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Denver Museum of Nature and Science – field trip

April 9, 2014Written by Joy

One of the joys of living next to a large city, is the many places that you can go on field trips. Denver has a multitude of museums that we can choose from. One of our favorite museums is the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. We love it so much, we bought a membership for the family.

The Denver Museum of Nature and Science has wonderful programs and Imax movies that they play. The one we saw yesterday was the Journey to the South Pacific. It is a beautiful story of a boy growing up in the islands of the South Pacific, discovering and learning all about the sea life that surrounds him. We are looking forward to seeing the other Imax movies they have showing at this time.

Kids at the Shuttle docking game.

Another favorite area of the museum, is the Space Odyssey section. This area covers anything and everything that you want to learn about Space. My kids love to sit at the Shuttle docking game and try to park the space shuttle. I also love the many workers and volunteers that talk with the kids and let them ask any question.

Sarah and Claire checking out the seals.

I think my favorite area is the Wildlife section. They have different animals from around the local area, to the whole United States and even animals from around the world. The kids can read about these animals, look at what their habitat looks like and see what all they eat.

Sarah and Samuel talking about the Walrus’.

While we haven’t seen some of these animals alive, like the walrus and sea lion,

Claire reading about the Bison.

in the area we live in, we have seen live bison,

Samuel reading about the Elk.

elk and deer. In fact, we see these often when we ride through the Rocky Mountains.

Kids reading about animal scat.

We enjoyed this little impromptu field trip. I love going places with the kids like this. There is so much hands on learning and it really does bring education and learning to life. If you ever do get out to Denver, CO, I highly recommend going to this museum.

2014, family, field trips, homeschooling Denver Museum of Nature and Science, field trip, history, homeschooling, science, Space, wildlife

changes in history curriculum for 2014…

January 20, 2014Written by Joy

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We started the 2013-2014 school year trying out a new history curriculum. I was wanting to do American history with my kids and was having a hard time locating one I thought would work. The two previous years, we had used Mystery of History from Bright Ideas Press. Bright Ideas Press history, All American History, looked a little too challenging for my younger kids, so I choose My Father’s World: Adventures in U.S. History.

The first few weeks, we struggled and had a lot of tears. The kids did not like the change. It was TOUGH. They cried, then I cried. I was determined to give the new curriculum a chance, though. I know that sometimes change can be hard, but that if you give things a chance, it could work out. I told myself that we would give the new history until the end of the year. I wanted to make sure that we gave it our all, before we switched curriculums. The kids like the time period that we were studying. They just did not like how it was presented, they did not like that there wasn’t daily activities or projects. With this curriculum, there was a lot more copywork, than anything.

The end of 2013 came and I knew the time had come. We were going to change history curriculums. The problem was, which one do I choose now? I had wanted to teach the kids American history. I have just had a hard time trying to find one that I liked. I knew we needed to go back to something that we were familiar with. One of the joys of homeschooling, is using curriculum that fits the needs and learning style of your children.

So what will we do now? One thing we will do is continue to read the books that I picked up on American history. They are short readers that the kids can read on their own. We also have the Little House on the Prairie books that we will read together.

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My kids have asked to go back to Bright Ideas Press, Mystery of History. Since we finished with Mystery of History: Volume 1, last year, we will begin Mystery of History: Volume 2, this next week. I already had this Volume on our book shelf, so it will save us money for the time being. In the mean time, I will be saving to purchase their All American History Jr. I would love to be able to look at the books and see what all the Jr. section covers. Hopefully, we will be able to start this in the fall.

After 11 years of homeschooling, I am learning it is okay to change curriculums, even during the middle of the school year. One of the joys of homeschooling, is being able to meet the needs of your children if something isn’t working. So mom, don’t give up if you are having a rough time. If you feel like you have given the curriculum a fair chance, and it still isn’t working, then change! You will eventually find something that will work, or a curriculum that you can tweak enough to make it work for your family.

Have you ever had any curriculum that made your kids break down in tears? Have you had to change curriculums in the middle of a school year? I would love for you to share your experience with us!

2014, homeschooling Adventures in U.S. History, All American History Jr., American History, Bright Ideas Press, curriculum, history, homeschooling 2014, My Father's World, Mystery of History

Wednesday’s Around the World ~ Christopher Columbus, Part 2

October 23, 2013Written by Joy

As I said last week on Wednesday’s Around the World, we continued on with our Christopher Columbus lesson. As you know, Christopher Columbus sailed from Spain in 1492. He took the Nina, Pinta and Santa Maria and headed across the Atlantic Ocean.

On October 12, 1492, Columbus and his crew woke to find themselves sitting off shore of an island that he named San Salvador. This island was inhabited by people that had never seen a ship or white people before. They exchanged gifts and Columbus and his crew stayed with them for a while.

As they left they San Salvador, Columbus noticed a lot of islands all around them. He thought perhaps that they had sailed to the Indies. He called them the West Indies since he had sailed west from Spain and called the people on the islands, Indians. For the next 6 weeks or so that he sailed, Columbus discovered the islands that we now know as Cuba and Haiti. The Santa Maria ran aground at Haiti and they took the lumber of the wreck and built a fort at the shore. He left part of his crew at this fort and sailed back to Palos.

Once Christopher Columbus arrived back in Palos, he was welcomed with a lot of excitement. He and his crew had been gone for about 7 months and everyone thought they had died. The King and Queen of Spain welcomed him back with great honor. He had brought them gifts from the new world and told them all of their findings, including the Indians (he brought Indians back to Spain with him).

Columbus made three more voyages across the Atlantic, discovering more islands as he sailed closer and closer to America. While he visited places along the coasts of Central and South America, he never did get near what is now the United States. He also thought that he had just found Asia and didn’t ever know that he had found a new world.

Our project for the lessons about Christopher Columbus, was to build 3 ships, like the Nina, Pinta and Santa Maria. For this project, we used aluminum foil, tape, clay, pencils and paper. I am sure you can use whatever materials you have lying around your house.

The first thing the kids did, was shape a boat using the aluminum foil. The goal is to make it where the boats will float on water. You need to make sure the bottom of the boats are flat.

Samuel making the Santa Maria.

Once you get your boats made, you need to make the mast and sail out of the paper and the pencil. Be sure to write the name of the boats on the sail. The kids used tape to put the sail on the pencil, however, you can also cut a couple of lines in the paper and slip the pencil through the holes.

Claire is working on the Nina.

Once you get the masts and sails ready, attach those to the bottom of each boat with the clay. This may take a little bit of work to get the clay to stick to the bottom of the boat and the pencil sticking up straight in the clay.

Santa Maria floating in water.

Now you are ready to sail your boats in a sink, tub or any large container, big enough to hold the boats. I just put a couple of them in the kitchen sink, but after we did that, the kids went to the bath tub and filled it part way with water and then played with the boats. They had a fun time playing with each other, pushing their boats back and forth.

We enjoyed this lesson on Christopher Columbus and had fun making the boats. Even their oldest sister had fun helping them make the boats.

What have you been learning about in history and geography? Have you done any fun projects or activities lately? I would love to see them!

Be sure to link up and share with us about your fun lessons!

2013, homeschooling, Wednesdays Around The World Christopher Columbus, history, homeschooling, New World, Nina, Pinta, Santa Maria, Wednesday's Around the World

Wednesday’s Around the World ~ Christopher Columbus

October 16, 2013Written by Joy

I didn’t get last week’s Wednesday’s Around the World up, but wanted to try and have something up this week. I have been having some more health issues. They thought it was my gall bladder, but blood work, an ultrasound and an imaging scan said that my gall bladder was fine. I go back tomorrow to the doctor, to see what the next step is. While we have done the basics of our school work, projects and activities have been put on hold.

We have started studying about Christopher Columbus and him discovering North America. Our lessons with Christopher Columbus will be split up into a couple of lessons. This week was just reading about his early life and how he came to sail the first time in 1492, to North America.

Christopher Columbus sailed from Spain in 1492.

The kids colored their ships, they think by the description that it was the Santa Maria. It was said that of the 3 ships, the largest was the one that Columbus sailed on. From reading about the Nina, Pinta and Santa Maria, the largest was the Santa Maria.

Claire working on her copy work.

I am excited to continue our study about Christopher Columbus and the project we will be doing next. Hopefully, we will be able to build three ships and let them sail in our sink or bathtub. I know the kids will be excited about this.

Samuel working on his copy work.

Next week, I will definitely have more information about Christopher Columbus. While he is most noticed and celebrated for the fact that he discovered North America, there really is a lot more to his story. Some of it isn’t really good at all. I know I was surprised at what I learned about him. I discovered things that I definitely wasn’t taught when I was in school!

What all have you been studying about in history and geography? Have you done any projects or activities lately? I would love for you to share them!

2013, homeschooling, Wednesdays Around The World 1492, Atlantic Ocean, Christopher Columbus, geography, history, homeschooling, Nina, North America, Pinta, Santa Maria, Wednesday's Around the World

Wednesday’s Around the World ~ Leif Ericsson and the Vikings

October 2, 2013Written by Joy

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Wednesday’s Around the World ~ Leif Ericsson and the Vikings

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This week on Wednesday’s Around the World, I am sharing with you about Leif Ericsson and the Vikings. Who is Leif Ericsson and what does he and the Vikings have to do with studying the United States? Leif Ericsson was a Norseman, who lived in the far north of Europe. They had a hard life in the area they lived, because the weather could be brutal, with very cold temps, winds and snow. They were sometimes called Vikings, which just means exploring. They explored to find food for those times that they ran short of food. They traded with others, but sometimes they had to steal and they even looked for new places to live.

The Vikings used large boats that could go very fast with the unique sail that had. When the wind wasn’t blowing, they had a large oar that many men could pull to make the boat go. The large boat had a dragon head on the front and a dragon tail on the back. The dragon was very intimidating to those people that the Vikings came across. It filled them with fear and scared them a lot. As the Vikings moved around they created colonies as they explored. A lot of the Vikings, including Leif Ericsson’s dad, settled on land a land that is now called Iceland.

It was always a dream of Eric the Red, Leif’s dad to find a better place to live for him and his family. They hit the open waters and found a place west of Iceland and called it Greenland. Although it was very similar to Iceland, he named it Greenland in hopes that the name would bring more people to settle. However, due to a famine, people kept going to Iceland, instead of Greenland. One a particular day when the weather was awful, a Viking ship accidentally was blown off course and missed Greenland. They kept sailing even further west and came to unfamiliar land. They sailed down the coast, hoping to see something that would remind them of Greenland. They never did see anything they recognized, so they turned around and sailed back east. After 4 long days on the sea, they finally reached Greenland. They told Eric the Red what they had seen and his son, Leif overheard them. Leif wondered why they did not go ashore and explore the land. As Leif continued to get older, he never forgot that story.

One day, Leif told his dad his was heading out on the sea, towards the west to find this land. On the 4th day of his voyage, Leif and his crew caught sight of the land. At first, he did think it looked like Greenland, but as they continue to sail down the coast, he noticed that the land began to change. Leif and his crew went to the shore and started exploring. Leif called this land Vine-land. They stayed their through the winter and then returned to his dad and the people of Greenland. He told them all about the rich land they had found. Soon, other Vikings followed him to this new land and they set up a settlement. The settlement only last a few years due to the battles with the Indians that lived there. Vine-land, the place that Leif Ericsson discovered is known today as, Newfoundland, Canada.

The kids and I had a fun time learning about Leif Ericsson, his family and the Vikings. We learned that Leif had discovered what is now known as Newfoundland, Canada in North America. This was the first time that someone discovered North America in A.D. 1000.

We looked on our world map and found Norway, Sweden, Finland, Iceland and Greenland. We then kept following our finger all the way west and right to Newfoundland, Canada in North America.

My kids and I are learning a lot and enjoying the lessons in the Adventures in U.S. History from My Father’s World.

What have you been studying about in History and Geography? Link up with us and share!

2013, homeschooling A.D. 1000, geography, history, homeschooling, Leif Ericsson, link up, My Father's World, North America, Time-Line, vikings, Wednesday's Around the World