Anne/Ankara
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Posts posted by Anne/Ankara
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We live close to Punxatawney (spelling?), a few hours away, and I still can't figure out what that Ground Hog Day is all about. Is it a pet groundhog or do they find one in the wild each February? Sounds crazy!
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Well, we've set up the finished basement as our schoolroom, but frankly, we are all over the house doing our work. Also, this time of year, the basement gets cold, so we migrate upstairs. And, somehow, there are also a lot of toys, foosball table etc down there in the basement, so it isn't truly "dedicated" to schoolwork. But I do like the fact that there is one place in the house to stack school books and supplies.
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And, Dawn, the Thinkwell Physics is done by Stephen Pollack, who is the same professor who does the Teaching Company "Great Ideas of Classical Phyics," which we have watched and enjoyed. We have sporadically watched the Thinkwell lectures, which are very complete, but did watch all the Teaching Company series. Recommended.
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We have some Redwall fans here, so we are reading Loamhedge right now. Earlier this fall we went to see Brian Jacques and really enjoyed listening to him. What a fascinating man, with a vivid imagination, and a true talent for animal tales that aren't too scary! Apparently he was a delivery man, delivering milk to an orphanage for blind children in England, and he made up his Redwall tales to entertain the children. Since they couldn't see, he made his language as visual and memorable as he could. That's a good tip for an author!
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Yes, I think the student applies to university, and after being accepted, applies for a gap year, enrolling on campus the following fall or whatever. When applying for a gap year, they would describe how they intend to spend the time-- usually something interesting, positive, or unusual...
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How about the "Written and Illustrated By" picture book contest? He could use his artwork of WWII aircrafts in a story and then possibly get it published. Wonderful!
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You can designate a course "honors" even if it is taught at home-- why not! Here is PA Homeschoolers' description of what constitutes an Honors course... look on the side bar under "honors."
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We took it in third grade through the Carnegie Mellon program-- you didn't have to be in school, just show some evidence of top percentages in a standardized test (in our case, the Terra Nova). It was a good experience for both kids.
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I know! I really noticed it when I pick up the kids from art lessons at 6pm, and it is no longer dark! Great, now on to spring!
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Our library is quite good-- it is easy to get books from various branches in the network sent in for you, and they have a lot of up-to-date books, Teaching Company videos, textbooks. Nice! They also hold chess tournaments and other fun stuff.
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Amazing! Well done all around! Have fun in DC and let us know how it goes!
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That does look like a nice one! And by the way, I heartily recommend the Art across the Ages, and the History of European Art-- both are very well done. I wish I lived near NYC!
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Dawn, we're using it now. Of course, I don't grade the exercises, but the main thing I like about the program (which is an inexpensive disk for $35) is the fantastic short video tutorials about the physics concepts, with animated exercises. So the student can put in various parameters and see the difference that those would make... hard to describe, but fun and informative. We have used it as a supplement to Hewitt's Conceptual Physics. I think it is often helpful to hear the lesson out loud, if you are an audio learner, rather than just read it from a textbook. The two methods together are effective for us.
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We've done it several times in the past-- it is a nice exam. I believe that they tell you in advance which chapters of the Illiad (was it that book?) to read before taking the exam, so that you don't have to know the whole thing. It was easy to administer at home, and there are nice ribbons and such for outstanding achievement.
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I believe Florida Virtual School has some online Latin courses, which are free if you are in-state. Otherwise, I would check out the Scholars Online for a top-rated course (we haven't used it but hear it is excellent).
The one we are considering is the Lukeion Project, which might be interesting.
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We have too many to recommend! But I can tell you what we are using this year, Year 4 curriculum, that have been great:
Art Across the Ages
European Art
History of United States
Brief History of the World
Great Ideas of Classical Physics
Joy of Science, physics and biology lectures
Now, if you have younger children, and just want to sample one, I would go with the High School World History course, which was entertaining and fun. The chemistry and algebra, and study skills for high school were also very helpful.
What are the ages of the kids, and what are your curriculum goals? For instance, if you are studying the middle ages, I would recommend the Philip Daileader series on Early Middle Ages and High Middle Ages. Just terrific. And the Great Authors of the Western literary Tradition is also wonderful, spanning many authors...
Too many to choose from! We just ordered the new genetics one, which we will watch next year with the biology series. That should be very interesting.
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I'm sorry to hear that. You are all in our prayers. My brother had a very bad break in his arm on the trampoline, and I can understand how upsetting this is!
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I always think of our school work in broad categories of six subjects, which are then broken down into sub-sets, so for example, we study:
Math
English
History
Science
Foreign Language
Music & Art
Then each subject has its parts (English has vocabulary, writing, grammar), (Science has vocab, problems, labs), (Foreign language can be Latin, Turkish, French, listening, writing) so each subject is not covered each day, but the main subjects are... does that make sense?
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Yes, we go yearlong, but take shorter days when necessary. It gives us much more flexibility to cover the material to the depth we want.
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All those Washington museums are very close to each other, within two miles, I would say. You could probably pick up a recent guide book from the library that has good maps, but most of the museums are clustered close to the mall, so it really isn't too far from place to place, even to walk. Of course the real problem will be fatigue! In five days you can see a lot, but you might exhaust everyone... we're pretty energetic, but can only face two or at most three sights in a day!
Also, don't forget the National Archives, which houses the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. They have a nice auditorium in the basement where you can watch videos about the Archives and history (also free!). The one I remember was narrated by Ken Burns, and spoke of the wonderful heritage of historical documents that we Americans have to share. Nice!
Good luck, and let us know how it goes!
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Although February can be cold in DC, you'll have less crowds to deal with, so that should make the visit much more enjoyable-- I vote for going then! And your kids are the perfect age for getting the most out of all the sights they will see... Here is my list of "should do's" for you:
1. Bureau of Printing and Engraving, free tour shows you how the money is printed
2. Library of Congress, take the free tour of the lovely building and its rich history
3. US Capitol, again a free tour that will explain a lot about our government
4. US Supreme Court, free tour that is wonderful. Also you can sit in on a court in session, check the website
5. Smithsonian Natural History Museum, although usually crowded, is a necessary stop for kids, nice IMAX
6. National Gallery of Art, look at their French Impressionists, Turner exhibit, Hopper exhibit, if you like art-- great gift shop and cafeteria in basement
7. Holocaust museum, very powerful, important visit. They had elderly survivors there when we visited, who would talk to children about their experiences. The first floor has a wonderful exhibit of a child's world through the Holocaust years.
8. Mall, walk to the Washington Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, Jefferson Memorial, Vietnam Memorial, WWII memorial, all on the mall. Each is beautiful and evocative.
9. White House, you may need to plan ahead for this, but of course you shouldn't miss it.
10. Air and Space Museum-- great fun for kids. Lots of full scale rockets and airplanes, IMAX films. Usually crowded, but at least it's free!
If you have more time and energy, I recommend the new Science Museum (great exhibit on infectious diseases, global warming and such). Also the National Building Museum, the National Postal Museum, the National Portrait Gallery-- all interesting places, depending on your level of interest. Also your kids might like the International Spy Museum, especially if you have studied the Cold War.
Remember that Arlington National Cemetary is very close, as is Mount Vernon (George Washington's home). Both are quite worth a visit. And Georgetown University, with its shops and galleries, is also fun.
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Hi, Stephanie! We do our Suzuki violin & piano lessons in Wexford, PA, about 12 miles north of Pittsburgh (near our suburb). What is the PMA-- is that the Duquesne program in music? I'm asking because I am thinking of doing their Young Artists Competition in March... open to 6 years and above... looks interesting!
Anne
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We are using their Conceptual Physics, which is an excellent program for introductory algebra-based physics. I have the disk (I think it cost $35) so it is not online, and we watch the short tutorials and do the problems. Lots of interactive problems that are fun to do. Highly recommended! By the way, we are also covering a textbook for physics, since Conceptual Physics seems to have less material that a standard text, but still, it is a great supplement.
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The Teaching Company does have an introductory Biology course, but it is a hugie-- something like 6 parts, 72 lectures. I believe the professor teaches at Duke University, so I imagine that it is up-to-date and rigorous. We plan to watch it next year when we study biology.
http://www.teach12.com/ttcx/coursedesclong2.aspx?cid=1500&pc=Science%20and%20Mathematics
Just got back from a couple of hours in the ER
in General Education Discussion Board
Posted
Ouch! Sounds painful. Here are hopes for a quick recovery...