Homeschooler Savvy

History On Tape

 When is history irresistible?  When The Story of the World is on CD and the child is in control of the CD player.  Aussie Kim showed up with a CD for my Tiger a couple of weeks ago and he hasn't stopped listening to it since. I don't have to remind him to complete his history now. HE REMINDS ME! This CD has brought him hours of listening pleasure (and me, his mother, HOURS of blissful silence - which can not be underrated!).

Aussie Kim here - I have used this CD in our many drives to our afternoon activities, the downside is that the kids complain when we stop the CD (so we can keep up with map, timeline and biographies for the related chapters).  It is a major hit with both my 9 year old boy and 11 year old daughter.  It is much more fun than Radio Disney for me....

We both highly recommend these CDs as a history companion!  Below is a photo of the Ancient Times Volume. It is the first in a series of four that take the child from Ancient History to the Modern Era.

This is the life....

Here you are, 11 years old, lying in a hammock, swinging in the warm autumn breeze, reading Chinese Myths and Fantasies, and occasionally sipping iced water, at 10:30 am on a weekday.  What is this?  This is a snapshot of a homeschooled child in September.  Of course, she got up at 8am and helped with the cooking, cleaning, animals and clothes washing (it was her day), and then did 30 minutes work on Greek and an hour on Maths.  And all without a hitch (in my dreams). Every now and then, things do work out like this, and at that stage you say: "Wow, this is the life..."

Line Rider - addictive fun!

Here's a game online that is free, lots of fun and seems to follow the laws of physics (once a body is in motion.....)  But beware!  it is addictive.  Now I see they also have it available for wii, ds and pc.  I have included all the links for this.  Have fun, but remember, put the timer on! 

 Free online Line Rider click here.

Large Hadron Collider (LHC) - an incredible research project!

After 13 years, the $5 billion dollars worth of circular tunnel near the Swiss-French border has officially begun operation.  I find the information on this project (called the LHC) mind blowing.  If it is challenging for you to explain to your kids what is going on (or to understand it yourself) try this wonderful BBC site: What is the Large Hadron Collider? Watch the video - it is very well done.  Learn about the search for anti-matter and the Higgs-Boston particle (the theoretical explantion for the origin of mass in the universe).  Enjoy yourself, I'm off to ponder the physics of the critical mass needed to eject children from their beds so we can start school sometime before noon....

Aussie Kim

Reading My Kids' Books: Caesar's Gallic War by Olivia Coolidge

I loved it!  This book is one of those we are going to read for our study of the Ancients (for history, geography and literature) this year.  Apparently, when Caesar was leading his legions into battle with the Galls (58-51 BC), he wrote down what was going on (Caesar's Commentaries on the Gallic War).  This is new to me, but what an amazing historical document for historians to have!  This book takes Caesar's writings and retells the stories from the point of view of a young officer in his army and thus is a mix of fiction and facts. It really gives you an appreciation of what it was like to live in those days, from both the Roman and Gallic viewpoint.

 This woman has brought the Gallic wars alive for me. I think young good readers (from about 9 on?) would be able to handle this book.  However, it would probably be more completely understood if I read it to them and we marked a map of Europe where the action was going on. Warning: there are lots of long Roman names that contain -th or end in -us...