Our Homeschool Co-op - The Next Installment - On the Roman Road

We had a great day on Monday learning about Rome. The focus was Roman roads and aqueducts. The mom who taught our children is a very gifted teacher! 

She was well prepared with supplies for her to teach the kids about the building of Roman roads, the importance of them, the interesting facts about them and how they influenced Rome’s control, military might and trade routes. 

The children then built their own model of a Roman road! There were all the layers represented and information was given along the way as to what they used to build the roads and how they were built! 

She then had a model of an aqueduct and showed the children how it worked. The got to see how the water ran into the cities. It was very well done!

What really struck me today as the children were released to run off some steam and then have some lunch is how very comfortable they are with each other. Prior to this, many of them didn’t know each other, several of them only see each other at co-op and yet they have become a unit!

In the afternoon was our opportunity to take in another wonderful drama presentation by our Art/Drama mom! This drama was about the Christians being persecuted in Rome. She did a fabulous job once again writing a play for 17 children to participate in! We had a few families that couldn’t make it this time so several of the children played more than one part. 

We had Roman politicians, Roman citizens, Christians, soldiers, even a lion!

You could certainly tell as they were practicing that Spring is in the air! There was lots of acting going on, lots of energy and lots of laughter! It was music to my ears!

Thank you once again to all the mom’s that participate in making this co-op such a great opportunity for learning!

Blessings!

Titanic Study “Carpe Diem” - Seize the Day!

This week we ended up taking time to to seize the opportunity to study the Titanic. I didn’t have it planned but when our daughter showed signs of really wanting to look into the Titanic more, I thought in my head... but our plan... and then I thought...why not!

Pass from the Museum Exhibit

We had enjoyed years ago going to our BC Royal Museum for an amazing exhibit of the Titanic. The wonderful part was that you were given a boarding pass as one of the passengers and you got to see where you would have slept, where and what you would have eaten and what you would have done on the Titanic. Then at the end you could match up your boarding pass with the manifest to see if you had survived the disaster or not. 

“Little One” remembered that time and rekindled an interest with the anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic.

Narration after Museum Trip

We are reading this book which was on sale this week at Costco. We are reading some together and then “Little One” takes the book away to her room and pours over the pictures and what is happening on those pages.

We learned about the crew of the ship, we learned how they lost their lives so that more “above” could live. We also learned how they powered the ship. I don’t think we had really thought about that aspect of the voyage before.

We read several articles from this site:

We reviewed Primary sources and secondary sources and looked at the inaccuracies of the early articles. This was interesting and very eye opening for our daughter that news articles could be so untrue.

She also took a look at these pictures from the National Geographic site. 

Lately, when I come across a current event or something interesting I have been emailing it to our daughter. She then opens her email and there are pictures for her to look at, articles to read or craft ideas. Anything at the time that I might think, hmmm... she might be interested in this. I don’t see this as assigned reading but more hopefully Inspired Reading! The Titanic photos I sent her spurred on an interest in once again learning more...

I took a look at these unit studies to see if there were things that I could glean from them.

This one from The Old Schoolhouse Digital Magazine. And this one from The Living Books Curriculum. 

There are many more great resources that we can explore. We have a few documentaries on the shelf, but "little one" is feeling that they get depressing after awhile. All of the stories about real people with real families not surviving. The true meaning of tragedy. What great discussions we have been having about life, death, eternal life and salvation!

Blessings!

Co-op Day, Olympics, Drama and so much FUN!

On Monday, we had another great co-op day. How blessed we are to have this experience for our children!

This was our last ancient history co-op based on the Greeks. What better project than to have an Olympics! We had an indoor Olympics as the weather was not co-operating. The mom that organized this was so awesome, she prepared for both an indoor and an outdoor Olympics.

First, one of the moms talked to the children about the Olympics and then we watched a short video clip from Discovery Education on the Olympics. 

Then another mom helped them make their victory wreaths with fern fonds and pipe cleaners. These got set aside and then the Olympic Games began. We divided the kids up into small groups and they went from one event to another. 

We had: 

Arm Wrestling

Punching on a punching bag

“Shot Put” with cotton balls

“Discus” with paper plates

“Chariot races” with wooden spoons and rubber balls

The kids has such a great time and were laughing and smiling. The moms all joined in and measured, kept time and judged races. 

In the end the kids all got their shoes on and went out side for the torch race and got crowned with their wreaths. What a fun morning!

In the afternoon was a highlight as we had another amazing drama production by our children. They practiced their lines and went through several “dress rehearsals” with all their towels and sheets. 

This drama had weaved within it so much information about Greece. The highlight for me was seeing our children working together with joy, really enjoying their characters, taking direction and really listening to what they needed to do to make the drama better. They did such a great job!

We are so blessed to have our writer, director and producer mom!!

Well, next month we are off to Rome on the Roman Road! 

Blessings!

Another Awesome Co-op Day - Greece!

Choosing to be part of a co-op is such a joy for me! I get to see my lovely daughter as she interacts with others, and because she is home educating alone most days, these days are extra special!

When choosing your co-op mates, it just seems to me that God brings those with many different skills, talents and strengths to give our children the best of many perspectives, teaching styles, focusses and real variety in projects and interactions!

This is a HUGE blessing! So thank you moms of our co-op who make each month something wonderful! You know who you are!!

This past month we were exploring Ancient Greece. First the children learned greek letters, and made their names from the greek alphabet and a greek sign which the moms needed to figure out. Then they made Greek pendants with air dry clay. They also played “stump the parent” with riddles about Greek Gods and Goddesses. We were very stumped!! 

They did an awesome mapping activity where they worked as groups to find out how a greek ship would have traded with other ports of call and how a certain ship would have navigated the waters of the Mediterranean. 

They then presented their theory to the group. There were some great theories and various routes on the maps. 

In the afternoon our fabulous art teacher took over. The children finished grouting their mosaic pots and did a crayon resist of a Amphora vase. These turned out so well!

Then it was on to the first practice of the next play the that children will be doing. Our daughter just loves the plays that they get to perform! It is such a blessing. Our art teacher writes these plays herself with each of the children in mind. She gives them all their own special part! What a gift to our co-op this is!

We have several more amazing co-ops to come this year as we finish up Greece and travel to Rome. We are already starting to plan for next year - how exciting! Blessings!

Hands-on Earth Science with Discovery Education

I just love new terms. Fresh and shiny, just ready for lots of new ideas, new resources and new explorations! I love starting each new term knowing the promise of the learning that is ahead!

We have begun our new science unit for this term. The unit is on Earth Science. We continue to enjoy the great benefit of having my daughter's friend join us for science. This makes it so much richer. If you haven't ever done this I encourage you - invite a friend along!! 

Chemistry was so great last term that we have decided to carry on with the same format using Discovery Education’s Teams Earth Science. 

I picked up some of the needed materials on the weekend and got it organized. 

Here is a list of the videos that are in this series:

• TEAMS: Earth Processes: Maps and Models
• TEAMS: Earth Processes: Mountain Building
• TEAMS: Earth Processes: Rocks and Soils
• TEAMS: Earth Processes: Sedimentation
• TEAMS: Earth Processes: Time and Position
• TEAMS: Earth Processes: Weathering and Erosion

Our daughter is also doing Adaptive Curriculum and if we have time I will also have her do the Hands of a Child Lapbook of The Earth. 

Todays lesson on Maps and Models had a model of a contour map, so the girls covered the page with a ziplock bag and built their contours with different colors of clay. They turned out very well. 

We are looking forward to the future lessons this term and another great opportunity for hands-on science! Blessings!

Homeschool Freebies We Have Enjoyed Over the Years

We have gained many resources over the years from awesome sites that offer freebies. I wanted to share a few of these sites so that you could also benefit.

I think the two freebie sites that we have used most over the years are Homeschool Share and Homeschool Launch. Both of these sites are filled with homeschoolers sharing what they have created for their families with you!!

Homeschool Share has a wide variety of Lapbooks, Notebooks and Unit Studies. These are mainly for children K-6 but some of them could be adapted for older children. 

I also wouldn’t overlook sites like Enchanted Learning and ABC Teach. I have used both of these site extensively with subscriptions and without subscriptions. I have also used several materials on the Education World site. Animal Edits and Everyday Edits for editing practice, Geography A to Z as well as Where in the World is Mrs. Waffenschmidt? for geography. These items are free and I don’t think I have began to touch what is available here!

Another site that has many freebies that teachers have developed is Teachers pay Teachers. I have found novel study materials on this site as well as activities on a specific topic.

UK sites we have used a lot over the years are Sparklebox and Primary Resources.

Finally, we have enjoyed the amazing work over the years from the founders of Ambleside Online (here is another post), An Old Fashioned Education, Living Math, Let’s Play Math, The Baldwin Project, Manybooks and Heritage History. 

I am thankful to all those who have contributed to all of these sites and made them the amazing resources that they are!!

Blessings!!