Category Archives: summer school

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Because we’ve been having an abundance of craziness and busyness this week, I thought that we wouldn’t “do school” today. But… it’s Friday the 13th!

I’m wowed by the resources and links I have saved up for a study on superstitions do use on a Friday the 13th. Surely we’ll be able to make a little time to learn about superstitions because this stuff is INTERESTING! Below are the sites and resources I found to share with you just in case you can make time for a little superstition too.

Origins of common superstitions explained at Live Science http://www.livescience.com/33507-origins-of-superstitions.html

Behavioral psychology in regards to superstitions discussed from Kids Net Encyclopedia http://encyclopedia.kids.net.au/page/su/Superstition

13 Superstitious Writing Prompts https://cecileswriters.wordpress.com/2012/04/13/superstitious-prompts/

Free Printable “Black Cat” border writing paper https://www.teacherfiles.com/resources_bp_holidays.htm

20 +free superstition worksheets from Busy Teacher (you’ll need an account, but it’s easy to set up) http://busyteacher.org/classroom_activities-vocabulary/superstitions-worksheets/

Common Superstitions and Why We Have Them (article, video, graphics) https://medium.com/ecom-tips/common-superstitions-why-do-we-have-them-b701245e8ca7

Superstition origins video from Mental Floss (this one’s for the older kids) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFyDUaSi-5w

Mathematical Properties of the Number 13 http://www.numbergossip.com/13

To keep this study in the right perspective we’ll include 1 Timothy 4:7 with this study. “People tell silly stories that don’t agree with God’s truth. Don’t follow what these stories teach. But teach yourself to be devoted to God.”

And finally some music, which my kids will consider ancient history, but saying such a thing may bring them some bad luck!

betty jo

Story Telling With Aesop’s Fables

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Today is our first “special day” study of the summer. Aesop! The calendar says June 4 is his birthday, but his history doesn’t have that exact information recorded. Around 620-560 BC was his time. Below are the links that we’re going to follow as we not only learn about Aesop and read his works, but as we practice public speaking and communication through story telling. The project will be to learn an Aesop fable well enough to present it orally. Retelling is an awesome way to check for reading comprehension and concept understanding as well as being a great communication skill.

A brief biography http://www.findingdulcinea.com/features/profiles/a/aesop.html

Aesop quotes that are as relevant today as they were back in his day http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/a/aesop.html

Fables to read with discussion questions and quizzes, activities, and vocabulary glossary http://www.mcwdn.org/fables/fabadult.html

Tips for good story telling

Articles

For an added challenge, I’m going to have the kids retell a lesson they have personally learned by substituting animals as the characters just as Aesop had done. And of course, we’ll add some art to the lesson. Illustrations are a fantastic way to enhance a story. This is my “go to” site for art/drawing instructions when we need a little tutoring, and it seems like they have a good variety of drawing animal instructions if we need it. http://www.dragoart.com/animals-for-kids-c408-1.htm

This is a 24 video collection of animated Aesop fables, because summer studies should always include a movie inside under the air conditioning during the hot afternoon.

For the complete listing of Special Days in June click here Special Days in June, 2018

I plan on participating myself with our Aesop studies. I certainly have a long list of personal lessons learned that could be put into a short story. After all, he did teach that, “Example is the best precept” and “Better wise from the misfortunes of others than by your own”.

betty jo

Our Homeschool Week Ending 7/19

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This week was very little studying and a lot of tomatoes. Our keyhole garden science project is producing tomatoes. We are picking about 15-20 ripe ones a day! For just six plants, I’m impressed. I remember last year we couldn’t get anything to grow.

We shared a few of them, but kept the rest.

Gallons of chili mix for the deep freezer! The tomatoes and 3 kinds of peppers are from our garden experiment. Spices added and smelled great, considering it’s like 100 degrees out side and no one is wanting chili. All we’ll have to do is add the meat and and beans when we’re ready to cook chili.

We will share more later when it’s time for church and homeschool group chili suppers.

No more summer schooling for us. We are taking the rest of July off. The kids can just have some downtime and fun. I’m going to be having fun too, but downtime isn’t going to be happening. I’ll be organizing my resource links, and making lists, finding back to school bargains, and changing some organization strategies , and wearing out my printer, and running out of ink, and…

For more about our keyhole garden science project click here https://stilllearningsomethingnew.com/2013/04/14/homeschool-gardening/

and here https://stilllearningsomethingnew.com/2013/05/23/watching-our-garden-grow/

betty jo

Rembrandt

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According to my July’s special days calendar, artist Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn, was born July 14, 1606. He will be the subject of our homeschool/summer school lesson of the day. (And an excuse to bake a birthday cake. Studies are always better with cake.)

I so agree with Rembrants parents. They recognized that their son had talent and provided him with opportunities to study so that he could be his possible best. And because of that, he developed into one of the world’s most famous artists. If only they would have taught him money management skills too, as he became bankrupt from overspending.

Below are the links we will be following for our Rembrandt study.

For a brief biography, gallery, quiz, printables, and more we will go here http://www.gardenofpraise.com/art44.htm

For notebooking, we will use the free artist biography page https://practicalpages.wordpress.com/2010/03/03/latest-famous-artists-biography-pages/ (Sorry, but you’ll need to copy and paste the link.)

For a tour and documentary of the Rembrandt House we will click here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmcR4Iqzuio

Because we like mysteries, we’ll research the theft of this piece. It has never been recovered.

(Christ in the Storm on the Sea of Galilee)

And we may even make a bit of a mess and try some impasto (Rembrandt style 3D) painting. http://www.crayola.com/lesson-plans/impasto-presto!-lesson-plan/

Artist studies are one of my favorite homeschooling subjects. I always try including artists on our history timeline or our calendar studies. For other artist posts click here https://stilllearningsomethingnew.com/2013/04/12/leonardo-da-vinci/, here https://stilllearningsomethingnew.com/2013/04/06/raphael/, and here https://stilllearningsomethingnew.com/2013/03/07/art-day-sistine-chapel-style/

For my listing of July’s special days, click here https://stilllearningsomethingnew.com/2013/06/28/julys-special-days/

betty jo

Our Homeschooling Week Ending July 12

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Our homeschooling summer school week was relaxed (as summer school should be.) Only B and E had places to go and they didn’t need me to take them. I enjoyed my time at home working on the plans for our everything American history studies starting in September. I also had some awesome opportunities to share homeschooling ideas with a few ‘newbies’.

We have been picking peppers and tomatoes daily from our homeschooling garden science project. We’ve had the privilege to share some too!

Not all is well in the garden. A month or so ago, the two year old neighbor uprooted and broke one of our plants. We re-planted it in hopes that it would be fine. It looks sad, but still has tomatoes growing on its only green vine.

E17 was in the kitchen this week. This newest recipe was a huge hit. Sauteed steak, mushrooms, and onions stuffed in a pepper half and topped with cheese and baked. She also made yummy potato wedges to go with.

Z went to the Dome Theater show at our local library. He particularly enjoyed the volcano parts. .

Z and J have started a new chapter book series, Cork and Fuzz by Dori Chaconas. I’m impressed with these tales of an unlikely friendship and I’m happy the boys are enjoying them. We will be checking out more of them soon. Our local library has the entire collection.

We had a much appreciated break from the humidity and heat the past couple of days. It was wonderful spending time in the yard and taking some summer school studies outside.

While spending time in our backyard, we enjoyed the neighbors rose bushes. I love their garden which boarders our yard. They do all the work and I get to witness all the beauty.

This week was the most relaxing, no pressure week I’ve had in a long time. I hope yours was as well.

betty jo

For more about our science project garden click here https://stilllearningsomethingnew.com/2013/04/14/homeschool-gardening/ and here https://stilllearningsomethingnew.com/2013/05/23/watching-our-garden-grow/

For more about this week’s summer school studies click here https://stilllearningsomethingnew.com/2013/07/08/the-liberty-bell/ and here https://stilllearningsomethingnew.com/2013/07/12/studying-ramadan/

Studying Ramadan

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According to my special days calendar for July, the Muslim holiday Ramadan started on the 9th and continues for thirty days. Other than knowing that it is a time of fasting followed by a celebration for those of the Islamic faith, I know very little about the holiday. With the current estimated Muslim population being over 1.6 billion, I think learning more about Ramadan is something we need to add to our summer school calendar studies.

Below are the links we are using for our Ramadan study.

The Homeschool Buzz has a free download for a Ramadan activity book designed for children 5 to 7 years. I think this is an excellent source for all of us who are not familiar with the holiday regardless of age. I learned a great deal and I’m sure others who are not of the Muslim faith would also. I appreciate the work and creativity put into this resource and the willingness to share. You can download the Ramadan activity book here. http://pakistanhomeschooler.wordpress.com/2013/07/11/ramadan-activity-book-free/

For a Ramadan guide that is not in a pdf format click here http://www.msichicago.org/scrapbook/scrapbook_exhibits/catw2004/traditions/countries/ramadan.html

Several basic Ramadan information links here http://www.socialstudiesforkids.com/subjects/ramadan.htm

The Huffington Post has put together a photo album of current Ramadan pictures from around the world http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/10/ramadan-2013-pictures_n_3573707.html

For traditional Ramadan recipes from around the world click here http://allrecipes.com/HowTo/Ramadan/Detail.aspx

Click here for my July’s special days calendar https://stilllearningsomethingnew.com/2013/06/28/julys-special-days/

betty jo

The Liberty Bell

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“Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof” Leviticus 25:10

The Pennsylvania State House bell was rung to summon the people of Philadelphia to gather for the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence on July 8, 1776. Though the bell wouldn’t be called the Liberty Bell until years later, the bell’s message of liberty certainly rang that day.

The Liberty Bell and the mystery of it’s crack will be our homeschool/summer school lesson of the day. Below are the links we will follow for this brief study.

For starters we will take an up-close look at the Liberty Bell in this short virtual tour.

Next, we’ll read some famous quotes about the Liberty Bell. http://www.ushistory.org/libertybell/quotes.html

I like these Liberty Bell themed notebooking pages for copywork and journaling. http://notebookingfairy.com/2011/05/liberty-bell-notebooking-page/

I’ll also print off a detailed coloring sheet from Activity Village http://www.activityvillage.co.uk/fourth_of_july_colouring_pages.htm

And while we are coloring we will be listening to The Liberty Bell March. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6Dd0EaEbqg

There is Liberty Bell curriculum available for free from the National Park Service. We will read a few of the articles and I’ll be asking the discussion questions that it suggests in the lesson plans. https://www.nps.gov/inde/learn/historyculture/stories-libertybell.htm

betty jo

Fireworks

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These photos were taken at our city’s riverfront last night. It was our family’s second year to attend their annual event. A few of the families in our neighborhood have been celebrating Independence Day all week and we have seen some beautiful fireworks and heard some BOOMS. Z has been excited and J has tried to be tolerant. They have had some questions. My answer is the same for each of them, “Let’s google it”. Our search resulted in our homeschooling summer school lesson of the day and covers the subjects of history, science, and because we use the internet, computer lab gets a “check”. We have a community service project also. (There is quite a bit of firework trash to be picked up in the neighborhood yards and street.)

Below are J’s and Z’s questions and the links to the answers.

“Where do fireworks come from?” “The birthplace of fireworks is generally recognized as China, with the first explosive mixture found being black powder, during the Sung dynasty (960-1279)” For the rest, click this link to the brief article, The History of Fireworks http://www.pyrouniverse.com/history.htm

“Why do we celebrate the 4th of July with fireworks?” According to Slate, that answer is , “Because John Adams wanted us to. Before the Declaration of Independence was even signed, he envisioned fireworks as a part of the festivities. In a letter to Abigail Adams on July 3, 1776, he wrote that the occasion should be commemorated “with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more.” The first commemorative Independence Day fireworks were set off on July 4, 1777.” You can link here for the full article. http://www.slate.com/articles/life/explainer/2012/07/history_of_fireworks_in_america_why_do_we_celebrate_fourth_of_july_with_fireworks_.html

“What makes fireworks explode in different colors?” According to a post from the Interactive Technology Experience Center’s Facebook page, “Sodium produces yellow/gold colors. Barium creates green, copper compounds produce blue, strontium salts give you red and titanium metals give you silver coloured sparks.
Other commonly used chemicals are carbon which provides the fuel, oxidizers which produce oxygen for burning, magnesium which increases the overall brilliance and brightness, antimony that gives you a “glitter” effect and calcium which deepens the colors.”
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Interactive-Technology-Experience-Center-iTEC/115400341904918

“How do fireworks work?” We found the answer in this video from Science Kids and The Franklin Institute. http://www.sciencekids.co.nz/videos/chemistry/fireworks.html

“Can we make some fireworks?” We don’t have to google this answer, I already know it, “NO!”

betty jo