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.

Mud Pies - what's the point?

With temperatures around the 75F mark (22C) for the middle of winter, we were not going to sit inside all day doing school.  OK, we were not going to sit inside very much at all - at least until the Severe Thunderstorm Warning (hail and 45mph winds) and the Tornado Warning went off.  At that stage, school inside looked like a good idea.  But until then, Mud Pies were the obvious activity of choice for outside.  Plenty of water from previous rains, large mud patch which the dogs had dug around a tree, and temperatures warm enough for light clothing and barefeet.

Mud Pies are a wonderful activity on many levels.  Those new to homeschooling with young kids should take note.  Mud Pie "work" strengthens the muscles in the fingers they write with and improves their dexterity. It allows for uninterupted (stay away from them!) play - this improves their ability to focus. 

Ever seen a child in "The Flow"?  Watch one (from a distance) playing with mud or sand.  "The Flow" is when you go into a time warp, your mind is on your activity and is not cluttered up with running through the "to do" lists.  (Remember how that used to be?) 

If Mud Pies are made with friends, then this often helps them role play social situations ("Would you like some tea with that mud?").

What better introduction to pottery or other three dimensional media?  The science of Mud Pies, you learn that if you add dry dirt to wet mud, your creation becomes firmer (Chemistry).  

What happens if you throw a mud pie that is sloppy?  Is it easy to catch (Physics)? 

I could go on and on, but you get the idea.  There's more benefit in letting your kid play outside in the mud than just a quiet house.  But the main reason I think Mud Pies are a must as part of a childhood is simply because it is fun.

Almost forgot!  Mud is another VERY cheap art material....

Note: The boy version of Mud Pies is Mud Bombs.

Aussie Kim

Science Experiments with TOPScience

Who are these people?  A non-profit organisation for teaching science?  How can you teach science with only paper clips and duct tape?  After teaching math and science in West Africa for the Peace Corps, with very limited resources, Ronald Marson became pretty good at exactly that.  When he returned to the US, he met his wife Peg (a design artist) and together they developed the TOPS curriculum. 

Pros:  The cost is VERY low, but the quality of learning is incredibly high. The booklets tear apart and the student pages can be photocopied for multiple students. The experiments are VERY straightforward, but the text of the student record pages REALLY get your students thinking (sorry, hypothesising) well.  So far we have used Electricity(#32), Magnetism(#33), Corn and Beans(#39) because they were part of the Sonlight curriculum.  We built (and drew) circuits, built compasses, and grew and measured monocots (corn) and dicots (beans).  They are each stand alone units, so can be done completely independent of any curriculum.  These are absolutely the BEST I have seen in science experiments.  Very simple and the kids build all the equipment the need from scratch.  They have a THOROUGH understanding of the stuff they study once they are done.  Perfect for homeschoolers!  Have a look at their website - it canvasses what they have very well. TOPS Science You may be underwhelmed by their website, but trust us, their product is first class.  If you buy through Sonlight, you can also buy the science supply kit with all of the materials needed. (However, most of the supplies are household related items. Check it out before you buy it.)

Cons: I can't think of any.

Anyone else used any other of their units?

Aussie Kim

The homeschool curriculum that works for me - teaching a child to read.

When I first thought about teaching my kids to read I thought I would need some sort of teachers degree, or at least 10-15 books on the topic and many hours of preparation.  Imagine my surprise when I went with a friend of mine to a Montessori school. My friend showed me the materials that were involved in teaching reading, just a simple set of lower case letters cut out of sandpaper and stuck onto a smooth board.  That was it.  What this is ALL?  Well, there was also the alphabet letter miniature toys and the alphabet letter SOUND songs, but YES, basically that was it. 

Therefore the Montessori Method is what I used to teach both of my children to read.  It is the most wonderful method I have seen for teaching reading to date.  At the same time you are teaching letter recognition the child is learning the letter shapes for later writing skills. It is very economical, very straightforward, and it works wonderfully well.  You can start whenever they are ready (2.5 years and up!)

The materials you use are lower case letter shapes cut out of sandpaper and pasted onto thick cardstock (blue for vowels and red for consonants). 

Wash your hands and your kids hands first EACH time you get them out (keeps the materials clean, sensetizes the fingers, and makes it special), place the cards onto a small mat. You SAY the SHORT SOUND of the letter while AT THE SAME TIME tracing out the letter with the first finger of your dominant hand.  So for b you would trace out the b letter as if you were writing it with your finger while saying "buh".  Show your child how to do this a couple of times then hand it over to them.

Give them one letter until they get it (hide the rest), and then add another.  You only need to teach a handful of letters and as long as there are a couple of vowels, they will be able to begin reading.  The letters are often taught in the following progression: s m t a p f c a c h m p t b l i g n d b l n r s u h j k w o u v d e f g j v, etc. y z x q e .

The moment of truth. Take 2 consonants and a vowel they know (eg: d, o, g).  Lay these letters out on the floor mat or table separated by about a foot each.  Say the first one (DUH), then the next, (OHH) then the next (GUH), repeat this a couple of times, each time moving the cards closer to each other, then when the cards are all together say it quicker, and then get the word DOG.  BE LED BY YOUR CHILD.  If you see the light of recognition in their eyes (they get it) try another word.  If they don't get it, just put it away and go back to learning the letter sounds again - one day they WILL get it!

Extra activities:

* "I SPY" (USE SHORT LETTER SOUNDS - NOT NAMES!)  Good for car travel!

* "I SPY" with a set of alphabet toys - MAKE IT VERY EASY FOR THEM TO WIN.  To start with use 2 or less items in the game.  For example have a fox and a cap, say "I spy with my little eye..something beginning with "CUH". Then point to the two options (they choose the cap over the fox).  Say "YES, It's CAP!" like they just won the lottery.  They will want to play this until you feel like you are turning grey. You can use anything around the house for this, as long as you can put these things infront of the child and let them choose.  As they get better, add more for them to choose from.  It is better to make it too easy for them than too hard.

* "I-SPY with my little eye" was a book we used, put out by INDEX BOOKS. It was SO much fun, they kept wanting it over and over ad nauseum. It had pop up animals hidden behind their letter.  BUT as with any book like this SAY THE SHORT LETTER SOUNDS not the letter names!  I promise they will learn both capital letters and letter names WITHOUT your help!

The Montessori Method uses cursive lettering due to their belief that it is easier to see the print letter in the cursive than the cursive letter in the print - plus it is easier for little kids to write round shaped letters than those with straight lines plus with cursive you rarely have letter reversal problems (eg. b and d) and finally, cursive is the main type of writing used in a person's life.  However, I have seen this work with print lettering as well.  (If you must use print, I recommend Getty-Dubai or similar fonts - stick and ball does not work as well). You can put a dot on the letter where you are supposed to start when you write the letter.  But repititon will teach this to the child.

You can buy it from these sites (and many more!): 

Montessori Outlet     Montessori Needs    Caliber Montessori

or surf ebay for sandpaper letters

Make it yourself: Go buy some sandpaper (fine grit), thick red and blue card stock and some carbon copy paper.  Cut the card into 5 inch by 4 inch rectangles (5 blue and 19 red).  Print out your desired alphabet font to the correct size to fit the cards comfortably. Lay the alphabet fonts over the top of the carbon paper, which is over the sandpaper, and trace out your alphabet.  Cut these out carefully (use curved nail scissors).  Glue them onto the card (a little off center to the right side on the card for a right-handed child and to the left for a left-handed child).  You are done! 

Want more details on the Montessori Method?: Montessori World

Want a very detailed book I recommend on it? Read Basic Montessori by David Gettman.  This will take your children to about age 6 with a Montessori education.  If you want a simple book on Montessori to start with I recommend Elizabeth Hainstocks books: "Teaching Montessori in the Home - the Pre-School years" AND her other book "Teaching Montessori in the Home - the School Years".

Use the flylady method (15 minutes a day) to make other montessori materials at : Montessori Materials

Stay tuned for the next step once they can read 3 letter words....

Aussie Kim