A Slice of Sky

Here is an idea for making colored rice.
1.Mix quarter cup of water and several drops of food coloring in a jar.
2. Add the rice in.
3.Stir the mixture.
4. Let the rice sit for 5 minutes.
5. Then, pour out extra water with a sieve.
6. Spread rice out to dry on a newspaper.
7. Repeat the steps for each colour.

We’ll be doing this activity this week as we learn about how people in the past and in different cultures dye fabric and make paint.

Last month we made Sumerian clay tablets from dough. The four of us trudged to the pond near nearby where there are reeds a plenty. We pulled some reeds, cut them and the kids did some cuneiform writing on the tablets. Then we baked them in the oven.

Filed under: Homeschool Journal on July 1st, 2008 | 1 Comment »

I am so excited! A few moms and I started a homeschool co-op some weeks ago. We’ve had three meetings so far and things look really grand!

There are about 10 kids in all, ranging from 3 to 13. We, mum, take turns to run each session, doing two- three subjects per session. We do a local foreign language each time we meet. The mom who is taking this session has been experimenting with various learning activities, from drills to songs. Another one does History and Science, another mom does Crafts and I do Geography and Books.

Geography and Books.. come to think of it, I don’t know why I came up with that.Hmm…

Well, it’s my turn next week and I’ve assigned everyone to draw maps of imaginary lands. Each map should include a cartouche ( something akin to a decorated panel containing the title of the map), a key, details concerning terrain and ta daaah…invented languages ( runes. cuneiform.etc). The kids have to present their maps , dressed up in the native clothes of these lands and cook up some adventure. I’m thinking of gallant rescues ( by princesses of course!), bungling crooks and adventure. My kids are thinking of princesses and clothes and swordfights and puppies…Nevermind, we’ll manage somehow…

Oh dear me, Joy has discovered something gooey on the dinner table and it has a greenish-grey hue and it’s the consistency of ( what kids?!)oh, glue. Yikes.

Filed under: Homeschool Journal on May 27th, 2008 | 1 Comment »

We’re holding a small birthday party for Joy tomorrow. There’ll be about 8 kids and 10 adults. I don’t have a clue as to what to do with the adults but I’ve prepared some party games for the kids. Hopefully everyone will have a ball, the adults with the food and chit-chat and the kids with everything else.

Some party games we will be having:
1. Fox and chicken: One child volunteers ( or is appointed) to be the wily Fox. One child becomes the leader- the mother hen. Everyone else is a chick and queues up – holding the waist of the child in front- behind the mother hen. The Fox has to try to tag a chick. The mother hen has to protect her brood. Once a chick is tagged, the chick becomes the Fox’s dinner and has to stand in a designated corner. The Fox has to ‘tag’ the other chicks, who by this time , should be screaming the roost down. This sound like one mean game, but there is a BRIGHT side to it! All is not lost when a chick gets tagged. The chick can actually rejoin the brood IF another chick ( one still in the ‘line’) manages to free him from the fox by touching him.

2. When the sea comes in: I got this game from a book of party games. All the kids form a circle around one child in the middle. The child in the middle is the ‘sea’. When she says , “The sea is calm”, the children walk , clockwise, calmly around her. When she says, “ The sea is stormy”, the kids run madly, clockwise, around her. When she says , “ The winds are blowing wildly”, the children wave their hands and run at top speed , clockwise , round her. I think you get the meaning. BUT when she says, “The sea is coming in !” All the children must run to the sides of the room ( if you are playing indoors) , and the sea must try to ‘tag’ a child. The one who gets tagged becomes part of the sea.

3. Passing the parcel : Need I explain ?

4. Brown and black bear: I got this game from the same party game book. One child is a brown bear, the rest are (ta daaa!) black bears. When the music plays, all these cute bears move around the room ( Please remind your children not to bite anyone. The last time I was at a friend’s house , a boy, imitating a dog, plunged his pearly whites into my jeans. ). When the music stops, all the black bears will have to flee from the rampaging brown bear. They must climb up their trees , which are actually chairs. The brown bear must try to tag a black bear before he manages to reach his tree.

Tomorrow should be loads of fun. I love those games when the kids get wet and messy such throwing water-filled balloons. But I think I don’t think I can cope with all that cleaning up right now ! I hope the food’s okay too; I’m much better at games than food prep ( thank God for bakeries and the confectioner’s !)

Filed under: Homeschool Journal on May 9th, 2008 | No Comments »

I have written some more templates that will help ( I think) our kids to focus when doing written narration. The next two templates are the Science Template and the Story Template.

My kids have now taken the flu bug off me and are hosting it. I hope it clears before Joy takes her ballet exam next week.

I will be uploading the templates soon (Actually, it’s Abel who does that part. I just write.)

I have been reading some fascinating books by Francis Schaeffer, Neil Postman, Susan Wise Bauer and that wonderful woman, Jane Austen (rereading). I don’t have time to write about them now. Later, then.

So, keep a look out for the templates.

Filed under: Exploring Culture on April 18th, 2008 | No Comments »

My equal whole ( as opposed to better half) was down with flu the whole of last week. And now it’s my turn.

I’ve got some more templates to upload but they’ll have to wait a while till all this yucky stuffiness clears!

Filed under: Exploring Culture on April 8th, 2008 | No Comments »

For the past two weeks, I have been thinking about how to assess and develop my 7 year old’s reading and writing abililities in a way that wasn’t burdensome. The shelves in the education section of our local bookshops are dotted with workbooks of every shape, size and colour. That seemed like an easy alternative- for me. But I know Joy would just hate sitting through hours of workbooks. Besides, I don’t think they fit into our investigative approach toward learning.

I had heard about oral narration as a tool for learning. At the same time, I want my daughter to be able to polish her writing skills.  So I have decided to as her to do written narration of the books that she reads - history, science, fiction,art,etc.

I didn’t want to duplicate workbooks. So I decided to come up with templates. These templates are basically frameworks, that provide a structure for the narration- something that I think she needs at this point.

Here’s the History Template

If you use it, do tell me what you think!

Filed under: Exploring writing with children on March 26th, 2008 | No Comments »