Visit a Floating Museum
I love it when I hear about out-of-date things being re purposed, so I was thrilled to hear about something that is re purposed to provide an exciting supplement to regular education. The USS Midway is a retired aircraft carrier that is now a floating museum that provides exciting and engaging learning opportunities. The focus is on real-life math and science as well as the history linked to the aircraft carrier itself. The curriculum was designed by a Wheelock College graduate, Sarah Mann Hanscom.
If you are in the San Diego area, you and your children can actually take part in the hands-on learning that happens here. The activities on the ship are geared towards children in grades 2-8. There are also pre- and post-visit materials available for grades 4-8. Since the museum is in California, the activities are all linked to the California Content Standards. Your whole family can stay the night, too! There is a long waiting list, so you have to make reservations about 6 months in advance. Reservations open on August 18th.
What a unique opportunity for your family to learn together and have some fun!
Filed under Lesson Plans | Comment (0)Review, Review, Review
Practice makes progress, right? Practice can be boring, though. However, review is essential to make sure that your children are retaining what they are learning. How do you review? Here are a few ideas to spice up the review that you know you need to do.
Try keeping instructional items around for a while after you have finished using them. We studied Noah’s ark a while ago, but we still use the puzzle and toys related to the story. I have projects that the kids made that they still use. There are games from other units that we still play with. Keeping those things around feeds imaginative play and gives the children the opportunity to really own the concepts they learned. Additionally, it helps you to make on-the-spot observations and corrections to misconceptions.
More active review is also important. Trivia games are a great way to review and add a level of excitement. You could really play it up and turn it into a whole game show with prizes. Other games including “Go Fish” and “Concentration” also make review more interesting. Make your own set of cards for this game. For example, for a vocabulary review game, one card would have the vocabulary word and the other card would have the definition on it.
Have the kids be the teacher. This is a great opportunity to have the kids practice their public speaking skills, too. You and other children pretend that you know nothing about the topic. Then the “teacher” has to explain the topic very clearly to the group. Then the group can use a scoring guide to evaluate the performance of the “teacher”. You can make it like American Idol even to make it more interesting for older kids. Take the “teacher” idea one step farther and have each child create a paper and pencil test for the material being reviewed. The test must be high-quality, and there must be an answer sheet included.
Try something new to make your review more intersting and engaging.
Filed under Lesson Plans | Comment (0)Safety Project
We recently heard about a poster contest at my husband’s work. The theme is “safety at home”. This is a topic that has become pretty important to us since our children are pretty precocious and get into everything despite all of our baby proofing efforts. They climb everything. They remove the baby proofing devices. And they always seem to find something that I forgot to put away like the permanent markers that were left out in an accessible place. (Alas, that is a story for another time…)
In order to prepare to make our poster, we are learning about safety at home first. We started today with learning about the letter “x”. My daughter wanted to work on that particular letter anyway, and it works well for safety lessons. You can use “x” to cross out anything that is not safe for the children to touch.
Start with how to write the letter “x”. The kids love writing on the chalkboard, so we took turns writing the letter on the board. Then we made a Xavier the Pirate craft. (Hat Tip: First-School and DLTK) We made ours into a stick puppet, though. We love pirates so we ran with that theme and dressed up as pirates to go on a “safety hunt” instead of a treasure hunt. Xavier helped us to hunt around our home for things we should not touch (especially the things that the kids have been known to find). We marked those things with the letter “x” as a reminder to not touch these things. (Yes, we used the same permanent marker that the children got into before!) We looked mostly for things like medicines, soaps, mouthwash, and things related to fire.
I love the kinesthetic nature of this project and hope that it helps the kids to remember the lesson we’re learning here. By giving the children the opportunity to find and mark the untouchable items, they are taking ownership of this rule. The lesson played on their interests as well – a pretending and dressing up game – to draw them in. Also, seeing what each of the “no touch” items look like will give them a point of reference if they are in someone else’s home. Even though the item might not be marked with an “x”, they might recognize it as a “no touch” item simply by sight. Hopefully, all of their active participation in the project will help them grasp the meaning of the lesson giving my a little peace of mind and giving them some ideas for their poster.
Only Human
One of the most difficult realizations that I had when I found out I was pregnant for the first time was that my mother would never be able to share this experience with me. She would never be able to share what her pregnancies were like, or give me advice and encouragement. She wouldn’t hold my beautiful baby, or show me all of the little tricks that mothers share with each other. My mother desperately wanted to be a grandmother, and it would have brought her great joy to be with my children. I would have been delighted to watch her with them. That hole will be in my heart forever; I miss her every day. But she was only human.
The other day I heard the angst in my father’s voice because he felt inadequate as my parent. I needed help and advice that only a mother can give. He really wanted to help me, but he just couldn’t. He is the only parent that my sister and I have, and he juggles his time to meet everyone’s needs, but he is unable to do it all. He has been a great dad and “Papa”. The children adore him and cherish the time they have with him. It blesses my heart to watch him with the kids. But he is only human.
When my first baby was born, I found that I couldn’t do everything. I was in despair because I felt utterly alone and incompetent. No one was able to help me. No one had the time to rock my baby or do my dishes. No one was able to quench my thirst for a mother to take care of me while I took care of everyone else. No one really understood what the problem was. But my friends and family are only human.
I am only human.
Who was going to fill that hole? Who was going to quench my thirst? Who was going to save me?
Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” John 4:13-14John 4:13-14
English: World English Bible - WEB
13 Jesus answered her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again,
14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never thirst again; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.”
Yes, Jesus is the answer! After discovering again that Jesus was the only one who could save me, I began to pray scripture and ask for healing. I have been dealing with the loss now and moving forward. I am only human, but Jesus is fully human and fully divine. He came to earth to save me. It is His job to save me; no one else can do that for me.
Yes, I am only human.
I do not have a mother of my own here on this earth, but I am a good mother and maybe even a better mother because of it. You must think that I am crazy. I am a better mother because I do not have a mother? It is true. Although there are days that I feel discouraged and desperately want my mom, I know that, in the end, my dependence on God makes me a better parent. God provides what no one else can, and He fills that hole in my heart. God is not a mere human. God is the ultimate parent, and He is mine.
For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. Psalm 139:13-14Psalm 139:13-14
English: World English Bible - WEB
13 For you formed my inmost being.
You knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I will give thanks to you,
For I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Your works are wonderful.
My soul knows that very well.
Dance, Music, Memories
My family loves music and dancing, so I incorporate both into our school day as much as possible. We are always singing, and I can’t stop dancing! I guess we have a rockin’ home school!
Dancing is a great way of burning some energy on days when we are stuck inside. In order to make things a little more interesting, this past week we went to the library and borrowed some great dance music. We listened just for fun a couple of times first. Then on a day when we were stuck inside, I put on some Latin music and taught the kids the basic step for salsa. We danced for about 20 minutes. It was a really great workout for me and loads of fun for the kids!
What is it about music that brings such joy? “Let them praise his name with dancing and make music to him with tambourine and harp.” (Psalm 149:3Psalm 149:3
English: World English Bible - WEB
3 Let them praise his name in the dance!
Let them sing praises to him with tambourine and harp!) God created music for us, and He wants to sing and dance to praise Him. Why not enjoy this gift with your children? It is so uplifting to move your body, so when you and the kids are in a sour mood, try putting on your favorite tunes, and dance up a storm!
Dancing is a great way to enhance your physical education program as well. Starting a unit on dance will change things up a little bit, and maybe your children’s coordination will improve in the process. It is always great when you can take part in the activities that your children engage in, so learn some different dances together, especially ones that will come in handy at weddings and the like. You can also study the different cultures that the dances come from.
Music plays an integral part in dancing as well. You can teach your children about the rhythm, the particular instruments used in the music, and a little about music theory (if you can get your hands on a copy of the sheet music). Learning about the particular style of music opens a window into a culture, too. You can also study the lives of different musicians or composers known for a certain type of music. Maybe you have a budding musician or composer in your home!
Families all have something that makes them special and unique. In my family growing up dancing was that something special. My mother always wanted to be a dancer, so dancing was her passion. I have great memories of dancing with my mom. We laughed and had so much fun. It was just something that defined my family, and I cherish those memories today. Why not make a few memories with your kids?
Filed under Lesson Plans | Comment (0)My Adventure Bag
We love to go on adventures, and here is one way that we plan to get the most out of our summer fun – an adventure bag!
We went to The Garden in the Woods today to hike. When we checked in today, they presented us with a bag full of goodies. It included binoculars, a magnifying glass, a BINGO game, a bug handbook, and a small journal with crayons. I thought that it was a fabulous idea! The kids loved everything in the bag, and the supplies certainly enhanced the trip. I’ve been thinking about it a little more, and I think we’ll take an adventure bag with us when we go out adventuring.
Take apart the bag for a moment. Think about why certain items should be included. The science journal with colored pencils is the most important component of the bag. This journal will keep a record of your child’s science work for a particular unit of study. Being required to accurately draw a picture of something in the journal will also cause your child to observe more carefully and think. Your child will also practice writing for a different purpose in this journal. This is a great way to get your reluctant writer to do a little writing. It is often easier to write about experiences and something tangible than something abstract.
The other components of the bag basically add to the quality of your child’s observations. The binoculars and magnifying glass make it possible to look closely at something and create an accurate drawing of it. This allows your child to use real tools to make observations with. It takes practice to master using these tools correctly. This is a chance to take risks with those skills since there isn’t any pressure on a family hike.
I love the idea of including a handbook or field guide. Your reluctant reader might be more willing to read up on exciting creatures and interesting plants knowing that you are heading out on an adventure. The photographs and illustrations in these books also make it much more compelling to read while the shorter bits of text make it less intimidating. You might look for particular animals or plant life from the book while on the hike, too.
If you bring a camera, your child can document the trip in photographs. What a great opportunity to try out a different medium for art! Depending on how much you know about photography, you can help your child with composing a shot and using lighting in an artistic way. Your child could use the photographs in a scrapbook if you like.
Additionally, I would include a small first aid kit in the bag. We have had many incidents that require first aid while we are hiking. Also talk about basic safety before you go adventuring and review some basic rules for the trip (stay with the group, don’t jump into the water, don’t eat anything you see growing, etc.).
Of course, it would be too much to try out all of the ideas on one adventure trip, but it us great to have all of your important adventuring tools in one place. It allows you to go out on a hike, and follow your child’s lead to see which tools from the trusty adventure bag s/he uses. Go out and have fun with your adventure bag!
