Ok I'm fairly excited. I finally decided to sell some of my lapbooks, workbooks, worksheets and presentations. Many mom's both here and on CafeMom encouraged me. HUGS! So I finally decided to start another blog (like I don't have enough already? LOL) that was dedicated to just that, selling great resources for our kids.
Home Educators Toolbox
I don't have every single one of my resources up yet, but I do have some. I'm currently working on...
Magic Tree House Books:
Mummies in the Morning (& Ancient Egypt)
Night of the Ninjas (& Ancient Japan)
Vacation Under the Volcano (Volcanoes and Pompeii)
Dr. Seuss Books:One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish
I Can Read with my Eyes Shut
Sciences:
Simple Machines
Dinosaurs
Intro to Chemistry
Math:Mysterious Multiplication
Sly Subtraction
Dubious Division
Intro to Algebra & Geometry
Check out more soon!
Monday, February 28, 2011
Friday, February 25, 2011
This week
THis week was crazy busy for us. Here's a breakdown of our educational travels:
Monday;
even though dad was home for presidents day the boys blew through their school work.
X-man :
1 hour Time4Learning,com
DJ:
Make The Grade (3) review book, 1 of each chapter (writing, math, science, social studies)
Spelling
Reading - Water Conservation
Both:
Story of the World - we started learning about Egypt - the boys worked with dad to make a display of the nile river by planting some herb seeds in a tin pan and making the river with aluminum foil.
Tuesday:
Our first day of Co-op
X-man:
Learning math with art & games - he learned about symmetry
Animal Studies
DJ:
Criminal Investigations/Forensics - he learned about recording evidence at a crime scene
US History (1900's) - he learned about the San Fransico earth quake of 1906
Both:
Jazz Dance
Pealentology - they learned a bit about evolution
Wednesday:
X-man:
1 hour Time4Learning,com
DJ:
Make The Grade (3) review book, 1 of each chapter (writing, math, science, social studies)
Spelling
Reading - Water Conservation
Both:
Story of the World - we did a bit more learning on Egypt and the two kingdoms, and how the Egyptians saw the world upside down, since the Nile river flows from South to North.
We also went to the Library where the kids made bird feeders
Thursday:
This was a fun museum day - it was Dinosaur Days at the Peabody Museum. There was a puppet show and the scientists had tables out on the floor explaining to the kids what they were studying. The kids got to do a dig for fossils (DJ got a shark tooth). We even went through the exhibit on Black Holes.
This is from their Egypt Exhibit (getting ready for Xman's History Presentation.)
Friday:
We started on our History Presentations.
Xman - made his Pyramid out of styrofoam blocks
DJ - made a sample of the Great Wall of China
DJ -
Make the grade (5) a page from each chapter
Spelling sentences
A People's History - we talked about the colonists.
Xman -
1 hour time4learning.com
Monday;
even though dad was home for presidents day the boys blew through their school work.
X-man :
1 hour Time4Learning,com
DJ:
Make The Grade (3) review book, 1 of each chapter (writing, math, science, social studies)
Spelling
Reading - Water Conservation
Both:
Story of the World - we started learning about Egypt - the boys worked with dad to make a display of the nile river by planting some herb seeds in a tin pan and making the river with aluminum foil.
Tuesday:
Our first day of Co-op
X-man:
Learning math with art & games - he learned about symmetry
Animal Studies
DJ:
Criminal Investigations/Forensics - he learned about recording evidence at a crime scene
US History (1900's) - he learned about the San Fransico earth quake of 1906
Both:
Jazz Dance
Pealentology - they learned a bit about evolution
Wednesday:
X-man:
1 hour Time4Learning,com
DJ:
Make The Grade (3) review book, 1 of each chapter (writing, math, science, social studies)
Spelling
Reading - Water Conservation
Both:
Story of the World - we did a bit more learning on Egypt and the two kingdoms, and how the Egyptians saw the world upside down, since the Nile river flows from South to North.
We also went to the Library where the kids made bird feeders
Thursday:
This was a fun museum day - it was Dinosaur Days at the Peabody Museum. There was a puppet show and the scientists had tables out on the floor explaining to the kids what they were studying. The kids got to do a dig for fossils (DJ got a shark tooth). We even went through the exhibit on Black Holes.
This is from their Egypt Exhibit (getting ready for Xman's History Presentation.)
Friday:
We started on our History Presentations.
Xman - made his Pyramid out of styrofoam blocks
DJ - made a sample of the Great Wall of China
DJ -
Make the grade (5) a page from each chapter
Spelling sentences
A People's History - we talked about the colonists.
Xman -
1 hour time4learning.com
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Kids Love Spanish Review & Give Away
Just wanted to give my readers a heads up on an interesting blog and post - this is a review of the product "Kids Love Spanish" check it out!
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Some More Cool Links - USDA
Cool Charts & Posters
OMG -
Cool posters and charts for everything from area & volume to physical quantities!
http://thinkzone.wlonk.com/Posters/Posters.htm
Cool posters and charts for everything from area & volume to physical quantities!
http://thinkzone.wlonk.com/Posters/Posters.htm
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Schedule-ish
Recently I was asked about our daily schedule. To which I nervously laugh. I'm totally OCD and want to have a rigid schedule, my youngest (as a mini-me) would also enjoy it, but my bohemian oldest bucks at the constraints a schedule would place on him.....tough noogies. When he's older he can be as floppy in schedule as he wants, meanwhile Boot Camp Mama is in charge!
Well, I do have a further confession - I'm so not a morning person. Anything before 10am is just cruel and unusual punishment for me. (again my youngest is definitely cut from the same mold). So we don't start school until later although I start encouraging independant work as soon as the coffee maker starts percolating.
Monday / Wednesday / Friday -
Tuesday / Thursday -
Well, I do have a further confession - I'm so not a morning person. Anything before 10am is just cruel and unusual punishment for me. (again my youngest is definitely cut from the same mold). So we don't start school until later although I start encouraging independant work as soon as the coffee maker starts percolating.
Monday / Wednesday / Friday -
- 6:30-8:30am cartoons
- 8:30-10:00am Wii
- 10:00-10:30 am Snack / Independant Work - DJ (oldest) read the book of the week (usually Magic Tree House coinciding with the Western Civ we're working on), X-man (younger) Hooked on Phonics cd.
- 10:30-11:00am Minimus CD Latin work
- 11:00-11:30am Western Civ
- 11:30-12:00pm Workbooks - Making the Grade: Everything Your ___ Grader Needs To Know (DJ - 5th grade book, Xman 2nd grade) Especially Math and Grammer, they also each have a Spelling sheet they do one page per day.
- 12:00-1:00 pm Lunch / Independent Work - DJ (oldest) works on the Lapbook of the week (ok usually he's still working on workbook stuff), Xman does Time4Learning
- 3:00 Music Lessons
Tuesday / Thursday -
- 6:30-8:30am cartoons
- 8:30-10:00am Wii
- 10:00-10:30 am Snack / Science Project- the boys work on it together usually
- 10:30-11:00am Hooked on Spanish CD
- 11:00-11:30am American History/Geography
- 11:30-12:00pm Workbooks - Making the Grade: Everything Your ___ Grader Needs To Know (DJ - 5th grade book, Xman 2nd grade) Especially Math and Grammer, they also each have a Spelling sheet they do one page per day.
- 12:00-1:00 pm Lunch / Independent Work - usually working on the Lapbook for their stories of the week, or else one for geography/histoty, etc.
- 2:00 Art/Projects (they get to play with it on their own) I usually put up a picture of a classic and teoll the children a bit about it, and they try to copy it, or else they try to pain a pic from a story we read that day, or they get to do a fun project that goes along with our histoy lesson (like making cuniform tablets or dressing like mummies when we studied Egypt)
Sunday, February 6, 2011
A Young People's History of the United States
I've had a lot of people ask me lately about what I use to teach history (see my previous post for my full curriculum) and I love telling people about Howard Zinn. You may have heard of his 'adult' book A People's History of the United States as it was mentioned in the movie Good Will Hunting, after watching the movie, I read the book - and was totally wow'ed! So many of my fellow homeschoolers are proud of the fact that we are trying to raise independent thinkers - those who have the intelligence and courage to not follow the status quo but can come up with non-violent, intelligent solutions to a problem. Plus, I know many homeschoolers who daily question their government. One thing I love about Howard Zinn's books are they teach you how to question your government without starting an anti-government commune in the hills. Instead, it's an honest look at the successes and mistakes our forefathers made when establishing our great nation - not to make us hate our nation, but instead to help us to not repeat the mistakes of the past. How better to help the nation we all love, then to be honest about it's histories so we can make educated decisions about it's future?
Here's an excerpt from his introduction:
"Ever since my book A People's History of the United States was published twenty-five years ago, parents and teachers have been asking me about an edition that would be attractive to youngsters. Over the years, some people have asked me: 'Do you think that your history, which is radically different than the usual histories of the United States, is suitable for young people? Won't it create disillusionment with our country? Is it right to be so critical of the government's policies? Is it right to take down the traditional heroes of the nation, like Christopher Columbus, Andrew Jackson, Theodore Roosevelt? Isn't it unpatriotic to emphasize slavery and racism, the massacres of Indians, the exploitation of working people, the ruthless expansion of the United States at the expense of the Indians and people in other countries?' I wonder why some people think it is all right for adults to hear such a radical, critical point of view, but not teenagers or sub-teenagers. Do they think that young people are not able to deal with such matters? It seems to me it is wrong to treat young readers as if they are not mature enough to look at their nation's policies honestly. Yes, it's a matter of being honest. Just as we must, as individuals, be honest about our own failures in order to correct them, it seems to me we must do the same when evaluating our national policies.
Patriotism, in my view, does not mean unquestioning acceptance of whatever the government does. To go along with whatever your government does is not characteristic of democracy. I remember in my own early education we were taught that it was a sign of a totalitarian state, of a dictatorship, when people did not question what their government did. If you live in a democratic state, it means you have the right to criticize your government's policies. The basic principles of democracy are laid out in the Declaration of Independence, which was adopted in 1776 to explain why the colonies were no longer willing to accept British rule. The Declaration makes it clear that governments are not holy, not beyond criticism, because they are artificial creations, set up by the people to protect the equal rights of everyone to 'life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.' And when governments do not fulfill this obligation, the Declaration says that 'it is the right of the people to alter or abolish the government.' And, if it is the right of the people to 'alter or abolish' the government, then surely it is their right to criticize it.
I am not worried about disillusioning your people by pointing to the flaws in the traditional heroes. We should be able to tell the truth about people whom we have been taught to look upon as heroes, but who really don't deserve that admiration. Why should we think it heroic to do as Columbus did, arrive in this hemisphere and carry on a rampage of violence, in order to find gold? Why should we think it heroic for Andrew Jackson to drive Indians out of their land? Why should we think of Theodore Roosevelt as a hero because he fought in the Spanish-American War, driving Spain our of Cuba, but also paving the way for the United States to take control of Cuba?
Yes, we all need heroes, people to admire, to see as examples of how human beings should live. But I prefer to see Bartolome' de Las Casas as a hero, for exposing Columbus' violent behavior against the Indians he encountered in the Bahamas. I prefer to see the Cherokee Indians as heroes, for resisting their removal from the lands on which they lived. To me, it is Mark Twain who is a hero, because he denounced President Theodore Roosevelt after Roosevelt had praised an American general who had massacred hundreds of people in the Philippines. I consider Helen Keller a hero because she protested against President Woodrow Wilson's decision to send young Americans into the slaughterhouse of the First World War.
My point of view, which is critical of war, racism, and economic injustice, carries over to the situation we face in the United States today."
Here's an excerpt from his introduction:
"Ever since my book A People's History of the United States was published twenty-five years ago, parents and teachers have been asking me about an edition that would be attractive to youngsters. Over the years, some people have asked me: 'Do you think that your history, which is radically different than the usual histories of the United States, is suitable for young people? Won't it create disillusionment with our country? Is it right to be so critical of the government's policies? Is it right to take down the traditional heroes of the nation, like Christopher Columbus, Andrew Jackson, Theodore Roosevelt? Isn't it unpatriotic to emphasize slavery and racism, the massacres of Indians, the exploitation of working people, the ruthless expansion of the United States at the expense of the Indians and people in other countries?' I wonder why some people think it is all right for adults to hear such a radical, critical point of view, but not teenagers or sub-teenagers. Do they think that young people are not able to deal with such matters? It seems to me it is wrong to treat young readers as if they are not mature enough to look at their nation's policies honestly. Yes, it's a matter of being honest. Just as we must, as individuals, be honest about our own failures in order to correct them, it seems to me we must do the same when evaluating our national policies.
Patriotism, in my view, does not mean unquestioning acceptance of whatever the government does. To go along with whatever your government does is not characteristic of democracy. I remember in my own early education we were taught that it was a sign of a totalitarian state, of a dictatorship, when people did not question what their government did. If you live in a democratic state, it means you have the right to criticize your government's policies. The basic principles of democracy are laid out in the Declaration of Independence, which was adopted in 1776 to explain why the colonies were no longer willing to accept British rule. The Declaration makes it clear that governments are not holy, not beyond criticism, because they are artificial creations, set up by the people to protect the equal rights of everyone to 'life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.' And when governments do not fulfill this obligation, the Declaration says that 'it is the right of the people to alter or abolish the government.' And, if it is the right of the people to 'alter or abolish' the government, then surely it is their right to criticize it.
I am not worried about disillusioning your people by pointing to the flaws in the traditional heroes. We should be able to tell the truth about people whom we have been taught to look upon as heroes, but who really don't deserve that admiration. Why should we think it heroic to do as Columbus did, arrive in this hemisphere and carry on a rampage of violence, in order to find gold? Why should we think it heroic for Andrew Jackson to drive Indians out of their land? Why should we think of Theodore Roosevelt as a hero because he fought in the Spanish-American War, driving Spain our of Cuba, but also paving the way for the United States to take control of Cuba?
Yes, we all need heroes, people to admire, to see as examples of how human beings should live. But I prefer to see Bartolome' de Las Casas as a hero, for exposing Columbus' violent behavior against the Indians he encountered in the Bahamas. I prefer to see the Cherokee Indians as heroes, for resisting their removal from the lands on which they lived. To me, it is Mark Twain who is a hero, because he denounced President Theodore Roosevelt after Roosevelt had praised an American general who had massacred hundreds of people in the Philippines. I consider Helen Keller a hero because she protested against President Woodrow Wilson's decision to send young Americans into the slaughterhouse of the First World War.
My point of view, which is critical of war, racism, and economic injustice, carries over to the situation we face in the United States today."
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