National Weather Service Field Trip

Last week, my parents and I made a day trip to a little town where they make concrete statuary, benches and birdbaths.  As we were heading there, we passed this place. 

We turned around and went back.  I figured it couldn't hurt to ask if they do tours.  Sure enough, they welcomed us in.  Yay! 

The meteorologist said I could take pictures, so I did.  Here she is in the control room.  Above, she is under the signs and the old alert system is in the rear.  Below is one work station.  There are three or four monitors for each person (um, wow!).  Each one can pull up different data.

Outside was the big soccer ball...more correctly known as a Doppler Radar.

Also outside were the satellite radars. 

It was a fun field trip, especially since it wasn't planned.  The meterologist sent her home with study guides for further learning.  I can't think of a better way to learn about weather.

Homeschool Curriculum, Part 2

In my last homeschool post, I started sharing how we came to select our curriculum.  In this post, I'll share our main printed curriculum pieces.

Eventually, I decided to use The Core Knowledge Series, edited by E.D. Hirsch, Jr. The series is broken down by grade level, so the edition we are using this year is What Your Fourth Grader Needs to Know. It is the foundation upon which we have built our curriculum. It is not intended to be a complete course of study, but a guide. Each text is written for the student to read, and is the starting point for further exploration. It does not represent a Christian worldview; but explaining our beliefs within the context of this book has not presented any difficulties.

We are using the Scholastic Success With 4th Grade Workbook for practicing reading, writing, charting, math and mapping skills. The worksheets are interesting, somewhat challenging, and help reinforce the concepts being taught.

For Math, we have chosen the Saxon Math curriculum. The private school she previously attended uses Saxon Math. She has done well with it, so we decided to continue using it. However, we hit a snag back in the fall.

Princess E skipped the 2nd grade. By the end of 1st grade, it was clear she was not being challenged enough in the classroom. This thought was also supported by her scores on standardized tests. She had an excellent teacher for first grade (JK and 3rd grade, too). The school approached us about placing her directly in the third grade classroom. After considerable thought and prayer, and after consulting with several teachers, we agreed she should be promoted to third grade. That worked well for her and she continued to thrive in that environment. It was challenging for her, but rarely to the point of frustration.

This past fall, we realized one area where she needed some extra help. While she had mastered the concepts of math that were expected of a student entering the fourth grade, it was clear she needed more practice with them. So, in the fall, we set aside the Saxon Math temporarily and used the Scholastic workbook for extra practice of basic math facts. It was worth it! Now, with a lot of extra practice, mental math is coming to her easily. In about two weeks, we will start back with Saxon Math. I don’t expect her to complete the fourth grade math book by the end of the traditional school year.  We will, however, continue to work on math throughout the summer. She is only 8, so I am not concerned if next year she needs to work on fourth grade math while the rest of her subjects are based on fifth grade materials.

Interestingly enough, Princess E has a much easier time with division than multiplication. We found the same when she was learning addition and subtraction. She found addition frustrating, but had no difficulty with subtraction. For the longest time, she would have to think, really concentrate, to find the sum of 7 X 6; yet, at the same time, if I asked her for the answer to 42 / 6, she could answer 7 instantly.  If any teachers who read this have any idea why this might be, I’d love to know.  (Hey, Sara, can you offer any insight on this one?)


We have tried to keep Science as hands-on as possible. We are using the series of science experiments by Janice Van Cleave, as well as reading biographies of scientists.


Originally, I created my own spelling lists for the weeks. For the first couple of months, we worked on learning the 50 states. She could already recite them from memory, the result of a song learned on a 3400 mile driving trip. I wanted her to be able to spell them. Eventually, I realized my idea was not the right method for her. After Christmas, we added Spelling Skills from Harcourt Family Learning.

Later, I’ll share some of the other materials we use in our little “one house school room”.

Homeschool Curriculum, Part 1

Recently, I was asked about our homeschool curriculum choices. Actually, just about every time I meet another homeschooler, the conversation steers toward the topic at some point. Its interesting learning what other families use and sharing ideas.

I thought I’d cover our choices. If you aren’t a homeschooling family, you may want to skip this post.

I’ll start with my usual disclaimer. This is what works for our family. It is not “the best” or “the only” way to homeschool. Every family has to find the best arrangement for them. The number of children, their ages, and everyone’s learning/teaching styles all play a role in this decision.

I had to figure out what it was I needed to teach, and then figure out what tools I was going to use to accomplish that. I started researching what it was she needed to learn as a fourth grader. I found several examples of a “course of study” from a broad range of sources, both Christian and secular. Surprisingly enough, they were all quite similar. Furthermore, I looked into our state’s guidelines for learning, related to NCLB. Teaching to the test isn’t part of our plan, but it is helpful to have a general idea of those standards. I created a master list of the course of study and the applicable state standard. At this point, I knew what she needed to learn.

Worldbook

Trivium

Education World

Next, I had to find the resources to teach those concepts. We attended a couple of homeschool conferences, sought the opinions of other homeschooling families in the area, talked with curriculum publishers, and flipped through an incredible assortment of textbooks.

In my next homeschool post, I’ll begin sharing our choices of printed materials.

Some days are diamonds

I'm so excited today! We've been going through a trying time with homeschooling lately. Even though it has been tough, I am even more convinced that homeschooling is the right choice for us right now. Had Princess E encountered these difficulties in a regular classroom, she might have gotten behind and not been able to get the help she needed.

Fourth grade is a transitional year. There is less memorization of facts and more reasoning. Math concepts are a little more advanced.

We've been working on writing persuasive and expository paragraphs. We've been working on using descriptive words and phrases, rather than simple (bland) sentences.

I'm amazed to see the stretching and growing in Princess E's mind. She's frustrated, but when the concepts finally "click", it is wonderful. Today, she showed us that she gets it. Yay! Time to celebrate (and keep practicing).

Costco Field Trip

Scenes from our Homeschool Fieldtrip to Costco...

A thought on making a difference...

One of the challenges presented to each of us during our visit to Colonial Williamsburg was to remember the extreme risks taken by the colonists of that era.  In 1775, the year being covered during our visit, there was no plan yet to declare independence.  The colonists were upset because the British Parliament had (again) handed down a tax the colonists would have to pay.

To oversimplify the matter, Britain still had debts from the French-Indian War.  Since the people of Britain were already being taxed about 28% of their income (sound familiar?), Parliament decided they could not bear further taxation.  So, they decided to levy taxes upon goods imported by the Colonists.  The issue with the Colonists was not the amount of the tax, but the very idea that Parliament could levy those taxes against the Colonists without their consent and those levying the taxes were not subject to them. 

By defying the Crown, these folks risked being accused and convicted of being traitors.  They risked losing everything, including their very lives.  It's something to think about.

Colonial Williamsburg

Recently, Princess E and I took a multi-day field trip to Colonial Williamsburg.  King J wasn't able to join us for the trip, and for safety reasons, I didn't post anything about the trip until we returned from it.

Of course, Princess E didn't want to behave, so she was immediately subjected to some Colonial-era punishment.  I'm kidding, of course.


We saw the carriages going through town transporting passengers throughout the historic area.


One of our stops was at the Weaver's Shop.  It was raining on this particular day, so there were very few people there.  The guide spent quite a while discussing the weaving process with us. 


Each day, we explored a different tavern.  On this day, we ate at Chowning's Tavern.  Even though it was unseasonably warm, we decided on soup.  I had a hearty bowl of brunswick stew and she selected potato-leek soup.  Both were absolutely delicious!  We learned that our habit of drinking ice water (with lemon) at mealtimes would have been extremely unlikely during the Colonial period.  Such delicacies were reserved for only the most special guests. 

Each morning, we had the opportunity to hear an interpreter portray a patriot.  This particular day, we heard from Colonel George Washington in character from 1775.  After speaking on the concerns with the British Parliament's handing down of the tea tax, which was objectional because it represented taxation without representation, he opened the floor for questions from the audience.  Princess E was among many who asked questions of the man who would later become our president. 

He made one statement which was met with uproarious applause.  When asked by a child how much money he made as a member of the House of Burgesses, he replied that the representatives were unpaid, other than a small travel stipend which was not even sufficient to cover the cost of traveling from his home in Mount Vernon.  Furthermore, he expressed his belief that representatives should not be paid as it would lead to corruption of those in office. 

Well said, Sir.  Well said.

During our tour of the Governor's Palace, we had the opportunity to go down into the cellar.  It was rather dark and chilly. 

We made several trips to the Nursery, where the guide allowed the children to participate in various gardening tasks.  In this photo, Princess E is drawing a pail of water from the well, under the close supervision of the gardener. 

In this one, she is watering the English cucumbers.  I learned that the Colonials did not care for tomatoes as a food; but instead preferred them as ornamental plants. 


Princess E had the chance to learn about the pasttimes of Colonial children.  Here, she practiced rolling a hoop. 

As with the Weaver, there were very few people around and the guide was able to spend time teaching Princess E how to play Mancala.  The game is still around today, although we learned we could make it from supplies at home with just an empty egg carton, 2 small bowls, and 48 little stones, marbles or pebbles. 

At the Peyton Randolph house, the table was set for the first course of the dinner (mid-day) meal.  Notice the boar's head in the center of the table.  Apparently, this was quite the delicacy.  For me, personally, anything that can see me, taste me, smell me, or think about me is not edible.  Please pass the cabbage, asparagus and ham, thank you very much.


Now, Princess E thoroughly enjoys playing with Lego's.  Here, at the Brickmaker, she learned about offsetting bricks to make them stronger.  The guide showed us how the brick is formed and then baked. 


One of the afternoons, we walked a different route back to the car.  The trail took us under the main road, through these arched brick passageways. 


This little squirrel sat on the fence and chattered at us.  I suspect he was protesting our presence near him. 


In all, we had an exciting, educational adventure in Colonial Williamsburg.