History with Keona…

     So this year one of the many additions to Keona’s curriculum load is history.  We are following a classical curriculum as outlined in The Well Trained Mind.  It’s a pretty rigourous curriculum, but I like where it’s going.  So this year we are studying from 4,000 BC to 400 AD which takes us from the ancient nomads to the fall of the Roman Empire.  If our first lesson was any indication, it should be a “wild” ride.  I was giving Keona a little prep talk, so he would know what we are getting into and I started by saying, “You know we’ve been discussing the way that life on earth evolved (we take an evolutionary perspective) from very small organisms to dinosaurs.  Well now we are going to talk about when humans entered the picture.”  So of course that led to the FIRST big question:  “Mom, if people are born from mommies, where did the first people  come from– if there was no one to be born from?”  So I explained that there were quite a few different theories, but that most could be broken down into two basic categories: scientific or religious. And we discussed the Christian idea that man and woman were created by God in a single day (from the elements of the earth, or dirt) and all other people were born from there.  He thought this ridiculous….and so I moved on to science where humans basically evolved from apes.  He thought this equally ridiculous and I countered with the fact that there was quite a bit of fossil evidence for this idea.  He immediatly relaxed and said, “Okay.  I guess if there are fossils it must be true…..” and we moved on, saving the “beginning” for another day.  Whew!  And we hadn’t even hit page one yet!

      The book, The Story of the World–volume I begins explaining what “history” is and by way of introduction asks some very simple questions:  “Do you know where you were born?  Were you born at a hospital, or at home?” which led to some fun discussion (as we have discussed many times before) of Keona’s birth and the fact he was born by c-section…and then, for some reason, I said, “Some kids are born at home.”  I guess I’m a glutton for punishment because Keona immediatly asked, “How can that be?  How do they stop all the blood?  Don’t those mommies bleed to death?  I mean, who does the cutting?  Who sews them up?” 

“Well”, I said, “those babies aren’t born by c-section, in fact, most babies in the hospital do not come out of a hole in their mommies’ tummies.”  Of course, I knew he was not going to let me off that easily….I had dug a deep one and there was no going back.  “So how does the baby get out then?”  So I explained and got the expected horrified reaction and the proclamation: “Impossible!”  Case closed.  At least we got to move on to page 2! LOL!  It’s going to be a “historical” year….

K2′s Math

Kalani likes to build with the math blocks that we are not using while Keona and I work on math.  He takes it seriously and it is a serious matter.  Just ask him what he is building and he will proudly announce, “Cemetaries”!  I have no idea where that came from, but there it is.  After we are finished, he gets very upset if we erase the white board before he has had a satisfactory stare at the numerals or sums that we have written.

Finding a rhythm…

One of the biggest challenges we are facing this year is finding a rhythm.  I think Keona needs me to be more organized than I am.  We’ll just say that it has never been my forte: thus, the first challenge.  Then there are the days I am organized, but we have to fight the battle of Keona’s voracious appetite for television.  I had thought that perhaps allowing a little watching before we begin would quench his appetite and leave him ready to “work”.  But, after trying it both ways, I find this is not the case.  It is amazing the affect that a little viewing has on him.  He goes spinning off into some manic world and it is often impossible to bring him back.  On the days I allow no viewing, I meet a much different and more reasonable child.  So today, I made the edict: there will be no television until all work is done….and even then it has to be earned.  The scholar, of course is adamantly against this idea, but I know my reasonable child will come around….e-v-e-n-t-u-a-l-l-y….

Sometimes it is hard to find the scholar....

but then he emerges and we are off and running!

Kempsville Natural History Museum

Keona and I have embarked on a new project.  We are going to turn our dilapidated back porch into a natural history museum.  Meet our first exhibit: the scorpion– who has been around since before the dinosaurs and was once up to 3 feet long!…along with many other insects like cockroaches and dinosaurs.  Be on the lookout for our 3 foot dragonfly!  Our museum will include a Hall of Sea Creatures, Hall of Insects and Arachnids, Hall of Amphibians and Reptiles, Hall of Birds, Hall of Mammals, and, of course, the Hall of Dinosaurs!  We are in for quite an adventure and hope our museum will be open for tours as it progresses.

Reading is.. Fun [or] Mental….

Keona is quite proud of himself this week. He’ll tell you: he read an entire book by himself. Currently we are using the Bob Books. We’re just taking it one sound at a time and working through them by going on our letter/word hunts around the city and using the Bob Books. I had thought of buying some big curriculum, but I’m not convinced of the necessity, so we’re going to try this for a while. For backup, I do have a handbook called Phonics Pathways but so far haven’t needed it. We’ll just keep plugging along and make a change if we find our progress is not what we would like it to be.

There is so much sparkle and glitz involved in T.V. and computer, that I really hesitate to get curriculums with a lot of razz-ma-tazz to them. I really don’t want him to depend on being entertained every time he sits down to learn something.

Our math curriculum, Math U See, is pretty basic as well and so far it’s working. We have bricks to count with and a book for written work. The basic idea in the Primar is to build it, write it, and then say it. So far it has been nothing but review. Keona’s amazing preschool teacher really covered A LOT last year. In fact, I have decided to skip a few lessons rather than making him sit there doing things he’s already mastered. Truthfully, my “schooly” side has a difficult time doing that. LOL However, I think I’ll survive and Keona will have something to chew on.

Staring the Dinosaurs Down….

This summer we twice visited the Virginia Living Museum to see the visiting Dinosaur exhibit. It was well worth the trip. If you are local and you haven’t been, you should put it on your must do list. I can’t say enough good things about this museum. Everything is well done. And while you’re there, get a membership. You’re gonna want to go back and two visits will pay for a membership for a family of 4.

First we got to stare down the large, life-like dinosaur models. AT first, this was overwhelming for Kalani. He only wanted to stay in the exhibit area for a short time, so he and I checked out some other stuff while dad and brother took their time. However, after we left, Kalani chatted about it claiming he wasn’t scared at all and it was he who suggested we go back. By the second visit he couldn’t get enough and now is very interested in dinosaurs! We saw the famous T-Rex and a Stegosaurus, Triceratops, and Pachycephalosaurus (I just like to SAY that one!). They really were as real looking as I could imagine. The mechanical eyes moved and they seemed to look right at you; a little disconcerting when you are standing in front of the carnivores!

Check them out:

T-Rex

Deinonychus (the little ones)

Pachycephalosaurus

After we watched the dinosaurs for a while, we decided to go to the museum’s live animal show. Another excellent choice. They brought out about 5 animals to tell us about. We got to touch them and learned cool stuff like prehistoric millipedes used to be about 3 feet long! They had one from South America that was about 6 inches long. That was cool. Then I heard something that made me really greatful to be alive NOW, not then. Cockroaches also used to be 3 feet long! Can you imagine? I nurse and unhealthy aversion to the ones we have now; I think I absolutely would die of fright with those! Anyway, it has to do with oxygen availability and spherical size. Truly on the way home, I was nursing a suspicion that I was being led down the garden path with this little factoid. However, upon further research, My husband found an article to back it up. Anyway, it was a great little show, not too long, and the boys were thrilled along with mom and dad. Kalani was quite proud to have touched both a snake and an alligator.

As if it all that wasn’t enough, we decided to see what was going on in the cafe. We figured we’d be run out by price and bad choices. But, again we were pleasantly surprised. The prices, while not falling in the cheap catagory, could not be classed as a rip-off (as is the case at many of the other local museums) and as an extra bonus: the food was good. I am not yet a connoisseur of veggie burgers but in my attempt to eat better, I decided to try one. It was scrumptious. Really, I’ve got to find out where they get them. Yum, yum!

So there you have it; it was educational and fun. Even at its most crowded stage, I didn’t feel like people were breathing down my neck at every exhibit. A nice trip and we look forward to many more!

The Final Frontier…..

In our continuing studies of the planets, we decided to make a model of the Solar System. So we got out our paints and balls and went to work. It really was an other worldly experience. We’ve also been reading lots of books and watching lots of videos…. so now we can throw around words like asteroids, planet, meteor, astronaut, gravity, and satellite. Keona’s favorite video was one about Space Camp, so now he’s all jazzed up about going to that one day.

Ugh! There he goes….

DESTROYING
MY
UNIVERSE
AGAIN!!!! K1 hopes his solar system will survive so that he can hang it over his bed and add the glow- in- the- dark stars that he got as a gift. However, K2 has other ideas….