One of the things I LOVE about homeschooling is that we can experience learning as a family.
It makes for an interesting dynamic...and a great deal of fun!
Right now we are studying Ancient history -- the earliest civilizations -- Sumerians, Upper and Lower Egypt, King Narmer/Menes, Cuneiform, Hieroglyphics, Stone Tablets, Papyrus, Mummification, the Rosetta Stone, and Hammurabi's Code. It's an exciting time for us! Listening to the kids talk about history in excitement, with a clear understanding of what was happening in the world at that time, is amazing. But I think this time period in history has a great deal of appeal to all of us.
Ancient Egypt brings so many different thoughts to mind. The kids this month created their own Hieroglyphics, and spent time writing/speaking in each other's "codes" one Friday. They actually wrote keys for their individual languages, and passed the key along with their codes. We also made the double crown of Egypt - the crown King Narmer (Menes) wore when he united Egypt by combining the crown of the defeated king with his own, making the red & white crown that would be worn by Pharaohs for several thousand years afterward.
It really benefits the kids to hear the interpretation of what we are learning from each other. Savannah, sharing her understanding of Hammurabi's code with her sisters, gives a different insight than if I were to just share the basic information. Even more interesting, their interpretation almost always involves a discussion of if something was morally/religiously correct. Hammurabi's code really created a very unique debate about the appropriateness of the punishments.
Friday was the end of our first month of school and we celebrated with a game of Jeopardy based on our history studies. I developed questions from what we've learned about History over the last month. Since we have been learning this particular subject together, I was able to create one game for all four of the kids. It was a fun experience, and really gave us an opportunity to review what we've learned before moving on this coming week. Since it was a success, with all four kids able to answer multiple questions, we will probably make this a monthly event.
With the changing weather, we've had to curtail our walks a bit, and start incorporating Cosmic Kids Yoga, Just Dance Workouts, Jumping Jax Gym, and the like. Asher and Savannah will be studying nutrition this year in Science. Last year they each learned one "harder" dish to cook (spaghetti, chili, tacos, ect), one dessert bread (apple, pumpkin, banana), and made one simple lunch (PB&J, Deli-Turkey sandwiches, ect). This year, they will start helping design our monthly menu, and will each become responsible for 1-2 meals a week. Last year I avoided teaching them how to make breakfast foods, like pancakes, concerned they would burn themselves on the griddle, so hopefully this year we will find a few recipes they can make the night before and pop in the oven (I found a delicious peach & walnut stuffed french toast!). Rosalynne and Gabrielle are still a little young to help in the physical kitchen much, but they will be responsible for setting/clearing the table, getting cold items (yogurt, fruit, cheese...) and might help a little with the menu.
So far, school has been fairly relaxing. We have a full schedule, but we are working through it each day, and are settling into the swing of things. I'm excited to see what this next month brings!
No comments:
Post a Comment