Category Archives: Our Homeschool

Bicycle Lessons

On 26 June 1819, W. K. Clarkson, Jr. of New York was granted a patent for a new and improved velocipede (“bicycle” was not a word yet) . This is the first bicycle made in the USA.

Inspired by this wonderful invention, bicycles will be our homeschool summer school lesson of the day. We will learn/review the parts of a bicycle, their proper names, and perform some maintenance checks before taking ride.

Below are the links we will follow for our bicycle study.

Timeline history of bicycles, virtual museum tour, and more http://www.bicyclemuseum.com/index.html

Fun bicycle facts here http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/kids/stories/morestories/ten-things-about-bikes/

Bicycle Safety Activity Kit downloads http://www.nhtsa.gov/people/injury/pedbimot/bike/bskitboth/3152bskit/pages/section1/section1toc.html

Care, Maintenance, Repairs http://www.kidzworld.com/article/5696-bike-repairs-and-maintenance

Because the kids like to watch stunts, we will some view some BMX tricks.

In case you’re wondering, I will be enforcing the “DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME” rule!

betty jo

Log Cabin

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According to my special days calendar, June 25 is Log Cabin Day, a day to appreciate the historic importance of log cabins. And it’s a day to remember what life was like a couple of hundred years ago when things weren’t so easy. Log cabins will be the topic of our homeschool/summer school lesson of the day.

We will go here for some general information and history about log cabins. Western Expansion: Log Cabin

Make a pretzel and graham cracker log cabin! https://www.marthastewart.com/272922/presidents-day-log-cabin

Milk Carton and Stick Craft http://www.dltk-kids.com/usa/mcabin.html

Check out these Dream Home Log Cabin Photos! https://loghome.com/articles/category/home-tours/

E, B, and I will watch an episode of Frontier House, a PBS documentry from a few years ago. It featured modern families who agreed to try homesteading like the pioneers would have in the 1800’s. (Some of the dialog may not be appropriate for younger children, so I’m hoping to distract Z and J with their Lincoln Log set.)

betty jo

Faries vs Aliens

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Sometimes this homeschooling mamma finds herself in a dilemma over lesson plans. For our homeschool/summer school we cover one subject per day usually chosen from my special days calendar and June 24 is both International Fairy Day and UFO Day.

Honestly, I’m not thrilled with either topic, but know my kids will have fun with them. Though I try to encourage creativeness, I realize that too much fantasy or imagination is not good. Before anyone has the opportunity for their imaginations to run away with them, we will have a Scripture based discussion of the dangers of too much imagination and how we are to think about such subjects as fairies or UFOs;

Jeremiah 7:24 “But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, but walked in the counsels and in the imagination of their evil heart, and went backward, and not forward.”

2 Corinthians 10:4-5 ^”(For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;”

With those Bible verses in our minds and hearts we will explore these unusual topics. E will want to do a study on fairies, while B, J, and Z will want to study UFOs. I suppose the best way to handle this is to let them have separate lessons (just this once).

I found a wonderful listing of links about fairies for E http://www.squidoo.com/fairyday#module159488057.

She has been wanting to design a fairy garden on the tree stump in the back yard, so International Fairy Day would be the perfect time for this type of project. She can transplant some of our flowers which are overcrowded in pots.

These are the links the boys can follow.

UFO facts for kids http://www.kidskonnect.com/component/content/article/15-educational/science/107-ufo.html

UFO photos http://www.alien-ufo-pictures.com/ufo_pictures4.html

UFO interactive game http://www.primarygames.com/arcade/skill/ufojoe/

betty jo

Considering the Moon

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Psalm 8:3^“When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars which you have set in place,”

Sunday, June 23 is the date for the Super Moon and an excellent opportunity to “consider the moon”. .

According to NASA, “The Moon will reach its closest distance to the Earth at exactly 7:32 am EDT (4:32 am PDT) on 23 June, but because it will be peaking in the early morning hours, both 22 June and 23 June will put on similar shows. So either day will be a good opportunity to see the larger-and-brighter-than-normal Supermoon.

This year the Supermoon will be up to 14% larger and 30% brighter than a typical Full Moon is. This is a result of the Moon reaching its perigree – the closest that it gets to the Earth during the course of its orbit.”

You can link to the full NASA article here http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/news/display.cfm?News_ID=44049

If interested in a moon unit study, I recommend the free lapbook resources Sun, Moon, and Stars. We used these last summer when we studied the moon missions. http://www.homeschoolshare.com/space_lapbook.php

For teachers and older students I recommend this article, The Moon: A Faithful Witness in the Sky. http://www.icr.org/articles/view/150/344/

This site has 200 “moon” related learning links! http://watchknowlearn.org/SearchResults.aspx?SearchText=moon&page=1

And for something a little silly and active try this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1EEynvjfljU

betty jo

Our Ocean Wall

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After a week of a blank chalkboard wall, tic-tac-toe, and random graffiti, we finally decided it was time for a new mural. I had thought a camping scene was a good idea for summer, but it was voted down. J and Z had been learning about coral reefs and ocean life in their summer school science lessons, so they wanted an under water scene.

I knew this was going to be a big project so we enlisted some friends to help. This is K, a friend from our homeschool support group. She did an awesome job on the plants, coral, purple fish, and pink dolphin.

I attempted a scuba diver. I truly appreciate working with chalk. It is so forgiving. A mistake is easily wiped off or blended in.

Z stayed busy on the floor with rocks, more plants, more fish and a very cute crab.

We added a shark for a bit of danger.

J wore his arm out coloring water. He colored some on the jelly fish, too.

A sea turtle, and clown fish were added.

Now presenting our completed Ocean Wall! It turned out to be one of our favorite murals yet.

For more about our chalk board wall click here https://stilllearningsomethingnew.com/one-of-our-favorite-things-the-wall/ , here https://stilllearningsomethingnew.com/2013/03/01/oops-i-forgot/, here https://stilllearningsomethingnew.com/2013/03/21/the-old-has-gone/ , and here https://stilllearningsomethingnew.com/2013/04/19/942/

For another post about our coral reef study click here https://stilllearningsomethingnew.com/2013/06/11/reef/

betty jo

Garfield (the Cat, Not the President)

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According to my special days calendar, June 19 is Garfield’s (the cat, not the president) birthday! We will be having fun learning with our favorite cat as part of our homeschooling summer school subject of the day.

I’ll be combining math, health, science, and life skills as the kids add up the calories contained in our crock pot lasagna kitchen project, and figure how much Wii Just Dance it will take to burn those calories.

We checked these out from the library for hilarious reading.

I found these links for the kids to follow for computer lab, art, and fun.

Garfield Online Comics

educational games http://www.professorgarfield.org/pgf_home.html

how to draw for younger kids http://www.dragoart.com/tuts/12843/1/1/how-to-draw-garfield-easy.htm

drawing for older kids http://www.my-how-to-draw.com/how-to-draw-garfield.html

games for fun http://www.garfield.com/fungames.html

And what would a Garfield themed day be without a nap? I’m putting that in our day’s plans, too.

betty jo

Mathematical Art

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“For me it remains an open question whether [this work]
pertains to the realm of mathematics or to that of art.”

– M.C. Escher

June 16 , 1898 is the birthday of mathematician/graphic artist M.C. Escher. He combined art with science and geometry. He created colorful and interesting tessellations, polyhedra, and topologies. His bizarre and fascinating works are more famous today, than they were during his lifetime.

As part of this weeks homeschooling summer school calendar studies, we will be following these links as we learn about M.C. Escher and attempt some mathematical art of our own.

Biography http://www.surfnetkids.com/go/205/about-mc-escher/

Picture gallery http://www.mcescher.com/Gallery/gallery-symmetry.htm

Art gallery tour https://www.nga.gov/features/slideshows/mc-escher-life-and-work.html

How to draw an impossible cube Escher style http://www.wikihow.com/Draw-an-Impossible-Cube

Online tessellation games http://www.mathcats.com/explore/tessellationtown.html

Printable worksheets http://printableworksheets.in/?dq=M%20C%20Escher

betty jo

Our Homeschooling Week Ending June 14

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This week E went to Tennessee with a friend’s family. She had a wonderful time camping. Here’s the cabin and it’s view.

While on the trip, E and her friend had the opportunity to spend the day in Nashville. They had lunch at an aquarium themed restaurant…

and then a visit to the zoo!

E wasn’t the only one to get an up-close look at animals this week. J and Z went to the library for Animal Tales, a live animal, “edZOOcational” program. Z was picked to assist the handler with the African Spurred Tortoise.After the program, Z was invited to pet a Woma Python!

At home this week, we have enjoyed these last days of spring observing the daily changes out in our yard. Our keyhole garden science project is growing like crazy! This week we picked the first Hungarian Pepper. The Jalopinos are ready to pick, too! It’s time to be thinking about adding fried green tomatoes to our menu.

Our Zinnias have blooms and we have our first Pansie.

Our Magnolia Tree is blooming too! It smells so good. I brought a couple of petals in to use as air freshener. (Our bathroom smells good, too.)

For more about Animal Tales click here https://stilllearningsomethingnew.com/2013/06/13/diggin-the-library/

For another post about our homeschooling garden science project click here https://stilllearningsomethingnew.com/2013/05/23/watching-our-garden-grow/

I hope you had a good week and wishing you another good week next week!

betty jo

Flag Day

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“This flag, which we honor and under which we serve, is the emblem of our unity, our power, our thought and purpose as a nation. It has no other character than that which we give it from generation to generation. The choices are ours. It floats in majestic silence above the hosts that execute those choices, whether in peace or in war. And yet, though silent, it speaks to us — speaks to us of the past, or the men and women who went before us, and of the records they wrote upon it.” (President Woodrow Wilson)

Americans have been celebrating Flag Day since before President Woodrow Wilson declared June 14 to be a national commemoration in 1916. We will have a flag and pledge study day as part of our summer calendar studies and a jump start on our upcoming American History unit studies.

Below are the best links I found for our homeschool to follow as we review and learn about our flag.

US Flag Picture Gallery http://www.ushistory.org/betsy/flagpics.html

Flag facts, etiquette, quotes, and instructions on how to cut a perfect 5 pointed star from the Betsy Ross homepage http://www.ushistory.org/betsy/

About the pledge and why it is important http://www.buzzle.com/articles/why-is-the-pledge-of-allegiance-important.html

pdf for the pledge in sign language http://www.legion.org/documents/legion/pdf/signingpledge.pdf

Flag Day word puzzles, coloring sheets, and more printables http://www.apples4theteacher.com/holidays/flag-day/printables/

Notebooking paper http://homeschoolhelperonline.com/holidays/flag-day/

Flag Facts, Activities, and more! https://www.franw.com/2011/07/united-states-flag.html

betty jo

Diggin’ the Library

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Our library’s summer reading program started this week. The reading challenge this year is read twelve books and when completed the kids get a book bag/back pack! This is a big deal for us. We have been getting new library bags this way for many summers. Z is confident that he’ll be first to complete the challenge in our house. The kids names will be entered in a drawings for e-readers and such, too.

I took Z and J to the library the library to get their challenge forms, check out some books and to see the first of five wonderful weekly children’s programs, Animal Tales! This is an “edZOOcational” live animal show. Today, we got a close up look at some very unusual creatures, Paraguayan Screaming Hairy Armadillo, Harris Hawk, Woma Python, and Egyptian Fruit Bat.

Z was called on to assist with the African Spurred Tortoise from by enticing it with a tomato to come out of his shell and crawl.

Z got to pet the Woma Python!J’s favorite place away from home is the library, and one of his least favorite places to be is anywhere where he has to sit still, be in a group, pay attention to someone, or listen to spontaneous sounds like laughing, clapping, or animals. I tried to be hopeful but prepared for a meltdown. I have learned that I can expect the unexpected with J. I had help come with us. A23 (the girl who adopted our family and who I love like a daughter) had a day off and agreed to come with us. She would have stayed with Z had it been necessary for me to leave with J. I explained to J that whether or not he got to bring home DVD’s and Wii games depended on how he acted during the animal show.

J did not sit with the children, but laid in the floor in front of A and me in the adult section. I thought he was “zoning out”, but then I caught him looking at the animals each time the handler introduced a new one. I was proud of him. I know it’s not normal behavior to go to a program and lay in the floor, but he was calm and quiet which is a BIG improvement. I didn’t notice any looks of disgust or sympathy from the other moms or librarians and I heard no comments about him either. Very unusual, but very nice. J was happy when the animal show was over and he was able to pick out some DVDs to bring home.