Boston's Freedom Trail

We spent a day this past Friday on Boston's Freedom Trail, getting to see the places we read about 2 months ago when we studied the beginning of the Revolutionary War.  While the current city buildings now tower over the 200+ years old landmarks, it was great to be able to step where history took place.  We did just about the entire Freedom Trail, starting from Boston common, our country's oldest public park, and where the British soldiers made camp when they came to 'keep order' in the colony, and going all the way through the various sites such as the Granary Burying Ground where Paul Revere and Sam Adams are buried as well as the victims of the Boston Massacre:

 the Old South Meeting House the starting point of the route to the Boston Tea Party:

King's Chapel with its "family pews" which the kids thought were very interesting to sit in:

Fanueil Hall where many town meetings were held to discuss what was to be done about the unfair taxes forced upon the colonists:

 a stop in to get some New England Clam Chowder in modern day Quincy Market:

the Old North Church where the 2 lanterns were lit to let the colonists know that the British had crossed over by sea: 

At this point, the Charlestown leg of the trip remained, but it was already late in the day, and we had been walking the trail for 5 hours. The 2 sites in Charlestown were the Bunker Hill Monument (which we knew we were not going to climb) and the USS Constitution (which is currently being renovated), but Bunny wanted to take a boat ride during our trip, so we walked over the bridge into Charlestown (we took a picture with the Bunker Hill Monument in the distance): 

and then proceeded to the USS Constitution and saw what's left of it (bare bones!):

and boarded the Water Shuttle back to Boston, seeing a great view of the Boston skyline with the lights in the buildings all starting to come on (the photo is weird, it has a reflection from the inside of the boat):

By the time the boat reached the Boston side of the river, it was dark.  It was a very full day-total of about 6 hours of walking and touring around Boston. We didn't go into most of the sites which had museums/tours (and required payment to enter) because if we did, the day would have been even longer, but we did take a tour of Paul Revere's house, which contained some of the silver work he had made and period furniture. It was definitely a worthwhile trip. 

The Hardest Part of Homeschooling (For Me)

As much as I love homeschooling, there's definitely very real challenges.  Many of the articles on the internet about homeschooling talk about the benefits of homeschooling (of which there are so many!), but rarely is there mention of the hardships. (Kind of like when you become a parent, people generally tell you how great it'll be and what a blessing it is, but they don't mention how physically painful the weeks after childbirth are or how hormones can send you on such an emotional roller coaster or how sleep deprivation can bring out more anger than you've ever felt). It's great to focus on the positives, but acknowledging the challenges makes me feel less alone and gives a more realistic picture of what homeschooling is like. I recently forwarded this article to a friend who is considering homeschooling:  5 Things I hate about homeschooling  and while these do resonate with me (alot! But I've managed to find ways to work overcome these for the most part, and they are no longer among my 'hardest parts' anymore...not saying they are GONE but definitely less difficult now) and I'm so thankful for this post, I realized that my biggest struggle right now isn't listed.

While some challenges may be pretty universal to most homeschoolers, there's also individual challenges based on circumstances, family dynamics, and personality. Also, I think with all major endeavors in life, the challenges will constantly change as the people involved change and as you yourself change.  At first, the hardest part of homeschooling was having a child around 24/7. After getting past that, the biggest challenge was having this huge responsbility of their entire education on my shoulders.  After getting past that, it was getting on the same page for what assignments would be done or not done, battles over refusing to complete assignments and whining about not wanting to do something.  But at this point in our homeschooling journey, I'd have to say the hardest part is something others may find pretty inconsequential...there's no single word to describe it, but I'd say it's something like one of the following:

• Trusting my kids to get the work done in their own time.
• Watching my kids be inefficient with their time.
• Allowing my kids to do other things between assignments.
• Letting my kids decide when to do their work.
• Bridging the disconnect of my idea of a school day schedule and their idea of a school day schedule.
• Letting go of MY idea of what needs to be done when (that that work should come before play)

As much as I read articles about the need to take breaks and for kids to have free play time (and in my head, I do agree with these), I still find it such a struggle to let them space out their work throughout the day, rather than get it all done and then have free time afterwards. It makes me so cranky and irritable to still have work to be finished at 3pm, when we started 8:30am. It's pretty ridiculous actually, and I know *I* need to change, as much as I want THEM change. I end up seeing it as "dawdling" or "distractions from work" or "not being diligent in their work habits".

To some degree, yes, they need to manage their own time, and at some point, I will need to let them do that on their own and trust them, especially as they get older. And also, to some degree, I am the parent/teacher, I certainly could just set the schedule and be done. Unfortunately, with my work schedule they have long periods of 'independent time', which I cannot be on top of them for schoolwork, so I often have to leave them with a list of assignments to complete at their own pace. The problem is my idea of "pace" is different from theirs, and it DRIVES ME CRAZY! It grates on me to hear them in the background doing other stuff, knowing that there is a ton of schoolwork to get done. Trying to reign them to get their work done just leaves me feeling frustrated and ineffective.

I've recently learned that this need for me to get things done right away, and check things off a checklist is correlated to my own personality trait: on the Myers-Brigg personality scale, I'm heavily a 'J' (Judging), and NOT a 'P'(Perceiving) personality.  A 'J' is task oriented and likes to have checklists and hates to have to be rushed to meet a deadline. A 'P' is more open ended and works in bursts of energy, and is motivated by an approaching deadline.  Apparently, my kids are the opposite of me (Monkey more so than Bunny). 

So, while this may be a pretty unique homeschooling challenge, specific to me and my kids and our differing personalities, I suppose it points to a bigger general homeschool challenge-which is finding a way to mesh the different personalities/teaching styles/expectations of parent and child.  I think probably in most cases, both sides need to adjust. It's not just the parent forcing their children to comply with the parent's way, and it's not the parent bending over backward to be someone she is not. It takes movement on both sides of the fence.

History Beyond America

Throughout my own education, all the history was very America-centric. We had 2 years of required World History in high school, but how can you cover the entire history of the world in 2 years, while spending WAY more time on just the 200 years of American history?

With all the emphasis on the American Revolution that we've done for our schooling the past 2 months, I felt we were missing the bigger picture of what was going on in the rest of the world. French was on the verge of their own revolution, and who knows what was happening in Asia and Africa and South America!

Well, we wanted to find out...so to round out our history, I started reading aloud from George Washington's World by Genevieve Foster:

This book is divided into 5 sections-the time periods of whe George Washington was a boy, a soldier, a commander, a citizen, and a presidents. For each time period, it tells the story of what is happening in Prussia, or in Africa, or Tahiti...everywhere else. There's stories about explorers, musicians, kings, inventors, etc, each one maybe 2-3 pages on- a glimpse into the lives of the many people who lived during these time periods. Genevieve Foster also has other books for other time periods, including Augustus Caeser's World, The World of Columbus and Sons, the World of Capt. John Smith, The World of William Penn, and Abraham Lincoln's World, which I have not yet read, but plan to incorporate into our reading in the future.

We also read from Story of the World Volume 3 by Susan Wise Bauer:

This covers a much broader time period, roughly 1500 to 1850, so it gives a bigger overall picture of what's going on, and fewer stories about individuals the way George Washington's World does. (There's also Volumes 1, 2, and 4 which cover other time periods.)

I'm really hoping this will give my kids a more global perspective as they look at history, and ultimately to think more globally as evaluate the world of today.

Weekly Wrap-up: American Revolution, Part 2

We are just about done with the American Revolution.  A highlight of our studies was our trip to Valley Forge, PA. They had a special Homeschool Day program where they lined up the kids for military drilling, complete with fake wooden muskets,  and had various stations for the kids to learn about what they wore, how they built their huts, how they cooked, rules they had to follow, etc. It really brought to life what we were learning about. We toured the house where George Washington stayed during the winter at Valley Forge, as well as checked out the memorial dedicated to the soldiers of the war.

George Washington's Headquarters

We also stopped by Washington Crossing in PA, since that was close enough by. To be honest, it wasn't that thrilling, but there was a museum with artifacts and information from that time period. But still, it's pretty cool to stand where they embarked on the crossing and see the replica boats.

So during our 2nd half of our American Revolution unit, we covered from Valley Forge, through Saratoga, and on to Yorktown.  We read comic book biographies on Thomas Jefferson and Benedict Arnold from the Graphic library, and read "Why Not, Lafayette?" by Jean Fritz...All of them I would highly recommend. Lafayette, especially, was a fascinating person and had quite a notable life! I honestly knew NOTHING about him, other than that he came from France to help the Americans. I really loved learning about him alongside my kids.

This week, we are planning to wrap up the American Revolution with an emphasis on George Washington's life, using the following books:

George Washington's Breakfast

George Washington True Patriot

If you Grew Up with George Washington

This post is linked up with Weird, Unsocialized Homeschooler's Weekly Wrapup.

Weekly Wrap-up: American Revolution, First half

Over the past month, been interspersing a week of 50 states geography, with a week of the American Revolution. This week was our 2nd week on the American Revolution.

The first week, we covered the events leading up to the war and the events of 1775:

• Stamp Act, Sugar Act, other Intolerable Acts
• Boston Massacre
• Paul Revere
• Lexington and Concord
• Bunker Hill
• Fort Ticonderoga
• Henry Knox

We've read short books about each of the topics above, none of which are that noteworthy-just books we pulled off the shelf from the library, but these are few highlights among the books we've read:

• George vs. George: The American Revolution as Seen From Both Sides - This is a great overview that covers the major factors leading to war, key players, and notable events. We are using this throughout our American Revolution unit.
• Can't You Make Them Behave, King George? - This is a fun biography of King George III, written by Jean Fritz.

• Mr. Revere and I - Historical Fiction, from the point of view of Paul Revere's horse. This was a fun overview of all the major events leading up to and including Lexington and Concord.
• And Then What Happened, Paul Revere?  - This was a good biography written by Jean Fritz. She does a great job of adding humor to the biographies.
• Guns for General Washington - This covers a not-too-well-known event in the war-a trip lead by Colonel Henry Knox from Boston to Fort Ticonderoga, and back again, in order to get weapons to General Washington's troops, across mountainous terrain in harsh winter conditions.

We have also been watching Liberty's Kids videos also and we are loving them! The kids always want to watch more episodes, but I don't want them getting too far ahead of our timeline! It does a great job of portraying the differing points of views of the colonists and the loyalists, and touches on other important issues of the day, like slavery and the treatment of Jews

This week was our second week of the American Revolution and we covered up through 1777:

• Thomas Paine's "Common Sense"
• The Declaration of Independence
• The Liberty Bell
• Nathan Hale
• Washington's crossing of the Delaware
• Saratoga
• Valley Forge

The kids each read a book about civilians serving as spies for the Continental Army:

Bunny read Daughter of Liberty by Robert Quackenbush about a woman who retrieved some important papers for General Washington in New York after the British took over his headquarters.

Monkey read The Spy and General Washington by William Wise about a man who posed as a Tory in Griggstown, NJ and served as a double agent, pretending to by a spy helping the British, but actually reporting to Washington, giving information that helped launch the attack on the Hessians in Trenton.

Both books claim to be factual, but I guess after so many years, some people question whether these stories are authentic or folklore. Regardless, they sure were exciting stories and a glimpse into life during the war.

We also read biographies about Patrick Henry, Samuel Adams, and John Hancock by Jean Fritz.  We are really enjoying these biographies by this author! It's very kid-friendly, while still being really informational.  We've also enjoyed some of a series of comic books ("Graphic Library") of some of the various topics, like Valley Forge, as well as some Choose-Your-Own-Adventure type books in the "Interactive History Adventures" series.

Bunny especially has been getting interested in the colonial period. She bought a shirt at Colonial Williamsburg when we visited this summer, and this week, we made a mob cap and apron for her. She also sewed part of another 'gown' for an alternative colonial outfit. 

Both kids also wrote up their own 'pamphlet' to convince colonists to join the cause of freedom (like Thomas Paine's "Common Sense"...but on a much more basic level!) this week as their writing practice, and did copywork from the Declaration of Independence. 

We also worked on our wall timeline:

For review, we played charades with the names of various key players during the Revolution! The kids had a blast with that.

I asked the kids whether they wanted to do the 50 states next week or continue with history, and Bunny said "History!". Coming from the girl who HATED history a few months ago, who would groan and throw a fit whenever history was mentioned, this was a HUGE milestone! I looked at her questioningly, and asked "History?!??!" in disbelief and she replied, "I'm kinda interested in it now!"

***This post is linked up with Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers' Weekly Wrap-up. ***

A New School Year Has Begun

We started back up with school last week, after Labor Day. We took most of the last month off, due to vacations and summer camps, and it was a nice break, but I was excited to get back into the swing of things-lots of fun topics planned for this year! We are going to alternate Geography, History, and Science, probably a week of each at a time (though not in a regular rotation, we might finish all the states before starting science), since the kids don't like to do Science AND Social Studies on the same day.

Plans for this Year:

Geography - US States

• "Wish You Were Here: Emily's Guide to the 50 States"
• State-specific books from the library
• "How the States Got Their Shapes" videos
• Cut-outs of each state, where they will take notes on each state, and can use them as puzzle pieces 

  

  Sample puzzle pieces, one from Bunny one from Monkey. They each will have a full set.

  
  

  

  Back of the puzzle piece (Monkey)

History - American Revolution

• Books suggested by Truthquest History and KONOS (while I love the idea of doing the KONOS unit studies, I find that they take a lot of prep and time, so I use the book lists and maybe do 1-2 of their ideas)
• Supplemental reading in Notgrass's America the Beautiful - I love the idea of Notgrass's History curriculum, but the kids have found the textbook not that engaging.  I think they've gotten so used to living books that reading a textbook is just really dry to them. I do love that it has mini-biographies and American landmarks mixed in with their weekly lessons, plus Bible and literature, vocabulary and writing assignments, so we'll use those parts, but the history itself, we'll mostly read from other books. The Notgrass textbook also goes REALLY fast, covering alot of ground in a single day's lesson...the entire American Revolution is only 2-3 days of lessons. Native American's were covered in a single week, as were most of the European Explorers. So rather than get a sky-high overview of each topic, we are taking our time with each topic. 
• Liberty's Kids video series
• Wall Timeline

This will span one wall of our living room.

• Map of locations as we learn about the war

We'll move the people to the various locations of the battles and events we study.

• Hoping to do field trips to Boston's Freedom Trail and Valley Forge

Science - Human Anatomy

• Apologia - Anatomy and Physiology
• Sassafras Science Adventures - Anatomy  - This series presents science in the context of an adventure story.

Language Arts - Trying some new stuff this year, hopefully making it more fun. 

• Word Snoop - This has fun and intersting tidbits about the English language-everything from origins of the alphabet to palindromes to onomatopeia 
• Grammar-land - Story with parts-of-speech as the characters going before Judge Grammar 
• Life of Fred Language Arts - Australia - This is the first of the Life of Fred LA series, which is marketed as high school level, but I've heard "Australia" is pretty basic and can be used for younger kids. We will see later on if we want to go on to the next book.
• IEW US History as a base, but I've realized they don't like to write based on pre-written topics, so I'm going to use the concepts, but let them choose the subject matter. 

Math - 

• Life of Fred - pre-Algebra (Monkey) - There's 3 books in this series which presents pre-Algebra concepts in the context of other science topics (Physics, Biology, and Economics
• Singapore 4A,4B (Bunny)

Chinese

• still working on informal Chinese daily lessons as before

I'm not sure how many months these plans will cover, as I don't plan out each week that far in advance. We'll just keep going forward until we finish all these items and see where we are then. We're started with a week of US States and started the American Revolution this week-so far, so good! 

Weekly Wrap-up: Weather Unit

It's been a lighter load this summer, just due to family visits, outside camps, and playdates, but we are still doing a little bit so schooling. We spent about 3 weeks on Weather, learning about temperature, cold fronts/warm fronts, air pressure, precipitation/water cycle/dew point, relative humidity, extreme weather (tornados, hurricanes, blizzards, etc.), and forecasting.  What took me by surprise was that my kids had never watched a weather report on TV! Admittedly, we don't watch much TV, so that's probably why, but also, with iPads and smartphones, we've always used weather apps to get our forecasts!

We used a variety of books to do some hands-on demos and read about various weather-related topics:

  

The National Weather Service also has Learning Lessons with printouts to use for making weather maps, so we practiced making isobars and isotherms using their maps.

Here's a couple of our projects:

Homemade Thermometer

Assembled Weather Station Kit

We incorporated other subjects into this unit with the following:

• Writing: Use weather in a story
• Math: convert Fahrenheit to Celsius and vice versa
• Computer Skills: Excel graph of temperature change
• Greek root words: meteor, bar, meter, therm, hydro. 
• Chinese words: rain, snow, hot, cold, temperature, degrees, clear, cloudy, clouds

It was a fun and practical unit!

This post is linked up with Weird, Unsocialized Homeschooler's Weekly Wrapup.