Friday, October 26, 2012

Swallows and Amazons



Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome is our new favorite book.  I started reading it aloud over summer, then we set it aside when Levi was born.  We picked it back up at the start of school and finished last week.

The book is set in the Lake District in England between the World Wars in the late 1920's.  It's a great story of two sibling groups finding high adventure and building friendships while on summer vacation.  The story involves sailing, camping, fishing exploration, and piracy.  There's just something nostalgic about it and the innocence of childhood.   

Our kids loved the story!  So much so, that one day they decided to go on "an adventure".  They packed up all sorts of things and set out "to camp" near grandma's.  Well, apparently Ruben thought he would climb the tree to "tie the string for the tent", but unfortunately he climbed too high and became stuck.  Thankfully, The Farmer wasn't too far away and heard the panicked cries.  He and Angel were able to rescue Ruben after some time, but it wasn't easy.  Ruben's leg was wedged and he was so high up they had a hard time reaching.  They had to use a ladder in the pick-up box.  Wow, we're glad it all turned out and Ruben vowed not to do that again.  It was one of those things where you must remain serious for disciplinary effect, while trying to hide the smile inside remembering a time when you may have done the same thing. ;-)

I should note some of the language in Swallows and Amazons can be a bit tricky.  There was a wealth of sailing and boat terminology.  Also, there are a few differences in language due to the British author/setting.  We occasionally investigated definitions, but overall were able to figure it out from context. I like to challenge the kids with that higher level language and thinking.  It stretches their mind and I've found they are capable. 

Overall, we highly recommend Swallows and Amazons.  Riley said, "It is a very, very good book!"  Ruben said, "It was very good.  I loved it!"  Angel said, "I thought it was a good book, adventurous.  It was enjoyable to listen to."  All the children commented on re-reading the book at some point. 

There are 12 books in the Arthur Ransome series.  Swallows and Amazons is also part of the Year 3 Program at Charlotte Mason Help. 

There is an awesome website here that shows illustrations of the boats and gives particulars for your nautical enthusiasts. 

Monday, October 22, 2012

Nature Portfolio Throughout the Year


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Riley's working on Nature Portfolio Throughout the Year  by Barbara Shukin this year for science.  Nature Portfolio is built on the idea of nature notebooking or journaling.  The portfolio is divided into two sections including 48 student notebook pages covering 60 topics to study and the parent guide.  The topics are broke down by seasons and biomes. For example, for fall, under September, October, and November are..

Yards and Gardens:
grasshoppers & crickets, mice, apples

Woods and Fields:
geese & ducks, wasps, nut trees

Ponds and Streams:
birds of prey, freshwater crustaceans, mosses & ferns

Desert Lands:
snakes, foxes, pines & pine cones

Along the Seashore:
sand crabs, sandpipers, sand worms

The parent guide gives you cut and paste images for the student pages, suggested writing assignments including narration ideas, copy work, and vocabulary, reproducible forms and lined pages for student pages, and a skeleton lesson plan with suggested books and resources to aid your study.

Some recommended resources are The Handbook of Nature Study by Anna Botsford Comstock, Fun with Nature: Take Along Guides, The Wonders of Nature Sketchbook by Colleen Monroe, Christian Liberty Nature Readers, as well as many other picture books. 

We typically do science on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  I read aloud information on the suggested topic and Riley completes a notebook page.  We also go out and study the topic in nature if possible.

Here are some samples of her work....






















Riley prefers drawing her own illustrations rather than cutting and pasting the images included.  She also likes writing mini reports in addition to the copywork, and vocabulary.


I do have one complaint regarding Nature Portfolio.  I removed the parent/teacher section from the binder so Riley could keep her notebook pages orderly.  But now, because of way they're hole punched, these pages don't fit in a typical binder.  Rather than re-punch pages and making holes in student work areas, I just have them loose in a file folder.  This is not very handy.  I wish the teacher pages were bound separately or created to be punched for a traditional binder. 

Overall, Nature Portfolio is a good nature study program if you want something planned and laid out for you.  This is not typically our nature as I like to plan.  However, we needed this option this year.  As you may have noted from former posts, science is not my forte and with all we have going on right now, we chose this in an effort to simplify.

Thursday, October 18, 2012

Italian Hoagie Pizza


I recently found this recipe on Mr. Food.  I used fresh tomatoes from our garden.  I was disappointed with the store bought wheat crust I used.  It didn't rise the way it should have.  But overall, the pizza was great!  I also added red onions to the mix.  They created an extra sweetness.  I bet fresh pressed garlic would be good as well.  I may try that next time.  Enjoy!

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Government Lesson Plan

Angel is using a few different resources to obtain one high school credit of government this year.  This semester she's using Exploring Government by Ray Notgrass pretty much as written.  We've used books by Notrass in the past for World History through My Father's World.  You can read more about that here

Exploring Government has 75 lessons divided into 15 units.  A unit is intended to be completed in 5 days.  Each unit provides an activity, which is typically a writing assignment that gets the student thinking about what they've been reading/studying.  For example, after studying how Congress functions in regard to who the members are, what they do and how they do it, the student is to do the following activity....

"Here is an opportunity for you to think about something you don't like about how our government operates and to express yourself on it in a positive way.... Write a two to three page speech in which you outline the problem, tell how things ought to be, and suggest a practical way in which things can change.  Imagine that you are to give this speech before a civic club, homeschool debate society, or some other organization."

Exploring Government provides optional quizzes and exams.  Also, an additional book titled We Hold These Truths offers a collection of historic documents, essays, and  speeches in American government.  The student is expected to read excerpts as assigned in the text.  We Hold These Truths is a nice compliment to the course.

Exploring Government provides 1/2 of a credit of American Government.  Because we wanted Angel to have a full year of American Government, she'll also be reading Never Before in History and Under God.   Both of these books are recommended by My Father's World.   I've outlined our plan below.  However without the resources used, it will not make much sense.  Feel free to tweak it and make it your own.  


Government

Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
1
Notgrass Exploring Government
Unit 1 Lesson 1
Lesson 2
Lesson 3
Lesson 4
Lesson 5
2
Activity & Quiz
Unit 2 L6
L7
L8
L9
3
L10
Activity & Quiz
Unit 3 L11
L12
L13
4
L14
L15
Activity & Quiz
Unit 4 L16
L17
5
L18
L19
L20
Activity & Quiz
Unit 5 L21
6
L22
L23
L24
L25
Activity & Quiz
Units 1-5 Exam
7
Unit 6 L26
L27
L28
L29
L30
8
Activity & Quiz
Unit 7 L31
L32
L33
L34
9
L35
Activity & Quiz
Unit 8 L36
L37
L38
10
L39
L40
Activity & Quiz
Unit 9 L41
L42
11
L43
L44
L45
Activity & Quiz
Unit 10 L46
12
L47
L48
L49
L50
Activity & Quiz
Units 6-10 Exam
13
Unit 11 L51
L52
L53
L54
L55
14
Activity & Quiz
Unit 12 L56
L57
L58
L59
15
L60
Activity & Quiz
Unit 13 L61
L62
L63
16
L64
L65
Activity & Quiz
Unit 14 L66
L67
17
L68
L69
L70
Activity & Quiz
Unit 15 L71
18
L72
L73
L74
L75
Activity & Quiz
Units 11-15 Exam
19





20
Never Before in History
Read Pi – 11a
Never Before in History
Read P11b-18
Never Before in History
Read P21-28a
Never Before in History
Read P28b-37

21
Never Before in History
Read P39-48a
Never Before in History
Read P48b-57
Never Before in History
Read P59-65a
Never Before in History
Read P65b-71

22
Never Before in History
Read P73-76a
Never Before in History
Read P76b-85
Never Before in History
Read P87-94
Never Before in History
Read P97-107

23
Never Before in History
Read P109-113a
Never Before in History
Read P113b-116a
Never Before in History
Read P116b-121a
Never Before in History
Read P121b-124

24
Never Before in History
Read P127-134a
Never Before in History
Read P134b-141a
Never Before in History
Read P141b-145a
Never Before in History
Read P145b-151

25
Never Before in History
Read P153-158a
Never Before in History
Read P158b-164
Never Before in History
Read P165-170a
Never Before in History
Read P170b-179

26





27
Under God Read Intro
Read Romans 13:1-7 & Pledge of Allegiance
Under God Read Ch1
Under God Read Ch 2
Under God Read Ch 3
Unit 1 Project & Test
Recite Pledge of Allegiance & Star Spangled Banner
28

Under God Read Ch4
Under God Read Ch5
Under God Read Ch6
Unit 2 Project & Test
29

Under God Read Ch7
Memorize Preamble
Under God Read Ch8
Under God Read Ch8
Under God Read Ch8
30
Unit 3 Test A; Project Lapbook
Recite Preamble
Under God Read Ch9
Under God Read Ch9
Under God Read Ch10
Under God Read Ch11
31
Unit 3 Test B; Lapbook
Under God Read Ch12
Under God Read Ch12
Under God Read Ch12
Unit 3 Test C; Lapbook Due
32
Under God Read Ch13
Under God Read Ch13
Under God Read Ch14
Under God Read Ch14
Unit 4 Test; State Scapbook
33

Under God Read Ch15
Under God Read Ch15
Under God Read Ch16
Under God Read Ch16
34
Under God Read Ch17
Under God Read Ch17
Under God Read Preparing For the Future; Unit 5 Test
Under God Read Ch18
Under God Read Ch18
35
Under God Read Ch 19
Under God Read Ch 19
Under God Read Ch20
Under God Read Ch20
Unit 6 Test
36





Notgrass Exploring Government – Complete daily reading and questions

Never Before in History – Complete daily reading

Under God – Complete daily reading; answer “Do you remember what you read?” questions; review “For Further Thought” questions; define any new/unfamiliar “Words to Study”; discuss and choose one unit project to complete