Gracious, We Have Been Busy!

Lately, I haven't had time to blog.  We have been running in all different directions.  Between library classes, dance lessons, choir practices, extra rehearsals, and just every day life, I haven't had time to sit down and type!  So, here is a recap of all the library classes we have done. 

Straw Rocket Fun at Woodruff Library

We trekked down to Woodruff the other day.  The kids were delighted to make paper rockets using straws and launch them.  It was quite a novel idea.  We learned about thrust and trajectory.  Of course, trajectory for Little Man was to try and hit his sister with the rocket.  Thank goodness, they were light weight and made from construction paper!

 

Can You Walk on a Paper Cup?

The children were challenged by Mr. Jack at the Chesnee library to walk on paper cups.  This became a delight to figure out how much weight a paper cup could hold.  Of course, Mr. Jack explained how the shape of the object provided strength.  He connected it to bone structure and architectural structures.  He then made two groups and had them create a platform held up by paper cups for Little Man to walk across the room. 

After the groups built the movable platform, they were challenged to make a tall, yet strong tower from cups.  The groups worked for twenty minutes trying to build the 'best' structure.  Everyone seemed to have a different idea.  Some towers crashed and some held several books.  It was a fun day of engineering.

Catapult Fun in Landrum

The children made catapults with Ms. Lissell at the Landrum library.  They banded popsicle sticks together with rubber bands and attached a plastic spoon.  Soon, everyone was launching Ping-Pong balls through the air.  They had a contest to see who could launch the Ping-Pong ball the furthest.  I think they had more fun launching them at each other!

Book Tasting Feast

Ms. Jean introduced the children to the different genres of books during the Headquarters library program.  She explained a little about each type and wanted the children to sample a variety of books.  They had a 'menu' to fill out.  They chose different books and read a page or two in each book.  Then they filled out the menu to share with others. 

Duct Tape Survival

Egee went to the School of Thought Teen home school class this year.  They learned to make various objects using only duct tape.  Of course, she enjoyed it.  I see us buying more duct tape soon!

Where In the World Are You?

Little Man and his buddies learned more about geography this month at the Inman Library program.  They reviewed the continents and oceans; then they traveled to Romania.  He learned about Nadia Comaneci, Dracula, and Bucharest. 

Breakneck Teen Bistro

Egee continued learning new things to make in the microwave this month.  Ms. Sara taught the teens how to make burritos and a pudding cake.  Egee was more than happy to make a Mexican dish.  It must have been really good, because she didn't save me a bite to sample!  Oh, well, I guess she will have to fix it for lunch one day.

I believe that is all the library classes we have attended for the past month!  Now to just catch up on all the other stuff we have done. 

Writer's Toolkit

The home school class at the downtown library was about writing.  Ms. Jane had the tables set up and eagerly introduced the subject. 

Little Man was not thrilled.  He's my struggling writer.  Egee was very excited.  She had just recently purchased a journal and carries it everywhere.  Like my own two, the girls seemed excited and the boys were not thrilled with the topic of class.  I had a feeling that Ms. Jane sensed this.

She explained to the children that writing takes time and if it was practiced daily, it would become easier.  She showed them autobiographical books her own children made.  She emphasized that just writing a sentence or two a day on anything that interests them would eventually lead to more sentences.  (I think that was more for the benefit of the parents.)

She challenged the children to write during the class.  She offered them suggestions and they set about the task of writing.  Egee chose to do an instructional writing.  Little Man wrote about basketball.  All the children stayed on task.  They enjoyed illustrating their writings.

At the end of class, Ms. Jane asked the children if they would like to share their writings.  Several children volunteered to read.  It amazed me how many children volunteered to stand before the class of somewhat strangers and read.  When I taught ps, the kids never wanted to get up in front of their peers.  The main difference between the home school and the public school children, is that the home school children never criticize or laugh at what another child reads.  The ages of the children varied from 6 years to 12 years old.  Their writings consisted of two sentences to a page.  Some of the younger children wrote better than the older, but no one poked fun at this.  They were all learning together and encouraged each other to do their best.  How wonderful! 

Egee told me that the girl sitting in front of her could not write very well.  The girl was about her age.  Egee helped her with the writing and spelled words for her.  Egee didn't think anything of it.  She told the girl, that eventually she would get the hang of it and not to worry.  Everyone learns at their own pace!  The girl was so proud of her writing, she volunteered to read it to the class.  Although, just a couple of sentences, she stood with confidence while reading. 

Moments like this confirms my decision to home school my children.  Everyone does learn at their own pace and I am happy that my own children recognize this. 

A Visit to Australia - Headquarters Library Home School Class

The children visited Australia today.  Thanks, to a fellow homeschooling family that presented and shared a piece of their three month adventure to Australia. 

We entered the classroom and saw tables filled with different things representing the Land of Down Under.  A table with wood pieces that resembled rain sticks, which we learned were didgeridoos.  Another table was filled with stuffed animals that represented different animals of Australia.  Boomerangs sat upon another table.  Books were displayed about the country at the front table. 

Ms. Jane introduced the Woodfin family to the children.  The Woodfin boys had created a powerpoint presentation to share with the children.  The younger Woodfin boy played a game of what sound is this.  He was really outgoing and eager to share his experiences. 

The children liked the sound game and learned some interesting facts about different animals and instruments of Australia. 

Mrs. Woodfin passed out a scavenger hunt list for the children.  She explained how they were to explore all the things in the room.  The children were eager to look at the treasures and partake in snacks. 

At the end of the program, Mrs. Woodfin played a couple of videos for the children.  One was one the 'unofficial national anthem' of Australia, "Waltzing Matilda".  She explained the meaning of the song to the children.  We learned about the different vocabulary used in the song and then wandered why they chose such a song. 

It was a lovely introduction to the country.  Thank you, Woodfin family for sharing your experience!

Global Trekking

Home school class at the Headquarters Library was on games around the globe.  Ms. Jane had a wide aray of games displayed around the room for the children to play. 

She introduced the children to a variety of books showing different games played in different cultures.  Some games looked familiar but had different names and rules.  Others were quite different.  A commonality most had were the use of a ball.  In fact, the ball is probably the oldest toy in the world. 

A fellow homeschooler demonstrated the yo-yo and made a presentation to the children about yo-yos. He told them the yo-yo is another toy that dates back to ancient times.  It is uncertain exactly how the yo-yo came about, but it is thought to originate in the Philipines.  Hunters would use a rock to throw down on prey.  Instead of having to climb down the tree or embankment, a rope was tied onto it and pulled back up.  This evolved into a form of the yo-yo.  Another thought is that originated from China, Greece or Egypt.   

The yo-yo has seen its share of modern updates.  The standard yo-yo was made of two discs joined together with an axle.  The string was then tied to the axle.  The yo-yo could be made to go up and down only.  Then the yo-yo string was looped around the axle providing better flexibility to perform tricks.

After the brief yo-yo presentation, Ms. Jane instructed the children on how to play various games in the room.  She demonstrated many of the games.  The children were bursting with excitement to play.

There were games of hopscotch, which started out as a military training game in ancient Rome! Tic-tact-toe (knots and crosses) dates back to ancient Egypt and Medieval Europe. Bowling started as far back as 1300 b.c. in Egypt and has had many forms including 9 pins and bocci.   Jacks, chess, checkers, pick-up sticks, string games, tiddly winks, ball and cup, marbles, etc. were all found in the room.

The children had a wonderful time playing the games.  Not everything has to be high tech to have fun!

Spyology!

We attended the Headquarters' Library Program on spyology.  As we entered the room, Mrs. Jane had the 'Mission Impossible' song playing.  She had found a copy that the (Clemson) Tiger Band had recorded.  The children took a seat on the floor and listened to music as class began.  Little Man was excited to learn about spies.  He loves to play ninja, so spies fit into the element of secrecy.

Mrs. Jane started the class by explaining what spies are.  She showed them various books and gave them background information about spy programs.  She told them about early spies in history and asked the children if they knew of any spies in ancient times.  She informed the children that women have also been spies.  Some of the boys couldn't believe that a woman would be a spy.  The picture of Mati Hari looked more like a gypsy than a spy to them.  Mrs. Jane also showed the children modern spy gadgets from a book. The boys really enjoyed that!

 

One, of the children, was asked to dress up as various spies.  He would give the others clues to try and figure out what spy he was representing.  The class enjoyed guessing the spy.

Mrs. Jane had set up several stations for the children to make disguises and crack secret codes.  They readily cut out mustaches, eyebrows, beards, and glasses to conceal their identity.  They tried on hats, wigs, scarves and ties.  They fluttered from one station to the next.

 

Cutting out their mustaches.

Little Man was a master of disguises!

 They worked together to crack the secret codes on a worksheet.

Everyone enjoyed their morning at spy school!

Giggles and Guffaws

Today, was the last day of home school class at the downtown library.  It is hard to believe the school year is coming to a an end and summer reading is just around the corner.  Ms. Jane planned a fun morning of laughter and singing to close out the year.

Ms. Jane introduced the children to Spoonerisms.  A spoonerism is an error in speech or a play on different words.  The term is named after Reverend Archibald Spooner, he consistently suffered spoonerisms.  The children listened to Ms. Jane read the story "Porcupining : a prickly love story," by Lisa Wheeler and illustrated by Janie Bynum.  The children enjoyed the cute little tale.  Ms. Jane played her guitar while singing poor Cushion's song.


Next, the class acted out the silly song of "Tony Chestnut".  They touched their toes and knees, as they sang Tony.  Then, they touched their chest and head for Chestnut. 

After singing, Ms. Jane started asking the children if they knew the answers to different riddle and jokes.  "Why are May flowers so clean?  Because they just had April showers!", "What kind of fruit is always in a bad mood? The crab apple!", "What veggie do you get when a dinosaur stomps through the garden?  Squash!"

She then read the book, "Epossumondas," by Coleen Salley.  The book is based upon the southern folktale, "Epaminondas" and is referred to as a noodlehead story.  Noodlehead stories are about dim witted individuals that just don't seem to get it.  Ms. Jane read the story in the deep southern accent of its origin and the children listened intently.  They enjoyed every moment.

Puns were the next topic.  She chose the book "Rhyme and Punishment: Adventure in Word Play,"
by Brian Cleary.  The children laughed, as she read some of the puns.  "If you don't eat ice cream for seven days, you will be week!" 

She then explained what a fractured fairytale was to the children and began to read an interactive "Cinderella" type story.  The children acted out the grumpy king and his three sons.  They had a blast listening to a familiar tale with a twist.

Finally, it was time for one more song, "The Green Grass Grows All Around," and then open mic for jokes the children were willing to share.  Several children including Egee came forward to tell their  jokes and riddles. 

We had a great end of year bash with Ms. Jane.  Looking forward to next year and the fun it will bring!

Rainy Days and School

It has been a rainy three days and conducive for sleep, but school must prevail!  We have been plugging away and making progress.

I have been reading "Lord Of The Nutcracker Men" by Iain Lawrence to the children.  We are studying World War I and this book provides a historical fiction view of the war through letters from Johnny's father.  Johnny plays war with his toy soldiers that his father has made and sends to him while in the trenches of France.  I wanted a non gory account of the war for the children and thus far the book has delivered.

We have been watching the movie Sgt. York during lunch to supplement our WWI studies.  The children have seen the movie at my parents before, but now it makes more sense to them.  We have discussed how people lived in the South during the early 1900s.  The children have been to areas near where Sgt. York lived and realize how different the world was a hundred years ago.

During the war scenes, I pointed out the trenches that Johnny's father mentioned in the book we are reading.  Little Man was particularly impressed with the shooting accuracy of Sgt. York.  Egee was shocked at the numbers of men shot during the battle.

We have read "Casey Over There" by Staton Rabin.  The artwork is beautiful and again it provides imagery for the children to reflect upon as we read "Lord of the Nutcracker Men".  The story is a fictional tale of an older and younger brother.  The older brother must go fight in the war and his younger brother worries about him.  The younger brother sends letters to his older brother and even writes to Uncle Sam in concern for his big brother. 

Egee is reading "Ruthie's Gift" by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley.  It is set on a farm a year prior to the United States entering WWI.  Young Ruth is the only girl among seven brothers and is trying hard to become a lady.  She doesn't have any friends at school and is the only third grader.  Finally, things start to look up for her when a family moves into the farm next to her family.  Twin girls, that happen to be in the third grade!  But before long, poor Ruthie is isolated again.  The story provides suspense for the reader and compassion for Ruthie.  The book hints at the coming of WWI and Ruth's older brother is worried he may have to fight.  Ruth loves her older brother and in turn does a nice jester for him.  He repays her with a gift.  Bradley bases her book loosely on her own grandmother's life.  It is a very nice read.

Along with our studies of WWI, we are pursuing our other school work.  Little Man is plugging away at his Time4Learning work on the computer.  He is doing great in his reading.

I have been hoping that his reading would come along.  I have not pressured him into reading and sometimes I wander if I am doing the right thing.  I have just worked on letters and phonics with him using Time4Learning and allowed him to make connections on his own. The days that he reads his stories on the computer, reinforce that yes I am doing the right thing.

Egee is tackling long division using two digit divisors.  She is doing fine, but hates having to erase and try another number when things don't work out the first go around.  However, persistence pays off and things are starting to get easier.  I remind her that one divisor long division was painful last year, but she thinks it is a breeze this year.

We had library class today, so the monotony was broken.  The children learned about poetry from a fellow home school mom.  They listened to different poems from Robert Frost, Rita Dove, Carl Sandburg, and Billy Collins.  Mrs. Conner even had them write their own poetry and share.  Egee wrote a poem about being a horse and read it aloud to the class.  Little Man dictated his poem to me, but would not recite it to the class.

We were going to stay for Music Sandwiched In.  We ate lunch and socialized with fellow homeschoolers.  However, prior to the program starting, we were told that some of the pieces may not be appropriate for children.  So, we didn't stay.  Oh well, we will attend the cello performance later this month.

Tomorrow we go to Chesnee for a fun hands on science experiment with Mr. Jack!