Creation

I got a good public school, and private university education.  If you asked me, ten years ago, where man can from, I would have told you, with all the certainty I had, that men evolved from apes.   That's what I was taught.  And I didn't see the problem with that versus what the Bible said.

However, about 7 years ago, my dear friend took me to the Institute for Creation Research in San Diego.  And that began my interest in Creation.   Now we are getting ready to take a trip to the Creation Museum, just outside of Cincinnati, Ohio.  Can't wait.  Everyone I know who has been there says that it is amazing.

Whether you believe in God or not, the question of where we humans came from, is central to our understanding of who we are.  Why not find out what the Creationists believe?  I dare you to learn more, and let me know what you think.

Recently we have been watching movies about this very subject.  So fascinating!  Netflix allows us to watch as many of these movies as we like, at home.

Here are the movies we have been loving lately:

Wish you were here!

Free Homeschooling

Homeschooling doesn't have to cost anything.  Really.

(Although, I do recommend that every homeschool family have an HSLDA membership.  It's important to protect yourself, and your membership helps keep homeschooling legal in all 50 states.)

I absolutely adore curriculum.  It's really fun to look at and play with and plan for.  But in reality,  sometimes the kids like it.  But more often than not, we spend a whole lot of money on something that looks great, only to find that, after a day or two,  the kids are no longer keen on it, and the haranguing begins.

Cause if I've spent a lot of money on some curriculum I thought was going to be wonderful - well, then we must use it, right?

On the other hand, if I get my stuff for free, then I don't much care whether the kids love it or never want to play with it again.  I have the freedom to let them enjoy it or not.

Please be aware:  While I have personally looked at all of these websites - it is not possible for me to have looked at all of the games/links as there are literally thousands.  Please, please, never let your child access the internet without your supervision.  Computers with internet access should be in a common area, where you - the parent - will be aware of what your kids are being exposed to.  I know of several Christian, homeschooling families who trusted their kids to know what not to look at - and their kids were inadvertently exposed to, and subsequently addicted to porn.  Be careful!!

Here are some free curriculum sites (in no particular order):

MULTIPLE SUBJECT, GRADE SCHOOL AGE GAMES:

Starfall:  Early primary phonics, math, silly learning games.  My kids love it.

Learning Games for Kids:  Like the name says, lots of games in all areas.  Let them choose and you sit back and watch them learn.  :)

Gamequarium:  More games for elementary school age.

Game Classroom:  Kindergarten through sixth grade games in all areas.  These games are developed to match state standards.  (Is that a good thing? - LOL!)

Arcademic Skill Builders:  More K-5 games in all areas.

ABCya!:  Lots more great games.  I like playing the one where you fit the United States in the map, one state at a time.  My high score is 320 on hard.

Fun Brain:  Reading and Math games for grade school age.

Sheppard Software:  Hundreds of educational games, activities, quizzes, articles and more!

Funschool:  Worksheets, online games, craft videos - it's got it all.  But I detest the commercials.

PBS Kids:  Games, coloring sheets, and worksheets associated with all the PBS shows.  Mostly fluff and commercialism, but some good stuff.

HISTORY/SCIENCE:

National Geographic Kids:  Lots of interesting things to do and see.  Plus some learning games.  Warning- definitely a site that believes in evolution and that the world is billions of years old.  If you, like me, believe in young earth and that God created humans - then you will want to be sure your kids understand that this site does not support that.


Answers in Genesis kids' section:  Fun videos, worksheets, coloring pages, crafts, etc.  Love it!


Usborne Quicklinks:  Links to educational websites galore!

MATH:

A+ Math:  Math games, worksheets, flashcards.


Timez Attack!:  Teaches all the multiplication facts, 2 x 2 through 12 x 12.  Fun!!


Manga High:  Lots of math games for upper elementary and middle school students.


Cool Math:  Higher level math games, primarily for older kids (and adults).  


Sum Dog:  Math games that cover 100 numeracy topics at 10 levels.

The Math Worksheet Site:  Make up worksheets and charts based on what your kids are currently studying.

TYPING:  

Learn2Type:  Like it says, free online typing tutor.




SPELLING/VOCABULARY:

Spelling City:  Spelling and vocabulary for all levels.  Use their suggested lists or make your own list and convert it to word searches, games, and tests.  


READING/BOOK LISTS:

Book Adventure:  This Sylvan sponsored site offers both reading suggestions for all ages, and quizzes to check for comprehension.  If your child is an independent reader, you can set up rewards for him/her to get when then read a certain number of books and score well on the tests.  Nice!!


Ambleside Online:  Book lists (some are free online and some you get at the library) and guidelines for the popular Charlotte Mason method of homeschooling.  Great place to get inspired.  


GEOGRAPHY:

Seterra:  Fun online geography practice.  Better than just a quiz - actually helps you learn the major citys,  countries, etc.



Wish you were here!

Asking Questions

Jor Man has been wanting to see the movie, "Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief" for some time now.  We were finally able to rent it.  I think we've watched it five times.  The kids love it - and I thought it was very good.

It is scary.  Uma Thurman is Medusa.  And there is a scene near the beginning that made me jump - something about a fury.  Ugly!!  But if your kids aren't nightmare prone, this movie is a great example of what unschooling can be like.

Following watching the movie, Jor Man was very interested in learning more about the Greek mythological gods and goddesses.  We watched
"The Greeks: Crucible of Civilization" on Netflix.  He loved it.  This is convenient since I intend to focus on the Ancients this year.  And I noticed that there are many more similar titles on Netflix.

We have discussed how these "gods and goddesses" are really false gods or demons.  For more ideas about how to talk with kids about this, see Kids in Ministry Internationals website or their curriculum, "Our Amazing God" - which we used with our family and loved.

Jor Man wanted to know - if when a "god" and a mortal have a baby, it's a "demi-god", what do you get if two "demi-gods" have a baby?  So we discussed genetics.(Although, who knows if it would work that way.  Would "gods" be a dominant or recessive gene?)  For the record, two demi-gods would have a 50% chance of having a demi-god baby, a 25% chance of having a mere mortal, and a 25% change of giving birth to a god.  Hmmm.

So many questions the kids had about the movie - so many jumping off points and learning moments.  It got me thinking - how great are questions?!

In school, kids are told what they SHOULD know, not what they WANT to know.  When my kids ask me a question, I know that they are sincerely interested in the subject and want to know the answer.  This is totally different than them memorizing the answer to a question they never asked so that they will be able to answer the question when they are tested.

I am attempting to inspire, delight, and create an environment of wonder and curiosity so compelling that I am inundated with questions!  Mom, how does this work?  Why is it blue?  How come?

Inquisitive kids make great learners.  I wonder if parents are afraid of questions, though?  What if your kids ask questions, and you don't know the answers?

That's when the real learning takes place, as you teach your kids how to find out the answers themselves.  Perhaps you show them how to look up a word in the dictionary.  Or you search for something on the internet.  Or you go to the library, and have them ask the librarian their question.

We want to create life long learners.  Not great test takers.

"It is the glory of God to conceal a thing,
but it is the honor of kings to search it out,”
Proverbs 25:22

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Balancing Act

Campster and Jor Man on a log and board at a friend's house.

This is just a piece of log and a board, with a screw in the middle.  Can they balance?

Jor Man comes in to the middle, and Campster out to the edge.  Almost got it!

Ta Da!!

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The New Chefs

Campster's Gluten-Free, Butterfly-Shaped, Pepperoni Pizza

My kids have always liked to help out in the kitchen.  Now that I am done with my chef job, and back to my full-time mommy job, I decided I'd like the kids to do more of the cooking.

Cooking is the perfect unschooling medium.  It involves planning the menu and writing it out, reading the recipe, shopping for the ingredients, economizing the purchases, coordinating the time it will take to cook with the time it will be served, measuring ingredients (fractions!), time and temperature, safety training, nutrition. . . I'm sure I've missed some, but you get the idea.

We have conversations about why eating only mac & cheese for three meals a day would not be good for your body.  We talk about carbs, proteins, fats and sugars.  We categorize foods into meats, dairy, grains, vegetables and fruits.  We pick fresh produce from the garden.  And we butcher our own chickens.  Lots of botany and biology going on.

For now we have settled on Sher-Bear cooking breakfast, Campster cooking lunch, and Jor Man cooking dinner.  They plan the menus out a week in advance and help with the grocery list and shopping.  I encourage them to think ahead a couple of days and see what they might need to either defrost or to prepare in advance.  For instance, on Sundays we always have a potluck lunch after church.  So Campster needed to prepare the pot roast (crock pot overnight) and the brownies the night before.  And Jor Man is making Coq Au Vin for dinner Monday night, so it will start cooking Sunday afternoon.

This morning, Sher Bear cooked scrambled eggs and bacon for us.  I supervised, but she did most of it herself.  Before we eat, we all say "Thank you" to the chef, (who is beaming) and then we give thanks to God for the food.

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Vacation Bible School

Last week was spent at Kidz Kamp, our church's version of Vacation Bible School.  We meet each morning from 9 am to 12:15 pm.  I lead the theater class and a Bible class for 3rd and 4th graders.  

This year, Jor Man chose to do "Tech" class again, and loved it.  They figured out (the teachers didn't tell them) how to make motors.  Then they made blimps and finally submarines.  Jor Man was entranced.  He came home every afternoon eager to show Big Dad and I what he had discovered.  We begged the instructor to know where he got his projects.  This website has lots of fun experiments and projects in technology.  

Campster and Sher Bear adored their "Younger Crafts" class as usual.  Next year Campster will be old enough to possibly try something else.  But she really loves the crafts, too.

The teens serve as CTs (Counselors in Training) and it is an opportunity for them to experience ministering to others, as well as being on the team together.  In addition to assisting the teachers, (and sometimes being the teachers), they lead worship, put on skits, and set the tone for the whole camp.  This year's CT group was phenomenal.  Jor Man is looking forward to being a CT in three more years.

I love how our little church really turns out for this event each year - people take their vacations to be able to share this week with the kids.  It's free for the families, and so we draw many children from the surrounding area who do not usually attend our church.

I especially loved my Bible class, where the kids asked tough questions:  "How good do you have to be to get into heaven?" and "Why did they kill Jesus?"  I love their honesty and their willingness to get real.

Some of the kids who came to camp were not well behaved.  That gave me an opportunity to talk with my kids about how we treat others who are not nice to us.  They were able to pray for, and love these children, and now they are friends.  That's Jesus' love in action!  

Wish you were here!

Chocolate

Cacao growing outside of Tiquisate, Guatemala

There, on the tree.  That football shaped, greenish fruit growing out of the trunk or branch.  That's it.    That's a cacao pod.  That is where chocolate comes from.

I remember seeing it for the first time when I was nine years old, and thinking it was the strangest thing - stuck there on the side of the trunk.

But, oh, how I love chocolate!  Jor Man went through a phase a couple of years ago when he was very interested in making chocolate.  We tried it, and failed miserably.  It didn't even taste good.

I asked my cousin, while we were in Guatemala, to get us one so that the kids could see for themselves where chocolate comes from.  He got us two!!  These were yellow (ripe?).

We played with them a bit, first, of course.  And then we cut them open.

Campster and Sher Bear playing with the cacao pods

They cut very easily, which surprised me.  The skin in hard like a winter squash, but the inside is soft.  It's whitish inside, and then there are little beans, cacao beans in the white.  It doesn't look a thing like chocolate - or taste like it.

Pretty much every kid I know has smelled unsweetened cocoa powder, or unsweetened baker's chocolate and taken a taste. Horrible bitter stuff!  Well, straight cacao beans make that seem yummy!

What the cacao beans look like raw

Jor Man tried tasting one and hated it!!  Before the beans can be used, they are roasted.  Then they add fat and sugar, and sometimes milk.  Well, that's the short-version.  If you want to read about how to really make chocolate, The Story of Chocolate is a great book for kids.  It has information on the history, geography, and manufacturing process.  We read that and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl one year.  Of course we watched the movies, too.  It's fun to compare the old and the new - an opportunity to compare and contrast.  Makes a fun unit study.  Delicious, too!

Wish you were here!

Auto Safari Chapin

Sher Bear looking out the window at the Zebras

Near the south coast of Guatemala, in Escuintla, is a place called Auto Safari Chapin.  I am told that originally it was the private collection (of animals) of one man who eventually opened it to the public.

A rhino.  It looks like he's going to charge us, but he was actually walking quite slowly.

Sher Bear checks out the giraffes.

The first part is a drive through safari.  We saw zebras, lions, hippos, a rhino, giraffes, monkeys, many birds, antelope and even water buffalo.  Only for the lion exhibit did we need to have our windows up.  Otherwise, our windows were down and we were driving right by the animals - amazing!  Not all of the animals were from Guatemala - they had animals from all over the world.

Two lions lounging in the grass

After the driving portion of the tour, we parked and walked through a more traditional zoo.  We especially liked the jaguars and pumas.  The scenery was lovely.  The animals were easy to see and active even during the day.  Considering that we used to live 5 miles from the San Diego Wild Animal Park, I thought I was difficult to impress when it came to zoos.  But this place was really amazing.

Beautiful Toucan

I believe this is a Puma.  It's actually yawning, not growling.

The entire time we were there, we only saw one other family.  We had the place to ourselves.  Of course, it was during the day on a weekday, during their school year.  I understand it's crowded on weekends and holidays.

The kids have discovered the Lagoon.

Jor Man in the bow of the boat

Once we had seen all the animals, the kids noticed the boats on the lagoon.  I let Big Dad take the kids because I get a little seasick.  They had a great time and saw a lot more spider monkeys.

Don't they look like an ad for "Spy Kids"?

There was also a swimming area.  Luckily, we had our suits packed!  The kids loved the wonderful pools: a shallow kiddy pool that was perfect for Sher Bear and a larger, deeper pool with a slide for the big kids.    By now you know that my children are really fish in disguise.  They swam and swam.

All this for the incredible price of $8 for adults and $6.67 for kids.  Isn't that crazy?

Campster's first run down the slide to Big Dad.  Jor Man looks scared for her!

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Graduation

Jor Man's Sand Tiger Shark poster

Last week the big kids "graduated" from both Aquarium School and Animal Academy.  This was our tenth month of going to Boston for classes once a month.  What an adventure!

I wasn't at all sure how this was going to work.  Afterall, as unschoolers, we are not in the habit of "making" our kids do their homework.  But both classes had final projects of a report and a poster about an animal.  Jor Man would (if he were in school) be in 4th grade.  So I imagine he might have such a project to do in 4th grade, although I don't remember writing reports until 6th grade.

Campster's Sea Horse poster

But Campster would be only in 1st grade, if she were in school!  So it seemed funny to me for her to "have to" write a report and do a poster.  In any case, neither child had ever done anything like this before.

Happily, both classes had assignments throughout the year which were much shorter and led up to the final projects.  I always told the kids what the homework was, and that they didn't have to do it.  Of course, I pointed out that the other kids in class would probably be doing the work.  I'd say something like, "So if you want to work on it, and you'd like help, I'm available this afternoon, and tomorrow morning.  But if you leave it until the last minute, I might not be free then."

Jor Man in front of his poster

Jor Man balked the most.  I just ignored it.  And by ignore it, I mean that I didn't get unhappy about it.  It wasn't easy.  I have strong "wishes" for my kids to "do well" and make me look good.  (Lovely!)  But I know that if I try to use unhappiness to motivate my kids to do what I want, they will learn to use unhappiness to try to motivate me to do what they want (whining, moping).

The posters were fun to do, and kind of got the ball rolling.  I can't say enough good things about repositionable spray adhesive.  Just don't let the kids use it themselves, unless you want your whole house to function like a post-it!

The reports were more of a challenge.  Like I said, Jor Man balked big time about doing the two-page report.  I chose to reframe it for him:  They had done a few shorter "reports" throughout the year of about a paragraph or two.  So we collected all of the ones about Sand Tiger Sharks (his aquarium animal) and photocopied them.

Jor Man with his TuaTara poster and report, and Campster with hers on Rabbits

Then we cut the photocopies up into sentences, and organized them by topic.  Some were about the animal's classification; some, the exhibit; and some were about what the animal ate.

We then sprayed a couple blank pieces of paper with spray adhesive, making huge post-its.  Then we placed the sentences in paragraphs.  Jor Man was able to see how a report is organized.  We added opening and closing paragraphs and he had his report!  When it came time to work on his Tuatara report, he knew what to do, and wrote it himself.

The Campster was excited to work on her poster and reports.  For Aquarium School, she chose Sea Horses as her animal.  Thankfully, she had an option to do either a report or a series of five cartoons.  She chose the cartoons.  It was really fun to see how creative she got with her cartoons.  They are all her own work.  I just coached her through the process.

For her report on Rabbits (her Animal Academy animal), Campster and I checked out books from the library.  I read portions of the books to her, and she would comment when there was something she wanted me to write down for the report.  We talked about how we need to write things in her own words.  

Campster and her friend holding Campster's "Cartoons" for her Sea Horse report

Then we took the notes and read them aloud.  Afterwards I asked her to dictate her report to me, and I would write it out.  She did a great job, no problem.

Jor Man discusses Sand Tiger Sharks with the President of the Aquarium

The classes, did a great job of celebrating the end of class and the kids' learning.  At the New England Aquarium, they had the kid's posters up and their reports out on display.  The administration of the Aquarium all took the time to come by and see what the kids had done.  Jor Man had an extended conversation about Sand Tiger Sharks with the President of the Aquarium.  Jor was very excited about this.

Wish you were here!

Enjoying God's Creation

We were over at a friend's house this past weekend.  Their son had jury-rigged a plank and rope gangway up a tree, which our kids took to immediately.  What they found at the top surprised us all - a chrysalis, with it's butterfly just emerging.  Isn't God so gracious?!  My butterfly loving Campster was right on it.  She reminded everyone not to touch it until the butterfly has a chance to pump its wings up, and fly.  But we all got to take a look. Amazing!

Yesterday, we were working on our garden beds.  And the girls caught a frog.  They played with that frog for hours, creating a habitat for it  (I love that they know that word), and letting it swim in the kiddy pool, and hop on the grass.  There were also moths that were caught, examined and released.  Eventually, the frog, too, was released, but only after much encouragement from the parents that this was the thing to do.

But first they decided to kiss the frog and see if it was a prince under a spell.  Nope.  Campster tells me she kissed him "lip-to-lip".  Eewww.  Unschooling is not for the faint of heart, or stomach.

On any other day, I might have gotten out books and looked up the kinds of butterfly, moth and frog they had captured.  But I decided rather to just enjoy.  And sometimes, enjoying God's creation IS the lesson.



We are waiting for the rain that never came last night.  After the rain we will put in our seeds and plants. So exciting!

Wish you were here!

Home Science Library

This morning during our family prayer time, Campster was distracted by a bird outside the window.  It was gone by the time we were done praying.  But she described it to me, and we got a bird book our of our family library and looked it up.  It was a male Cardinal.  Campster has decided that she would like to identify birds and track which birds she has seen.

You can't have every book known to man in your personal library.  Space and money will limit your choices.  And if you move often, you will need to own even fewer books, as they are often the heaviest and most expensive things to move.

What books should you make certain to have on your bookshelves?  Having resource books is so helpful.  It allows you to take advantage of teachable moments when your child is the most inspired to learn.  Search for books that your library is getting rid of.  Unfortunately, libraries often purge their older books.  Yes, there are new things learned all the time, and they want to stay up to date.  But books about birds, human anatomy, trees, stars, flowers, animals, rocks, shells, etc. will be most inspirational when they have the beautiful old drawings that the older books do.  Many of the older books are not available on Amazon.  But if you are wanting to buy some, here are some of the books I would suggest:


I would also recommend that once your kids are of "school age" you invest in a microscope.  There are so many things to look at with a microscope.  Tap water, saliva, dragonfly wings, leaves, and pond water all reveal God's glory and design.

 Of course the internet is also a great resource.  Last fall, we saw a snake in our yard.  I brought my laptop out, and we were able to identify it.  It wasn't poisonous, but it would eat our chicken eggs, so Big Dad killed it.  Then Jor Man suggested that we skin it.  Yep, I found that on the internet, too.  He still has the skin.  I also looked up recipes for snake meat.  But, no, we didn't do that.  Of course, with Big Dad not working, we may need to look into that. . . Just kidding!

Wish you were here!

The Edison

I'd like you to meet the Edison - that's what we call it.  I can't remember how old I was when we got the Edison from my father's cousin Jamie, but it has been in the family all along.  Its technical name is a cylinder phonograph.  It plays wax cylinder "records" specially made for it by Edison's Blue Amberol Record company.  


The Edison lives at my mother's condo now.  On our recent trip to Chicago, I showed my kids how it works.  Yes, it still works very well.  It is operated by a hand crank on the right side of the cabinet.  It uses no electricity.


My mother had the cabinet for the cylinders specially made.  My favorites are "Waiting on the Robert E. Lee" and "Harmony Bay".

Antiques are a great way to share family history, and ignite kids' interests in a subject.  Jor Man got very excited when I pointed out that Thomas Edison's company made it.  Campster wanted to know if Thomas Edison's germs were on it?  (LOL!)  Sher Bear just danced around to the music.

Being as old as I am (chuckle) I remember old 78 LPs.  Then 45s and 33 1/3s.  It must have been quite a leap to go from cylinders to disks.

When we were dating, Big Dad still had his 8-track player.  I used to record my favorite songs off of WLS radio onto cassette tapes.  And then CDs came along, and now mp3 players.  That's a lot of change in just my lifetime.  Imagine before Edison, people could only listen to music if it was live.

That's real history - how it affects people in their every day lives.  Share with your kids the changes that have happened in technology since you were young.  What was it like for your parents growing up?  Can your kids think of questions to ask their grandparents about how things have changed since they were young?

And what can your kids invent to change the future?

Wish you were here!