Otter: Our wiggly 5th grader
Bear: Our big bear of an 11th grader
Emily: Our froo-froo homeschool graduate
May 13, 2009
We've been enjoying our first week with Sea & Sky.
Yesterday Otter made a "shadow box ship" from the book Sailors, Whalers, Fantastic Sea Voyages. The activity book's instructions call for supplies like craft foam and wooden dowels but since I didn't have any of that on hand we just used card stock paper. I think it was probably easier to do that way anyway. The instructions were a little bit vague for Otter to accomplish this activity on his own so I helped direct him. We didn't do everything exactly how it was described, but Otter was happy with the end result:
Bear is going to be making a much more detailed paper model from the Canon Creative Park website.
Otter has also been working a free lapbook about mollusks. He's enjoying the added science component to his schedule as well as some additional hands-on activities. Here's are some pictures of what he's accomplished so far:
The cover of his lapbook
What is a mollusk? flap book
Inside "What is a mollusk?"
A 3 panel squid booklet
Inside the booklet
All in the mollusk family booklet
Inside the mollusk family booklet with 3 individual tabs
We also got to start the notebooking component of Sea & Sky. The program comes with a packet of papers called the "Make Your Own Captain's Log". Today Otter did a sheet on labeling a ship (hmmm, interesting color choices for the sails, LOL):
He's keeping all of his papers for S&S in a notebook:
So far I'm finding the pacing of Sea & Sky to be very manageable. Both boys are really enjoying our read-aloud of Treasure Island and there seems to be a very good balance of activities.
My only complaint so far is that one of the books scheduled as a reader (Voyage of Ice) turned out to have, in my opinion and for MY family's values, some inappropriate material in it for the ages it was scheduled for (3rd-6th). I'm actually quite irked about this. I am NOT criticizing Winter Promise for choosing the book as a reader. I understand that it is our responsibility as parents to preview our children's materials and ultimately make choices and decisions regarding them and also that every family is quite different in their beliefs and philosophies. However, I would have liked a little warning about the level of romance and violence it contains. I am really quite liberal when it comes to read-alouds (books I read out loud while my kids listen) because I can be on hand to discuss things with the kids and help expose them to real life, under my terms. However, when it comes to just handing my 11 year old son something to read by himself, I am a lot more picky. Voyage of Ice is quite an amazing adventure story that is very educational about life on a whaling ship but fails my test as a reader. We will, however,be doing it as a read-aloud with some edits on the fly.
Here are a few of my thoughts about some of the specific things contained in the book, so that you can get at least an idea for yourself how it might work for your family:
p. 8
"...Maybe they're...lovers."
Aunt Agatha? Married? What a ridiculous thought! As ridiculous as kissing a girl and pretending you liked it."
Then in chapter 3 there is a scene where Nick discovers there is a girl on board the ship he signed on to for work.
There is a sentence where Nick's brother calls the girl a "looker" and they are basically gazing at her and Nick is accused of having a crush on her.
The brother says "We touch, we die." (because she is the Captain's daughter).
There are quite a few instances where Nick is thinking about what Elizabeth thinks about him, etc.
Then in chapter 6 Elizabeth seems to like Nick and he is teased about it and called "lover boy"
There is a situation in chapter 7 where Nick and his brother try to run away from the ship (they have had enough of that kind of hard work and life) and get caught and Elizabeth lies about what they were doing in order to cover for them. Elizabeth is later blamed for her mother's death a bit later due to her lying and behavior concerning Nick.
In chapter 8 Elizabeth starts writing letters to Nick behind her father's back. She falls ill and writes him asking him to come and see her. Nick is warned by his brother but thinks to himself, "...I'll go see Elizabeth. Thorndike (her father, the captain) can go to hell." He sneaks to see her and totally defies Elizabeth's father's wishes.
On p. 73: "I was in love with the captain's daughter."
On page 82: Elizabeth purposefully jumps overboard because her father won't stop the ship after a man falls overboard in defiance of her father. She is rescued but the man dies and she yells that she hates her father, etc. (The whole situation would be possibly distressing to some children and there is the whole issue about defying an authority, etc.)
p. 129: Elizabeth is sick and Nick is holding her in his arms wishing he had another chance to kiss her.
The rest of the book goes on with a great deal of violence (like pistol whipping), death and things like that. There are also plenty of references of cursing as a matter of course and oaths taken such as "holy angels in heaven" and so on.
The whole dynamic between Nick and Elizabeth contains flirting and crush kind of behavior. In our household we don't do the whole dating thing nor do we wish to awaken these kinds of feelings, thoughts and actions in our children (especially at an elementary age).
Again, this is just MY opinion about Voyage of Ice being scheduled as a reader for 3rd-6th graders and I don't expect anyone else to share my thoughts or feelings about it. At the YOUNGEST I would say SOME 6th graders might be O. K. with it (depending on your personal convictions, etc.). A 3rd grader though? You'll need to read it for yourself to decide. :-)
If I come across as being over protective, I'll wear the badge.
May 11, 2009
Today we are starting our new school year (yes, we school year-round). Both boys are using WinterPromise's Adventures in the Sea & Sky program. Like anything else I use, I couldn't help but tweak it some and put together some extras. I'll be chronicling our journey with Sea & Sky this year and taking pictures of our projects. If you are curious about this curriculum (at least our experience with it), hopefully you'll get an idea of what it's like through my blog.
Today to celebrate our starting this theme I made the kids a lunch of octopus, ocean water, sea foam, sea stars and fish. Or something like that...
The octopus is made out of a hot dog with a mustard face. The ocean waves/water beneath him are Top Ramen noodles with blue food coloring. The fish are Goldfish crackers and the star fish is a slice of star fruit. To wash it all down I created some "sea foam": sparkling apple cider colored with blue food coloring.
The kids LOVED it. It was a great way to start off our studies.
Another extra I added was the book 1-2-3 Draw Ocean Life. In the schedule of extras I created I assigned Otter drawings that match up (for the most part) what we are studying each week. I've added a study of mollusks for science so today he learned how to draw an octopus. I opened up Corel Painter and with my trusty tablet drew each step for him as he followed along. Then we both colored our creations. Here is my drawing (digital pen & ink, and watercolors):
Here is Otter's drawing:
Otter's going to keep his drawings in the notebook we're working on. Other extras for this week are a free lapbook on mollusks, a mollusks movie on BrainPop, and some notebooking pages I found online: Mollusks paragraph & questions and Mollusks worksheet. He's also reading Eyewitness Classics: 20,000 Leagues under the Sea and doing a few other goodies like watching a Treasure Island movie online to give him some visual context for this week's WP read-aloud and more.
The Eyewitness book is really nice. The original 20,000 Leagues under the Sea is still WAY over Otter's head right now. The Eyewitness version is 63 pages long with a much abridged story, lots of wonderful illustrations and photographs as well as side box style information to make certain things in the story more clear or to explain facts related to the story. If you click the title linked above you can see a free preview of it on Amazon. I also like the fact that the book contains 2 page spreads on history and science like a section on submarines, the ocean depths, sea exploration and more. There are also maps showing the fictional voyage. It's a wonderful version of the story for younger readers.
May 8, 2009
No Thanks, But I'd Love To Dance, Choosing to live smoke free
I recently had the opportunity to look over No Thanks, but I'd Like to Dance, a semi-autobiographical fictional book written by Jackie Reimer. I like it so much that I'm going to include it in Little Otter's Science - my human anatomy science program for preschoolers through about 2nd grade. I think it's a great story for little ones to learn about not smoking as well as making good choices. The book has a simple but engaging story line with bright, colorful cartoon-like illustrations.
In the story, Grandma Bee is living with the consequences of choosing to smoke earlier in her life. Grandma has an oxygen tank and explains to her granddaughter Belle how her lungs were damaged from smoking. The consequences of this choice are serious, but nothing is presented in a scary way. Belle wonders why grandma ever took up smoking in the first place and listens in as her grandmother tells her about how she was a young woman at a dance was asked to try a cigarette and agreed to because it looked glamorous and everyone else was doing it. At the end of the conversation Belle exclaims:
"I know what you should have said when he asked you to smoke, Grandma!"
"You do?" asked Grandma Bee.
"YES!" Belle exclaimed. "You should have said, 'No thanks, but I'd LOVE to dance!!!"
The story then goes on to talk about how Belle grew up and how people would ask her if she would like a cigarette (or other things not healthy for her) and how she would think of Grandma Bee and reply with "No thanks, but I'd LOVE to dance!" It is both sweet and empowering.
I think the way the story is set up encourages a child to rehearse saying no, long before a situation like that may come up. You can practice after reading the book with "No thanks, but I'd like to...." (fill in the blank with your child's favorite activity).
It's really hard to find appropriate books for younger children that cover concepts like this. I think that No Thanks, But I'd Love to Dance is a great opportunity to cover this very important message with your little ones. In my opinion, the age group that would get the most out this story is the pre-K through about 2nd grade crowd because of the simple text. I did read it though to my 4th grade son (who enjoyed it) and then followed it up with a BrainPop movie about smoking.
You can visit the author's website for more information as well as free coloring pages that are perfect for helping to make the story stick. The coloring pages feature illustrations from the book so you can also get a sneak peek at the inside pages of the book from them.
May 7, 2009
I've got some lapbook templates posted to a new page on the site. I'll be adding to them as I create lapbook items for my son. You can download the templates, use them in your own projects and then share your finished work (along with my template elements) on your own site without having to ask. Just give a link back to Guest Hollow. Here's what I posted today:
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May 6, 2009
Now that I've moved my site over, I'll be updating my blog and site materials MUCH more often. Bookmark us and check back every now and then to see what's new!
Today I've got a new addition to my nutrition lapbook posted: Body types (ectomorph, mesomorph, endomorph) and a tongue map!
I also created a new page specifically for lapbook materials. I have a bunch of templates that I'll be uploading soon. You'll be able to download them and use them to design your own lapbooks.
Work is coming along on the 2nd year American history program. The first 5 weeks are centered around the Civil War. I'm scheduling in three separate options: Time Travelers: The Civil War, History Pockets Civil War and a free lapbook online at Homeschool Share. That way you can choose your favorite or whichever one fits with your budget - time AND money wise!
If you've used our first year American history program or Otter's Science, would you consider writing up a paragraph or two of your experience so I can post it to the site? I would love to hear how your year went and also share it with those considering using either program. Send your submissions to homeschool (_at sign_) ourlosbanos (d.o.t.) com. Thanks!
May 4th, 2009
The big news is that I've moved from OurLosBanos to Guesthollow. I didn't want Los Banos to be forever associated with my work and as the site became more and more popular, that's just exactly what was happening! My husband bought me this domain name last year, but I've been too busy to make the switch. I was also trying to learn CSS so I could design this site the way I want to. I still haven't finished my online class at Lynda.com on CSS and so I made the decision to move everything over with the old graphics and some Los Banos artifacts left on most of the pages. It's going to take awhile to change everything, but for now it's nice to move the site over to the new name and get started.
My main banner at the top is also not finished, but it will do for now. At some point, when I have lots more time, I'll play around with it and make some changes. I'd like it to change depending on the season and time of day. I also want it to reflect the different parts of the site. That is so not happening right now though! LOL! And yeah...I know the links at the top don't line up. That's because there is another one that is going to be added in the future. ;-)
In other news, I've received a lot of requests for a 2nd year to follow my current American history program. I had planned on using a different program in the future when we were due to hit American history again, but I decided I didn't like all of the books when it finally came out. Because of that and because I've had so many moms ask me to pleeeeeeeeease make a 2nd year, I decided to go ahead and take the plunge. It will be offered for free like everything else here. I really see this as a ministry to other homeschooling moms. It's slated for a fall release - hopefully in August or September. I'd like to personally thank a fellow homeschooling mom Kim for all her encouragement and enthusiasm. She's the one who tipped the scales in favor of me working on the program!
Blogs I love:
One Child Homeschool Policy
Cake Wrecks
Pioneer Woman
Sites with freebies I visit:
Homeschool Share
Lapbook Lessons
Homeschool Launch
Curricula we are using:
WinterPromise
Sea & Sky
First Language Lessons
Sequential Spelling
Shurley English
Teaching Textbooks 5
Writing with Ease
Artistic Pursuits
and a bunch of other stuff!
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