.
Grammar and spelling books cannot compete with the verbal skills that a student acquires from the books and spoken words that attract his greatest interest. While a student may learn to answer test questions appropriately, it is the verbal abilities that he actually adopts and applies to everyday life that will determine his future. It is these skills that G. A. Henty effectively improves.
Wholesome Examples of Integrity and Character:G. A. Henty lived during a time in which honesty, integrity, hard work, courage, diligence, perseverance, personal honor and a strong Christian faith were greatly valued. This was especially true of members of the British armed forces, of which Henty was a part. As a consequence, Henty's heroes are models of these virtues of personal character - and always owe their successes to these characteristics.
The young reader identifies with Henty's heroes while he is vicariously reliving their experiences as he reads. These heroes become, for the duration of the story, his peers and examples - and, children learn, almost entirely, by example.
American and British educators a century ago were as much concerned in building good character in their students as they were in imparting to them academic knowledge. This accounts for the great popularity of Henty's works during that golden period of education.
Grammar and spelling books cannot compete with the verbal skills that a student acquires from the books and spoken words that attract his greatest interest. While a student may learn to answer test questions appropriately, it is the verbal abilities that he actually adopts and applies to everyday life that will determine his future. It is these skills that G. A. Henty effectively improves.
Wholesome Examples of Integrity and Character:G. A. Henty lived during a time in which honesty, integrity, hard work, courage, diligence, perseverance, personal honor and a strong Christian faith were greatly valued. This was especially true of members of the British armed forces, of which Henty was a part. As a consequence, Henty's heroes are models of these virtues of personal character - and always owe their successes to these characteristics.
The young reader identifies with Henty's heroes while he is vicariously reliving their experiences as he reads. These heroes become, for the duration of the story, his peers and examples - and, children learn, almost entirely, by example.
American and British educators a century ago were as much concerned in building good character in their students as they were in imparting to them academic knowledge. This accounts for the great popularity of Henty's works during that golden period of education.
Uusing Henty for unit studies:
There are two types of fiction: hard fiction and soft. Hard fiction takes place in a reality that is as true to science, engineering, and history as possible with drama and characters added to make the story. Henty writes hard historical fiction.
In G. A. Henty's, Cat of Bubastes, topics such as irrigation, deserts, and crocodiles are discussed in the context of the story. This is true of the stories in general so that the student, while reading the books, is given a history lesson, since each story takes place in an actual historical setting, as well as topical studies as characters interact with the environment around them.
Military discussions often take into account the engineering and science involved.
Year | ANCIENT HISTORY | |||
1250 BC | The Cat of Bubastes | |||
220 BC | The Young Carthaginian | |||
A.D 61 | Beric the Briton | |||
A.D.70 | For the Temple | |||
| THE MIDDLE AGES | ||||
| 870 | The Dragon and the Raven | |||
| 1066 | Wulf the Saxon | |||
| 1190 | Winning His Spurs | |||
| 1314 | In Freedom's Cause | |||
| 1340 | St. George for England | |||
| 1380 | The Lion of St. Mark | |||
| 1381 | A March on London | |||
| 1400 | Both Sides of the Border | |||
| 1415 | At Agincourt | |||
| 1480 | A Knight of the White Cross | |||
| REFORMATION AND EXPLORATION | ||||
| 1579 | By Pike and Dyke | |||
| 1580 | St. Bartholomew's Eve | |||
| 1580 | Under Drake's Flag | |||
| 1588 | By England's Aid | |||
| 1595 | By Right of Conquest | |||
| WARS OF RELIGION AND SUCCESSION | ||||
| 1630 | The Lion of the North | |||
| 1640 | Won by the Sword | |||
| 1650 | Friends Though Divided | |||
| 1666 | When London Burned | |||
| 1690 | Orange and Green | |||
| 1695 | A Jacobite Exile | |||
| 1703 | The Cornet of Horse | |||
| 1705 | The Bravest of the Brave | |||
| 1710 | In the Irish Brigade | |||
| 1745 | Bonnie Prince Charlie | |||
| COLONIAL DISRUPTIONS AND COMPETITION | ||||
| 1759 | With Wolfe in Canada | |||
| 1760 | With Frederick the Great | |||
| 1780 | True to the Old Flag | |||
| 1780 | Held Fast for England | |||
| 1786 | With Clive in India | |||
Some notes about Henty reading, courtesy of Timberdoodle:
If you also are looking for history books for your older children, books that will be historically accurate and will stretch their minds, but will not compromise your family's standard of decency, you will be very pleased to learn about the works of G.A. Henty (1832-1902).
Known as "The Boy's Own Historian," his historical epics are profoundly factual stories that highlight some of the greatest people and moments in history. Written to satisfy young men's insatiable hunger for adventure, Henty's stories can be equally riveting for your daughters.
Each story revolves around a fictional boy hero who is diligent, courageous, and intelligent. Where needed, these boys fought wars, sailed seas, prospected for gold, and aided in the overthrow of evil empires. Through Henty's heroes, your child will meet historically strategic leaders and acquire an awareness of the cultures of various European and pagan civilizations.
Each volume of Henty's series is a library-bound hard-cover edition, designed to endure to the next generation. Each book ranges from 200 to 398 pages. Note: in accordance with the period in which they were written, there are a couple of books where an occasional derogatory term is used, or inappropriate dress, or rather lack of it, is illustrated. Preview the books with a bottle of white-out, or train your eldest to search out these problems and eradicate them.
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Some Unit Study Goodies...
Oklahoma Homeschool site has LOTS to offer:
A great set up for The Civil War as well! It looks like a definite addition to the list here.
Enjoy!
- Ancient History Unit Study (in progress)
- Ancient Rome Unit Study w/Timeline (pdf document) and Timeline Pieces (pdf document)
- Archaeology and the Bible Unit Study
- Ben Franklin Unit
- Civil War Unit
- Explorers Unit
- Government Unit Study Ideas
- Immigration Unit
- Oklahoma History Online (Fee Charged)
- Pilgrim / Thanksgiving Unit (based on The Checklist)
- Presidents/Elections Unit
- Revolutionary War Unit (Coming Soon!)
- World War I Unit (based on The Checklist)
A great set up for The Civil War as well! It looks like a definite addition to the list here.
Enjoy!
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