The Periodic Table

of The Elements. Just a fun animation of Tom Lehrer's The Elements song.

Real World Algebra

(by Edward Zaccaro)
This book is a winner. I gave it to my son as a present. I told him that he could go through it as quickly or as slowly as he wants; the only requirement is that he has to work through the equations in each chapter. (He isn't to just read the book and ignore the problem sets.)

Son is really enjoying it. He's worked through it for 30-45 minutes a day for the last three days. A lot of the text is presented with cartoon characters ... very appealing for kids.

(Note: I don't know if this book covers everything that would be covered in a first-year algebra course. I suspect that it does not. I just got it for my son because he's been complaining about how his arithmetic is boring and he wants to get into algebra and geometry, where things get interesting. I want him to finish working through sixth-grade math before he starts a formal study of algebra ... but I think exposing him to resources like this before he begins that formal study can build understanding.)

Lingua Latina

Roma in Italia est. Italia in Europa est. Graecia in Europa est. Italia et Graecia in Europa sunt. Hispania quoque in Europa est. Hispania et Italia et Graecia in Europa sunt.

Aegyptus in Europa non est, Aegyptus in Africa est ...

Could you read that? That's the first few sentences of our new Latin textbook. It's Lingua Latina, by Hans Orberg. My son and I are reading through the first chapters, and understanding them easily.

We have a Latin dictionary on hand, but we've had to look up very few words. The author has set it up so that we can get most of the meaning from the context.

We're just beginning to study Latin. We're not starting with Latin grammar; instead, we're both drawn to what Orberg calls his "Natural Method". We both think this book is downright fun.

I'll post an update in a few weeks when we've got further into it.

Silly Redux

Hmmm ... I answered one question the other way since I was on the fence, and got a set of new questions and a new result. Eerily, I cherish this book too. It took me months to read it. The first ten chapters were easier than the last three. I kept marveling that Augustine wrote it in the fourth century ... it seemed like it could have been written today.

You're Confessions!

by St. Augustine

You're a sinner, you're a saint, you do not feel ashamed. Well, you
might feel a little ashamed of your past, but it did such a good job of teaching you
what not to do. Now you've become a devout Christian and have spent more time
ruminating on the world to come rather than worldly pleasures. Your realizations and
ability to change will bring reverence upon you despite your hedonistic transgressions.
Florida will honor you most in the end.


Take the Book Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid.

Silly

Anne of Green Gables is one of my favorite children's books. (The whole Anne series, really.) So I guess this quiz result fits.

You're Anne of Green Gables!

by L.M. Montgomery

Bright, chipper, vivid, but with the emotional fortitude of cottage
cheese, you make quite an impression on everyone you meet. You're impulsive, rash,
honest, and probably don't have a great relationship with your parents. People hurt
your feelings constantly, but your brazen honestly doesn't exactly treat others with
kid gloves. Ultimately, though, you win the hearts and minds of everyone that matters.
You spell your name with an E and you want everyone to know about it.


Take the Book Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid.

Love Your Children

Harvard Researchers Will Back You Up.

Magic School Bus books ... (but only the originals)

These ten books are real treasures. We discovered them when my son was two, and he asked us to read them over and over and over again. Now that baby is ten years old (!) and he's reading them to my youngest, who is almost two.

These are the original Magic School Bus books, written by Joanna Cole and illustrated by Bruce Degen. They have intriguing storylines ... in each book, Ms. Frizzle's class goes on a field trip in her amazing school bus, which can fly, shrink, blast off into space, turn into a blood cell ... you get the picture. Every page is covered with colorful pictures.

But throughout each exciting story, the kids in the class are discovering scientific principles and interesting facts about the natural world. There are lots of sidebars that are packed with scientific information, presented in an interesting way and related to the adventure. My five-year-old (who's not really a science nut like her older brother) is learning a lot from these books.

We've had a couple of disappointments when we saw what looked like new Magic School Bus books at the library. We picked them up eagerly, only to find that they were not very good books at all.

It turns out that there are two newer series of books featuring the bus. One series is "based on" television show episodes. (Apparently there was a TV show made about the bus, probably because of the popularity of the original books). These books have a storyline, but they don't have all the interesting science in them. (It's as if they cut the heart right out of the book!) The second newer series we have seen is called Magic School Bus Chapter Books. A note of the back says that they are "based on" the Magic School Bus books by Joanna Cole. Once again, very little of the neat science seems to be retained. Both series get the big thumbs-down here.

Look for the Magic School Bus books written by Joanna Cole and illustrated by Bruce Degen.

Here's a list of the titles, each beginning with "The Magic School Bus":

The Magic School Bus ...
Explores the Senses
Lost in the Solar System
Inside the Human Body
Inside a Beehive
and the Electric Field Trip
On the Ocean Floor
Inside the Earth
At the Waterworks
In the Time of the Dinosaurs
Inside a Hurricane

Learning All The Time

When you watch children closely, it's easy to see that for them, learning is entertainment. They're like sponges ... they soak up everything around them.

One of our main "homeschooling strategies" is to put some thought into what we put around our kids for them to soak up.

What we try to have lying around the house ...

Toys, of course. Toys that encourage imaginative play, that can be used in many different ways by creative children. Blocks, boxes, silks, cups, building materials. Dolls and animals ... fire engines and trains and trucks.

Plenty of art supplies and craft materials.

Musical instruments.

Lots and lots of great books ... with tons of colorful illustrations, that draw you in when you catch sight of them.

What we don't have lying around the house ...

We don't have a TV. No video games either.

We do use educational videos and software .. but very sparingly. Each of our electronic media items has been carefully selected for a specific purpose, that we felt could not be met quite as well through any other avenue.

This is actually a really important part of our personal homeschooling strategy - what's not available. Why?

Over time, I've figured out that the best way to explain it is through an analogy:

We keep snacks are available for children (and adults) who get hungry in between meals. Healthy, satisfying snacks. Apples, bananas, grapes and other fruits. Raw veggies and dip. Almonds, pecans, cashews. Sunflower seeds. A child who feels very hungry might opt for beans and cheese in a corn tortilla, or bread with olive oil or hummus, or a hard-boiled egg. Our kids love all these foods.

We don't keep candy, crackers, or potato chips on the snack shelf. They just aren't here. Because they're not around, the kids never develop a craving and a habit for super-sweet or salty foods - that could prompt them to ignore the good foods that keep them healthy and make them grow.

This is an easy way to make sure that empty calories don't displace real nutrition.

It's the exact same concept.

Kids Love Learning ...

From the minute they're born. Remember how your baby learned to roll over, to walk, to talk? Remember your baby's delight, and your own? Children are just as eager to learn as they get older. Home education isn't "school at home" ... it's a joyful family learning together.

This is a blog about things my kids have loved, that they thought were fun and rewarding ... and that were also educational.

These are some of our favorite things that we have used as we keep education seamlessly integrated as a part of our family life.