Elements of a Story

We will be finishing up most of our subjects in about 2 weeks! Alex is taking both an online history and an online writing class and those will not finish until mid-June. But, I have been busy making plans for next year. One thing I realized we need to study (though we covered it some last year in Classical Conversations) is the elements of a story. So, I started by going to Google Reader so I could look through the blogs I follow. This always turns out to be so useful! My first 2 "hits" were a post by Free Technology for Teachers (yet again!) and Jimmie's Collage.

Free Techonology pointed me to a neat site by Lerner:

http://www.educationalrap.com/song/characters-setting-plot.html

10 Trivia Facts You Probably Used to Know

I came across an article by Caroline Taggart titled "Ten Trivia Facts You Probably Used to Know."  I thought I'd use her list, which covers a variety of subjects, to see how many of the 10 I have taught Alex. Here is her list and my reponses:

1. Language Arts What is the difference between a phrase and a clause? We covered this last year in Classical Conversations as part of our memory work.

2. Biology: What is photosynthesis? If we've covered this, it has only been in picture books and briefly. But, Alex is taking a Botany class at our co-op this semester using Exploring Creation with Botany. So, I'm pretty sure she'll cover this!

3. History: What was the War of 1812? We learned a history song about it in Classical Conversations last year. And, we also read the Mackinac Island trilogy by Gloria Whelan (great books) which were set during this time and talk about the war.

4. Literature: Where does the expression "It just growed?" come from? First of all, I don't recgonize that expression. But, it came from the character Topsy in Uncle Tom's Cabin!  So, we haven't studied it, but we are becoming familiar with Uncle Tom's Cabin.

5. Math: Who was Pythagoras? We've read What's Your Angle, Pythagoras?

6. Geography: What were the original 13 colonies? We've talked about them, but haven't memorized them.

7. Chemistry: What's the Periodic Table of the Elements? We've talked about this quite a few times and really enjoy our poster by Theodore Gray.

8. Physics: What are conduction, convection, and raditaion? No, we haven't covered these!

9. Art: Who was Jackson Pollock? We studied him this year and Alex has recognized his artwork at various musuems we've been to.

10. Music: Why should I care about Johann Sebastian Bach? We haven't studied Bach, but I play some of his pieces on the piano and Alex recognizes them. I would like to study him, though!

So, how are we doing? Overall, I'm pretty happy with what we've covered. I know this is only 10 questions, but it shows that we are covering quite a varietly of subjects. I think it shows me that I do need to concentrate more on science, which I've been telling friends for quite a while. And, although I don't think it is of utmost importance, I would like to cover more about music and composers.

How about you? How many of the 10 have you covered?

Staying Busy

Whew! We are having fun, but staying pretty busy right now with end of the year things!

• I had my piano recital a few weeks ago. I was nervous, but did OK.
• Alexandra has started "summer" swim team and that meets 5 days a week, including at 6:45 on Saturday mornings! (She's taken off the past 2 summers, but we're both enjoying doing it again this year - it just keeps us busy!)
• On Monday, we'll finish up a 7 week, post-Classical Conversations, co-op and I am teaching a great class on Inventors. (I'll post ASAP)
• Alexandra has her Classical Conversations Awards Banquet and Choir Recital next Friday - and I'm the accompanist! So, I'm busing practicing!
• We are planning a BIG summer trip - I'll tell you about soon - but I've been researching places to go, things to do, etc.
• And, we our having a family reunion at the end of June. I've done genealogy for over 10 years (though not much since Alexandra was born) and I'm busy getting my information together so it can be shared with the family. (The photo above is of some of my husband's family taken in 1880!)

So, I have not forgotten my blog friends! I hope to have lots of interesting posts coming soon. Thanks for waiting around for me! :-)

Drawing the United States

We joined Classical Conversations in January, but last semester the students were working on memorizing the states and capitals. One of the resources some of the families used was Mr. Walker's Web Site on how to memorize the U.S.

Mr. Walker's method actually involves learning to draw all of the states in their proper places from memory. He does this by using neat memory devices like remembering Wyoming is off center from the other 4 "square" states below it. You ask yourself "Why" when you're drawing it and remember "Why? is Wyoming."

We're also learning the capitals as we learn to draw the states. So far, we're just working on the first 10, but I hope Alexandra and I can both draw and name all of the states and capitals by the end of the semester.

Here are a few more US geography resources:

• The Scrambled States of America book, video, and game (we haven't played the game, but I'd like to buy it!) - Alexandra has read the book and watched the video MANY times
• The Scrambled States of American Talent Show - this just came out in 2008 and we haven't read it yet
• At Shepphard Software you can take quizes on states, capitals and landscapes

Lichtenstein

Alexandra (and I) started attending a Classical Conversations group in January. I will be telling you a lot more about it in the future! But, for now, I wanted to talk about one of the many subjects we cover - the fine arts. Each week, we study either an artist or a composer. Right now we've been studying artists - one per week. The tutor (teacher) reads about an artist, shows a few examples of their artwork, and then the kids get about 30 minutes to work on a project.

I really enjoyed this week's study of Lichtenstein. After reading about him and showing some of his artwork (which is often made of dots and looks like cartoons), the kids were given stamp pads and pencils with erasers. They drew their own cartoon and then got ink on their erasers and stamped dots onto their pictures.

I decided to do it a little different at home. Instead of using a pencil eraser and ink pad, we used markers. And, instead of drawing our own cartoon, we printed out Littlest Pet Shop coloring pages. I had so much fun!!! And, instead of using one color, I usually mixed 2 or even 3 colors per area to create a neat color. I had to post my pieces of art as I thought they were so cute. And, I could do this for hours!

Although we are not studying these artists as in depth as I have studied artists in the past, we are still being introduced to new artists and learning about their artwork. And, we're continuing each study at home by checking out books (I've requested the Mike Venzia book about Roy Lichtenstein) and looking at thier artwork.

Alexandra is still working on her LPS Lichtenstein-type pieces of art, so I'll share hers when she's ready.