Discovery Studies: Foreign Language

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Educating the WholeHearted Child: Chapter 13 (part 2)

WholeHeartedI think most of us have heard about the benefits of learning a foreign language when you’re young, and the Clarksons addressed that a bit in this chapter on “Discovery Studies.”

“Scientists believe that the first ten years of a child’s life are the peak time for learning language.  A child’s brain in those years is wired by the sounds of language–neural pathways are constructed from what is heard and used, and other factors contribute to make learning a foreign language easier and more natural than at any other time in life” (page 253).

I was fascinated by the German language as a child.  One of the teachers at my elementary school spoke German, and even though I was in the other fifth grade class, I was allowed to go over to his room when he did German lessons because he knew of my interest.  He also gave me a set of audio cassettes with a lesson book and dictionary.  I used to listen to them over and over again, repeating the phrases after the speaker.

I ended up taking four years of German in high school as well, but you know what?  The sound of those simple phrases on the cassettes stand out more in my memory.  There really is something about hearing and learning to speak a language when you are young that sticks in the brain differently than when you are older.

I’ve never fully learned a second language.  In spite of those four years of German class, my abilities were always more in reading the language than being able to participate in a conversation.  I lived in Kenya for a while and learned quite a bit of Swahili and a little Maasai, but while I could understand fairly well, I would never have considered myself fluent.  I also have a fair amount of Spanish floating around in my head, mostly just as a result of living in Southern California.  One time I even had a dream in Spanish, but I’ve never really spent time learning it intentionally.

Until this last year, that is.  I am determined to help my children have more success when it comes to learning languages.  I’ve read controversial articles among homeschoolers about why Spanish isn’t the best language to study, but I think where we live it is an essential skill.  By the time my children grow up, it may be a real hindrance in getting a job if they don’t know Spanish.  I’ve driven through neighborhoods where there are more signs in Spanish than English, and there have been multiple occasions when I’ve been unable to help someone because I don’t speak the language.

“If you want your children to learn a foreign language, you should create a reason for them to want to learn it” (page 253).

While I do hope to inspire my children with mission trips to Spanish-speaking countries, I think just living in Southern California might be reason enough for them to want to learn it.  Our neighbors speak Spanish (though the children are bi-lingual) and while Ian is shy about using what he’s learned with them, he’s also quite proud to tell them, “My mom is teaching me Spanish.”  (If only they knew how incompetent I am!)

I may not know enough to help them become fluent, but I try to make it as fun and appealing as I can, and I hope than by exposing them to the language they will naturally be drawn to learning more on their own.  Actually, I hope that I am just lighting a spark that will ignite a love for foreign language in general, and that all my children will choose to go beyond learning Spanish and dive into German, French and/or other languages as well.  And I think that’s what Discovery Studies are all about!

Each Mentoring Monday I share my reflections on what I’ve been learning from my “paper mentors.”  I am currently joining in a book discussion of Educating the WholeHearted Child by Clay Clarkson (with Sally Clarkson), so my Monday posts are all being sparked by things I’m reading in this fabulous book!

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Wrapping Up Week 7 (2014-15)

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weekly wrap-up
 Our seventh week of school didn’t look much like any other week.  The boys spent their mornings at a music camp, where they learned a bit of music theory, how to play hand chimes, and did various other activities.  It was a fun taste of what Fridays are going to look like for them this fall, and because of the schedule, I dropped most of our regular school activities.  Here’s what we did get around to this week:

Literature/Ambleside Online

P1030842I tried to get most of our Ambleside Online, Year 1 reading done even though our mornings were taken.  This was the first week we’ve spent any time with Shakespeare.  We’re using Tales from Shakespeare by Charles and Mary Lamb.  I have a beautiful old hardcover edition that I purchased as a child (yes, I’ve always been a book lover), which made it extra special.

Ian enjoyed “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” more than I thought he would.  There are so many characters and plot lines to keep straight, and I took a break after every few paragraphs to have him narrate back to me or else just to help explain what happened if he couldn’t figure it out.  Eventually I got out four of Arianna’s dollhouse figurines to represent Hermia, Helena, Lysander, and Demetrius.  By using the dolls to act out what was happening, Ian was able to follow the story well and laugh at the crazy mix-ups and silly moments.  After we had read the story, we watched the version from the Shakespeare: The Animated Tales series.  Overall, I’d say it was a successful first exposure to Shakespeare!

Extras

This week was all about “Extras,” with music obviously taking the majority of our time.  (I normally teach both boys piano, but I let them have a break from it this week since they were already getting so much music at camp.)  They both really enjoyed playing the hand chimes and creating music with a big group.  I’m so thankful for this opportunity!

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We also spent some time on Spanish, though I tried something new to fit in with our week’s schedule.  We started listening to De Colores and Other Latin American Folksongs, a CD from José-Luis Orozco.  Ian followed along in the companion book the first time, but my goal this week was just to get everyone familiar with the songs.  I’m hoping to develop some lessons plans to go with some of the songs to help the kids get the most of our time listening to them in the future.

Preschool!

IMG_20140827_112914xOne of my favorite things about this week was getting to spend some time with Arianna doing some of the “preschool” things I did so much of with Ian (and to a lesser extent, Elijah).  I really don’t do a lot of intentional “school” time with her, not only because it’s hard to fit it in, but also because I figure she picks up a lot from having older siblings.  (Plus she’s only two, and even with Ian I think I waited until he was three to really do much.)  This week, however, I decided that rather than wasting a lot of time driving back and forth to music camp, I’d just stay and use the time to make some special memories with Arianna.

Back when I was doing preschool with Ian, I printed and laminated LOTS of things to go along with the books from Before Five in a Row.  So as we were running out the door, I ran to my files, pulled out the folders for The Big Green Pocketbook and Ask Mr. Bear, along with the stories themselves, threw them in a backpack with some lacing cards, stickers, crayons and paper, and off we went.

IMG_20140826_104349xAfter we’d gotten the boys settled in their group, we turned to our “Preschool in a Backpack” and got started.  When I pulled out The Big Green Pocketbook and the little things I had to go along with it, she was instantly intrigued.  I read through the story, handing her the “pocketbook” and various items as we came to them.  She loved it!  After we finished, she went through the whole thing on her own again.

The next day we did Ask Mr. Bear, using cards that showed both the animals and the products associated with them.  Again, I just read the story and then laid down the cards one by one at the appropriate place in the story.  She was just soaking it all up!  When Danny give his mother a bear hug at the end of the story, she wrapped her little arms around my neck and gave me a huge hug herself.

I think her favorite activity of the week was using our “color bears” flashcards.  We haven’t spent a lot of time working on colors, so I mostly just wanted her to start thinking about them and getting familiar with the names.  I laid them all face up and had her find pairs.  Then I took 5 pairs and turned them upside down and we played “memory” with them.  She wanted to play this game over and over again.

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Arianna enjoyed our time so much this week, I’m going to make it a point to use Friday mornings this fall (while the boys are in their weekly music/drama classes) to go through some of our favorite Before Five in a Row books and maybe do some simple crafts with her.  I think it will be a really special time for us!

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Discovery Studies: The Arts in Homeschooling

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Educating the WholeHearted Child: Chapter 13

WholeHeartedThere are many different parts to what the Clarksons call “Discovery Studies,” and I enjoy helping expose my children to all of them, but my favorite is probably the arts, just because music, dance, visual arts, and theater have all been important parts of my own life.

Ian took a couple years of Yamaha music lessons, but for the last year I’ve been teaching both boys piano on my own, which is rather isolating.  I want them to know the joy of making music with others, however, so I’m so thankful that this week my boys have a chance to spend their mornings at music camp.  Both camp and their Friday music classes this fall that will give them a chance to sing in a choir and play hand chimes as well.  I hope they will love being a part of creating something beautiful with their friends.

In the last year, Ian has also starting enjoying artistic expression.  He loves to draw, and we’ve gotten several books that show him step by step how to draw specific things.  This afternoon he created a game board, and all three older kids had a great time rolling a die and moving their game pieces around the board, landing on monsters that sent them back to the beginning.  Then he told me he want to make his own book, “Because lots of other people have made their own books.”  I cut some paper and stapled them into a book, which he then spent the next hour or so filling in with pictures on every page.

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I want to make sure I make it a priority to allow him the time for things like this.  He may never be a professional artist of musician, but I hope the arts will always be a part of his life.

Each Mentoring Monday I share my reflections on what I’ve been learning from my “paper mentors.”  I am currently joining in a book discussion of Educating the WholeHearted Child by Clay Clarkson (with Sally Clarkson), so my Monday posts are all being sparked by things I’m reading in this fabulous book!

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Wrapping Up Week 6 (2014-15)

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weekly wrap-up

The last time we went to the library, we maxed out my card.  It was a first for us, but now that the boys are both really getting into reading, I could see it was going to be a recurring problem.  P1030752-editedxThe solution?  Get Ian his own library card!  Ever since I mentioned the idea, he’s been begging to go back, so this week he was quite proud of his newest acquisition.  (Elijah won’t be old enough for a few more months, but he’s looking forward to getting his as well.)

Next week my boys will be spending their mornings at music camp, so I wanted to finish on a strong note this week.  I was thankful that we not only covered everything I had hoped to, we even got most of it done in four days, so we were able to take most of Friday off to go swimming and play with cousins!

Bible

P1030815xWe’re on week 2 of Bible Road Trip: Year Three, which was basically an introduction to the New Testament.  Some of the research portion of the lesson had to do with the history of the period after the Old Testament ended.  In addition to the assigned reading, we all watched The Maccabees: The Story of Hanakkuh and Ian colored one of the pages that goes along with the movie for his Bible notebook.

P1030738xOur family devotions in Old Story New had us talking about the birth of Jesus, so we went into the Christmas closet and dug out the Little People nativity set.  We also watched the last couple scenes of The Nativity Story on DVD.  It was kind of fun having a taste Christmas in August!

We’re still reading just a few verses in Proverbs each morning (finished chapter 15 this week) and working our way through Prudence and the Millers (Chapters 11-14).  P1030798xIn addition to the reading, we usually try to discuss some of the pages in Prudence and Your Health, a workbook designed to go along with it.  For chapter 14 there was a fun game that all three older children enjoyed playing with me.  Wise choices allowed them to move forward, while foolish ones sent them backwards, sometimes all the way to the beginning!  It was the first time Arianna has joined us in this kind of game, and she thought it was great fun being a part of it all.

Math

P1030817xI’m not always very good at finding ways to have fun with math, but this week that wasn’t a problem.  As we worked through lessons 16-20 in the Mathematics Enhancement Programme (Year 2), we spent quite a bit of time with the “logic set,” (shape cards from MEP) which Ian always enjoys.  We play a game sort of like “Guess Who?”, where one of us picks a shape and the other asks yes or no questions until they figure out which one was picked.  I’ve been trying to teach Ian to think of questions that eliminate as many possibilities as he can in one turn:

  • Is your shape black?
  • Is it large?
  • Does it have more than 3 sides?

He loves playing this game, and we always have to move on to something else before he is ready to stop.

The boys have also been begging Eric to play “The Allowance Game,” which is a fun way to sneak in some math practice.

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Literature/Ambleside Online

In A Child’s Garden of Verses we read the poem “The Lamplighter.”  When I asked Ian if he knew what a lamplighter was, he surprised me with a very thorough answer.  I asked him how he knew so much about it, and he reminded me of a book I’d picked up from another homeschool family last year.  http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_hKotJaLktmE/SWttIa9mT7I/AAAAAAAACX0/F2juLnSwSSw/s400/peppe.jpgWe found Peppe the Lamplighter on our shelf and added it to our reading for the week. It’s a charming story with beautiful illustrations (a Caldecott Honor-winning book) about an immigrant boy who takes delight in his work as a lamplighter, even though his father disapproves of the menial job at first.

In our Ambleside Online, Year 1 reading, we loved the story and message of “Cornelia’s Jewels” in Fifty Famous Stories.  Ian didn’t really get the point first, but I explained what it was about and then we reread the last part of the story.  He beamed when I pointed to the wall of pictures of our kids and told them, “Look at my jewels–I’m rich!”

History Cycle

This week we only covered one lesson from Mystery of History, Vol.1, and I realized that the only part I’m really using from MoH is the Table of Contents.  This volume spends so much time on biblical history, which I feel like we’ve already covered in depth.  I definitely want my children to know where biblical events fall in relation to other things we study in history, but I would rather save our precious school hours for things they’re not yet familiar with.

P1030764Ancient China (Shang Dynasty)

We read in Story of the World, Vol. 1 about how the ancient Chinese learned to harvest silk from silkworm cocoons and turn it into cloth.  We also read a bit from The Silk Route by John S. Major (just the map and the page on the history of silk in China).  It was a teaser for when we talk about the Silk Road in Year 2 of our history cycle.  Ian loved that the secret of how to make silk was kept for thousands of years.  For his history notebook he did a page from biblestoryprintables.com.

To help understand the process of making silk more, we watched this video from the Science Channel.  I like the style of it, but didn’t cover enough for my taste.

So then we watched “The Story of Silk,” which wasn’t as well narrated, but went through more of the process.

Science

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51ZPJTFGV7L.jpgLessons 14-15 in The World of Animals (from God’s Design for Life) had us learning about amphibians.  For his notebook, Ian did a “Life Cycle of a Frog” worksheet I found online (which was a little more age-appropriate than the one included on the curriculum CD-ROM).  We read About Amphibians by Cathryn Sill and watched Bill Nye the Science Guy: Amphibians (which contains a few evolutionary references we just discussed).  Ian really loves this show, and he’s always asking to do the experiments in the “Try This” segments.  They were really simple this time, so I was happy to be able to say yes for once.

The first experiment shows how amphibian skin works.  We filled a baby food jar with water and food coloring, then covered it with a paper towel held on by a rubber band.  We placed that jar in a larger jar filled with plain water.  Just as an amphibian’s porous skin lets water and oxygen pass in and out of its body, the dyed water was able to pass through the paper towel.

amphibian skin collage
The other experiment was just a simple demonstration of how frogs croak, which Ian loved and repeated throughout the week.

frog collage

Extras

For Spanish, we started the next unit in Salsa with episode #113.  We spend two weeks on each episode, and there are six in each unit.  All of us were excited about learning some new Spanish words as we began the series on the Three Billy Goats Gruff.  I was excited to hear Ian trying to put together phrases in Spanish in a totally different context using what he had learned during our lesson time.

We finally managed to squeeze in some art!  Ian had a great time creating a torn paper collage to go along with our lesson in ARTistic Pursuits K-3 Vol. 2: Stories of Artists and Their Art.

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UberSmart Math Facts (Crew Review)

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UberSmart Collage
There are few things that can hinder a child from moving forward in math more than not knowing their basic facts.  It’s the one area I’ve felt like Ian really needs some extra practice, so I was thrilled to be given the chance to review UberSmart Math Facts (from UberSmart Software).

What is it?

UberSmart Math Facts is a Windows based software program that helps students learn their math facts (addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division) through what is essentially a virtual flash card system.  Because it is software and not Internet-based, there is no need to be online once the user has downloaded and installed the program.

Main Menu

The menu bar offers several different activities to help students work toward mastering their math facts:

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Learn

This mode allows the user to work through a set of facts using dot cards (more on this in a minute) and/or numerals without being scored.  The student just tries to figure it out and then clicks “Show” to reveal the correct answer.

Practice

This mode is similar to the “Learn” mode except that now users select an answer and the program keeps track of how many they get correct.

There is also an option for practicing Keyboard Entry, excellent for students who may not type as quickly as their minds come up with the answers.  Since the tests are timed, it is a helpful skill to develop.

Test

There are two options on the Test menu:

  • The assessment test is for students who are new to UberSmart Math Facts or want to check their progress.  It tests more than just math facts.  The first section is not timed and covers counting, number sequencing, greater than/less than, and odd/even numbers. Then the timed section covers keyboard entry and math facts.  If the student starts to struggle, the test ends without moving on to the next section.
  • The mastery test shows how well students have learned a set of facts.
Compete

Students can compete against others from across the globe in a race to see who can answer fastest.  (An Internet connection is required to use this feature.)

Report

Parents (and students) can view and print progress reports showing what facts students have mastered.

Maintain

This is where parents can add students, adjust settings, change the Administrative password (required for any student adjustments), and check for program updates.

For Beginners

There are several options that allow you to customize what is shown.  For beginners you can use “dot cards” rather than numerals, which provide a visual representation to help develop number sense.  These problems are in a multiple choice format.

UberSmart Math Facts Review
Students who are already comfortable with the concept of addition can use traditional flashcards.

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How We Used It

I only used UberSmart Math Facts with my oldest son Ian, who is 6, so we didn’t really plunge into the depths of what the program has to offer.  Elijah (4) asked to do it once, so I added an account for him, but then he never asked again.  Ian used it several times a week to supplement his regular math curriculum.  He didn’t ever request to do it on his own, but neither did he complain when I asked him to use it.

We had a little trouble getting started.  The first thing I had him do was take the Assessment Test.  He missed a few question about odd/even numbers and didn’t type in the answers very quickly, so the program recommended having him just start with Keyboard Entry.

UberSmart Math Facts ReviewI took the suggestion, but within a matter of minutes he was complaining about how boring it was, and I agreed.  It would show a number and he was supposed to type that as quickly as he could.  It might be a useful skill, but it wasn’t what we were there to learn, so I decided to let him move on.

We tried to use the “learn” feature first, but we both found it frustrating that he couldn’t select the right answer.  I suppose the purpose is to allow the students to guess the answer and see if they’re right without having wrong answers marked against them, but Ian was already reluctant to spend time on the program so I just moved on to “Practice.”

This was definitely the right place for Ian, but it took some adjustments to make it work well for him.  He’s a “beginner,” so I started him with dot cards, but then he was spending so much time counting the dots, I felt like it was defeating the purpose of trying to learn facts automatically. Since he already understands the concept of addition well, I decided to switch to using the numbers.  He did okay on that for a few days, while he was mastering the 0’s and 1’s. (My laptop’s touch pad must be really sensitive because occasionally answers would be selected without Ian intending to click anything, and it took a while to get through an entire set with no mistakes.)

Capture5As the numbers started getting bigger, however, it seemed like he needed something more visual, so I went back to the dot cards.  Of course then he went back to counting, which was why we had stopped using those originally.  Finally I checked “show numbers” so he had both the dots and the numerals, and that was when things really seemed to click for him and he was able to work consistently without the frustration he had been experiencing.

Once he settled in, Ian did pretty well with the program.  He tends to be a bit of a perfectionist, so once he missed one problem he would want to start over (or quit).  With encouragement he pushed through, and he did find it very satisfying when he was successful.  He was so proud the day he could come to me and tell me he had learned his 2’s.

Ian is very competitive, but he gets discouraged very easily when he’s not doing as well as he’d like, so I decided he wasn’t ready for the competition part of the program.

What We Liked

There were many ways to customize the program to work for Ian.  In addition to the options for using the dots and/or the numbers, I was able to increase the amount of time he was given for each problem.  In addition to being slower at typing than the program wanted, his mind tends to process things more slowly than many kids, and he would have been frustrated to the point of giving up had he been expected to get everything quickly.  Once he’s feeling more confident I’ll go back to the shorter settings, but for now I’m thankful that I have the option to give him a little extra time so we could just work on the facts.

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The window for the game doesn’t take up the entire screen.  At first I worried that Ian would be distracted by everything else he could see on my desktop.  Then I discovered the “full screen” option, which blocks out everything but UberSmart Math Facts.  That was very helpful for keeping him on task.

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This program is a great value for larger families like ours.  Everyone’s going to need to learn their math facts at some point, and I appreciate being able to just add new students as needed.

What Could Have Been Better for Our Family

UberSmart Math Facts is designed to be a flexible tool.  With so many ways to customize it, you can really tailor the program to fit your students’ needs.  However, I could have used a little more guidance as to the best way to use it with Ian.  As I said before, the assessment test said he should work on keyboard entry before starting on math facts, but since the whole reason we were using it was to learn facts, that was rather discouraging.  So then I just felt like it was up to me to figure out what to do next.

Another frustration I had was that the program only drilled one set of facts at a time.  I was hoping once it marked that Ian had “learned” a specific set that it would occasionally quiz him on those as he continued working toward the next level.  That way he would not only keep those facts in the forefront of his mind but would also be able to feel successful in the midst of the frustration of learning new facts.  Unfortunately I was never able to figure out how to do more than just the current set.

Although I didn’t have Ian do any mastery tests, I did one myself just to see how that feature worked.  I found it really distracting to have three problems at a time on the screen.  It took a lot of mental discipline to keep my focus only on the problem in the middle when my peripheral vision was seeing the previous and upcoming problems as well.  I wish there was an option to show only the problem being tested, because I know Ian wouldn’t be able to block all the extra numbers out given how intentional I had to be about it.

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My Overall Impression

If you’re looking for a no-frills way of practicing math facts then I think UberSmart Math Facts is very helpful.  I know some kids do best without distracting graphics, but Ian is not one of those kids.  Without a “fun” element, he had a hard time staying on task and finding the motivation to spend time on the program.  I did see definite progress over the period we were using this program, but as he continues to work on learning addition facts, I think we’ll try to find something that incorporates more games and entertainment.

Just the Facts

  • Requires Windows 7, 8, XP or Vista
  • For grades K-6, but any age that needs math facts reinforcement can utilize this.
  • 30-Day Free Trial available
  • Download for home use – $24.95
  • Use discount code “v4 Early Bird” for a 30% discount until September 30th.

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Happy Kids Songs (Crew Review)

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Looking for a fun way of teaching character education?  You might be interested in the children’s music we recently received from Happy Kids Songs.  We were given three albums to review: Friends & Sharing, Manners & Character, and Happiness & Attitude, as well as the Happy Kids Songs Workbook: Hands-on Activities to Build Character, Social & Emotional Skills.

Happy Kids Songs Collage

What is it?

Happy Kids Songs is a series of children’s albums created by Don MacMannis (aka “Dr. Mac”), a child psychologist and award-winning songwriter.  The songs are intended to teach character as well as social and emotional skills that will help kids make choices that will lead to happiness and success. The website has links to download the music through either iTunes or amazon.com.  Each mp3 album contains 5 songs (downloadable separately or as a set).  Here are the songs on the three albums we got a chance to review: Happy Kids Songs ReviewFriends & Sharing (#1)

  • Sailing on the Seven C’s
  • Everybody Wants to Find a Friend
  • Sharing Friends
  • Happy as Happy Can Be
  • Together

Happy Kids Songs ReviewManners & Character (#6)

  • H-o-n-e-s-t-y
  • Quirks
  • Six Little Kids
  • The Golden Rule
  • The Magic Word

Happy Kids Songs ReviewHappiness & Attitude (#7)

  • Be Good to Yourself
  • Better Together
  • I Don’t Understand
  • Shake It Out and Dance
  • Who Knows What’s a Kudo?

Other albums in the series cover Social Skills & Bullying (#2), Feelings and Fears (#3), Practice and Success (#4), Talking and Listening (#5), and Respect and Responsibility (#8). Happy Kids Songs ReviewThe companion workbook goes along with the songs from all the albums and has two main sections.  The first includes lyrics to the songs as well as activity pages (e.g. word searches, dot-to-dots, and coloring pages). The second part of the book contains suggestions of other learning activities related to each song, mostly designed for larger groups of children. The copyright allows you to reproduce the workbook pages for a co-op or in a classroom. Everything in the softcover workbook is actually available for FREE on the Happy Kids Songs website, but purchasing the workbook saves the trouble of downloading and printing the 80 files individually.

Our Experience with Happy Kids Songs

At first, we just listened all the way through the 15 songs we were given.  Dr. Mac talks about “seeding” the songs with kids, just getting them familiar with them before discussing the meaning.  After this initial exposure, we focused on just one or two songs at a time to addressing specific things that came up with our kids.

It was really helpful to have the lyrics so we could follow along and break down the songs during our discussion.  Once we talked through the words, my kids (well, the 4- and 6-year olds, at least) were able to listen more carefully and sing along.

I think Happy Kids Songs are a wonderful resource for parents (or teachers).  Each song teaches a valuable lesson, and the albums are a great addition to any character education program.  Here are a few of my favorite songs:

  • “6 Little Kids” tells the story of 6 children who close their eyes and try to describe an elephant based on what they can feel in front of them.  Each one describes something very different.  Sometimes it is tempting to think someone is wrong for seeing a situation differently, but it’s important to remember that we each have a unique perspective.
  • “The Golden Rule” relays Jesus’ classic advice to “Just do to others what you would like them to do to you.”  How many times a day do I remind my children of this?  Having a song to sing helps me keep the message fresh so they don’t just tune me out.
  • “Shake it Out and Dance” addresses the issue of “I can’t.”  I have one child who says this constantly, and I’m working really hard to break the habit.  The song is a fun reminder that it’s better to try than to just hold back by saying, “I can’t.”

I also really like the workbook.  My kids love the activity pages in the first section, but I found the second half of the book to be most valuable part of the whole program.  There are so many great suggestions for helping teach the lesson of each song.  For example, here are some of the ideas to go along with “Who Knows What’s a Kudo?” First you see the main point of the lesson:

Focus: Giving and receiving compliments

Social and Emotional concepts:

  • Seeing the best in others
  • Focusing on the positive
  • Thanking people for their efforts

Then there are several suggestions for activities (which I’ve just summarized here):

    • Pair the children up and have them each say three positive things about each other.  Then write those things on a cards and have the larger group try to figure out who each card is describing.
    • Make acrostics of each child’s name having them think of positive words to go with each letter, like these that the boys and I did together.  (They really enjoyed this and wanted to do one for Arianna, but I wasn’t sure I could come up with three positive “A” words for a 2-year old so I said we’d hold off on that!)

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  • Make “friendship soup” by having the children brainstorm different friendship traits and write them on separate cards.  Then put all the cards in a bowl and stir them up with a big spoon.  Have the children each draw a card, read the trait, and name another person in the group who demonstrates that trait.

There are ideas like this for each song.  While most of them are designed for a classroom setting, many are easily adaptable for families to use as well.

Just the Facts

  • This is geared for ages 4-8, but my younger children also enjoyed the music.
  • Songs – $.99 each (available to download individually)
  • Albums (5 songs on each) – $4.95
  • Happy Kids Songs Workbook – $12.56

Final Thoughts

I don’t plan to continue using Happy Kids Songs on a regular basis, though I might pull some of them out again at some point.  For one thing, I’m rather fussy about musical styles, and these songs weren’t to my particular taste.  (I never heard any complaints from my kids though, so I think they enjoyed them.)

However, the main reason I don’t see them as something our family will use is because I prefer to keep our character education rooted in the Bible so my kids will be able to connect decisions about their attitudes and behavior with God’s truth.  Many of the lessons taught in Happy Kids Songs stem from biblical concepts, but I would be more inclined to use them if I had an quick reference that listed Bible verses to go along with each song.  If I ever end up back in a public school classroom, however, these would be a great resource!

Connect With Happy Kids Songs on Social Media:

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Posted in Homeschool Resources, Product reviews

The Heart of Homeschooling: Discussion Studies

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Educating the WholeHearted Child: 12

WholeHearted“If Discussion Studies are not the constantly beating heart at the center of WholeHearted Learning, pulsing the life-blood of new thoughts and ideas to every part of the model, then the life will soon go out of your homeschool” (page 211).

I have always loved to discuss ideas.  One of my favorite things about homeschooling is that I get to engage my children in discussions about things I love: the Bible, literature, history, theology, art, music…

There are things to enjoy in each stage of homeschooling, but I am really looking forward to a few years from now, when I can start discussing some of the favorite novels of my childhood with my children.  There are so many “friends” I’ve been eagerly waiting to introduce them to: Sara Crewe, Mary Lennox and Dickon, Johnny Tremain, Heidi, … There are times and places I long to take them as we snuggle up on the couch and spend the afternoon reliving history in our imaginations.

I don’t think we’ll have any problems keeping Discussion Studies at the heart of our homeschool.  There are so many wonderful things to look forward to in the years to come!

Each Mentoring Monday I share my reflections on what I’ve been learning from my “paper mentors.”  I am currently joining in a book discussion of Educating the WholeHearted Child by Clay Clarkson (with Sally Clarkson), so my Monday posts are all being sparked by things I’m reading in this fabulous book!

Posted in Homeschool Resources, Our Vision, Parenting Resources

Wizzy Gizmo (Crew Review)

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Wizzy Gizmo CollageWe are always on the lookout for new audio entertainment, so we jumped at the chance to review Wizzy Gizmo‘s Audio Drama One: Who Created Everything?, which takes the listener on a creative, sensory journey through the first chapter of the Bible.

What is Wizzy Gizmo?

Wizzy Gizmo offers several products that are designed to help engage children in learning about the Bible.  In addition to Audio Drama One: Who Created Everything?, they have two books based on Old Testament stories (the first tells the same story as the audio drama from Genesis 1, and the second moves on to Genesis 2), and a set of cards that teach about the books of the New Testament.  (Other members of the Crew received these products to review, so you can visit the Schoolhouse Review Crew blog to see what they had to say about them!)

Wizzy Gizmo Review

The audio drama is much more than a retelling of Genesis 1.  The story features “Gizmovision,” an invention that “takes any book you have and creates a life-like world inside a bubble.  You not only see the story, but you can touch, taste, feel, and smell the story.”  Wizzy Gizmo, the inventor, and a group of children (along with a couple of silly sidekicks) embark on a journey into the biblical account of Creation.  Day by day, they hear the words of the biblical text (read from the New American Standard Bible) and then use all their senses to observe what it would have been like to be there.

There are several catchy songs interwoven through the story, some just silly and fun, but others very worshipful.

Our Family’s Experience

Before we listened to Who Created Everything?, I had some hesitations about Wizzy Gizmo.  I was afraid it was trying to add modern elements to the biblical story of Creation in order to make it more entertaining to kids.  Once we listened to it, however, I was reassured that this was not the case.  Instead, “Wizmovision” is used to help the bring the story to life, allowing the kids to think about how all their senses would experience the wonder of Creation.  More than once I caught myself thinking, “Oh yeah, that’s what it would have been like!”  It made the Creation story real to me in ways I had never considered.

I was impressed by the quality of the album.  Although at times the acting seemed a bit forced, the overall production was excellent.  (Audio samples are available on the website.)  The music was beautifully orchestrated, and I especially enjoyed the last few tracks on the CD that were just the soundtrack with no voices.

P1030666As for my kids, all I can say is that they have never all been so into any audio entertainment right from the start!  I first put it on in the car as we returned home from a morning out, hoping it would capture their attention enough that no one would fall asleep before we could get home for naps.  It sure worked!  They were immediately drawn in and spent the entire ride listening and laughing, especially when it got to the “Mango” song.  The boys begged to take the CD into their room when we got home, and I think they listened to it four more times that first day.  Arianna, who’s only 2, enjoyed it every bit as much as Ian, who is 6 and usually likes to listen to things beyond the attention span of the younger kids.  (The recommended age is 4-12, but I think some kids on the older end of that span might find it rather juvenile.)

I appreciate the thoughtfulness that went into the production of the Wizzy Gizmo resources.  The “Who, What, Why and How?” page on the website shares a lot of the careful decisions made by the creators to ensure that the products are thoroughly biblical and wholesome.

[Note: The website itself seems to be still under construction.  In addition to several typos that made me cringe, we were unable to find any of the “games, puzzles, and other fun activities” the CD insert said were there.]

Just the Facts

Final Thoughts

We want more Wizzy Gizmo!  Since the CD is labeled “Episode One,” Ian’s been begging me to get “the rest of them,” but there aren’t any addition albums yet.  Our whole family enjoyed this one so much that we’ll be quick to purchase any new audio dramas that Wizzy Gizmo produces in the future.

Connect With Wizzy Gizmo on Social Media:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wizzygizmo
Twitter: https://twitter.com/wizzygizmo
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/wizzygizmo/
Google+: http://www.plus.google.com/+wizzygizmo
Vimeo: http://vimeo.com/wizzygizmo

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Posted in Homeschool Resources, Product reviews

Wrapping Up Week 5 (2014-15)

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weekly wrap-up

We’ve fallen into a pretty good routine now that we’ve finished Week 5 of this school year.  Even when unexpected things come up, we’ve been able to get through most of what I want to finish in a week.  (And I’m learning what to let go, which is huge for me!)  Here’s a glimpse at the past week:

Bible

This week we officially began going through the New Testament. (Woohoo!) Each evening we’ll be going through chronological readings with the family in Old Story New, but Ian and I will also be using Bible Road Trip: Year Three as part of our schooling.  Up until now our time with BRT has only involved matching up weeks from Years One and Two with our family devotions and doing the research (and videos) that went along.  Now we’re adding a new component to our morning reading, since BRT will take us through the New Testament book by book.

I’m currently planning to use the Lower Grammar assignments with just Ian.  I’ve thought about doing the Preschool/Kindergarten level and including Elijah and Arianna, but we already have so many picture Bible storybooks, I didn’t really want to buy the one that goes along with BRT.  If the reading load is overwhelming for Ian, however, I may end up deciding to do that.

It would be nice to include everyone in our morning Bible time.  This week I started spending some time in worship with all the children before we started our school day, and it would be easy to add some Bible reading after that before letting the little ones go off to play.  I’d like to start encouraging them to stay with us for our devotional time (even if I don’t use the BRT Preschool materials).  This week we continued reading Prudence and the Millers (Chapters 7-10) and made it through Proverbs 15:1-20.

Bible pageSince this was our first official week with BRT, Ian started his new Bible notebook.  If you’ve seen any of the Bible lessons I’ve posted over the last couple of years, you know we’ve done Bible notebook pages of some sort or another since he turned 3.  This year we’re stepping up to add a slightly more academic component rather than just fun crafts, but hopefully we’ll get some of those in it too.

This week Ian started writing the names of the books of the Bible on the Bible library bookshelf page I created a while back, as well as creating a page on the “Armor of God” to go along with one of our readings for Week 1 – “What is the Bible?”.  We did this craft a while back in our Armor of God unit using the picture of the boy given with the armor, but I thought this time it would be fun to use a picture of Ian himself and include text boxes with the passage we had read.  Of course, when the others saw his page, they wanted to do their own. Armor of God Collage

The boys were in their pajamas when I whipped the camera out, which at first Ian didn’t like, but it adds some fun color to their pages so we ended up just going with it.  After taking pictures of each kid, I opened them in Paint and selected around their bodies to delete the background (so I wouldn’t waste ink).  Then I pasted the images into a Word document so I could adjust what size they would be on the page.

Math

We got through lessons 11-15 of the Mathematics Enhancement Programme (Year 2).  So far Ian’s been very comfortable with it, not too challenged, and his confidence has really grown.  I’m impressed with how much he is able to do, especially considering how challenging parts of Year 1 were for him.  The only area I’m really keeping an eye on is how quick (or slow) he is with his math facts.  He’s made some improvement (and we’ve gotten in some extra practice with one of our reviews), but he could get through the practice book pages a lot faster if he knew them, and I could see him getting bogged down soon if MEP moves on and he’s still trying to count out sums for each part of the more complex problems.

Literature (Ambleside Online)

We caught up with our Ambleside Online, Year 1 reading this week, going back to A Child’s Garden of Verses for poetry and enjoying another story in James Herriot’s Treasury for Children.  I think that’s Ian’s favorite AO book so far, though he also really enjoys the Aesop’s fables.

History Cycle

This was the first week we’ve deviated from the schedule in Mystery of History, Vol.1, which spent an entire week (3 lessons) on Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  Since we’ve covered Old Testament history in depth already, I don’t feel a need to linger on the biblical stories in MoH.  Rather, I combined those lessons into one day of reviewing the Patriarchs, and then we moved on to Hammurabi.

Patriarchs

Since Ian already knows the stories of the Patriarchs, I wanted to focus more on the “big picture” and how they fit into the grand scheme of history.  After connecting Abraham to what we’ve read about Sumeria, we talked about his faith and the covenant God made with him.  It’s pretty amazing how this one man who lived thousands of years ago has helped shape the world for all of history ever since.

P1030735We talked about Abraham’s family line and how important it is to understanding history.  We made a family tree for Ian’s history notebook (with pasted pictures from the Homeschool In the Woods’ History Through the Ages-Collection CD with approximate dates) and read Ballad of Matthews Begats, a cute book which takes the reader through the family line from Abraham to Jesus.  (The words are even put to music in a fun song on the CD included with the book.)  At Ian’s request, we also revisited some of our favorite books and videos from the last time we studied Joseph.

Hammurabi

I read Ian the chapter about Hammurabi in Story of the World, Vol. 1 by Susan Wise Bauer.  We talked about some of his laws and discussed what was fair about them (or not).  I printed the free notebook page on Hammurabi from biblestoryprintables.com to go in the plastic page protector with the Hammurabi figure from Famous Figures of Ancient Times for Ian’s history notebook.

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Science

This week in the God’s Design for Life curriculum we learned about fish.  In addition to reading lessons 11-13 in The World of Animals, we watched Bill Nye the Science Guy: Fish, Ian made a collage for his notebook, and he read About Fish by Cathryn Sill.

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We started to read The Life Cycle of a Salmon by Bobbie Kalman, but Ian wasn’t as into it as he has been with other books in this series.  I ended up just leaving it out, along with The Life Cycle of a Shark, and The Life Cycle of a Sea Horse, which he enjoyed going through on his own while the others were napping.

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Extras

This was our last week in the Salsa unit based on Caperucita Roja (Little Red Riding Hood).  All three older kids have learned so much from this program.  Although I usually only do the lesson plans with Ian, Elijah has started showing a fascination with using another language, and Arianna often requests to watch a Salsa video.  It’s fun to see them all learning together.

Upcoming Reviews

We’re currently getting familiar with the following products.  Watch for reviews soon!

Posted in Ambleside Online

Disciplined Studies (Math)

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Educating the WholeHearted Child: Chapter 11 (part 2)

WholeHearted Back when I was in elementary through high school, if you had asked me what my least favorite subject was, I would have quickly answered, “Math!”  After my days of math class were behind me, however, I realized that it wasn’t really math itself I found distasteful; it was the way it was taught.  I thrived on the challenge of math, and because I grasped things quickly, I spent a lot of time waiting for the rest of my class to be ready to move on, which meant I rarely felt challenged.  I think if I had been homeschooled and could move at my own pace I would probably have found it one of my favorite subjects.

I actually really like most things about mathematics. I resonated with these reasons Clarksons give for considering a study of math worthwhile:

“Math is empowering–it strengthens logical thinking, which can contribute to real-life problem solving skills.

Math is rewarding–there is a certain feeling of pride and accomplishment in getting the right answers to challenging math problems.

Math is necessary–the bottom line of math study is acquiring abilities that enable us to function successfully and independently in society.

Math is affirming–the beauty, elegance, and exactness of math reflect the nature and faithfulness of God (unchanging) in contrast to the corruption and confusion of sin” (page 206).

I love the sense of order, knowing there’s a definitely right answer, and working my way through whatever I need to do to find that answer.  I get a lot of satisfaction out of solving math problems, and I see that same enjoyment in my children, particularly Elijah.  I could easily see him wanting to work his way all the way through calculus.

I’ve written a lot in the past about some of my struggles in teaching math to Ian.  I want to be sure that I don’t drive him towards a dislike for math simply because I’m not teaching it in a way that works for him.  Right now I feel like we’re in a really good place, but I want to stay sensitive to his learning style and needs.  I’m not saying he has to love math, but I hope he’ll be able to enjoy it more than I did as a child.

Each Mentoring Monday I share my reflections on what I’ve been learning from my “paper mentors.”  I am currently joining in a book discussion of Educating the WholeHearted Child by Clay Clarkson (with Sally Clarkson), so my Monday posts are all being sparked by things I’m reading in this fabulous book!

Posted in Homeschool Resources, Our Vision, Parenting Resources
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