Our field trip group went to the National Museum of the American Indian yesterday. Opened in 2004, this museum "features the lifeways, history, and art of Native Americans throughout the Western Hemisphere." (I took that description from the museum's "General Information" brochure.) They have a "Family Guide" available at the Welcome Desk, that is pretty good. It includes some activities and "blurbs" for parents to read to the children to get them engaged with some of the displays in the three main exhibit areas. (We didn't actually acquire the "Family Guide" until we were preparing to leave the museum, but I was still able to use it as a discussion starter to reflect on the things we had seen and learned during our visit to the museum.)
We took the Metro, which is an exciting adventure itself, especially for the little ones, to the Smithsonian stop. We ate lunch in the museum's cafe. Most of the group had packed lunches, but the weather wasn't very nice, so we had to eat indoors. A couple of members of the group got native cuisine from the cafe.
My kids and I like the exhibits on the fourth floor the best. This is where you find the "Our Universe" exhibit with displays on Native American myth and belief systems. Everyone liked the story screens, where they could listen to native myths, see the illustrations on the screen and speculate which stars in the sky (on the ceiling) were the ones from the story. They also liked the short film that featured two of the artists that had created pieces for that exhibit. Also on the fourth floor you find the "Our Peoples" exhibit. This features displays on Native American history. The boys seem drawn to the exhibit on the role of guns in Native American history. They also like the display of gold objects. I noticed the corn included among the gold artifacts, and tried to point out to the older kids that corn was just as important as gold to the lives of the indigenous peoples.
We also visited the "Our Lives" exhibit on the third floor. I liked the display areas for each of the ethnic groups or tribes. We spent a little time checking out the Pamunkey display, since that is a reservation in Virginia. Of course the kids liked the Bombadier, the ice fishing vehicle. Once we had wandered around the "Our Lives" exhibit, it was time to start back to the Metro. (We did stop by the Roanoke Museum Store on the second floor. Where my younger son had a melt down over a toy flute.)
The children seem to like the displays with the screens and pull out drawers in the landing area of the third and fourth floors. I think they like that they can pick their favorite piece in the display and then inspect it more closely by choosing it on the screen. They also seem to like all the television screens in the "Our Lives" exhibit that show Native Americans talking about their way of life or Native Americans participating in dances or festivals.
We had alot of fun and will probably try to go back when we have more time to spend at the museum. We spent about 2 1/2 hours at the museum, which includes the time we spent eating lunch at the cafe. I wish we'd been able to stay at least one more hour.
Visit www.AmericanIndian.si.edu for more information about the National Museum of the American Indian.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Last Day of Co-op, Drama Performances
Today was our last day of KDOC (until September). In some ways it is a good thing. We will have an extra day each week to review material for the yearly progress test. Recently it has also seemed like some of the members of co-op are getting "burned-out." But both of my boys enjoyed co-op each week, and will miss it during the summer.
An indicator that there was burn-out is that at the end of the fall semester every class did some kind of presentation, but today the only class presentations were the drama performances. But this is what it is like at schools too. Warm weather seems to make everyone want to abandon indoor and organized activities.
The performances were very good, considering the time constraints, ages of the children involved, and the difficulty of some of the plays. The oldest group (9-11 year olds), which happened to consist of only boys, wrote their own play. I was pretty impressed. It had all the elements a play written by 11 year old boys should have--aliens, army guys, battles, volcanoes, and a magical sphere that is the key to defeating the alien alliance.
The middle and lower level classes performed plays their instructor assigned. The lower level's play was pretty involved for 5-6 year olds, but it was a large group in which everyone wanted a part. The middle level did not have as many performers and some children weren't as keen to perform as others. Another snag was the middle level had 2 performers that couldn't make it because of illness (and unfortunately one of them had a rather important part). In the lower level 1 performer was missing. The children really liked working on their play. Even my son, who hates being the center of attention, liked having a small role as a raccoon in the middle level play.
An indicator that there was burn-out is that at the end of the fall semester every class did some kind of presentation, but today the only class presentations were the drama performances. But this is what it is like at schools too. Warm weather seems to make everyone want to abandon indoor and organized activities.
The performances were very good, considering the time constraints, ages of the children involved, and the difficulty of some of the plays. The oldest group (9-11 year olds), which happened to consist of only boys, wrote their own play. I was pretty impressed. It had all the elements a play written by 11 year old boys should have--aliens, army guys, battles, volcanoes, and a magical sphere that is the key to defeating the alien alliance.
The middle and lower level classes performed plays their instructor assigned. The lower level's play was pretty involved for 5-6 year olds, but it was a large group in which everyone wanted a part. The middle level did not have as many performers and some children weren't as keen to perform as others. Another snag was the middle level had 2 performers that couldn't make it because of illness (and unfortunately one of them had a rather important part). In the lower level 1 performer was missing. The children really liked working on their play. Even my son, who hates being the center of attention, liked having a small role as a raccoon in the middle level play.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Need Writing Motivation
One problem I've come across in homeschooling (and in traditional schooling) is how to motivate kids to want to learn and to practice what they've learned. I can tell my son that it is important to learn to do something, but he's 9. Sometimes he just doesn't see the importance of sentence structure and that the way words or punctuation are placed in a sentence can affect the meaning of a sentence. And, I can not resort to the wonderful parent argument, "Because I told you so." I am committed to raising a "thinker." I'm always stressing to him I don't want him to ever think something has to be true or the only way just because it's on t.v., or in the newspaper, or because an adult (or other authority figure) said so. To my mother's consternation, I explain to him why I need him to do things.
From my above example, you can probably tell that one of our biggest struggles is with writing. Writing is important. Learning to write properly is important. But, all the examples I've come up with to illustrate the importance of learning correct grammar just aren't really important to a 9 year old.
I have found that I can motivate him with "writing contests." (I've also had luck with letter writing, but I'll share about that in a later post.) He will write poetry, stories, essays--if it is for a contest. So far he has submitted things to a magazine that he subscribes to and to a PBS contest. But, I just discovered (through a homeschool e-newsletter) this website that provides a list of writing contests for students with links to the contest's webpage. I told my son about one of next month's contests and he actually seemed excited about writing a submission! Woah! He didn't even ask, "What can you win?"
There is also a related site that provides links for math contests. I'll provide the links to the contest list pages below. Have fun and good luck!
http://homeschoolwriters.com/chart.aspx
http://homeschoolmathcontests.com/default.aspx
From my above example, you can probably tell that one of our biggest struggles is with writing. Writing is important. Learning to write properly is important. But, all the examples I've come up with to illustrate the importance of learning correct grammar just aren't really important to a 9 year old.
I have found that I can motivate him with "writing contests." (I've also had luck with letter writing, but I'll share about that in a later post.) He will write poetry, stories, essays--if it is for a contest. So far he has submitted things to a magazine that he subscribes to and to a PBS contest. But, I just discovered (through a homeschool e-newsletter) this website that provides a list of writing contests for students with links to the contest's webpage. I told my son about one of next month's contests and he actually seemed excited about writing a submission! Woah! He didn't even ask, "What can you win?"
There is also a related site that provides links for math contests. I'll provide the links to the contest list pages below. Have fun and good luck!
http://homeschoolwriters.com/chart.aspx
http://homeschoolmathcontests.com/default.aspx
Monday, April 20, 2009
Great Country Farms
Last week we took a field trip to Great Country Farms in Bluemont (western Loudoun County), Virginia. This was such a fun day. If you live in Northern Virginia or Northwestern Virginia I highly suggest go here!
We started out with a wagon ride. The farmer told us about the farm and about growing peaches and strawberries. The kids got to break open a peach blossom to inspect the baby peach inside.
Then another farmer talked to us about greenhouses and planting. The children planted sunflower seeds. We then proceeded to the petting farm where they had neat posters/displays about the different animals, like cows, sheep, goats, chickens, and ponies. You could see baby chicks.
There were a bunch of fun mazes and slides. There were rope swings and play sets. They have a huge air pillow bouncer. J's (age 9) favorite part was feeding the animals. E (age 3) wasn't too enthused about getting animal slobber on his hands. He said his favorite was "the big slides." The boys learned about farming and they had a great time!
The farm also has a gem mining activity (extra charge) and a stocked fish pond (bring your own equipment). They also have pick-your-own fruits and vegetables, once they're in-season. We didn't do all of the activities, and we were there over 4 fun hours. We will definitely go back again (and take Dad).
Admission is $8-10 and they are open 7-days a week. Visit www.greatcountryfarms.com to learn more.
We started out with a wagon ride. The farmer told us about the farm and about growing peaches and strawberries. The kids got to break open a peach blossom to inspect the baby peach inside.
Then another farmer talked to us about greenhouses and planting. The children planted sunflower seeds. We then proceeded to the petting farm where they had neat posters/displays about the different animals, like cows, sheep, goats, chickens, and ponies. You could see baby chicks.
There were a bunch of fun mazes and slides. There were rope swings and play sets. They have a huge air pillow bouncer. J's (age 9) favorite part was feeding the animals. E (age 3) wasn't too enthused about getting animal slobber on his hands. He said his favorite was "the big slides." The boys learned about farming and they had a great time!
The farm also has a gem mining activity (extra charge) and a stocked fish pond (bring your own equipment). They also have pick-your-own fruits and vegetables, once they're in-season. We didn't do all of the activities, and we were there over 4 fun hours. We will definitely go back again (and take Dad).
Admission is $8-10 and they are open 7-days a week. Visit www.greatcountryfarms.com to learn more.
Hands-on Learning Lasts
"Tell me and I will forget, show me and I may remember, involve me and I will understand." This quote from the ancient Chinese philosopher Confucius, reflects my teaching style at home.
Last week we were talking about insect anatomy. We read stories. We drew pictures. We talked about insects and other anthropods. Then Friday (when the weather was much too beautiful to be inside) I sent the boys outside to turn over rocks and leaves to look for bugs. Both boys were cute, finding different bugs and determining whether they were insects for not. They inspected each animal's body, comparing snails, centipedes, roly-polies, ants, beetles. They were even able to observe a butterfly. My older son pointed out the the little one how many of the animals they found were invertebrates and have their skeletons on the outside of their bodies. In the end we acquired a couple of "special pets"--two roly-polies and a snail. The boys will remember what we learned today about anthropods, invertebrates and insects because they were able to see, touch and move them.
I must admit when I was a classroom teacher I did not consistently provide my students with hands-on learning experiences. I was a secondary school teacher and found myself lecturing more than guiding students through a learning adventure. I knew that students retained information best when they were able to physically and mentally apply it. But not all the students were cooperative about being engaged in their learning. (They've been conditioned to have the teacher drill the information into them with lectures, textbooks and worksheets so they can remember it for a standardized test after which they will promptly forget everything they've been "taught".) Also doing these type of activities and projects takes time. You only have the students for a short period of time and administration does not encourage you to spend lengthy periods of time on one thing--there are alot of other standards they need you to be able to prove you've covered.
My oldest son (age 9, third grade) has a difficult time with reading. Traditional school had almost completely demolished his self-esteem and was teaching him that no matter how hard he tried he couldn't be successful. And even worse, he was coming to believe that learning was not fun! Doing projects where he can be engaged with the subject matter and where I can minimize the amount of reading required makes him feel good about learning. He also internalizes the information. This isn't to say that I never tell Jacob information. (And, we still read a lot, but I try to make it fun and non-threatening.) But after a "lecture" I try to make sure he gets to do an activity where he gets to apply what he learned. I hope that next year we can do more extensive projects involving the entire "learning wheel:" goal setting, experimenting and observing, reviewing, and action planning. (I just came across this "wheel" analogy and I like it because it implies that the process never ends. Learning should never stop.)
Last week we were talking about insect anatomy. We read stories. We drew pictures. We talked about insects and other anthropods. Then Friday (when the weather was much too beautiful to be inside) I sent the boys outside to turn over rocks and leaves to look for bugs. Both boys were cute, finding different bugs and determining whether they were insects for not. They inspected each animal's body, comparing snails, centipedes, roly-polies, ants, beetles. They were even able to observe a butterfly. My older son pointed out the the little one how many of the animals they found were invertebrates and have their skeletons on the outside of their bodies. In the end we acquired a couple of "special pets"--two roly-polies and a snail. The boys will remember what we learned today about anthropods, invertebrates and insects because they were able to see, touch and move them.
I must admit when I was a classroom teacher I did not consistently provide my students with hands-on learning experiences. I was a secondary school teacher and found myself lecturing more than guiding students through a learning adventure. I knew that students retained information best when they were able to physically and mentally apply it. But not all the students were cooperative about being engaged in their learning. (They've been conditioned to have the teacher drill the information into them with lectures, textbooks and worksheets so they can remember it for a standardized test after which they will promptly forget everything they've been "taught".) Also doing these type of activities and projects takes time. You only have the students for a short period of time and administration does not encourage you to spend lengthy periods of time on one thing--there are alot of other standards they need you to be able to prove you've covered.
My oldest son (age 9, third grade) has a difficult time with reading. Traditional school had almost completely demolished his self-esteem and was teaching him that no matter how hard he tried he couldn't be successful. And even worse, he was coming to believe that learning was not fun! Doing projects where he can be engaged with the subject matter and where I can minimize the amount of reading required makes him feel good about learning. He also internalizes the information. This isn't to say that I never tell Jacob information. (And, we still read a lot, but I try to make it fun and non-threatening.) But after a "lecture" I try to make sure he gets to do an activity where he gets to apply what he learned. I hope that next year we can do more extensive projects involving the entire "learning wheel:" goal setting, experimenting and observing, reviewing, and action planning. (I just came across this "wheel" analogy and I like it because it implies that the process never ends. Learning should never stop.)
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Field Trip Friends
Midway through the year, we were asked to be part of another group. This is a new field trip group. As a group we take a field trip every other week. Each parent takes turns making the field trip arrangements. So far the group has taken field trips to a local grocery store, a local pet store, the Shenandoah Valley Discovery Museum, Skyline Caverns, the Warren Heritage Society museum, and Blandy Farm State Arboretum.
I've been happy with this group too. The boys favorite trip so far has been Skyline Caverns. Our guide was a lot of fun. He joked with the kids and showed them tons of really neat stuff. They were all pretty enthralled by the anthracites, which have only been found in Skyline Caverns and one other cave in Germany. We have trips planned to the Bug Box and Herr's Snack Factory in the near future.
Having different people do the planning for each trip not only means less work for each individual parent, it also means that each parent brings new ideas for field trips. (I find that I get stuck in a mental rut--what is the nearest museum--when I am planning trips.) We also get group or educational rates for admission to most of our trips.
Some of the parents are a little more serious about this group than others. It is often difficult to give an exact number of attendees because many parents don't RSVP or even worse just don't show up the day of the field trip! But, the boys enjoy the field trips. I feel the trips help the boys to see that the stuff we learn about at home applies to places outside of our house and our family. This is also a new group, so I think it will evolve and stabilize.
I'll provide some links to the field trip locations below and I hope to provide more information about each of our trips in the future.
Giant Foods, Petco Pet Stores, A. C. Moore Craft Stores - www.fieldtripfactory.com
Blandy Farm State Arboretum - www.virginia.edu/blandy
Shenandoah Valley Discovery Museum - www.discoverymuseum.net
Skyline Caverns - www.skylinecaverns.com
Warren Heritage Society - www.warrenheritagesociety.org
I've been happy with this group too. The boys favorite trip so far has been Skyline Caverns. Our guide was a lot of fun. He joked with the kids and showed them tons of really neat stuff. They were all pretty enthralled by the anthracites, which have only been found in Skyline Caverns and one other cave in Germany. We have trips planned to the Bug Box and Herr's Snack Factory in the near future.
Having different people do the planning for each trip not only means less work for each individual parent, it also means that each parent brings new ideas for field trips. (I find that I get stuck in a mental rut--what is the nearest museum--when I am planning trips.) We also get group or educational rates for admission to most of our trips.
Some of the parents are a little more serious about this group than others. It is often difficult to give an exact number of attendees because many parents don't RSVP or even worse just don't show up the day of the field trip! But, the boys enjoy the field trips. I feel the trips help the boys to see that the stuff we learn about at home applies to places outside of our house and our family. This is also a new group, so I think it will evolve and stabilize.
I'll provide some links to the field trip locations below and I hope to provide more information about each of our trips in the future.
Giant Foods, Petco Pet Stores, A. C. Moore Craft Stores - www.fieldtripfactory.com
Blandy Farm State Arboretum - www.virginia.edu/blandy
Shenandoah Valley Discovery Museum - www.discoverymuseum.net
Skyline Caverns - www.skylinecaverns.com
Warren Heritage Society - www.warrenheritagesociety.org
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Homeschool Co-op
When my husband and I began discussing the option to homeschool, he was very concerned about socialization. He'd had no contact with homeschooled children; and, I think he envisioned children that were extremely introverted when other children were around or completely wild, without any self-control. I was a little concerned about making sure the boys were able to function in an organized setting--follow directions of adult in charge (even if it isn't Mom), sit still, wait your turn, not talk when others are talking. What if they had to go back to school for some reason?
I didn't know very many people who homeschooled and wasn't sure what we were supposed to do, aside from our daily lessons. I saw a flyer for a homeschool co-op at our local library. I had no idea what a co-op was, but I looked up some information on the Internet and I e-mailed the coordinator for Kids' Day Out Co-op (KDOC). I found that homeschool co-ops differ from group to group, but the basic premise is all the parents contribute according to their interests and talents and the children's needs.
KDOC meets once a week from September to November and January to April. There was a nominal charge to cover the cost of supplies. We have been extremely happy with the group. Both of the boys looks forward to going to co-op each week. They enjoy seeing their friends and I think they like having someone other than me teach them.
The first half of the year the my 8-year old son participated in Science, American History, P.E. and Music lessons each week. The latter half they participated in Science, Spanish, P.E. and Drama. My 3-year old has been in the pre-school class. In Science the parent-teachers organized experiments and demonstration, a field trip to Blandy Farm State Arboretum, and a science fair among the co-op students. (They did provide information about a larger, juried homeschool science fair for those interested.) In preschool they focus on a weekly letter and do lots of fun stuff. Co-op also organized a fall trip to a farm. And, we will go on a spring farm trip in a couple of weeks.
I've assisted in American History, preschool, and Spanish classes this year. The regular contact with other homeschool parents is great. As a newbie, I felt I could ask the other parents questions about curriculum or organization. There are about 50 children and 20 parents that participate in KDOC.
If you live in or close to Frederick or Clark Counties in Virginia and are interested in the group you can contact the KDOC coordinator at kidsdayout@hotmail.com.
I didn't know very many people who homeschooled and wasn't sure what we were supposed to do, aside from our daily lessons. I saw a flyer for a homeschool co-op at our local library. I had no idea what a co-op was, but I looked up some information on the Internet and I e-mailed the coordinator for Kids' Day Out Co-op (KDOC). I found that homeschool co-ops differ from group to group, but the basic premise is all the parents contribute according to their interests and talents and the children's needs.
KDOC meets once a week from September to November and January to April. There was a nominal charge to cover the cost of supplies. We have been extremely happy with the group. Both of the boys looks forward to going to co-op each week. They enjoy seeing their friends and I think they like having someone other than me teach them.
The first half of the year the my 8-year old son participated in Science, American History, P.E. and Music lessons each week. The latter half they participated in Science, Spanish, P.E. and Drama. My 3-year old has been in the pre-school class. In Science the parent-teachers organized experiments and demonstration, a field trip to Blandy Farm State Arboretum, and a science fair among the co-op students. (They did provide information about a larger, juried homeschool science fair for those interested.) In preschool they focus on a weekly letter and do lots of fun stuff. Co-op also organized a fall trip to a farm. And, we will go on a spring farm trip in a couple of weeks.
I've assisted in American History, preschool, and Spanish classes this year. The regular contact with other homeschool parents is great. As a newbie, I felt I could ask the other parents questions about curriculum or organization. There are about 50 children and 20 parents that participate in KDOC.
If you live in or close to Frederick or Clark Counties in Virginia and are interested in the group you can contact the KDOC coordinator at kidsdayout@hotmail.com.
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