Catching up with History

Well, social distancing sucks.

But since everything else is cancelled, we get more history done. Because there's nothing else to do.

We've talked about the crumbling of Rome. It never really "fell" did it. Of course the main character in that story is Justinian, and I was too lazy to do an activity, but we found this awesome youtube guy that really gave a kid-friendly in-depth look into Justinian's life.

Then we moved on to the north and started learning about medieval England! We started by learning about Beowulf. I forgot that Beowulf is a Danish character. But he's the first character written for ENGLAND, so whatever.

We tried to make Celtic knots for our activity. I needed round thick string, and I just had flat suede. I made one that looked relatively close to the desired effect,

But this was the best that my boys could create.

We also learned about Camelot. We watched "Sword in the Stone" as part of this, and realized that my boys have missed out on some great Disney classics. We'll have to fix that.

I've learned so much about Camelot with my boys. I've always thought it was excalibur that Arthur pulled out of the stone, and so I didn't get the whole Lady of the Lake thing. Well, now I know.

We made marshmallow castles as our activity. Everyone was pretty happy about that.

We then focused on feudalism and what that meant. We talked about the different levels of power and read a cool book by magic school bus about castles and this reading rainbow book about medieval feasts. For this activity we made crowns.

Then (this was dumb of me for not organizing things better) we left England and randomly talked about ancient Africa. Africa is fun, because we talked just a little about some ruins that we don't really know anything about, and then talked mostly about how since Africa doesn't have much written history, we need to learn from their stories, and then we brought out all the cute African story books I have.

I need to get another Anansi the Spider: A Tale of the Ashanti. That book got loved to death by my older kids, and my younger kids should experience it.

For our activity, we made finger puppets out of gloves to help us tell the stories.

Then we learned about Genghis Khan (which made me realize that I've been pronouncing "Khan Academy" wrong, because I was NOT pronouncing it the Genghis way, and you should apparently.)

And again that Youtube channel that had a Justinian series, had a series about Khan, so that was nice. Crazy bloody guy, eh? We just coloured a picture as our activity, but since we don't do that very often, they loved it!

And Daniel again tried his hand at drawing. Behold Genghis Kahn:

I was pretty proud at some of the detail that he included.

But not only did we get a lot of history under our belts, we accomplished some other awesome things. For instance HYRUM IS DONE WITH RIGHTSTART MATH!!! I'm so proud of him!!! He has made it through some tough concepts, and he's done great.

Another cool thing, is that DANIEL'S DONE WITH BARTON BOOK 6!!!! And that means we're practically done with Barton, because I just have them watch her videos for book 7 and then call it good, so this is really exciting.

There's a chance I will never teach Barton again (umm probably not true, since I see my empty-nest life full of tutoring.) My younger boys are continuing with All About Reading. It's weird because it's fun but painful (hard to sound out words etc-not as smooth as Barton in the beginning.) But just look at them feeding monsters words:

Also, math has been continuing for everyone (but Hyrum) and Abraham is starting to really get to some tricky stuff.

Maxwell totally rocked the "quadratic formula" unit he did and has it memorized despite him BEGGING me not to sing the "pop goes the weasel" rendition of the quadratic formula.

These are his notes. LOL

So, as I mentioned in the beginning of this post, we are now "social distancing" not quarantining. Which means we can go to the store! We were running pretty low:

When we were still in quarantine, we did get fruit from a wholesaler that my friend had connections with, and they sent it to our door. We had oranges galore.

And somehow, even deep in quarantine, we hosted a pretty awesome birthday for the sweetie who lives in our basement. It was a "Frozen" birthday complete with swimming in our garage, going on a frozen treasure hunt, making marshmallow Olafs, watching frozen ll, and making frozen slime.

I have to admit, that during this time of self isolation, the device time has laxed. They need that friend time, and that comes online only now.

The whole world has gone to teaching online, which has been fun in some ways. Mark Rober taught my kids science for the past two weeks. They love it! Why does helium make your voice higher? Does farting make you weigh less? Why is the sky blue? How to waterproof your hand? How do astronauts weigh themselves? All these questions and more answered!

Also, we had a parents meeting with Westwind, and NO school is NOT cancelled. The teachers will still be involved as they can remotely, and John will still do class craft, and I will still need to do checklists and someone is still reading this blog.

They've even started doing zoom classes.

I was so happy about this. I listened in when Heather got all these teenagers talking about the hard questions and concerns that they were all having with COVID-19. It was so healthy for them to get together and express themselves and what they were feeling.

Westwind didn't even cancel their Paper Bag Book Share where they asked us to decorate a bag according to a certain book we've read and put things in that bag that had to do with the book. Hyrum did "Tales of an 8 Bit Kitten" Daniel did "The Cay," William did "If I ran the Rainforest" and Abraham did "Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears."

It was pretty chaotic, but good.

We've continued some things during this crazy time. Piano lessons are now over FaceTime. And Daniel has suddenly realize he should be doing Spartan gym training every day.

And in other news, during Conference, the boys all made posters for Janet, their art teacher, who was able to go in for surgery to get cancer removed. It was really scary, because they thought they might not be able to get her into a hospital because of the virus, but they did, and I'm so happy she's home and hopefully cancer free. I've realize how much she mean to me during this crazy time.

By the way, what a crazy awesome General Conference!!! One to be remembered, that's for sure!!

Quarantine? What quarantine?

We are under strict quarantine because Dustin and I went to Argentina. (Even though Argentina had/has less COVID-19 numbers than Alberta.) The day we were leaving Argentina, a lady on the street came up to us, saying that we were bringing coronavirus to Argentina! Yeah, the world's gone nuts.

Was it worth going, only to be quarantined? YES! Buenos Aires has been on my bucket list since I was two (when my brother, Craig, left for his mission there.) And to go there with Craig (who was on sabbatical there) was a once in a life time opportunity.

And now that we're back, I feel a lot like this meme:

Okay, so we're not that bad, but I feel extremely blessed. This shouldn't impact us negatively financially, Dustin works online from home, we homeschool, and we went on a big shopping spree before we went to Argentina. (Yes, we bought toilet paper, but that was back in the good ol' days when the shelves were overflowing with toilet paper. No judging!)

But we are used to doing something with our homeschool community daily, and now that's out of the question. Art classes, literature classes, robotics, gym, and alternate school classes etc. are all cancelled.

Thankfully, while we were gone, our kids were at their friends constantly all day long. Feast or famine lately eh?

Interestingly, this quitting of all activities hasn't let me have more time. Those classes would keep me on my toes. "Daniel needs to go to art in an hour, so I need to do his one-on-one right now." Nothing was motivating me this week, so I was mamzy pamzy about getting everything done, and would be teaching until 6 or 7pm at night!

Not that we had anything else to do!

I have a confession: I've been on social media and news and youtube WAY too much this week. That's the REAL reason it's taken so long to teach. Teach William, check my phone, teach Daniel, call someone and talk  for an hour about our crazy world, teach Abraham, get lost on Facebook.

Yep.

It's been fascinating to me to see the world become more Homeschool-friendly. All the things online are now cheap or free, and there's a million new "virtual" experiences. Even Mark Rober is going to do a science class next week. WE ARE THERE!!!

But it's sad that our hands-on school is suffering. No science. And I don't have all the supplies for history activities.

For history this week, we learned about the gladiators. I LOVE learning about gladiators. Eight years ago, when I first taught my kids about gladiators, I was reading Hunger Games for the first time. I geeked out about the parallels, and this time I pointed out all of the parallels to Maxwell, who has now read all the books, but he wasn't quite as excited as me.

I brought out the morbid colouring book of gladiators that I've done every four years. I've ran out of these books, and I don't think it's in print, so I don't know what I'm going to do four years from now.

Daniel decided to draw his own gladiator.

Isn't he good?

We also learned about Constantine and the Nicene Creed, but I didn't have supplies for our activity, and I wasn't feeling very creative for something else. There are no good youtube videos for kids about Constantine, and I could't find any kids books either.

HE'S ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT FIGURES IN HISTORY FOLKS!

Blah, well, reading a section of Story of the World will have to suffice.

BTW, we've been reading awesome Usborne Readers about Ancient Rome.

I LOVE these books. They are not boring. They don't just tell you facts and dates. They have you experience a fun story. So happy to have found them.

We've also started reading The Bronze Bow as a family. I've never read it before, but it's turning out to be very Ben Hur-ish. I think it will be good.

We also learned about Pagans for history by doing our annual Leprechaun traps!

Thankfully I had almost everything we needed for this already. No proper boxes, but they figured out ways around this. They also started leaving food for the Leprechaun.

We watched the traditional St Patrick's day video:

And talked a bit more about pagans to officially make it a history lesson.

Thankfully, my boys haven't complained too much about being house bound. Abraham has been a lot more invested in what I'm doing, however, and has even been insisting on how I do my hair.

"Now Daddy will love you more."

Abraham and William have started All About Reading Level 1.

Honestly? All About Reading seems totally inferior to Barton. Fun, colourful? Yes. But I am missing the complete instruction and comprehension of Barton. I don't know if all the experimenting I've been doing has been fair to William, but hey, it's only been a few lessons, so I'll stick with it.

I couldn't resist doing the "down in the mud" hand symbols that Barton does to explain the difference between p and b because they were having trouble with it.

But, they love the colour and fun, so maybe we're doing something right.

For Maxwell, he's done with Stareway to Spelling, but I know he's not done with spelling drilling. I figure spell check can help with most things in his life, but not homonyms, so I have created my own version of Stareway to Spelling using nothing but homonyms.

I wish I could share all of it with the dyslexic community, but half of it is from Teachers Pay Teachers, so I can't share it.

Maxwell is thrilled (sarcasm.)

So, this whole "school's out" thing complicates my life just a bit. Mainly, I don't know how this effects my relationship with Westwind. THANKFULLY they cancelled PAT tests!!!! I have a kid in grade 9 and 6, so I am super stoked about this.

However, I actually like having some accountability, feeling like SOMEONE is reading this, and happy that I'm recording evidence of learning (Hi John....but are you even there?) And I love the Westwind classes, and their help in teaching my kids.

This is a photo of Hyrum making things for more multiplication contests at WAS

In fact, Hyrum has fallen in love with a project that John started doing with him, called ClassCraft. I guess it's a game where the storyline and quests can be made by the teacher, and the quests are math problems.

Hyrum has been so excited about it, he has been writing his OWN storylines and math quests and sending them to John, who puts them into the system.

But will this even continue? I don't know. Will I have to report all the checklists of learning this year? Well, I wouldn't be too sad if we don't.

We have found fun ways to spend our quarantine. Dustin created an awesome pool in our garage, complete with ball-pit balls and floatys. SO FUN!

(Those extra kids are the cuties living in our basement)

And today for church we decided to do a full-out church, which meant dressing in church clothes and having talks and songs. We learned about the allegory of the olive trees with the rest of the world, but there were some bare feet while giving talks!

Homeschool the COVID-19 Way

The world has turned upside down. I never thought I would write a post like this.

Many have asked how to teach their kids during quarantine. One of my friends said parents won't actually teach their kids, that they'll just stick a device in their hand and binge-watch the weeks away.

But not you. You found me, which means you want this time away from school to matter. A time for growth regardless of what's happening. I hope what I say helps you.

I've been homeschooling from the start (ten years.) I have also homeschooled on a remote island where I could not get supplies. I also have two ADHD boys, and all five of my boys have dyslexia.

SO, for what it's worth, I've learned a few things going through all that.

First, and foremost:

If you don't keep it simple, you will get burned out and be miserable. Don't complicate it.

There's really only four subjects you need to worry about.

For social studies listen to "Story of the World" or read historical fiction/nonfiction.

For math go to Math Antics or Khan Academy

For science, there's tons of youtube science channels out there.

Online fun if they can't read. Read and write about what they've read if they can read.

REALLY! THAT'S IT!

Let me explain in more detail: 

For grades 1-7, I suggest Story of the world. Just listen to the MP3s. EASY!!! Normally I would say listen to it while driving, but please stay home. Have them play with legos, draw, or do a puzzle while listening. (Getting their downloadable colouring books is awesome but not necessary-I've never got them.) You'll hopefully only have time for one volume, and you don't have to start with ancient times.

For Ancient Times MP3, Click here 

For it's colouring pages, Click here

For Middle Ages MP3, Click here 

For it's colouring pages, Click here

For Early Modern Times MP3, Click here 

For it's colouring book Click here

For Modern Age MP3, Click here 

For it's colouring book Click here

For the whole thing (hopefully the virus won't last THAT long) Click here

For grades 8-12, I would suggest classics that are history based. You can get them all via audible.com or amazon's kindle. You can read kindle books on just about anything via their app. You do not need an official kindle.

But obviously you want suggestions (or you wouldn't be reading this) I would email their teachers first, who might give you some awesome suggestions, but if not, here's some books I would recommend:

The Chosen by Potok: A story about Jews in New York after WWII during the time of the Zionist conference. Really fascinating perspectives, and easy to get conversations going.

The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: The autobiography of a salve who escapes to freedom and becomes an abolitionist. Very intriguing.  

Red Scarf Girl by Ji-Li Jiang. The autobiography of a girl growing up during Mao's "Great Leap Forward." Sooooo interesting. We don't learn about this time in history enough. 

I Am Malala (Young Readers Edition) by Malala Yousafzai: Autobiography of a teenage girl politically active in getting girls to be educated, and consequently gets shot by the Taliban. Obviously a captivating read. 

Obviously you're not going to go through a whole math curriculum while quarantined. This is an opportunity to work where they're having trouble, or to get them soaring ahead. These sites will help you with either:

for elementary:

You'll find Math Antics at www.mathantics.com. These are fun videos that explain the "why" behind math in a visual way. They also have worksheets to backup the video's teachings. If they are too advanced for your kids, try www.starfall.com.

For higher grades:

Khan Academy. You knew I was going to mention him, didn't you. Yes, he is truly as awesome as his reputation. Find his excellent website at www.khanacademy.org. 

I love having a science club where we all get together and blow things up. This is obviously not going to happen right now. First, we're not "getting all together," second, we are not going to waste mentos and Diet Coke on a science fountain in a time where any food is valued, and lastly, although the science books SAY you can find all the supplies in your house, they are lying. Nobody has all that random stuff just lying around their house.

Sooooo......hello Youtube.

There's some seriously awesome channels about science. Here's my family's favourites:

Mark Rober arguably my kid's all time favourite science related channel. 

Smarter Every Day Destin is my hero

The Spangler Effect Steve was the first to show us how fun science was. I am a shameless Steve Spangler want-to-be

Life Noggin  My kids LOVE life noggin and can not get enough.

A Deep Look is a cute/creepy channel about bugs.

Adam Savage's Tested former cohost of Mythbusters. Need I say more.

Kurzgesagt-In a Nutshell Cartoons and a British accent. Brilliant. 

Smithsonian Channel I think the name says it all.

SZtv like blue world in little chunks.

Colinfurze insane British dude. Not actually that scientific, but definitely inspiring to your engineer minded tots.

Vertasium when you run out of Mark Rober, this is the next choice.

TheBackyardScientist do not try this in YOUR backyard.

TedEd my kids and I LOVE this channel. It is so much more than just science. If you binge watch this channel, you will get through the apocalypse a lot smarter. 

This is it folks-the big one. English is arguably the most important subject. Not sure why I left it for last-actually I do. 

My entire family is dyslexic. We take learning to read and write very seriously, and there is no simple solution. Certainly not one without physical curriculum. 

Okay, there is hope. Online hope.

If your child is not reading yet, there are actually some fun online sites that can help.

Nessy (click here) is probably the best. It does cost a lot, but there is a free trial. Which may or may not last about as long as this quarantine may last bwahahaha.

Then there's Reading Eggs. (click here) Lots of people seem to like this one, but I've never had my kids do it. Again, there's a free trial.

And the FREE Teach Your Monster to Read (click here) super super fun. Not sure if dyslexics actually learn anything, but you know. It's all good.

Also, there is Explode the Code (click here) which is actually very systematic and good. 

There's also some awesome resources from All About Reading, which is a really good curriculum for teaching kids to read. Sorry you can't get the whole thing, but these games are a start. https://resources.allaboutlearningpress.com

Also, I have a lot of free Sight Word print outs that you can use.

Click here. These actually do work. They are organized by "book" because they go with the Barton Reading system. But since you probably don't want to get that right now, don't worry about what "book" you click.

Here's a youtube video about how to use them.

If your child is actually reading, then for heaven's sake encourage them to read! That might mean you have to take away devices and hand them a book, or it might mean you have to give them devices with the kindle app on it. Which ever is the case, it helps if you read what they've read and actually talk about it and have them writing about what they've read.

And now, I hesitate to even mention this site but, in lieu of any better options:

IXL. To go to this website, click here. It is a very clean cut site that lays out all the grammar your kid should know by grade and skill. 

I actually don't like this site. It's better known for it's math, but notice I didn't put it in math. Because there's better options. 

I could tell you a million other language arts curriculums that would be awesome, but they are all physical curriculums. So, since we're in a pinch, just use IXL. Who knows. You might like it. 

You know what? Who needs to learn Grammar during the apocalypse? Just have them read and then write about what they've read.

This website is practically PRESCHOOL or KINDERGARTEN online.

Starfall

https://www.starfall.com/h/

This is the BEST video to teach LETTER sounds

The Letter Factory

https://www.amazon.com/Leapfrog-Factory-Roy-Allen-Smith/dp/B018N0KI3M/ref=sr_1_14?dchild=1&keywords=leapfrog+letter+factory&qid=1584326095&sr=8-14

This will help your child learn their times tables:

Times Tales

https://www.timestales.com/collections/frontpage/products/download-version-of-times-tales®-dvd

This is an AWESOME site that has the best science and social studies movies ever-but it's pretty expensive. Perhaps there's a free trial. 

Brain Pop

https://www.brainpop.com

And it's elementary counterpart:

Brain Pop Jr.

https://jr.brainpop.com/free-stuff/

Teachers Pay Teachers is an amazing recourse where you can find any kind of worksheets lesson plan of your dreams.

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com

This is a resource of videos. Probably better than surfing youtube

http://www.discoveryeducation.ca/Canada/

This is a link to virtual field trips
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1SvIdgTx9djKO6SjyvPDsoGlkgE3iExmi3qh2KRRku_w/preview?fbclid=IwAR3uGGcR610-pFAaifW2JEJ7T3h8xScVZVPU5WyHV54and-xQfoTDF3sTwM&pru=AAABcQeztV0*HmQ8-E9CKf-V0gkzCK0vLA

This is a online place called "Cousera" which is a collection of free college courses you can take (you high school students can handle these, trust me.
https://www.coursera.org

And here's some more college courses for free specifically because of Coronavirus:
https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/ivy-league-free-online-courses-a0d7ae675869/?fbclid=IwAR1bmefiv4c8R3lacwFpgdc7BjE5Wnb7siEBbx9sUtNo8GSVAKO-m0P4csc

And here's virtual tours of National Parks
https://totallythebomb.com/heres-33-national-park-tours-you-can-take-virtually-from-the-comfort-of-your-home?fbclid=IwAR0d68uODVDl2wIToWuEQ7fDmjVtXUSxfoF9ojkHOYPpif7FSWWoL6e8_zc

And apparently Scholastic is offering free classes during this time.
https://classroommagazines.scholastic.com/support/learnathome.html

The Metropolitan Opera is showing online streams during this time
https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Met-Opes-To-Launch-Free-Nightly-Streams-During-Coronavirus-Closure-20200313?fbclid=IwAR1oJLu72NPKgWa8oCLYYQmCoZwM9FssjXTzltMRvbynVh6ivE98fWY4NsQ