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January 18, 2009
Science!
Y'all know that we've never really done science in our homeschool. Not formal science. We try, and fail. And try again, and fail.
We don't fail because we're not science-minded, or because we don't have an interest; I think we fail because we do have an interest. Looking at elementary science programs usually led me to screaming off into the night. And frankly, most junior high programs aren't much better. They generally give bits of information with little depth, are full of busy work, and require "experiments" that are really demonstrations that do nothing to inspire curiosity.
The higher levels of Singapore Science held us for awhile, because they contain more critical thinking and open-ended questioning than most texts. And the experiments require cooler materials. I am, so far, more likely to go back to that than any other. We also quite liked Real Science 4 Kids' Chemistry program, but it is short.
(And anyway, why do I need a program to teach science to kids who just yammered at me for the last hour, telling me everything they read about the potential for life on Mars, and at how many atmospheres humans can function, and the exact mechanisms of death in space?)
But the time has come to try "science" again, mainly because I want to shore up a few things before sending my oldest out to the community college for real classes; and I think my current approach will serve us much better than the various programs available. So here I present to you one version of a not-formal-science curriculum:
We are using the Elements Newsletter from How To Teach Science to learn about the periodic table. This is something you can do as a family, with all age groups. It's easy, and it's fun. For instance, after reading about hydrogen this week, the older boys and I ended up spending time at the website for the Dihydrogen Monoxide Research Center, an excellent example of how you can use science and factual information to create alarm about anything. Now, that's a valuable lesson about science.
When my budget permits, I'm going to sign up for a subscription to the Bite Size Physics website. This is something the older two can do on their own, and if we aren't able to do the demonstrations ourselves, we can watch YouTube videos of them. The little boys will enjoy either the experiments or the videos.
We are going to borrow Physics In Your Life from the library; this lecture schedules optional readings from Conceptual Physics. All in all, this will be the equivalent of a decent, pre-math physics survey.
Posted by lynx at 10:31 AM | Comments (6) | TrackBack
January 15, 2009
Who Ate the Reading List?
As I sit down to plan this next semester (yes, I got a late start), I find that my reading list is ... gone. Completely and utterly gone. Not only have I lost the list of works I had planned to be read this year, I've lost the list of what we have read.
Oh, boy.
And as I look ahead, I see that most of TOG's literature selections for the next 18 weeks are just not in my plans. They're fine choices, but they're not my choices. So far, it seems to me that TOG's rhetoric-level literature is very good, but I find a lot of what I consider "filler" in their lower levels.
Here is my reconstructed list for the rest of the year, for Connor (2nd half of 7th grade):
Novels
Mr. Midshipman Hornblower
Carry On, Mr. Bowditch
A Christmas Carol (Or, if he thinks it's too late to be reading Christmas stories, perhaps Oliver Twist or really, any other Dickens. I'm not picky.
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
The Princess and the Goblin
Short Stories
Grimm's Fairy Tales
Selections by Rip Van Winkle
Selections by Poe
Poetry
The Pied Piper of Hamelin - Robert Browning
Selections by Poe
TOG Schedules Island of the Blue Dolphins. I remember reading that, for fun, in jr. high. Do I want to schedule it as a school assignment? I'm asking, seriously. I don't remember it well enough to make that call. TOG also schedules "worldview" assignments for the rhetoric level, aimed at getting teens missionary-minded; I may take their assignments and turn them into a study of comparative religions. Hinduism seems to be first up.
At any rate, this list is *plenty* long. It's only meant to take us until summer. And at the same time he's reading those, he's also reading the Iliad, he's nearly finished with Julius Caesar, and he'll read The Merchant of Venice.
So, PLENTY. Maybe even too much. Now I've got to figure out what the heck we did read this year, already.
We're about to start on TOG Year 3, which roughly covers the 19th century. My challenge in planning for this is to remember to not go too deeply into TOG, and to remember that it is not my real focus. Everything is going well. We are progressing. Soon, Connor will take the NLE Lain I exam, and Aidan will take the Intro to Latin exam; Connor will take the National Mythology Exam. Both boys are in a PE class this year, and are starting up with a D&D/RPG group. Connor is doing well in Boy Scouts, and is currently the leader of his patrol; Aidan is on track to get his Arrow of Light and cross over to Boy Scouts later this year.
And the two little ones are mostly tagging along, refining their reading and writing, and creating elaborate games.
And no, no, no, we are not planning on going downtown for the Inauguration. Yes, it's historical. But no.
Posted by lynx at 9:24 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
January 8, 2009
Alien Earths
My kids have been clustered around the Alien Earths website for nearly two hours.
It contains an infrared, edge-on galaxy viewer (very, very cool!); and the ever-popular "Planet Families" game, in which you get to build star systems. Fun stuff!
Posted by lynx at 11:07 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
January 5, 2009
Happy New Year!
Our holidays were nice, but busy.
Christmas was the first time in ... ? I don't know. Sixteen years, maybe? The first time in about 16 years that my brother, my parents and I were all together. We also got to meet my brother's new wife, who we liked immediately, and to spend some time with my niece and nephew.
Our Christmas was a Very Whedon Christmas. Jeff and I gave each other the complete Buffy series, Aidan received the script and sheet music to "Once More, With Feeling!" and Jeff received a copy of the Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog DVD. After repeated viewings, as well as watching "Commentary: The Musical!" and the Evil League of Evil application videos, well, we're still walking around singing. All of us. And we're trying to figure out how we can get enough money to become patrons of the arts, because that sounds so much nicer, and more legal, than "stalking Joss Whedon."
And, oh yes, the Wii. Jeff and I like to play Wii golf together, of all things. And I am quite fond of the Rabbids. The Wii Fit is used daily by almost all, and will form most of our winter PE.
Between Christmas and New Year's we went on a tour of the White House. It was all decorated for Christmas. It's funny; I was responding to it as a very pretty house, full of very pretty things, until we got into the East Room. Then I realized that we were standing in the same room in which John F. Kennedy and Abraham Lincoln had both lain in state. That - that was emotional. So much history is in that house, that it's perhaps a bit much to take it all in. I get the same effect from watching my kids play on the lawn at Mt. Vernon.
My kids were disappointed. For some reason they thought that Laura Bush was going to be our tour guide. Wouldn't that have been fun? I did learn that I like Mrs. Bush's taste in art. It will be interesting to go back to see what Mrs. Obama changes.
We had a quiet New Year's and New Year's Day (more Dr. Horrible, more Wii, and lots of Ticket to Ride, as well). I had a birthday (more Wii, more Ticket to Ride, Carcassonne - The Discovery). And whew! Here we are.
We did start school this week. More on that, later.
Hey, Daniel Kirk! You left me a comment asking how to find me on Facebook. I tried to find you on Facebook, but apparently there are many Daniel Kirks and so far none of them are you. I think that this is the link you can use to find me. I think. For anyone who is interested.
Posted by lynx at 3:56 PM | Comments (5) | TrackBack