From December 6, 2012
Friends,
Once again, Jacki has blessed us with her organizational
talents and shared her notes on our discussion and observations from our Charlotte
Mason meeting. If you are new to our
little spot here “Under the Maple Tree” then, please join our little
group. You will find details here about
this actual and virtual support group and our previous notes on the blog site
under the tag “Mother Culture”. In
short, we meet as a small support group to learn from one another and a good
book as well as to encourage and spur one another on in this crazy
homeschooling life. This year our book
of choice is A Biblical Home Education by Dr. Ruth Beechick. If you are interested in joining us even if
only virtually, then the book is available through Maple Tree. Contact me, Cori, for ordering information.
If you are following our little group online or if you
missed the meeting in person or if you were here and wanted to look over the
ideas and resources that we discussed then please enjoy the notes below with
thanks again to the talented Jacki Young. There are so many great ideas, information and suggestions here that you might want to check back here for a reference here and there.
Blessings,
Cori
- (p.41) Ruth Beechick states that homeschooling parents seem to "fear science more than any other subject" (Do you really think that that is the case?)
o As homeschooling parents, we don't always remember learning the materials we are now teaching. It is difficult to teach materials that we aren't familiar with
o Many "traditional" teachers don't invite students to ask questions. Beechick advises that priority should be given to having students ask questions and seek answers. "If you spend more time on space and less time on insects, it is fine as long as children are learning to ask questions and seek answers" (p. 52)
o Many science students and in fact, science professionals, have to hide their creationist stance or risk losing the respect of friends or colleagues
o Good resources like Apologia help to manage the fear of teaching science
- (p.55) "Some `readers' may not enjoy what we call hands-on science activities. Other students may seem more balanced between learning from reading and learning from activities." How do we know that our "readers" understand the scientific concepts they are reading about?
o Discussion shows understanding of concepts
o Narrating shows understanding of concepts
o Jonathan Park CDs have been shown to teach concepts well
- Should we focus on doing dissections with our children as part of learning science?
o Can buy "shrink wrapped" creatures for dissection
o Can easily obtain creatures in our "own backyard" eg. Cori's dead fish anatomy lesson ;) (We were camping and found a "science lesson" on the beach.)
o Can extract skeleton of creature by burying near an anthill to speed up decomposition. That sounds like a science lesson in itself!)
o Can euthanize creatures humanely with baking soda and vinegar. This is what snake owners often to with rodents that they keep to feed to their pets.
o Some households not comfortable bringing in "dead bodies" due to sanitary concerns or because "life is precious". This is reasonable. Charlotte Mason didn't see the need for school children to do dissections needlessly.
- Some resources for teaching science in primary grades
o Usborne early science books – series of 4-5 books on plants, fish, etc.
o Burgess Bird Book for Children
o Pagoo by Holling C. Holling and other Holling C.Holling books
o Christian Liberty Nature Readers – beginning reader for science topics
o "Apples, Bubbles & Crystals" teaches science as it goes through the alphabet. This is a fun resource for young students.
o Field guides
o Handbook of Nature Study by Comstock
o "I Wonder Why" books
o DVDs
o Simple activities are helpful
§ Eg. Paint with lemon juice and put in the oven to make painting visible
§ Jance VanCleave book for simple science activities to be done from your kitchen
- What is the difference between Babylonians and Sumerians? (p.45)
- How did the calendar come to be?
o Calendar Quest by Jennifer Johnson Garrity
- Other good resources recommended by HS Freebies website: www.homeschoolfreebie.com
- How do I do science experiments at home?
o Apologia kits – don't have to buy the kit to do the experiments
o For chemistry, some basic materials needed ie. Microscope, Bunsen burner
o If using Apologia check out www.donnayoung.org for schedules for completing the books
- ApologiaGeneral Science curriculum
- Red Wagon Tutorials – previous years on USB for $120 (Are there copyrights to consider here?)
- Some important considerations to apply to home school science:
o Focus on teaching younger children what they're interested in, and teaching middle & high school students what they need to know for their future plans
o Teach children to think for themselves & take responsibility for their own work
o Do science as a family group
o Talk together about what is learned so siblings have something in common and can learn from each other
- (P. 58)"Science students can usually learn from any ol' book"
o Are illustrations, colour and design wasted on "science minded" students?
o Science minded students will learn science regardless of the colour and design qualities
Nature
Study
- Project
FeederWatch to learn about birds in your backyard. Submit data on birds
visiting your backyard feeder to Cornell during the winter months- Country Diary of Edwardian Lady – a naturalist's diary from 1906
- Engage grandparents – you may be surprised how much knowledge and interest they have
- Books by Susanna Moody & Catherine Parr Traillm (for older children and adults)
o Catherine Parr Traill's "Backwoods of Canada" describes a naturalists experience emigrating from
- Local resources such as Eleanora's Diary – journals of a Canadian pioneer girl
- AGO
- Great Canadian ArtPak by Cyndy Regeling
- James Herriot – Childrens' Treasury and other stories
- Burgess Book series
- Clare Walker Leslie's "Keeping a Nature Journal" – suggests journaling topics through the seasons, sketching tips, and how to teach nature journaling
Notes
1) A couple resources to add to the last meeting's topic of "History":
o Series of accordion style history timelines @ Coles/Chapters/Indigo ie. "The Timechart History of the World", "The Timechart History of Jewish Civilization", etc.; very thorough and detailed ($19.99 each)
o Timeline of World History poster @ Creation.com incorporates Bible history and "secular"; gives high level look for reasonable price ($2 small, $6 large)
2) How to explain to "traditional schoolers" that our children always get an A? If the student hasn't mastered a subject, we don't move on!
3) Article on
- Standardized testing has negative consequences on curriculum and teachers
- Teaching in
- Teachers focus on what's best for students, not what will make them better than other students
