Today we discussed the structure of a tooth, and what happens when decay gets to the middle of the tooth and infects the root. Know why?? Do ya, do ya, do ya??? Because Mommy has to go to the dentist tomorrow for a root canal!! LOL Yes, the boys and I spent some time looking at my poor half-dissolved tooth, drawing a diagram of a tooth and discussing the root canal procedure as explained to me by my dentist, and then looking at DaddyO's tooth that had a root canal and crown applied about 10 years ago.
Tex and I read some of a dinosaur library book today. He gets really annoyed if I just try to read to him what the book says, so he looks at the pictures and says things like "What do you notice about this guy? What do you think is cool about him?" and I ask it back to him and then find little bits of the text to throw out as additional information to go with our observations. Today we noticed the depressions in the skin of 3 drawings of carnosaurs, and then spotted them a couple of pages later as openings in the actual skull of an Allosaurus. Tex is very interested in paleoartistry, where artists have to gather information from the fossils of a dinosaur such as where its ligaments were attached and any remaining skin evidence to create what they think is the most accurate picture of that creature.
Noodle and I worked up a new science experiment at Table Time today. It's the old standby of the celery in the food coloring. I've never done it before but DaddyO has and said it's pretty cool. We should have blueish celery in the morning. Hope it works!!!
At bedtime last night I introduced the concept of myths, not in the Mythbusters sense, but as legends. We were reading a book about insects that Noodle got from the library last week and I mentioned how spiders got their name (the story of Arachne and Athena) and told the myth as I remembered it from grade school. I explained that legends are stories that are so amazing and exciting that they pass down through the years simply because people enjoy them, true or not, while myths are something people use to explain why or how things happen. The boys were already familiar with the legend of the sun-god riding his chariot across the sky after watching Fantasia, so I was able to relate back to that.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
The drawbacks of Unschooling
Ok, not really, because it all evens out in the end, but some days I do find myself watching my children do (from my point of view) pointless playing all day and I just want to yell "learn something!!!" Sometimes I need a reminder that they spend their day learning whether I appreciate what they're learning or not.
Transformers reign supreme in The Berry Patch, and dontcha know that every toy company and kids' television channel out there has some kind of website to go with their products so that kids can get even more marketing shoved into their little brains. I was, however, pleasantly surprised to see that the Hasbro Transformers websites do have a couple of interesting games: one teaches keyboard familiarity by challenging kids to type a "secret code" in a time-sensitive situation, and the other uses a very kid-friendly program to help them put together a "video" of transforming bots and transition shots, corresponding sound effects and dialogue, and background music. It looks a LOT like the software DaddyO used to use when he would edit audio as the producer of a morning radio talk show. In fact DaddyO showed me Windows MovieMaker, which is a legit next step for Tex and Noodle after they outgrow the Transformers video or actually want to go further with their current filming jag. (Note: the kids are also getting an underwater video camera for Christmas this year, which I'm betting will lead to plenty of opportunities to learn editing.)
Table Time has continued. Tex worked some more on his dinosaur code book and is doing really well. He wanted me there to help but the only thing I did was point out when he was trying to read that he'd filled a letter in incorrectly. Oh, and I helped him sound out the word "sturdy". His reading has come along very well and I can see he's becoming more confident. Need to get his glasses fixed after Monkeygirl decided they'd make a good pretzel, though. We continued our table time with an experiment from Fetch! with Ruff Ruffman; identifying the marker used in a crime by the way the ink bleeds when wet. Tex took one piece of paper towel as his control and wrote a message on it without me being able to see which marker he used. Then he took that marker and two others of the same color, but different brands, and made three experimental swatches. He then got each one wet, allowed the water to bleed fully, and it was my job to match the correct marker to the control. I was surprised how really obvious the different inks were!
Our other fun, yesterday, was to identify the giant flying bug that I killed in the kitchen. As I scooped it up into a napkin Tex noted that it looked like a really big fly and must be a horsefly. We looked in our insect/spider book and sure enough it was an American horsefly, identifiable by its green eyes.
Transformers reign supreme in The Berry Patch, and dontcha know that every toy company and kids' television channel out there has some kind of website to go with their products so that kids can get even more marketing shoved into their little brains. I was, however, pleasantly surprised to see that the Hasbro Transformers websites do have a couple of interesting games: one teaches keyboard familiarity by challenging kids to type a "secret code" in a time-sensitive situation, and the other uses a very kid-friendly program to help them put together a "video" of transforming bots and transition shots, corresponding sound effects and dialogue, and background music. It looks a LOT like the software DaddyO used to use when he would edit audio as the producer of a morning radio talk show. In fact DaddyO showed me Windows MovieMaker, which is a legit next step for Tex and Noodle after they outgrow the Transformers video or actually want to go further with their current filming jag. (Note: the kids are also getting an underwater video camera for Christmas this year, which I'm betting will lead to plenty of opportunities to learn editing.)
Table Time has continued. Tex worked some more on his dinosaur code book and is doing really well. He wanted me there to help but the only thing I did was point out when he was trying to read that he'd filled a letter in incorrectly. Oh, and I helped him sound out the word "sturdy". His reading has come along very well and I can see he's becoming more confident. Need to get his glasses fixed after Monkeygirl decided they'd make a good pretzel, though. We continued our table time with an experiment from Fetch! with Ruff Ruffman; identifying the marker used in a crime by the way the ink bleeds when wet. Tex took one piece of paper towel as his control and wrote a message on it without me being able to see which marker he used. Then he took that marker and two others of the same color, but different brands, and made three experimental swatches. He then got each one wet, allowed the water to bleed fully, and it was my job to match the correct marker to the control. I was surprised how really obvious the different inks were!
Our other fun, yesterday, was to identify the giant flying bug that I killed in the kitchen. As I scooped it up into a napkin Tex noted that it looked like a really big fly and must be a horsefly. We looked in our insect/spider book and sure enough it was an American horsefly, identifiable by its green eyes.
Friday, August 21, 2009
Go with DaddyO to Work Day
Notes from DaddyO about his and Tex's day at the office:
Tex has not been very studious today, so when we sat down for lunch,
I decided to crack open the books. ;)
We discussed nouns, verbs, prepositions, articles, adjectives, and
adverbs. He seems to have a pretty good grasp of nouns and verbs. He's
nearly got prepositions, adjectives, and adverbs. I made an attempt at
explaining articles (definite vs indefinite) but don't think it quite
sank in.
I wrote several sentences and had him identify the nouns, verbs, and
adjectives. I used sentences to illustrate all the parts of speech. I
also was able to get Tex to retain the following definitions:
noun - people, place, and thing word (some discussion of proper and
common nouns)
verb - doing word
preposition - where nouns are
adjective - describes a noun
adverb - describes a verb
I was a bit surprised with how enthusiastic he was to discuss these
terms and pointing out the parts in example sentences I wrote.
Tex has not been very studious today, so when we sat down for lunch,
I decided to crack open the books. ;)
We discussed nouns, verbs, prepositions, articles, adjectives, and
adverbs. He seems to have a pretty good grasp of nouns and verbs. He's
nearly got prepositions, adjectives, and adverbs. I made an attempt at
explaining articles (definite vs indefinite) but don't think it quite
sank in.
I wrote several sentences and had him identify the nouns, verbs, and
adjectives. I used sentences to illustrate all the parts of speech. I
also was able to get Tex to retain the following definitions:
noun - people, place, and thing word (some discussion of proper and
common nouns)
verb - doing word
preposition - where nouns are
adjective - describes a noun
adverb - describes a verb
I was a bit surprised with how enthusiastic he was to discuss these
terms and pointing out the parts in example sentences I wrote.
Just the facts, mom
Results: the Gummi Bear grew, dude! Almost doubled in size! Tex and Noodle were so impressed, but me, I knew that was gonna happen the whole time. Totally.
Our next experiment was to rest a couple of pennies on a vinegar-soaked paper towel and record our results, which this morning consists of: "green splotches".
Great trip to the library yesterday. Found a biography of Charles Atlas for kids that was handy seeing as Tex is fascinated with body building and being able to SEE muscles under the skin. Oh, and speaking of under one's skin, we received our 18" plastic human skeleton and put it together yesterday. His jaw is hinged. Much puppetry ensued. I wonder how hard it's going to be to make costumes for our plastic skeleton guy...
And speaking of costumes (funny how I can just chase my thoughts around like that), Tex is currently working on props for their live-action Transformers film. Optimus Prime is going to be carrying a wicked foam-board axe.
Our next experiment was to rest a couple of pennies on a vinegar-soaked paper towel and record our results, which this morning consists of: "green splotches".
Great trip to the library yesterday. Found a biography of Charles Atlas for kids that was handy seeing as Tex is fascinated with body building and being able to SEE muscles under the skin. Oh, and speaking of under one's skin, we received our 18" plastic human skeleton and put it together yesterday. His jaw is hinged. Much puppetry ensued. I wonder how hard it's going to be to make costumes for our plastic skeleton guy...
And speaking of costumes (funny how I can just chase my thoughts around like that), Tex is currently working on props for their live-action Transformers film. Optimus Prime is going to be carrying a wicked foam-board axe.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Table Time a Rousing Success
Well, I'd say the kids are enjoying Table Time! Our first day was Monday, and we took it easy by doing some artsy stuff. Tex worked on drawing a Dilophosaurus (using his How to Draw Dinosaurs book, which starts with the basic ovals, etc. and adds detail from there) and instructed me to draw a "swampy, forest-y" background of "ferns, cycads, and gingkos". My ferns rocked, if I do say so myself. When the dino was drawn and colored we cut it out and Tex glued it to the background.
Since then we've been into science experiments. I picked up those chemistry sets for ages 5+ at Target's toy clearance since Noodle's been wanting to do some of this kind of stuff, and the grade school sets are really too advanced. Yesterday we did an experiment called "Dancing Powders" where you take some baking soda and some crystalline citric acid, measure out equal amounts of each, and the pour water on them to activate the chemical reactions. Noodle wanted to do it so many times (and using test tubes, cups, pipettes, and any other equipment he can round up) that I finally had to set him up with his own little bowls of each substance for mixing.
Tex and I, meanwhile, are working on a hypothesis. Another science experiment book (this one from the Target Dollar Spot) has instructions for seeing if a gummy bear will soak up water and grow larger. We didn't have any "real" Gummi Bears, so we used a gummy bear vitamin. We had to measure its length and width (he wrote the fractions out himself), trace its outline, and then put it in a cup, just covered with water. This morning we woke up to an almost completely dissolved gummy vitamin! As Tex observed, "I guess it got smaller, since it dissolved." We decided that perhaps the vitamins were of a different formula and did not behave the way a real Gummi Bear would, so we picked up a new bag of the real thing, measured and traced, and should have some results tomorrow.
And today's experiment was really fun! Take a wide cereal bowl, fill it almost full with skim milk, and wait for the milk to stop moving. Then at three equidistant points around the edge of the bowl you put drops of the primary colors of liquid food color (so for instance, red at 12 o'clock, blue at 4, and yellow at 8), being careful not to jostle or jiggle the bowl. Then you add 1 Tbsp of dish detergent right at the center of the bowl and get ready for a show! If I can figure out how to put up the video we shot of it, I will do that later.
Oh, and Tex's other big thing lately is substitution codes. We have this little dinosaur-themed workbook and on almost every page is the meaning of the dinosaur's name in picture code, and he's enjoying substituting the letters in working out what the words are. We also worked in one of the Puzzlemania books on a story where you have to fill in the word that fits each blank, then take the letters from the numbered blanks to complete the riddle at the end of the story. He tries a lot harder when he's reading words that he constructed on his own!! :-) We did these substitution codes for the entire hour that Noodle was in gymnastics class today.
Since then we've been into science experiments. I picked up those chemistry sets for ages 5+ at Target's toy clearance since Noodle's been wanting to do some of this kind of stuff, and the grade school sets are really too advanced. Yesterday we did an experiment called "Dancing Powders" where you take some baking soda and some crystalline citric acid, measure out equal amounts of each, and the pour water on them to activate the chemical reactions. Noodle wanted to do it so many times (and using test tubes, cups, pipettes, and any other equipment he can round up) that I finally had to set him up with his own little bowls of each substance for mixing.
Tex and I, meanwhile, are working on a hypothesis. Another science experiment book (this one from the Target Dollar Spot) has instructions for seeing if a gummy bear will soak up water and grow larger. We didn't have any "real" Gummi Bears, so we used a gummy bear vitamin. We had to measure its length and width (he wrote the fractions out himself), trace its outline, and then put it in a cup, just covered with water. This morning we woke up to an almost completely dissolved gummy vitamin! As Tex observed, "I guess it got smaller, since it dissolved." We decided that perhaps the vitamins were of a different formula and did not behave the way a real Gummi Bear would, so we picked up a new bag of the real thing, measured and traced, and should have some results tomorrow.
And today's experiment was really fun! Take a wide cereal bowl, fill it almost full with skim milk, and wait for the milk to stop moving. Then at three equidistant points around the edge of the bowl you put drops of the primary colors of liquid food color (so for instance, red at 12 o'clock, blue at 4, and yellow at 8), being careful not to jostle or jiggle the bowl. Then you add 1 Tbsp of dish detergent right at the center of the bowl and get ready for a show! If I can figure out how to put up the video we shot of it, I will do that later.
Oh, and Tex's other big thing lately is substitution codes. We have this little dinosaur-themed workbook and on almost every page is the meaning of the dinosaur's name in picture code, and he's enjoying substituting the letters in working out what the words are. We also worked in one of the Puzzlemania books on a story where you have to fill in the word that fits each blank, then take the letters from the numbered blanks to complete the riddle at the end of the story. He tries a lot harder when he's reading words that he constructed on his own!! :-) We did these substitution codes for the entire hour that Noodle was in gymnastics class today.
Monday, August 17, 2009
Tex the engineer
Optometrist: So what school are you going to this year?
Tex: I'm homeschooled.
O: Oh yeah? What grade are you doing?
T: I'm second grade.
O: And what's your favorite subject?
T: Engineering, of course!! :-)
At the advice of one of the books I'm reading, I asked Tex the other day what sorts of things he wanted to explore and learn this year. His immediate answer was "engineering and architect", and he further explained that he wanted to learn how to build a big, strong house of cards, a bamboo fishing pole, bamboo tent, and a paper spear (Mythbusters strike again?). The tent and fishing pole also led us to his desire to learn "survival skills", so Daddy-O (an Eagle Scout himself) suggested we get a Cub Scout manual and start learning some age-appropriate outdoor skills. I also received a fortuitous email from a homeschool list I'm on announcing the presence of an Outdoor Adventure Club that takes monthly nature hikes and camping trips! Sign us up!
Also, I have laid down the law regarding television on homeschool days. Now, since the TV my kids watch is almost exclusively "educational" in nature (yes, lately the occasional Transformers episode has slipped in) I don't stress too much if we go over the recommended daily allowance. So they are allowed to watch a little in the morning before we "start our day" (meaning: before Mommy is conscious enough to deal), a little bit during Monkeygirl's naptime when I need those crazies to be settled anyway, and a little bit when I'm making dinner and again need them entertained.
I'm looking forward to starting the practice of having Table Time for everyone during the day, so that I can help with the word puzzles that are too difficult to do at bedtime, or watch one child build a contraption while another paints. I love watching my children work in their own ways to get things done! And since I stocked up on science kits and the like during Target's Summer toy clearance time we have a lot of stuff ready to go, which is nice when you're dealing with little kids who want it to be ready the minute you even mention it's a possibility. ;-) Today is our first day, so wish us luck!
Tex: I'm homeschooled.
O: Oh yeah? What grade are you doing?
T: I'm second grade.
O: And what's your favorite subject?
T: Engineering, of course!! :-)
At the advice of one of the books I'm reading, I asked Tex the other day what sorts of things he wanted to explore and learn this year. His immediate answer was "engineering and architect", and he further explained that he wanted to learn how to build a big, strong house of cards, a bamboo fishing pole, bamboo tent, and a paper spear (Mythbusters strike again?). The tent and fishing pole also led us to his desire to learn "survival skills", so Daddy-O (an Eagle Scout himself) suggested we get a Cub Scout manual and start learning some age-appropriate outdoor skills. I also received a fortuitous email from a homeschool list I'm on announcing the presence of an Outdoor Adventure Club that takes monthly nature hikes and camping trips! Sign us up!
Also, I have laid down the law regarding television on homeschool days. Now, since the TV my kids watch is almost exclusively "educational" in nature (yes, lately the occasional Transformers episode has slipped in) I don't stress too much if we go over the recommended daily allowance. So they are allowed to watch a little in the morning before we "start our day" (meaning: before Mommy is conscious enough to deal), a little bit during Monkeygirl's naptime when I need those crazies to be settled anyway, and a little bit when I'm making dinner and again need them entertained.
I'm looking forward to starting the practice of having Table Time for everyone during the day, so that I can help with the word puzzles that are too difficult to do at bedtime, or watch one child build a contraption while another paints. I love watching my children work in their own ways to get things done! And since I stocked up on science kits and the like during Target's Summer toy clearance time we have a lot of stuff ready to go, which is nice when you're dealing with little kids who want it to be ready the minute you even mention it's a possibility. ;-) Today is our first day, so wish us luck!
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Second grade goals
Finally got through What Your Second Grader Needs to Know and have come up with an overview of what Tex should accomplish by the end of the school year. Some of these things require mastery, while others are suggestions of things with which he should have a passing familiarity. I try to meet the spirit of the basic requirements without restricting my kids from exploring things in their own way and time.
Language Arts
Language Arts
- continuing to read fables and folktales to illustrate good character and principles
- label basic parts of speech (noun, verb, adjective, etc.) and learn about abbreviations/contractions as well as antonyms/synonyms
- be able to identify continents, some large countries and major cities, a few oceans, rivers, or other bodies of water, and some major mountain ranges
- have some understanding of ancient world history and the discoveries of important civilizations (Babylon, Egypt, Greece, Rome, India, China, Africa...)
- early American history - basically any and everything -- from the natives to the first explorers, colonists, Western pioneers, and up to the Revolutionary War -- in which they are interested
- as much hands-on experience as possible -- take kids to see performances or put on some ourselves, listen to poetry read aloud, see and discuss artwork and architecture
- introduction to different instruments and how they are classified into groups
- anything about the parts of a song, how plays are written, mediums of visual arts, etc.
- practice, practice, practice, in fun and useful ways
- memorization of basic addition and subtraction tables, skip counting, evens/odds, Roman numeral introduction, adding and subtracting time on an analog clock, learn HOW to +/- 3-digit numbers, and begin memorizing multiplication tables
- always practicing geometry, money, measurements, fractions, and word problems
- human body - cells into tissue into organs into systems
- life cycles of animals/plants and how they relate to the seasons
- lots of hands-on experience with animals, plants, and nature
- biographies of important zoologists, animal activists, doctors, etc.
- the products of chemistry such as plastics, hands-on simple chem experiments
- how meteorologists gather data, how weather systems form
- the history of astronomy and how stars can be used to find direction, and how/why the sky changes with the seasons
- the behavior of light and sound, other physics basics
- simple machines, introduction to basic engineering and technology
- more awareness of the Scientific Method in everyday play
- biographies of important scientists
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