happy new year again

Happy Chinese new year!
The Japanese also use the same zodiac as the Chinese, and 2013 is the year of the (back water) snake, which is my sign.
I'm not a big believer in astrology but I do find it amusing (especially when it predicts good things for me). As a young girl I was disappointed to be a snake because of the negative connotations, but in Chinese culture, the snake is considered a good omen, a bringer of good luck. The snake represents inquisitiveness and passion. Not bad for a scaly animal with no legs.

I think we'll do a little exploration of all things Chinese this month. Here are a few resources we'll be looking to:
Montessori-inspired Chinese activities

Discovery Kid Zone Chinese New Year activities
make Chinese lanterns

Chinese zodiac story game
Chinese Zodiac yoga
cook dumplings

make a lap book

make a paper chain snake

make felt fortune cookies

nature outing

As part of our weekly nature walk/outing we headed toward the Arboretum to feed the koi and search for signs of autumn. And sure enough, the weather is cooling and signs abound. I find myself letting out sighs of relief...

the education plan

I started toying with the idea of "homeschooling" a few years ago when a good friend handed me a copy of John Taylor Gatto's Dumbing us Down and, indeed, creating an atmosphere of learning and exploration in our home as always been one of our priorities. But this is the first year I actually attempted to put together a plan. A real plan. You know, like a schedule. With a "curriculum". With just a few months until she turns five, I figured it was time to implement some kindergarten-type programming. And with the twins set to make their appearance in a month or two, I want to make sure I'm prepared now! So there has been a lot of time spent at the computer researching different methodologies (Charlotte Mason, Unschooling, Montessori, Classical etc.) and subject programs and one thing I've learned is that I still have a LOT to learn. There are many books about home education on my to-read list and many people on my to-consult-with list. Overwhelming for sure, but quite exciting.

I tend to over-compensate in my planning - aiming to be more ambitious than may be practical (you should see our travel itineraries!). But I thought I would share some of the things I've put together here, in hopes that either:
1. someone out there with more knowledge and experience can provide some input/opinions/suggestions about some my approaches and choices and
2. perhaps it will be helpful or even inspirational to someone out there who is beginning on this journey, like me.

So here it is:

Home Learning Checklist

Daily:

* Scripture & meditation

* Exercise

* Feed rabbit

* Letter writing

* Foreign Language activity

* Math worksheet

* Reading

* Music (piano/violin) practice

* Playtime

Weekly Checklist:

* Nature Walk

* Museum Visit

* Art Project

* Library Visit

* Tai Kwon Do class

* Ballet class

* Kind Act/ Service

* Book report

Resources

Math

Singapore Math Workbooks

Miquon Math All Six Student Workbooks and All Three Teacher's Guides

Life of Fred 4-Book Elementary Set # 1 : Apples, Butterflies, Cats, Dog

Living Math books

math games

Reading 

Literature of choice

Explode the Code (phonics) 2

Summer Bridge Reading 1-2

Spelling 

Bananagrams for Kids 

Grammar 

Grammar-Land (Yesterday's Classics)

Languages

Latin

Song School Latin (Student Book and CD) (English and Latin Edition)

Minimus Pupil's Book: Starting out in Latin. 

Japanese

Flashcards, music, Hiragana practice, Picture Dictionary, DVD

Writing

letter writing (daily)

blogging & journaling

book reports (weekly)

D'Nealian Handwriting workbooks

History  

Story of the World,Volume 1 with Activity Book

Science 

Handbook of Nature Study  

weekly nature walk 

occasional experiments and projects (1 per month)

Music 

piano & violin lessons

concerts

Art 

drawing class 

recommended list for grade 1 from Concordia University Chicago. 

Artist study and museum attendance (1 per month)

Physical Ed
weekly ballet class

weekly Home Do (tai kwon do)

daily outdoor play 

Religion

daily scripture study

When I look at it all, it can seem overwhelming, but I honestly think our daily and weekly schedule of activities is quite do-able. We been doing it for a few days now and find that we can generally complete our daily checklist in under an hour, not including exercise and playtime, which thankfully fills the majority of our day, along with cooking, crafting, gardening and the like. And Mayumi loves being able to check off the items on her list.

The list of resources are meant to be a guideline for me, not necessarily what we will cover entirely this year (but one can be hopeful, yes?). Many of the books we don't actually have on our possession just yet (we are still debating whether we need all those math programs right now and whether we even want to delve into Latin at all). But they are paths I want to research and possibly pursue. All the while keeping in mind that we may veer off course completely if Mayumi show an interest in something completely different. 

And there you have it. A plan. A structure, a framework, a bit of organization to our days. Phew!

Homeschool Lesson: Peter and the Wolf

One of the fun things about homeschooling is being able to really delve in-depth into a particular subject and find fun ways of exploring it. The challenging part is finding a suitable subject and putting together a lesson plan! But since we are part of a small co-op of families in the area who take turns teaching a "lesson" once a week, it is certainly incentive to be on top of my game. The three other moms involved all come from different backgrounds and it is fascinating and inspiring to see the unique strengths and creative approaches each one brings to their lessons.

For my turn this week I put together a little exploration and intro to music using Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf. Here is a rough outline of what my lesson plan looked like:

Peter and the Wolf

Music

Listen to examples of various instruments and discuss qualities of musical instrument groups and how each character is represented by a different instrument. What kind of personality traits come to mind when you hear a character’s leitmotif?

Listen to each character’s leitmotif. Explore dancing and moving to the music in order to convey the character’s personality.

Bring out instrument box. If you could choose one instrument from the box to represent yourself which would it be? How could you use that instrument to communicate with other people? How do you say hello? How do you let someone know you’re angry? Tired? Sad? Happy?

Language Arts

Puppet Show, using Sarah Jane Studio puppet theater

Reading from Books

Comparing the different book versions of the story.

Science

Review characteristics of animals.

Math

Grouping of instruments by type

Resources

Lesson plan: http://www.oebs.org/page/peter1.html

Lapbook: http://www.currclick.com/product_info.php?products_id=47908&it=1

Excellent Study Guide with various activities: http://www.cantonballet.com/documents/PWStudyGuide-1.pdf

Amazingly all of the kids were interested in engaged in every step of the lesson. They were riveted by the puppet show story, they loved playing their own instruments, and they enjoyed putting together different elements of their scrapbooks. Success! Now I don't have to worry about putting together another lesson for another four weeks. Phew!

Turning Japanese

Mr. Q got on my case a few months ago because, though I speak a little (very little!) Japanese and am very embedded in that culture, I have failed to transfer that to my own daughter! Though I have grand visions of homeschooling I realized (through his gentle encouragement) that I needed to start incorporating a second language into our daily learning rituals. So, I scoured the library and Amazon to find some resources, but in the end found that my own home-made cards and games work best.

It has been so fun seeing her absorb this aspect of her heritage and hearing her babble in Japanese (some of it is accurate, some of it is imaginary). Though our plans to visit Japan this year have been postponed indefinitely, when we finally are able to go I hope that she will be able to absorb even more both linguistically and culturally. But for now, it is rewarding for both of us, I think. And it doesn't hurt that I'm getting to brush up on some stuff as well.

And now, for some fun - a little song we made up about the colors in Japanese!

Preparing for President's Day

"It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open one's mouth and remove all doubt."

~Abraham Lincoln

I laugh to myself when I think of this quote because I tend to be the type to open my mouth (and insert my foot), removing all doubt in the minds of my listeners (or readers!). But at least I can laugh at myself!

We've been having some fun preparing for President's Day:

- reading President's Day by Anne and Lizzy Rockwell, Our Abe Lincoln by Jim Aylesworth (illustrated by Barbara McClintock, one of our favorites!), Farmer George Plants a Nation by Peggy Thomas, George Washington's Teeth by Deborah Chandra, Stand Tall, Abe Lincoln by Judith St. George, and Abe's Honest Words by Doreen Rappaport.

- fieldtrip to visit sites that honor Washington and Lincoln. Having the fortune to live in DC, we went to the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument before stopping at the Lincoln exhibit at the Smithsonian's Museum of American History (you can check out their online exhibit, too!). And on Monday, admission to Mt. Vernon is free, so we'll hit that up as well.

- making snacks in honor of Washington and Lincoln: pretzel log cabins and cherry desserts (like these cherry coconut cupcakes)

- working on our President's Day lapbook (we used materials from homeschool share and squidoo).

- playing math games with money, particularly pennies and quarters!

- making tri-cornered hats out of black construction paper (it doesn't get any easier than this!).

I love focusing on holidays and building traditions around them for our little family. I heard some of my friends complaining that in their children's schools they are putting a lot of focus on black history month (which is wonderful!) but ignoring President's Day (which is tragic). Just by the simple study I've been doing with Mayumi I've developed a much deeper love and respect for Washington and Lincoln and I hope that I can pass that, along with patriotic zeal for our history, on to my daughter. If you have any other ideas for President's Day, please share!

The time is now near at hand which must probably determine whether Americans are to be freemen or slaves; whether they are to have any property they can call their own; whether their houses and farms are to be pillaged and destroyed, and themselves consigned to a state of wretchedness from which no human efforts will deliver them. The fate of unborn millions will now depend, under God, on the courage and conduct of this army. Our cruel and unrelenting enemy leaves us only the choice of brave resistance, or the most abject submission. We have, therefore, to resolve to conquer or die.

~ George Washington in an address to the Continental Army before the Battle of Long Island (27 August 1776)