More Election Resources

I'm not sure why I was thinking that teaching about the election process would somehow be easier than following our regular lesson plans. But, I did, and I'm going to do it, darn it. And all of the information I've found is so cool that I'll feel guilty if I don't do something with it. Here are some links to election/government sites for kids:

National Mock Student Election: http://www.nationalmockelection.org/curriculum/elementary-school/introduction/. This site not only has a mock election, it's got a curriculum page with full lesson plans divided into three sections: Our Government, American Principles, and The Electoral Process. I think we're going to use this for our lesson outline.

Ben's Guide to US Government: http://bensguide.gpo.gov/k-2/. This is the link for the K-2 curriculum, but they have material for kids through high school. It's got all kinds of great information and additional online resources for teaching government to kids.

You Tube Schoolhouse Rocks video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30OyU4O80i4. We actually have the Schoolhouse Rocks DVD set, which I hate to admit we've never watched, so I'm excited to show the kids this video on The Preamble.

The Constitution for Kids: http://www.usconstitution.net/constkids4.html. This is another site that's divided into grade levels. It explains the Constitution and the Bill of Rights in a kid-friendly way.

I've got to go kill a spider and rescue a crying baby, but these should be enough to get you started on your own election unit study. Leave a comment if you find anything else that might be helpful!

Election Unit Study

I'm looking for ways to do school for the next couple of weeks without having to be as rigorous with our schedule as we have been, and I have had a stroke of genius: we're going to study the election. How perfect is that? We can talk not only about this election, but the electoral process, political parties, city/state/federal government, past presidents, and current political issues. I even happen to have a father who has been on the Carroll city council and can tell us about elections from the "inside."
The only downside to this brilliant plan is that I'm not all that knowledgeable about the current or historical political scene, and I haven't been following the current election AT ALL. I mean, not one little tiny bit. I did see Obama 2016, and I occasionally see a political ad while watching Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives on Hulu, but that's the full extent of it. So once again, homeschooling is giving me the opportunity to learn something that I've always wanted to learn and felt sort of guilty for not knowing. Sometimes, I think it actually helps to be as uninformed as the kids are, because it helps me to teach at their level and be a little bit more patient with them.
I've found some great online resources (through Pinterest, my new favorite thing to do), and I think we're going to do a couple of lapbooks:

Source: homeschoolshare.com via Allison on Pinterest

Source: homeschoolshare.com via Allison on Pinterest

If I had a bunch of kids or a classroom, I'd love to hold a mock election, but I don't know how to do that with just the three of them. Maybe our homeschool group can get together and do something like that. Wouldn't that be cool? They could come up with their own platform, a catchy slogan, a persuasive speech or essay, even an advertising campaign. I suppose all of that is possible without a mock election, too.
Let me know if you have any creative ideas...this is something that I think really needs to hit home with the kids; they need to learn that being involved in the political process is exciting and fun and NOT optional.

Netflix, Mummies, and Moldy Bread

TV ISN’T ALL BAD, IS IT?

A couple of years ago, we got rid of our satellite TV in favor of Netflix. Our primary motivation, I’ll admit, was cost…not the prevention of the childhood brain-rot that is supposed to develop from too much TV watching. We care about their brains, though, and Netflix has helped us keep a closer eye on what and how much the kids are watching. You can’t hide from the “recently watched” list, as I learned when I accidentally clicked on Hot Yoga (which, as I should have guessed, involves men doing yoga in their underwear).

Netflix has also allowed us to explore the kids’ non-fiction TV interests, and it turns out that they all LOVE documentaries about animals. Anything nature, animal, or dinosaur-related is a huge hit, and it has the added bonus of being educational (anti-brain-rot, you might say).

The best part about Netflix is the search feature, which returns something relevant nearly every time we use it. Rather than scour the library or take our chances with the cable TV schedule, we can supplement our classroom work almost effortlessly.

Our current history study is on Egypt – the building of the pyramids and the rise of the pharaohs. A quick 10-second effort on Netflix yields 13 awesome-looking documentaries from Nova, National Geographic, The History Channel, and others that would be a great addition to our reading and other school activities.

TOOLS AT THE LIBRARY

I love the library. I would love it more if I could go by myself and look at the grown-up books, but I still love it when all the kids are with me and we’re digging through the Dora books in search of the one that we haven’t already checked out 6 times. I may not have a sound grasp of the Dewey Decimal System, and I will never get over my weakness at the “free to a good home” rack, but the library will always be one of my favorite spots.

What I didn’t know until I started homeschooling was that the library has just as much to offer online, from the comfort of the couch, as it does in the actual building. The Carroll Public Library has a TON of free online resources that are either costly or unavailable otherwise.

Some examples – all free:

• EBSCO – search for academic periodicals/articles
• Hobbies & Crafts – read all kinds of articles on all kinds of hobbies (knitting, fishing, you name it)
• Learning Express – get extra practice in Math, English, and other subjects appropriate to your grade level
• Searchasaurus – online kids’ dictionary, encyclopedia, thesaurus
• Global Road Warrior – learn everything you could possibly want to know about other countries & cultures
• Other cool stuff you can do:
• Check out e-books and audio books, search the library’s physical stock, reserve books, renew books, create book lists, and search for books at other IA libraries.

WHAT WE’VE BEEN DOING

This week, we’ve been learning about how and why the pyramids were built. It turns out that the first and primary task of each pharaoh was to figure out how and where he would be buried. Thousands and thousands of men would work throughout the pharaoh’s entire reign to construct his tomb, which was usually raided and completely robbed of its’ treasures shortly after the pharaoh’s death.

We’ve also just finished memorizing the 39 books of the Old Testament, which earned us a trip to A&W for some ice cream. There’s a great song on YouTube that we used to help us with the memorization:

HTTP://WWW.YOUTUBE.COM/WATCH?V=T7GLF9ZFXSO&FEATURE=SHARE&LIST=PL68754DCDDC0552DF

Or search for Old Testament (a.k.a. the Ice Cream Song) by Phil Joel.

Our Greek vocabulary word for the week was TELE, which means “from far away.” Isaac learned how to find common denominators, and Simon learned about place value. Spelling was tough this week, but I think Simon has finally mastered the word “naughty” (the concept, of course, has been in his repertoire since birth). Esme learned that “c” makes the /k/ sound, as in her favorite animal, “cat.”

HANDS-ON STUFF THIS WEEK

Our curriculum does a great job of incorporating hands-on projects into each lesson. I do a somewhat less-great job of actually carrying them out. However, this week was good.

This week, we’re attempting to grow mold on three different slices of bread: one that’s plain, one that’s toasted, and one that’s been coated with antibiotic cream.

We also buried several things in the backyard to see what decays more quickly:

A plastic toy

A piece of wood

A peeled apple

An intact apple

A peeled potato

An intact potato

Can you guess why we’re studying mold and decay?

Hint 1: They don’t really come to life and try to eat you

Hint 2: They’re not really wrapped in toilet paper

Hint 3: You don’t need hint #3, do you? It’s because we’re learning about mummies!

    

Aunt Ann's House, Mummies, and the Unification of Egypt

Usborne Internet-Linked Books

Our program from My Father’s World is based on “real books” (as opposed to traditional textbooks – this is a Charlotte Mason concept, whose educational model we try to follow), and one of them is what’s called an internet-linked book from Usborne publishers.

The book we’re using, Ancient World, is currently teaching us about mummies and pyramids in ancient Egypt. We can read the material in the book, then log on to www.usborne.com/quicklinks to learn more online. 

We simply type “Ancient World” in the search box, find the book, then browse by page number to view links to pictures, articles, videos, and activities that relate to the pages we’ve just read from the book.

Today, after finishing pages 12-13 in the book, we logged on to watch a video about the tombs of ancient Egypt from National Geographic. Then, we played a game in which you had to properly embalm a mummy in order to send him to the afterlife.

No password or purchase is necessary to view the Quick Links pages, so take a look around!

Homeschooling Magazines

There are several print and electronic magazines available to homeschoolers and their families, and many have at least some material available for free. Here are a few that we like:

Homeschooling Today:

http://www.homeschoolingtoday.com/

The Old Schoolhouse:

http://thehomeschoolmagazine.com/

Practical Homeschooling:

http://www.practicalhomeschooling.com/

Homeschool Magazine:

http://homeschoolmagazines.com/

Home Education Magazine:

http://homeedmag.com/home-education-magazine/

Home School Enrichment:

http://homeschoolenrichment.com/

Heart of the Matter:

http://heartofthematteronline.com/

Field Trip to Aunt Ann’s House!

Lego Land

http://kansas.legolanddiscoverycenter.com/kansascity

(...and then, I got lazy with the camera...)

Kansas City Aquarium

http://www.visitsealife.com/Kansas-city/

Deanna Rose Children’s Farmstead

http://www.opkansas.org/Things-to-See-And-Do/Deanna-Rose-Childrens-Farmstead

Fiorella’s Jack Stack BBQ Restaurant

http://www.jackstackbbq.com/

Cinzetti’s Sunday Brunch

http://www.cinzzettis.com/

The Unification of Upper and Lower Egypt

Did you know that in ancient times, Egypt was separated into two distinct nations, Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt? I had no idea.

Did you know that Upper Egypt was in the south and Lower Egypt was in the north? Me – totally clueless.

Did you further know that Upper and Lower Egypt were so named because the Nile River flows from south to north, terminating in the Mediterranean Sea? Again, I was unaware. Who even knew rivers could flow from south to north?

Isaac, Simon, and Esme are pictured above re-enacting the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt. Isaac portrayed Menes, the victor over Simon, and Esme was a queen. There were no actual queens in our lesson, but we tried not to dwell on that. Or on the fact that Isaac won and Simon lost. Or on the tragedy of  Grace ripping Esme’s crown in half shortly after this photo was taken.