MamaChicken
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Posts posted by MamaChicken
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For Oceans, World Without Fish. https://www.amazon.com/World-Without-Fish-Mark-Kurlansky/dp/0761185003
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I loved this book in middle school and proceeded to read everything Bradbury wrote that I could get my hands on. Then I read it as an adult and realized that it really didn't appreciate it as a kid. If your kid picks it up on her own, definitely encourage her to read it, if not, I'd recommend waiting. There's so much good stuff in there but better late than early.
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Lots of great books in there! Little Book of Talent is awesome. I recommend it to anyone who wants to be good at something.
I was so sad when i missed A Little History of Philosophy and now I get another chance!
I have way too many books in my shopping cart though.
How Star Wars Conquered the Universe
A Man Called Ove
Thirteen: The Apollo Flight that Failed
Elements of Eloquence
Demon under the Microscope
Screwtape Letters....
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My math/science guy as a rule reads only nonfiction, but has fallen in love with Tolkein.
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Also, the Martian, but preview for language.
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The Greatest Show on Earth looks terrific! It should go great with Big History this year. We loved Magic of Reality. I think my son has listened to it 3 times.
We've also enjoyed The Dissolving Spoon and a number of science Great Courses on physics and geology.
The Greatest Show on Earth
The Magic of Reality - how we know what's really true
both by Richard Dawkins
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Have you found a nice illustrated copy of the Silmarillion. I'd love to get this for DS for his birthday in August also. He already has and treasures the illustrated Hobbit and LOTR.
We're doing LLLotR this year too.
Christopher Tolkien compiled History of LOTR, so I am sure he would be happy with it. Kreeft and Pearce are both Catholic and ardent Tolkien fans, so both of their books are very respectful (and full of Tolkien love.
)
DD is very familiar with the stories. It was actually watching The Hobbit that made her want to read the Silmarillion and the Unfinished Tales b/c she can spot which parts are not in The Hobbit.
We already own a copy of the Silmarillion, but I saw the illustrated copies when I was researching other titles. I might consider getting her an illustrated copy for her b-day (which is conveniently the end of Sept!)
She is already finishing up this school yr. She has finished geo. We only have a couple weeks left in lit. She has pretty much finished history, etc. She actually wants to start reading for this study this summer. I am just not sure where to start or with what.
Thanks for the suggestion about the sewing. Her older sister and I made a medieval ball gown back when we read the study and it was a lot of fun. That is a project that this dd definitely would enjoy as well. -
I totally agree with this. LOTR is just about the only fiction that DS12 likes. I've tried so many other things. He'd rather just read science or engineering books. If I'm going to get anywhere with literature, I figure I better start here :)
My DS will be in 9th and doing LLftLotR next year. He has read all the books and listened to the audio books multiple times (and watched the movies and written sequels in Tolkien-esque style and created Lego animation Hobbit movies and ... he may or may not be slightly obsessed) :lol:
I too am modifying it heavily. Not using the vocabulary work at all and all comprehension questions will be oral discussion, not written. He will do the reviews and tests, but our focus literature-wise will be the unit studies. My real aim for him in English this year is actually to shore up his academic writing, and LLftLotR is just a vehicle for us to give him something literary that he's "into" and that's challenging for him to write about. So here's our schedule:
Monday - Read about 3 chapters (this will be mostly a skim/review for him since he's read them so many times)
Tuesday - Discussion of comprehension and challenge questions
Wednesday & Thursday - IEW-style writing assignments based on either the text or the commentary or the unit studies, whichever we're on at the time
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Thank you for the replies! It looks like there are a lot of options.
Joshin, I was wondering how the courser course measured up, maybe i should try a couple lectures myself. DS12 is comfortable with the Coursera format, so that would work well for him.
Skateleft, how important is the visual component of the Great Courses course? I was planning to get that with my next Audible credit. I've found we're much better at completing audio Great Courses than video ones. We spend a lot of time in the car :)
Rose, that is good information about the writing. DS12 generally avoids writing at all costs, unless its technical writing. I thought the assignments looked like they would be interesting to him and was hoping to spark more interest in writing. I wonder if I can do this in 7th, and then again in high school. This is a kid who would study chemistry and physics all the time given the choice.
Did anyone incorporate field trips? We did a terrible job with field trips last year, but I was thinking I could find something to do monthly, Carnegie Planetarium, Ithaca paleontological research center, Meadowcroft Rock Shelter...
I'm a geologist who was almost an astronomy major. This is so exciting for me!
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And those links are terrific! I think we'll do this, and incorporate a bunch of the stuff from the other threads. As an excellent reader, but much more a science/math kid than a language arts kid, I think this could be just what he needs (fingers crossed).
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Lori D, thank you for your detailed reply. We haven't done much in the way of formal lit. We've listened to the whole audiobook series (loved the reader) as a family and now DS12 is rereading on his own and loves it! DS10 doesn't love it as much, but we could start out trying it all together. I like that idea. I didn't want to admit it, but DS12 loathes comprehension/vocab questions, but is very good at it, so I intend to skip that. Although the game idea is great, we've often handled history vocabulary and memorization that way.
I really liked the sample discussion and unit studies and would want to focus on that, so its good to hear that you found it valuable without the more workbooky sections.
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For those who have used it, had your child read the books before doing the curriculum and then reread them, or were they reading the first time as scheduled by the curriculum? My son loves LOTR, and parts of the LL look like he'd enjoy them, I'm not sure if he wants to start back at the beginning of the books.
I'd love to hear how this curriculum worked at your house.
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I've used it for two kids. Both times it inspired not only deep inquiry, but future aspirations.
My 13 year old has decided to get homeschooled again. We will do Big History. I am looking forward to it!
I'd love to hear more about how you used it. Did you pretty much follow the web page? Did you add any books?
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Arduino is awesome. I highly recommend it. Just get one and a good intro book. DS 12 has been making stuff with arduino for several years.
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Is anyone planning to do Big History this year? Has anyone done it. I know that DS12 will love it. There is a great teacher training program on their web page and lots of great ideas here https://homeschoolsciencegeek.wordpress.com/category/big-history-project/
I really like the way it approaches writing and inquiry.
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I recall reading about a middle school lit program based entirely on short stories, but I can't find it. Does anyone know anything about it? I'm sure there was some Ray Bradbury in there.
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Thank you so much!! It worked!
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We just loved the Mexican Street Food class! I was excited to see the free pizza class. We're definitely going to try that next!
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My boys are 12 and 10. They both enjoy
History of the. ancient world
30 greatest orchestral works
My older son loves the science courses. He's listened to
The origin and evolution of earth
The Higgs boson and beyond (i don't think many kids would like this. It was dry and complicated)
Einsteins relativity
How to listen to and understand great music (I don think he finished it)
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We just started listening to Bill Nye, Unstoppable. Its optimistic that engineering and ingenuity can overcome climate change. Its very helpful for the engineering minded worried DS. I also think that its excellent and very well read.
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We're listening to Bryson's Short History of Nearly Everything after having read A Really Short History. Its a good followup.
I also have Dr Art's Guide (we're using his Planet Earth book right now) and Science matters for later this year. Magic of Reality is awesome, and the app is very worthwhile as well.
I'm a former scientist and firmly believe in fostering scientific understanding at this age. For 6th, we are doing family bookclub and discussions. So far we have read:
- Bryson's A Really Short History of Nearly Everything (we should have read the adult one)
- Omnivore's Dilemma - Young Person edition was a good fit
- Magic of Reality - Good fit
In progress:
- We Are the Weather Makers: The History of Climate Change
Also planned:
- Dr. Art's Guide
- Science Matters
I have several others that I'm still previewing and trying to decide. Full disclosure: we are liberal, scientific-minded secular homeschoolers.
ETA: We have also done several field trips:
- Puffin research tour (Maine)
- Neil de Grasse Tyson lecture
- Visit to lab of one of primary scientists on Homo naledi
- Lemur lab visit and behavioral lab study
- Visit to regional NOAA office
I still have more to plan!-
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Actually I just surveyed 2 and 3 and although we haven't completed 2, 11 yo ds has most of those concepts pretty solid , so we'd be up for giving a Skype coop for 3 a shot. We can preview anything that he doesn't know.
My email is tritschs@gmail.com
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What a great idea! We did level one a couple years ago and loved it but never got going with level 2. I just started again for 9 yo ds and it would be much better if we had other folks to keep us accountable :). It would also be better if I ditched the ebook and bought the hard copy!
Anyone up for doing something similar for 2. I'd give it a shot!
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I am thinking of getting the Beast Academy books as a fun supplement for my dd 6th grade and dd 4th grade. Do you really need the workbook or is the instruction book enough? I am not looking for my girls to learn arithmetic but to see examples of problem solving. It would be a snuggle on the couch and read together sort of thing. Is that possible with these? Thanks
The instruction books are fun, but a lot of the problem solving "meat" is in the workbooks (including stuff that's not in the instruction books). The workbooks are also full of great puzzles. I wouldn't skip them.
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Battlebots - any project ideas or learning resources in kid friendly language?
in General Education Discussion Board
Posted
My kids and their friends spent days making and battling Lego mechanized battlebots! I know we ordered special motors for technics for some of the designs.