4/9/2012

When I arrived home from work yesterday, Yasmeen and Liam came out to greet my car. They told me that they played charades together and played the board game Stratego.  I am so thrilled when my kids find my ways to entertain themselves without using a computer or a tv.  They did still have computer and tv time, but I appreciate the non-media moments.
   Tonight, all three kids and I played Stratego.  Liam decided to watch documentaries on The Battle of Thermopylae, The Battle of Marathon, and another documentary on weaponry of the Dark Ages.  He has already covered Greek History, but homeschooling allows him the advantage of being able to re-visit a subject matter as it speaks to his heart.  After all, we re-watch our favorite movies and re-read our favorite books, why not re-study a fascinating subject?
   Seneca was given a new puzzle for Easter. As Agnostics, we skip the religious part of Easter.  The puzzle is very flimsy and made her very frustrated when it kept breaking apart.  I hope she will work on it again soon. Lesson to mom, don't buy the cheap puzzles.
 

Eden Farm 3/30/2012

Sixth Grade Homeschool Curriculum

Books and Worksheets
 D'Aulaires' Book of Norse Myths http://www.amazon.com/DAulaires-Norse-Myths-Ingri-dAulaire/dp/159017125X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=133190
D'Aulaires' Book of Greek Myths http://www.amazon.com/DAulaires-Greek-Myths-Ingri-dAulaire/dp/0440406943/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1331907636&sr=1-1
D'Aulaires' Book of Greek Myths Workbook from memoriapress.com
A Journey Through Waldorf Homeschooling Grade 6 by Melisa Nielsen alittlegardenflower.com
Ancient Greece by Charles Kovacs http://www.steinerbooks.org/detail.html?session=ca17605f4487056c50e65d250c2a0bbb&id=0863154298
Ancient Rome by Charles Kovacs http://www.steinerbooks.org/detail.html?session=ca17605f4487056c50e65d250c2a0bbb&id=0863154824
The Egyptology Handbook http://www.amazon.com/The-Egyptology-Handbook-Wonders-Ologies/dp/B0019MX71C/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1331771843&sr=8-1
Math Practice freemathworksheets.net
Famous Men of Rome  Memoria Press

Documentaries
The Battle of Thermopylae http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FViLPhmWeLY
The Brilliance of Themistocles http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKxuAerW9YQ
Hannibal, The African Warrior http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmW3ZWILLwQ
The Ten Greatest Discoveries of Ancient Egypt

Movies
Julius Caesar 2006
The Blue and The Gray
Red Tails
North and South Book 1
North and South Book 2
Flyboys
Gettysburg
Amazing Grace

Fieldtrips
Gettysburg, PA
Flight of Fantasy (presentation by Tuskegee Airmen)
St. Petersburg Museum of Fine Arts
Fort DeSoto Park in St. Petersburg, Fl for Civil War Re-enactment
Eden Farms in Bradenton, Fl
Lowery Park Zoo in Tampa

Homemade Paint Day

Thanks to my friend Rachael at http://gotkiddos.blogspot.com/  for showing me this link on how to make paint from condensed milk.  http://ecemadeeasy.com/posts/painting-with-condensed-milk/

We've been using an old egg carton to separate the colors. Tonight, we only painted in one color, green. It was Seneca's choice.  Waldorf education often has children at this age painting in only one color at a time.  However, it is usually one of the primary colors.  I did think it great that Seneca would choose green just over a week away from St. Patrick's Day.  

Emergent Curriculum

 This is perhaps the best way to sum up our educational philosophy. We are more emergent learners than unschoolers.  Thanks to Rachael at http://gotkiddos.blogspot.com/ for sending the link below to me.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergent_curriculum

Math Art and Strawberry Picking

I took Liam and his friend to a Math Art day offered by the education majors at USF in Sarasota.  The idea was to get kids interested in math by letting them have fun it.  The other side of it was it was done to help show teachers in training fun ways to engage kids in math.  The event was advertized as being for 5th and 6th graders.
  As we were leaving the house, Liam was complaining about going. "I don't math and I don't like art. What makes you think I'm going to like this thing?"  Yet, wise Mama had already invited one of Liam's friends to go with us. So, I told him we had to go pick up his friend as he was waiting for us.  This way, Liam couldn't back out of it.
     Shortly after arriving and beginning the projects, both boys were enthusiastically going from table to table. I should clarify here that Liam's friend was excited to be going the whole time.  By the end of it, Liam said it was a lot of fun.
     At one of the tables, I was speaking to the young lady who was running that activity, and she said that she was interested in homeschooling her kids whenever she has them.  I know that many people in the education field oppose homeschooling. (And yes, I know that many former teachers do homeschool.) In fact, the reason I found about the event was through a local homeschool group.
   After the Math Art day, I picked up my daughters and we all went to pick strawberries at Eden Farms in Bradenton.  We had found out about Eden Farms through another homeschooling group.  There was no group event there that day, just us going as a family.  Our day ended at a local park after the strawberry farm.  Liam's friend took home some strawberries as did my kids.  I was going to make jam the next day only to discover that everyone had eaten all of the strawberries. :)  Oh well, we picked them to eat them.  Add to that they are organic and I am told, delicious!  Personally,  I don't like strawberries.
     I'm glad that my oldest daughter, 8th grade, was able to come with us to the strawberry farm.  She is not being homeschooled this year, hence "public school" in my blog address. I try to find events and things to do on Saturdays, so that we can include her in many of our homeschool "adventures."

Homeschooled Liam being Unschooled. Civil War trip 2011

                                         Below: Liam at Burnside Bridge Antietam Battlefield, MD

                                       Below: Liam at the 73rd Pennsylvania Monument. His ancestor was a member of this regiment.

Below: Liam at Eisenhower Farm

Below: Liam and Mom-Mom at Harper's Ferry where John Brown was captured

Below: Liam at PA monument Gettysburg Battlefield

Tuesday November 8, 2011Stopped at Gettysburg National Military Park Visitor’s Center. Saw a short film on Battle of Gettysburg Saw the cyclorama painting of the Battle of Gettysburg Became a member of The Friends of Gettysburg Took a preliminary ride around the battlefield Stopped at the Virginia State Monument; on top of the monument is a statue of Robert E. Lee on his horse, Traveler.  The lower part of the monument features statues of Virginia soldiers.  Looked across the field toward the Northern side and tried to imagine the southern troops as they marched across that field while being bombarded by cannon shots.

Stopped at Pennsulvania State Monument.  It is the largest state Monument at Gettysburg.  On the monument are listed the names of all the Soldiers from Pennsylvania who fought at Gettysburg. Listed by regiment. Saw great-great-great grandfather’s name A. Dierenbach listed in the 73^rd Regiment.  There was not enough space for his first name, Andrew

Wednesday November 9, 2011 Went to Harpers Ferry, WVA, a small town on a hillside overlooking where the Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers meet.  Three states meet here:  Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia  Saw Fire House where John Brown was captured.  The U.S. troops were led by Colonel Robert E. Lee.  Serving with him was JEB Stuart.

Visited John Brown Museum and Wax Museum

Toured Antietam Battlefield.  Antietam was the scene of the bloodiest day in American History.  23,000 soldiers were killed, wounded, or missing.  Clara Barton, founder of the American Red Cross, risked her life to help the wounded On the battlefield.

Thursday November 10 Took a free bus ride around the Battlefield. Saw the Gettysburg Diorama, a scale model version of the entire three day Battle.  It is the largest military diorama in the U.S.

Friday November 11   R&R

Saturday November 12 R&R

Sunday November 13 Visited the Eisenhower Farm.  This was the first home that Eisenhower owned.  It is a National Historic Site.  He used it as a getaway during his Presidency and used it as a meeting place for world leaders because of its peaceful setting.

Monday November 14 Today we had a personal battlefield tour by a licensed battlefield guide, John Fuss.  The tour was like being part of a documentary.