Edible History!!!

Right now, in our homeschool, we are exploring the fall of Rome. We have learned so much together, this past week! We learned what a plague was, what Anno Domini means, what a "Hun" is and that's just a snippet of the new information floating around in our brains! We are using "The Story of the World" Book # 2 in the series, The Middle Ages. Here's a link: http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0971412936

Last week, I read straight from the book and followed up with some fun activities from the accompanying workbook. However, this week, we are going to branch off and read some of the suggested reads and enjoy some of the fun activities from it, as well. Tonight, we are going to build a "Roman Pillar" out of sugar cookie dough and bake it. We are going to use toothpicks to etch and make it really detailed. Last night, we "ate like a Roman Soldier." We ate with our hands and cooked the food over a fire in tin foil. We thought about what it must have been like for a Roman soldier. He must have been "starving" after a battle so he wouldn't be picky. This encouraged my oldest son, Nikolas to eat veggies!!! He HATES veggies so this was a wonderful surprise. He really delved deep for this activity, even looking up more information on the Internet. I wanted to share some pictures and show you that learning, really retaining information, happens through experience and enjoyable activities. It didn't matter that we didn't dig a hole in the ground and cook like a real soldier. The kids really role-played and tried to empathize with what it was like for a Roman soldier. This opened up discussions and topics that we had covered in our read-alouds so I know that the kids are learning the material. This week we are going to dress up like a Celt and read Aesop's Fables. Sounds fun, doesn't it!!!

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Sept 1-7 is "Self University Week!!!!

I found this excellent and inspiring website that is dedicated to "self-education". They want to promote a life-long love of learning. Since 1989, September 1-7 is the week they celebrate our ability and responsibility to educate ourselves. Here's the link: http://www.autodidactic.com/index.html

I took this from their page because I think the best way to celebrate our life-long love of learning is to share this information and to promote discussions about it. Enjoy!

52 Ways to Celebrate Self-University Week September 1-7

• Look up a new word every morning and figure out three ways to use it during the day.
• Read that book you picked up months ago and haven't opened yet.
• Listen to audio books or language tapes while you drive.
• Watch only informative TV shows (no sitcoms, soaps, sports, giveaways, movies, MTV or QVC). Exception: if you never watch the kind of entertainment shows listed, sample a few.
• Write a letter to the editor of the newspaper or magazine of your choice expressing your opinion on an issue.
• Find out how to send e-mail to the President or another lawmaker of your choice. See if you can get a dialog going.
• Investigate one or more newsgroups on the Internet, and check in at least once a day.
• Attend an open meeting or public forum each noon hour or evening for a week.
• Sign up for a night course, workshop, or seminar.
• If you work in a large company or organization, pay a visit each day to someone you barely know--in another department, for instance. Get better acquainted with these people; find out more about their work and how it relates to your own.
• Take photos of ten things (places, objects, people) that best symbolize who you are. Then take ten more of things that represent your dreams. (Use a digital camera) Put the photos together in an album, montage or a web page.
• Pick two prominent figures--one from history and one now living. Find out as much as you can about their roles in society, their family lives, and their accomplishments. Then make a side-by-side list comparing the two.
• Visit a library or bookstore every day and spend some time looking through sections you've never explored before. Make a list of the titles or subjects you find to be most interesting.
• Attend a lecture.
• Go to a foreign movie--or to a foreign country, if you can afford it.
• Compile a reading list of books you intend to read during the next year, and pick one to start off with.
• Plan or start your own personal library of the books that mean the most to you.
• Share with others a list of the most inspiring books you have ever read.
• Reread a book you thought was difficult or "over your head" the first time you tried it.
• Form a roundtable discussion group to discuss books and ideas.
• Join or start a friends of the public library group.
• Join a book club.
• Choose a prominent figure in history, science, politics, or the arts. Resolve to see how much you can find out about that person in books, movies, newspapers, and conversation with friends and associates over the next year. Study the person's original work and compare your opinions with the commentary of others.
• Write an article for your company, institution, hobby, club, or community organization newsletter or magazine.
• Write a letter to the editor of your local paper. See how clearly and succinctly you can make your point.
• Visit a museum or gallery.
• Sign up for a class on a subject that's new to you but highly interesting.
• Offer to teach a class for a community education enterprise. (A sure way to learn a subject is to teach it.)
• Listen to literary classics or foreign language instruction tapes in your car every day for a week, instead of music.
• Watch an hour of public television each night instead of cable.
• Practice the tutorials for a new piece of computer software.
• Write a brief summary of your life so far, or depict your life graphically on a large sheet of paper.
• Spend a week reading material with which you strongly disagree.
• Create (or update) your resume.
• Search a large computer database using your favorite subjects as key words.
• Write your own obituary. What goals do you hope to meet in your lifetime? What do you want most people to remember about you?
• Spend some time asking the oldest (and hopefully the wisest) people you know what were the major lessons that they have learned from life.
• Read the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution.
• Volunteer eight hours of your time to a nonprofit organization.
• Spend a day or a week "media free" no radio, TV, books or magazines--entertain nothing but your own thoughts.
• Peruse introductory books to philosophy with the goal of discovering your favorite philosopher.
• Sign up for music lessons.
• Learn enough of a computer programming language to write a simple program.
• Set aside a half-hour each day to examine some of your fundamental beliefs about the world. Contrast them with opposing views. For example, why do you belong to one political party instead of another? And are your reasons for believing as you do your own or did you borrow them from friends and family in the process of growing up?
• Outline the major events in your life as if it were a play. How many acts would there be and how would they be named? What would be the name of the play?
• Study the nature of your career, occupation or the means with which you earn a living and make some predictions about the future of that enterprise. If you are retired examine the career field of a friend or relative.
• Write an essay (or make a list) describing what you think were the greatest errors and accomplishments of the twentieth century. How can these lessons make life better in the twenty-first century.
• If you are a worker read a book about management; if you are a manager read a book written from the perspective of workers.
• Take the time to master that piece of hi-tech equipment that you dread the most. Read the instruction manual, call the engineers who designed it.
• Memorize a poem.
• Take an art class.
• Subscribe to SELF-UNIVERSITY NEWSLETTER.

Workbox system

http://www.squidoo.com/workboxes


Sent from my iPhone

If you are interested in our system of doing things, check out this link on work boxes. Most people adapt it to what works for their family. For instance, we only use the actual work boxes. We don't use the tags. I simply use a velcro tag that says "working" on the box the kids are working on. They each just move down chronologically from 1-7. I like that I can visually see where they are each at. I laminated a piece of paper that says "working" and bought Velcro fasteners from Office Depot. They also carry them at staples. I also have egg timers for each of the kids and they set them for each box. On the side of each box there is a laminated card that I fastened on using Velcro saying how many minutes to set the timer for.This system enabled us to be done about two hours earlier than normal. It's so efficient!!! The kids loved it because they had a surprise snack box....

UNSCHOOLING EXPERIMENT: DAY 4

“To understand a child we have to watch him at play, study him in his different moods; we cannot project upon him our own prejudices, hopes and fears, or mould him to fit the pattern of our desires. If we are constantly judging the child according to our personal likes and dislikes, we are bound to create barriers and hindrances in our relationship with him and in his relationships with the world. Unfortunately, most of us desire to shape the child in a way that is gratifying to our own vanities and idiosyncrasies; we find varying degrees of comfort and satisfaction in exclusive ownership and domination.”
― Jiddu Krishnamurti, Education and the Significance of Life

Our 4th day Unschooling was, by far, the most wonderful day we have had in our house in a long time!!! Being that, we have a lot of good days, that says a lot. What made it so special, you ask? Our home was literally, a utopia today. The kids were so pragmatic with each other. There was no bickering. NONE! Throughout the day, there were clandestine little moments that I am sure I missed but, for the most part, I saw a general sense of harmony, without the normal fluctuations in mood that are typical of our household on "school days". My oldest child spent the day being kind and showing empathy towards his brother. This is such a contrast to our normal happenings! Let me explain, my sons are 11 months apart in age, and to add to that, extremely different from each other. My 11 year old grasps most things without trying and isn't always humble about it. My 10 year old is warm, creative and very compassionate, yet he struggles to understand many concepts. I am sure that he often feels like "what's the point" as he trys to comprehend academic concepts. His brother "get's it" right away, and this makes him feel as though he isn't intelligent. As a mom, this breaks my heart. The thing that I can see, that my 10 year old can't, is that, once he grasps something, he really understands it. It doesn't matter that it took him a little longer. I struggle to convey that to him.

What made today so special was that my oldest, on his own recognisance, felt empathy for his brother, and made a decision to act differently towards him. He said "Mama, it must be really tough always watching me do so well, so easily while he struggles. I would hate that! I am not going to boast any more. It makes Andy feel bad. I am going to be more patient and help him". That's exactly what he did. He cooked Andy breakfast and patiently showed him how to do it. He encouraged Andy when he became frustrated at his Greek lessons, urging him to keep trying. He praised him for trying. He even went so far as to tell me that he will let his brother win sometimes, at boardgames, because he wants to build his confidence. He's 11 years old. I wonder what kind of man he will become? I have read that sibling relationships are extremely important for shaping the kind of spouse you will be. If there are no siblings in a family, cousins or very close Friends can stand in for that type of relationship. Normally, the boys relationship is filled with strife and competition. Today showed me that, while my children may or may not be the most erudite, they have learned a ton this week!

Maybe, what we needed most was to look inward, and have the time and space to focus on our relationships with each other. That is the beauty of unschooling, I'm discovering. Time and space and freedom open up the mind to wander. Wandering minds aren't the thing of rebellion and chaos, as many of us were taught to believe. Each day, I am pleasantly surprised at the choices my children are making, ON THEIR OWN. They are reading and writing and playing and exercising and thinking and doing. Not because it's written on a list that I made. They are doing these things because of an innate desire to do them. So, while it may not seem like they are doing "enough" from the outside, upon closer inspection I am finding that the opportunities are boundless with this lifestyle. I am learning so much each day that I think that we need to continue this "experiment" for another week. What do you think?

http://wwwthatcrazyhomeschooler.blogspot.com/2012/08/as-promised-here-is-list-of-great.htm

As promised, here is a list of great resources for both HS families and mainstream families alike:

1-Memrise: Learning based on Science, fun and community. http://www.memrise.com/home/

2-Time4learning: A wonderful Full Online curriculum for HS, summer, or after school that will keep your kids up to speed. We have used it and it is our main source of curriculum. http://www.time4learning.com/

3-Ted Ed- Animated adventures and gripping video's to enhance your knowledge. http://ed.ted.com/

4-Mentormob- The youtube of learning materials. http://www.mentormob.com/

5-Open Culture- A giant collection of over 400 Ivy league course. Free learning at it's best! http://www.openculture.com/

6-Khans Academy- http://www.khanacademy.org/

7- learnist- http://learni.st/

8-Coursera- https://www.coursera.org/
free higher education