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Posts Tagged ‘homeschool’

  1. How To Make An American Quilt

    September 24, 2014 by admin

    There is usually so much going on at your local public library!

    IMG_2300Bluey just started taking a quilting class at our branch, and it is a tremendous experience!  He loves playing with patterns and trying to make his own designs (cats, natch!).  He gets to share and learn with a dozen or so kids from the neighborhood.  Bluey is learning how to operate an electric sewing machine.  And when he’s finished, he’ll bring home a small quilt that he designed and made.  What a  great program!

    IMG_2301He gets so much out of this class– and it’s all free!!

    A team of neighborhood quilters are in charge- bringing in samples of quilts, talking about patterns, and helping kids run the sewing machine.  It is a real community endeavor and a great opportunity for young and old to meet their neighbors.

    Our local library offers classes for people of all ages in all manner of subjects- art, literature, computers, foreign languages- you name it!  Most libraries around the country offer similar programs and they are all typically free of charge.

    So take a minute to check your library’s bulletin board or website to see what new adventures await you and your family!

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  2. Weighing In At The Grocery Store

    September 7, 2014 by admin

    food_22358_mdOne of Bluey’s recurring missions is to help TRDad complete the grocery shopping.  These trips happen several times a week at various local stores.

    This may at first glance seem like not much of a big thing, but actually it’s an important part of Bluey’s homeschooling.  Going to the grocery store on a regular basis from infancy has given Bluey a chance to work on a number of skills.

    Our trips to the store are a constant conversation about which foods are better for you than others, or what foods go well together.  Learning about nutrition will serve Bluey well in his future life.

    Bluey has made many friends at the supermarket and stops to chat them up when we visit. He’s learned the importance of Please and Thank You at the grocery, as well as important social skills, like waiting for someone else to finish talking before you respond.

    Lately we’ve been working on some new math skills while at the grocery.  Produce shopping is a great place to learn math.

    We started with simple counting practices: “Let’s get 4 of these apples… “.

    53377_balance_smBut our favorite teaching tool has been the produce scale.  We can see a number line in action with the scale.  We learn about density and size and how they affect weight.  Our lessons started out with Bluey wanting to weigh some tomatoes we picked out.  First, he weighed them one at a time, but then he wanted to see what they weighed all together.   He weighed bagged tomatoes and loose ones.

    After he weighed a mango, he had a pepper of about the same size, but declared:

    “I think this will weigh less than the mango.”

    — ‘Why is that?’

    “Because it’s hollow inside.”

    Exactly.  Bluey is learning everywhere we go!  But we really love our lessons at the produce department.  During the simple act of going grocery shopping, Bluey’s math skills get sharper each week, along with his knowledge of spatial relations, chemistry and so much more.

     

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  3. Particle Man

    September 3, 2014 by admin

    Molecule ExperimentThrough the combined effects of the Magic School Bus, Comic Books, and an existing interest in science, Bluey recently has been asking a lot of questions about molecules and atoms.  So we’ve been helping him out with a homeschool unit on particle physics.

    We are not physicists by trade, so how can we teach our young son about molecules?  We followed a multi-pronged path including books, videos, field trips and experiments.

    We pulled some of our science books off the shelf, and picked some more up at the library to read up on molecules with our son.  Surprisingly few books geared for five year olds deal with topics of molecular and sub-atomic physics.  But we worked with what we could find- mostly encyclopedia-style books, and science books aimed at much older readers.

    Videos were an easier hit.  Punching ‘kid science’ and molecules into a search bar reveals a number of educational videos.  Some were cute animated films showing the structure of matter, others were short clips from professors explaining complicated topics in a few minutes.

    Our trips to science museums and the US Department of Energy projects at the FermiLab helped put a real world spin on this sometimes esoteric subject.   Through hands-on play, and seeing giant high-energy projects up close, our Bluey was able to experience the science he has learned at home in practice.  IMG_7399

    A day after our trip to the FermiLab, Bluey said “We could make our own particle accelerator, but it would take a lot of time.”  Yes.  Yes it would.

    Instead, following a cue from one of the videos we watched, Bluey recreated a tabletop experiment showing that warm molecules move faster than cold ones.  In true scientist form, he did the experiment twice.  In the first round, the two waters were too close to each other in temperature out of the tap.  So he tried it again with boiling water and near frozen water.

    His first molecule experiment was a great success!  We’re sure there will be follow up on this topic.  And that’s what homeschool is about for us- following your bliss in whatever direction it takes you and learning along the way.

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  4. Your Museum Of Natural History

    August 27, 2014 by admin

    IMG_2160We have a growing collection of sticks, rocks, feathers and other items collected on our various wanders.  We could say it’s just the kids, but TRMom and TRDad are just as likely as anyone to spot a cool something and pick it up for inspection.  We’ve started to dub our ever-growing collection “The Museum.”  And like any other museum, it offers learning opportunities to those who pause to check it out.

    Primarily located on a window sill on our back porch, the Museum houses many natural wonders, which our chief curator Bluey will gladly interpret.  There’s a bird skull from the parking lot of his swim class, the honey comb we found on the bike path.  We have many cool rocks from various parts of the country, and feathers from many birds- especially birds of prey and turkeys, both of which live in our neighborhood.

    IMG_2159Recently, we found a part of a mammal’s lower mandible on our way to the library.  This triggered a full-on investigation about what animal it may have come from.  Bluey offered his own hypotheses, and disproved several contenders by examining animals we had on hand: the cats and the dog.  An internet call-out to our friends who are animal experts and outdoorsy types offered a number of leads.

    We finally decided to head to a nearby state park to compare our sample with their small display of various skeletons.  It has been a great investigation.  We have thoroughly enjoyed all the related conversations about what foods the animal might have eaten, and how it came to be in our neighborhood.

    All from our Museum collection.

    So we encourage you to let your kiddoes bring home their finds.  And to keep them, study them and learn from them.  Start your own museum.

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  5. Kite Maker

    June 4, 2014 by admin

    After watching an episode of Fetch! with Ruff Ruffman recently, Bluey was inspired to make his very own kite. We didn’t have the same materials as the show, but that didn’t stop us!

    Tip: All you need is some paper, glue, string, structure support (cardboard, pipe cleaners, sticks), and imagination!

    IMG_6270Bluey had a shape in mind (based on a circuit board he removed from an old printer), so we traced it out on construction paper. He wanted a certain embellishment in the middle of his kite. And after a gentle reminder about the importance of a stiff support piece for the kite to remain intact in the wind, we were ready to cut out our design.

    We had a spool of twine for the string. Bluey used a hole-punch for decorated tags that he wanted to dangle from the tail. He was very proud of the knots he made to secure the paper to the tail string. We glued the tail onto the kite and we were ready to test it!

    Bluey’s little kite caught the wind and fluttered about. It was a fantastic first attempt. And constructing a kite was a learning moment to discuss in simple ways the science of lift, gravity, and drag (wind).  Bluey read further about these forces in his book How Things Work, and began thinking about how to modify his design.

    We also took advantage of this kite activity to fly our store-bought kite, so Bluey could really see these scientific principles at work.IMG_1883

    If you make your own kite, be sure to send us a picture. We’d love to see the range of creativity among our readers!

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  6. Volunteering: Kitty Transport

    May 18, 2014 by admin

    Part of our continuing series for the ThriftyRambler Kindness Project.

    IMG_5936A great way to cultivate kindness is to volunteer to help others.

    Finding the best opportunity to volunteer can sometimes be a challenge, especially for the very young.  But a young age is the exact time to begin volunteering.  By starting out at as a youngster, kids learn all through their lives that helping others is something you do.  It can become a habit that they won’t want to break.

    So we’ve been looking for a chance for our young Bluey to get involved in something he cares about in his community, and that can make a meaningful difference in the world.

    We found just the thing by transporting kittens for Darling Pet Rescue.IMG_5935

    It’s no secret that Bluey loves animals– especially cats, so helping transport them was a perfect fit.

    Darling Pet Rescue (DPR) is a no-kill animal rescue group that finds homes for animals in need.  DPR offers shelter and foster homes for animals until a permanent home can be found.  But the logistics of taking care of the animals can be quite daunting.   All DPR rescues receive top-quality veterinary care, and frequently need to be moved from the vet clinic to various pet stores that display the animals to expose them to good homes.   If animals at the viewing stores get ill, or need additional care, then they need to go back to the vet clinic.

    Moving critters from place to place is where Bluey comes into the scene.  We (along with several other dedicated volunteers) offer the rides to or from the clinic.  Our Bluey loves going on a kitty mission, and offers his sweet loving words to the cats while they are in car carriers next to him.  He comforts, calms and reassures them during their trip, and helps them settle at their destination.

    Bluey’s volunteer work also ties into his school projects.  He his learning a lot about animal health and care, and this knowledge is reinforced every time Bluey helps out.

    Bluey looks forward to assisting DPR and he knows that with each trip, he is helping an animal find a new family- just like our cats and dog settled down with us!

    Although it took us a while to find the right fit, we are so happy that Bluey gets to help out his friends and neighbors in a way that really matters to him.

    IMG_5932

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  7. Better Than A Booklist

    May 9, 2014 by admin

    We see them all the time. Someone puts out a list of all the books that kids should read when they are 7. Or when in High school. Or in order to be considered truly literate.

    There are a lot of great books out there, too many for any list.

    For our homeschooled little Bluey, we have a different kind of list.  A list for an explorer.  Parks!IMG_1793

    We love visiting new places and getting the chance to meet new people. So we have embarked on an ambitious plan- to have our young son experience all the parks in our hometown (big and small).

    There are over 200 parks in the city of Madison. That’s a lot of parks, so it’s a big challenge. But that’s not all we are going to do. We also resolved to attempt to visit all 31 parks in our county park system, and all the state parks as well.

    It’s almost 300 parks to visit!

    IMG_0127We know that this is an ambitious idea. But think of how many natural wonders our son will see! Think how many wild animals and plants we will encounter.

    Maybe he’ll never choose to read the top ten greatest non fiction books of 2010, but we know that he will experience amazing things.

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  8. Home Repairs

    April 30, 2014 by admin

    Our young Bluey helped fix the toilet today.

    An important lifeskill is being able to complete some small repair to your home.  Whether you rent or own, you should know how to do a few simple things from changing a fuse to working a plunger.

    When our toilet recently decided to keep running long after the flush, we tried the ol’ jiggling-the-handle trick.  But it was a no go.  So we pulled off the tank lid to look inside.  And instantly, our Bluey was at our side asking how this thing worked.  And how we might be able to fix it. Bluey holds an unwavering belief that we can fix anything.

    IMG_5702So we started explaining to him how the toilet works.  The handle is a lever and it lifts this connection that lets the water out of the tank, the float is at the end of another lever that is attached to this valve here, etc….  We can talk to him confidently about things like levers and syphons and screws in part, because he is an avid fan of David MacCaulay’s, The Way Things Work.  Bluey has gone through the book several times and we’ve read most of the sections repeatedly.

    We showed him the part of the book that explains how toilets work.  Then we talked him through what we’d need to do to make our toilet function correctly.  And together, Bluey and TRDad fixed the toilet!

    IMG_5704

    We love when our daily lives cross so nicely with the things we are studying and teaching at home.

    Category Rambler Ramblings | Tags: ,,, | 1 Comment

  9. Weather Station Alpha

    April 25, 2014 by admin

    IMG_1727Our Bluey has become highly interested in the weather lately. Most days he wakes up and immediately asks us to check the local forecast on the computer.

    In keeping with our homeschooling philosophy of teaching him what he wants to know when he wants to know it, we have been enmeshed in weather lore lately.

    Our favorite information resources include weather.com, wunderground.com, or one of our local TV stations like WKOW. Frequently, we check more than one site, allowing us a chance to model good research habits. Every website does not offer the same information, nor do they all present it in the same manner.

    Our visits to the weather sites offer a chance to study maps. Expanding the maps, we can see that Iowa and the Dakotas are west of our home- the weather they are having now might be our weather tomorrow. Michigan is to our east. The storm that came through yesterday is in Michigan now, or moving into Ontario. We can even research what weather our relatives are experiencing where they live.

    We’ve also been reading some weather books. It’s a great boost of our science knowledge as we learn about condensation, layers of the atmosphere, and how those cool vapor trails form (from jets in the stratosphere- 30 miles up.)  We did a fun experiment with a flashlight to illustrate why even though the sun shines in most places during the winter, its heat is so diffused that things don’t warm up very much.http://www.astronomy.org/programs/seasons/

    Now Bluey has decided to build his own weather station. It will take a while to finish, but it is underway. We started with a rain gauge- which seemed very important the day after a bunch of thunderstorms rolled through.

    Where else could Bluey’s weather interests take him? Art? Map making? Reading the Wizard of Oz? The sky’s the limit. Help your kiddoes follow their bliss and learn what they want to learn!

     

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  10. Homeschool Credits: Pet Care

    October 8, 2013 by admin

    IMG_0071 

    As we swing deeper into homeschooling with our Bluey, we’ve established one of our recurring themes: Pet Care.  We have a lot of animals in our house, and Bluey frequently discusses his desire for a pet of his own, or to perhaps become a veterinarian one day.

    So one of our missions, on Mondays or Tuesdays, is Pet Care 101.  We go to the pet store.  We take the dog on a trip to the woods or a dog park.  We go to the vet.  We clean the fish tank.

    And along the way, our Bluey learns many different aspects of caring for critters.  He reads signs and labels in the stores, practices counting, and learns how much a fifty pound bag of dog food weighs.  Bluey also meets and interacts with numerous people from all walks of life.

    In addition to learning about carnivores, herbivores, egg layers, live birthers, forest dwellers, tree dwellers and water dwellers— our Bluey learns about his city and the natural habitats in his neighborhood….All this and more from Pet Care 101.

    Your day-to-day tasks can become wide-ranging topics of learning for your family.  Who knows what our next theme might be for Bluey?

     

    Category Parenting | Tags: ,, | 1 Comment

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