When in Rome…
Well, where in Rome, I guess:-)
Paddington sent me a link to this announcement about the Ancient Rome 3D layer in Google Earth… Lots of possibilities for the future:-)
The Genial Hearth
I’ve just put the kettle on, join me for a cuppa and a chat.Archive for History
Planning for 2008
General stuff:-)
As I was happy with the structure of our year in 2007, we’ll stick with the same thing in 2008. I have made a decision about the term names. This year we’ll have Boronia, Dorothea and Edith terms. They’re two great-grandmothers and one great-great-grandmother, covering three of the four branches of our family tree. We’ll start the week beginning January 13th. I have plans for a Cornucopia (as I believe they do in Germany at the start of the school year) containing coloured pencils, some new glue and scissors, more sticky tape, counters, and any other bits of stationery type things I think of to include.
Language (Including Memorisation and Copywork)
I have definite plans in this area, but I’m hoping to be able to keep a grip on myself! I’m planning to begin using Writing Road to Reading
Otherwise, we’ll continue with Latin Nursery Rhymes (I have enough for two per Block!) and I’m going to add in some everyday Latin phrases (look, careful, listen, sit up etc.). We’ll start doing the same for French, so a nursery rhyme per fortnight, and everyday French phrases (I still need to sort out which comptines we’ll use).
For Memorisation, we’ll be using When We Were Very Young
We’ll begin Copywork properly this year. I’ll re-introduce the sandpaper letters when we do that phonogram, and I’ll also provide a Sand Tray for practice (still need to finish that). I also need to complete our ‘Metal’ Insets, which he can practice with. For these, he’ll use the ‘Lyra’ coloured pencils which are thick, triangular ones. Hopefully this will assist Puggle’s proper writing grip.
Maths
I’m basically intending a fairly Montessori style approach. I have a number of started Sensorial materials, (Pink Tower, Broad Stair, Square of Pythagoras), some completed (Red Rods, Geometric Solids—a Christmas gift, but still, ready to use), and plans to make some others Geometric Cabinet, Constructive Triangles, Binomial Cube, Trinomial Cube and Geometric Cards. I am similarly in progress with Maths materials, some complete (Number Rods, Sandpaper Numbers, Number Tablets and Number Cards), some almost complete (Spindle Box), and plans to make some of the rest.
My plan is to prepare the materials, present them as he seems ready, but just leave him to work with them as he sees fit. Obviously well also be talking about numbers as a normal part of our day (cooking, measuring and various number related books we read).
I also figured that my resolution to play more games can’t but help with maths:-)
English Studies
We’ll be reading all year from The Aesop for Children
We’ll also be reading a selection of stories over the year from The Lilac Fairy Book
Health and Phys. Ed
We’re continuing with our weekly swimming lessons. I thought I might try introducing some yoga (through cards that he can do himself, once I’ve shown them to him). We’re working on making the ‘back’yard more contained, and we’re digging a hole for the trampoline. When he’s out there he rarely stops moving:-) I would also like to work (again!) on establishing regular Nature Walks.
(At his age I’m not seriously planning things here… But in the future I’ll need to consider this Learning Area, so I’m noting it now.)
History and Geography
We’re basically going to stick with geography for now. Puggle is really aware of maps, so we’ll make use of the Picture Atlas we have, and he got a pretty good world map puzzle for Christmas. I have plans to make a few more, plus some land and water forms (more of those Montessori materials!) We also plan to acquire a globe.
Science
I intend (once again!) to work on including a weekly Nature walk. I’m not going to worry too much about it until the weather gets more pleasant (so, not until at least March), as I figure it’s one thing to maintain a habit when the weather drops off… but it’s much harder to establish it. We will do some more gardening. We’ll also begin observing the weather.
Aside from these, I’ve been working on various ‘Parts of Animal’ cards, and I’ll finish those, and I have plans for some of the Botany Cabinet stuff.
Art and Music
After my library find earlier this year, I was really excited to discover a copy of The Usborne Complete Book of Art Ideas
We’ll continue following the Ambleside Online Artist study schedule, so that means this year will be Leonardo da Vinci, Rembrandt van Rijn and Jan van Eyck.
When I was at my last school, I was good friends with the music teacher. She was a real Kodály afficienado. She lent me The Kodály Method I: Comprehensive Music Education
We’re also following the Ambleside Composer study schedule, so Boronia Term we’ll listen to Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Aelexander Borodin and Modest Mussorgsky. Dorothea Term will be George Frederic Handel, and Edith Term we’ll listen to works by Camille Saint-Saens and Hector Berlioz.
Technology and Enterprise
(This is probably my least consisdered area… bizarre given that it’s what I taught! I guess there are a couple of reasons for that. I just don’t think as an eary it’s as important as some of the others, but equally, I’m fairly confident of my ability to wing it for a while… no need to plan at all at this stage. I do have an idea of developing a woodwork curriculum for junior primary homeschooled kids… when we reach that stage, so a little way ahead of me for now:-) )
He got a toolbox for Christmas… so we’ll start some woodwork:-) And of course, more cooking:-)
(I could never be an unschooler! But maybe I should re-read my The Latin-Centered Curriculum
In the next week before we start, I have quite a bit of sorting still to do:-( Arranging equipment/books so that they’re accessible and making sure that we have all the bits (music, still need Borodin’s Polovtsian Dances, and the French comptines are proving challenging:-( ) we need. I also have a long list of materials I plan to make (or finish) in the first half of this year… I’m going to be quite busy:-)
Cannon Fire
So, our current poem refers to firing “the penny cannon in the bow”, and Puggle asked me what a cannon was (he has seen one before, at the museum). After talking for a bit, I quickly searched the web for some nice visuals:-)
Our favourite was here. It’s not too long, and the camera is well positioned so that you can see what they’re doing:-)
This was reasonable as an example of a cannon in the middle of a battle.
Here is an example of a cannon being used in a fortress (a little long).
This one includes some explanation of how a battery might work.
This lets you hear some of the commands a little more clearly.
What’s your favourite cannon firing footage?
One joy of the CM approach is that (as far as my reading goes, at any rate) you don’t need to work to make links for the children, it’ll just happen. And here’s a great example of that. Our current folksong is “Soldier, Soldier” which is a Civil War song… many of the cannon links are civil war re-enactors. We got briefly distracted by some fife and drum corps. He’s now singing a bit of “Two Little Boys” (also a Civil War song)—the bit where “cannons roared loud”. At the time he didn’t notice:-)
(And now Puggle: “I don’t suppose we can take your computer to Grandma and Grandad’s so we can show them cannons?”)
Granny and Grandad
I knew my dad’s parents. In fact, we lived next door to them for a few of years. I really don’t remember them from before we moved back to Perth, but we apparently stayed there when we visited the city. They came to Bodallin to look after me when mum went to Southern Cross to have my sister. When we were visiting not long before moving back, the house next door was for sale. They looked around and made an offer. We lived there for three or four years I think. Family parties were in their back yard. I remember the parish’s statue of Mary coming to their house for the week, so rosaries each evening in front of it.
I think I have a similar build to Granny, although, I always remember her as being somewhat birdlike. I didn’t like her:-( She was sharp. She would only ever give me cordial in the little glasses. I remember having the mumps, and mum had to go somewhere so Granny came by to babysit me and my sister. We stood in the loungeroom peering out the window after mum and cried.
I can see the resemblence between my dad and Granny. I believe that by the time I was aware of her, she was already developing dementia. I can see dad reacting to Puggle in ways that ring a bell for me, and I want to intervene so that Puggle can see the side of dad that I know, instead of the always grumpy man. I wish that I had known Granny in her better days.
She was the first white child born on the Boulder block. She was named Boronia after the flower, some relatives in Albany had sent a sprig to welcome her (we still have this flower, pressed between the pages of a book of Irish poetry). The nuns were very distressed at this heathenish name, so her middle name was Clare after her father’s home county. Her parents buried her sister in Southern Cross. They lived in Leonora and ran the hotel. They moved to Perth so she could get more than just a primary school education. She wrote, she was a tailor (I’m not completely sure about that), and was really active in her trade Union.
Most of my dad’s stories were about Granny and her branch of the family. They were the local mob.
Grandad was one of my favourite people ever. I remeber being very distressed when he died, and I didn’t get to see him buried. I’ve heard stories about him from the older cousins. He was the one who would persuade parents to let kids go on adventures:-)
And yet, for all that, I know almost nothing about him. He was from Cornwall (never England!) He looked a lot like one of my uncles looks now. He was the only member of his family to leave Cornwall, and he was undecided as to where to go… couldn’t make up his mind between Canada and Australia—until it was pointed out that he’d still need his winter coats in Canada… Australia it was.
He and Granny were married for more than 50 years. We currently have their ice chest ready to use as a drinks cabinet. The clock they were given as a wedding present is in my parents lounge. The delivered a car to Granny’s relative (cousin?) Sam (who gave them the clock) in Kirup or there abouts, as their honeymoon.
Feeling creative?
Perhaps you’d like to try making your very own Bayeaux Tapestry?
You can, right here!
(I haven’t actually tried it… I came across one that had been done using it, and thought it looked cool:-) )
Let’s start somewhere…
Today I’m going to begin going through my homeschooling links.
These ones are not homeschooling specific… rather they’re sites I discovered that I thought could be useful in a few areas - including schooling (assuming they are still functioning when we get to the point of wanting to use them).
The first two are quote collections, Quote Cache and Brainy Quote. I’m a sucker for a good quote and it’s nice to be able to search for them on topic. I know I have books of them, but because these are on the computer I don’t have to get up to go looking.
Amanda’s Mnemonics site is perhaps not as large as I’d remembered, but it is cool to have a collection of them in one place.
The Internet Book List is the beginnings of a searchable catalogue of books. Still early days yet and less interesting than I remembered, but basically I’m including all links in my Education/Homeschooling bookmark folder.
I left the best for last. I love the NOVA documentaries that I’ve seen (the only one I’ve seen all the way through is the Roman Bath one… go to history, then Secrets of Lost Empires, Roman Bath). Some have been on SBS (I think), although I usually only realise by accident. This is their website. They have all sorts of info about the actual documentaries as well as activities and articles related to it. Very cool indeed:-)
That’s enough for now.
Later I’ll focus more specifically on homeschooling, although, I lack a lot of links I thought I had. I suspect I did the searching so long ago that they are bookmarked in another piece of software on another machine. I may have to re-investigate in fact. But perhaps it’s ok to start in the middle and work back:-)
by A. A. Milne
by Andrew Lang
