Wednesday, November 26, 2014

Fall Spelling Fun



Have acorns? Spell!


This week my daughter had a wonderful impromptu idea.

"Remember those acorns I collected--all 224 of them? I used them to spell words!"

Brilliant idea. 


I walked to the kitchen to see her masterpieces.

Indeed creative. Indeed reinforcing learning.

After discussion, it was determined that gluing the words to cardboard would make festive Thanksgiving decorations. Just add a bow hanger.

And so goes the day when acorns become spelling practice. 

(Just one day after the bursting  baggie of acorns were the place value and counting lesson. Simple, available, and intriguing equal many days and ways of learning.)

Wednesday, October 15, 2014

Discovery Biographies: Living History with Living Books

Garrard Publishing Company's Discovery biographies have been some of our favorite reads, encouraging independent reading in newly fluent readers. These books are often the next choice after Step-Up books, also biographies.

Discovery biographies are historical adventures written for little learners at the mid-elementary level. The cover copy on one book states "Discovery Books have been tested by the Spache Readability Formula and edited so they can be read by children in grades 2-4". We found our later elementary learners also enjoy these books due to the engaging content and find much satisfaction in finishing a book in one day.

The books--we especially like the hardcovers--offer full page, three-color illustrations with larger font size. Garrard states "all facts are authentic for they have been carefully checked by leading sources for historical accuracy". This series has definitely opened another reading level of living books for us!

We have not read all the titles, choosing to save some titles for later learning. Also, note the varied covers. Nice to have visuals when shopping a used bookstore or garage sale.

Presidents

Title
Author
Ulysses S. Grant: Horseman and Fighter
Colonel Red Reeder
Abraham Lincoln: For the People
Anne Colver and Polly Anne Graff
Andrew Jackson: Pioneer and President
John Parlin
Thomas Jefferson: Author of Independence
Anne Colver and Polly Anne Graff
John F. Kennedy: New Frontiersman
Charles P. Graves
Franklin D. Roosevelt: Four Times President
Wyatt Blassingame
Theodore Roosevelt: Man of Action
James C. Beach
Harry S. Truman: People's President
David Collins
George Washington: Father of Freedom
Steward Graff

First Ladies

Title
Author
Abigail Adams: Dear Partner
Helen Stone Peterson
Mary Todd Lincoln: President's Wife
LaVere Anderson
Dolly Madison: Famous First Lady
Mary Richmond Davidson
Eleanor Roosevelt: First Lady of the World
Charles P. Graves
Martha Washington: First Lady of the Land
LaVere Anderson

Explorers, Navigators, Aviators, Adventurers

Title
Author
Amelia Earhart: Pioneer in the Sky
John Parlin
Henry Hudson: Captain of the Ice Bound Seas
Carl Carmer
Charles Lindbergh: Hero Pilot
David R. Collins

Men and Women of the Frontier

Title
Author
Buffalo Bill: Wild West Showman
Mary Richardson Davidson
Daniel Boone: Taming the Wilds
Katherine E. Wilkie
George Rogers Clark: Frontier Fighter
Adele deLeeuw
Davy Crockett: Hero of the Wild Frontier
Elizabeth Robards Mosely
Annie Oakley: The Shooting Star
Charles P. Graves
Jeb Smith: Trailblazer and Trapper
Frank Brown Latham

Inventors, Scientists, Medical Pioneers

Title
Author
Clara Barton: Soldier of Mercy
Mary Catherine Rose
Elizabeth Blackwell: Pioneer Woman Doctor
Jean Lee Latham
Alexander Graham Bell: Man of Sound
Elizabeth Rider Montgomery
George Washington Carver: Negro Scientist
Samuel and Beryl Epstein
Dorothea L. Dix: Hospital Founder
Mary Malone
Benjamin Franklin: Man of Ideas
Charles P. Graves
George W. Goethals: Panama Canal Engineer
Jean Lee Lathm
Florence Nightingale: War Nurse
Anne Colver and Polly Anne Graff
Eli Whitney: Great Inventor
Jean Lee Latham

Statesmen, Political Figures, Revolutionaries, War Heroes

Title
Author
Jane Addams: Pioneer of the Hull House
Helen Stone Peterson
Henry Clay: Leader in Congress
Helen Stone Peterson
Fredrick Douglass: Freedom Fighter
Lillie Patterson
David Glasgow Farragut: Our First Admiral
Jean Lee Latham
Francis Marion: Swamp Fox of the Carolinas
Elizabeth and Carl Carmer
Booker T. Washington: Leader of His People
Lillie Patterson

Authors, Artists, Entrepreneurs

Title
Author
Helen Keller: Toward the Light
Stewart and Polly Anne Graff
Francis Scott Key: Poet and Patriot
Lillie Patterson
Ernest Thompson Seton: Scout and Naturalist
Wyatt Blassingame
Booker T. Washington: Leader of His People
Lillie Patterson




Saturday, October 11, 2014

Teaching Prepositions


"Mom, what is a preposition?"

That question started the day's language arts lesson...because curious minds are ripe for learning!

A preposition is a word that connects or shows the relationship between two nouns or a noun and pronoun. Prepositions are always with an object or person.

We reviewed nouns and pronouns. I gave examples of each and used them in a sentence.

We chose two nouns for our preposition play, mice and cars.

Paper mice were made from 3x5 cards, each child coloring a mouse family. I found some Duplo cars from our collection of blocks.

Once all the mice were colored and decorated, tails in place, our preposition discovery began.

I explained that for our play we would act out sentences, stating the relationship between the mice and the cars. I demonstrated by placing the mice on the cars while stating,"the mice are on the cars".  I wrote "on" on a 3x5 card and placed it near the cars.

One by one I asked each of the child to place their mice in some relation to the cars and then state the position in relation to one another.

The mice are under the cars.
The mice are on the cars.
The mice are aside of the cars.
The mice are behind the cars.

As the children placed the mice and verbally expressed their position, I wrote the preposition on a card. Before long we had a handful of preposition cards. By the end of a few hours, we used our creative thinking, working on spatial relationships, applied artistic uniqueness, and KNEW what prepositions are and how to use them in sentences.

We also had a handful of spelling cards to use for other lessons.

aboard
about
above
across
after
against
along
amid
at
before
behind
below
beneath
between
by
concerning
down
except
following
for
from
in
inside
into
like
near
of
off
on
onto
over
past
round
since
through
toward
under
underneath
until
up
upon
with
within
without


Learning started with a question. 

"Mom, what is a preposition?"




Wednesday, September 10, 2014

Clemson Scholarship

Clemson is trying to spread to the word to the homeschooling community about the Lyceum Scholars Program. Contact Kathleen Koehl, Programs Coordinator, for more information (864-656-2133). This recently-launched new scholarship is "dedicated to building students' intellectual skills as well as their moral character. The scholarship provides a classical, integrated education guided by Great Books. Students accepted to the program recieve a four-year scholarship worth up to $10,000".

Visit their website at http://www.clemson.edu/captialism/lyceum.html.

The required reading list can be found at http://www.clemson.edu/capitalism/lyceum-required-reading.html.
(Reading over the list I recognized many of the titles we've used for high school literature and history courses. Nice to see come of these important reads included at a university.)

Admission requirements here.