(This post contains links to my products.) Wildflowers make me happy. Of all the treasures of nature, nothing brings quite the smile to my face and peace to my heart as wildflowers. All flowers are beautiful, but there's just something about the flowers that weren't planted by the hands of a human that make God seem just a little bit closer. This spring (after an incredibly long winter) it seemed as if all the flowers that ever grow in our yard burst forth in bloom at once. We have filled our farm yard with plenty of fruit trees and other brightly flowering trees and a few perennials that don't count as wildflowers. But, before the first lawn cutting, the yard also happens to be ... Read More
Technology Project: Early Elementary
I almost couldn't believe it myself. My kindergartener learned how to use the internet and Microsoft Word for research...and it only took minutes for him to become proficient. Way cool, but freaky at the same time. I guess a child born into this digital age doesn't see computers as anything to be afraid of and just "gets it" without the need for much instruction. Technology Project How-To As we were studying Owl Moon, the topic of nocturnal animals naturally came up. I didn't have any books on hand about nocturnal animals, so I told Eli we would have to learn from the internet which animals are nocturnal. I wrote NOCTURNAL ANIMALS on a piece of paper for him and he typed it into the ... Read More
Pumpkin Math
Every autumn, we enjoy a little pumpkin math! All our children participate according to their abilities - from the 4yo to the 14yo. This year, the 11yo and 14yo were expected to measure with complete accuracy, while the 4yo dabbled in learning how to measure. He used standard (rulers) and non-standard (blocks) measuring tools. I hope you'll take time to enjoy some pumpkin math at your house! ... Read More
Teaching Computer Skills
Children of the 21st century simply must be knowledgeable about and capable with computers. Besides typing programs and internet research, I like to assign occasional projects that are computer-based. I thought you might like to see the most recent projects... Writing is something that Caleb does NOT like. But, when the writing is (at least somewhat) hidden, I get way fewer complaints! Using the newsletter program that came with Office 2010, I asked Caleb to create a keepsake page about his summer's experiences with baseball. Besides the obvious skills of writing and word processing, he practiced page design and inserting photos and clip art. (There was a little more on the bottom ... Read More
Math and Science – Bridges
Our "math break" continues to bring lively and rich lessons! One of the projects from Hardhatting in a Geo-World concerned bridge construction. We had to make six different bridges and test their strength. After completing the activity and filling in the chart provided, I had the kiddos show their findings with homemade graphs. The book talked a little about why some bridges were stronger than others, but we wanted to know more. I found this very cool site linked from THINK's blog. We also decided to complete her Bridge Challenge. Caleb's first attempt (not so strong.) Caleb's second attempt (much stronger.) Mahayla's bridge. Tomorrow - we're off ... Read More
Hardhatting in a Geo-World
We are having SO much fun with this book! A little break from the regular math schedule has turned out to include such exciting math and science that my kids are actually asking to do more. :) Here are some photos from one of this week's investigations.... Cylinder structures - Using various sized cardboard tubes and homemade paper cylinders, the kids had to estimate and find out how many books each cylinder would hold. Their estimations and actual results were kept on a data sheet provided in the book. We then went on to talk about why cylinders are so strong, why certain heights might be better than others and where in creation and the man-made world we find the use of ... Read More