Scales

Buy a scientific scale like one on this page. Put it out where your kids can play with it. Watch them entertain themselves by weighing everything they can think of. Watch them weigh an apple, take a bite, weigh it again, take another bite. Watch them determine how much one item weighs more or less than another item. Listen to them chat to each other fluently referring to milligrams and centigrams.

Mummifying Apples

When your kids are going through an Egyptian phase, do this experiment. We 've actually done it twice now over the years. It is much easier than the other popular experiment of mummifying a chicken (which may make your children wretch when you realize you forgot to administer mummifying procedures for a couple of weeks and have to clean out your smelly cupboard. Ask me how I know.)





You might also enjoy reading aloud this book. Or this. Or this.


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We loved listening to this.

Watching The Prince of Egypt fits in nicely with this as well. We also enjoyed Joseph and his Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat. Actually you should watch them in reverse order if you want to do things chronologically.

It doesn't hurt to read this book too, at some point.

A visit to a museum that has stuff from Ancient Egypt is a must at some point in a kid's childhood. We took a trip to Richmond one year to such an exhibit. We also visited New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art and saw their fantastic exhibit there. The coolest thing about it though was that outside the museum in Central Park is a play area that is completely Egypt themed. My kids had fun climbing through pyramids and sphinxes. They still reminisce about that years later.

I like naturally unfolding unit studies. A child is interested in something and over the course of months or even years, you as the parent keep an eye out for various resources that tie into that interest.

Photo Credit: gmu-worldhistorysources

Insect Lore and studying bugs

I really like Insect Lore. Over the years, we've done the butterfly garden kit three times, the silkworms once and the frog kit once.

I'm really tempted to do the carnivorous plant kit soon.

We also did frogs once by catching tadpoles in a pond and then watching them change from tadpoles to frogs in an old aquarium we had. They turned into such tiny, cute little frogs. Only problem was I forgot that frogs have to eat. After a couple of days they all died, which was highly traumatic to my kids who had gotten very attached to them!

Once we studied worms. We made our own wormery using instructions like this.

Some other bug related resources we've enjoyed over the years:

Children of Summer This is one of my favorite read alouds EVER in all my years of homeschooling. You'll love it.

Journey to the Ants I have one son who went through quite a phase of ant fascination who loved this book.

We enjoyed this just-for-fun book.

And for identifying the many insects and bugs you and your children discover around your house and yard: The National Audubon Society's Field Guide to North American Insects and Spiders. Invaluable!

Peanuts History

This is one of my favorite American History resources.

Enjoy watching with your kids! Learn a lot!

This is America, Charlie Brown!

Robin Hood

Have a child come to you saying she is bored. Be preoccupied with something else. Hastily shove a book at her that you'd been meaning to read aloud but have never gotten around to. The book is Robin Hood by Ann McGovern. Doubt that she will actually read it because usually any book suggestions from you are the kiss of death to this particular daughter. Bustle off to do something with younger children or housekeeping or whatever it is that is distracting you. Some time later, realize you haven't seen older daughter for a while. Look around the house for her but don't find her. Wander out to the yard to see if she's there. Fight down panicky feeling when you can't find her. Call and call her. Wander down to the patch of woods behind your house. Find daughter perched on a tree fallen over the creek there, completely engrossed in reading Robin Hood.

Turns out sitting in your own little patch of Sherwood Forest is the best place ever to read Robin Hood.

Little House Fractions

Read The Little House series out loud to your daughter (over the course of her 7th year). When she is eight she will come to you and say: Mommy, remember when Mary and Laura had to share their cookie with Carrie? And they each broke their cookie in half and gave her both halves. And they knew they were giving her more than they got but they didn't know how to divide it up fairly? Well I figured it out. Break the two cookies in half and everybody gets 1/2. Then take the remaining 1/2 of a cookie and break it into 3 equal parts. That way everyone gets 1/2 plus a little more.

History the Easy Way

Give 10 year old Age of Mythology for his birthday. Watch him get obsessively into it. Worry that this is too much time in front of a screen and that you are ruining him. Notice, however, how enraptured he is as husband reads out loud The Children's Homer by Padriac Colum each night. Notice how son has become conversant in classical mythology. Son asks for a book on world mythology. Get him another book by Colum. See son reading and enjoying the book. Think: Wow, this son didn't start reading until a year ago and now look at him!

A year later give son Age of Empires. Watch him get obsessively into it. Find yourself strangely free of worry about it. Notice how into history your son has suddenly gotten. Notice him reading books like the Usborne Illustrated World History for fun. On impulse buy Susan Wise Bauer's Story of the World's first three volumes. Watch son curl up on couch for days on end reading these books.

Check history off your mental list for this particular child.

Ipod Wisdom

Stand over the sink cleaning dishes once again. Feel put upon by everyone in your family. Notice 16 year old son is pacing back and forth in the living room, listening to his new ipod. Call to him to come help you but get no reply because he can't hear you with his ipod hooked into his ears. Feel irritated at his father who got him the ipod. It is hard enough to get the kids' attentions and then to have a ipod to contend with is just too much. Wonder what son might be listening to on his ipod. Think about the current state of modern rock music which you at times witness when changing radio stations in the car. Think about how sexualized, nihilistic, shallow and in bad taste 90% of the songs are. Sarcastically and silently thank your husband for allowing such crap to be funneled directly into son's ears. Feel thoroughly fed up. Turn off the water and dry your hands on your apron. March into the living room and startle son by confronting him with the question: what are you listening to? Son takes off ipod and hands you an ear bud. You hear a man talking. The words sound vaguely familiar.

What is it, you ask.

The Book of Wisdom, he answers. I've decided to do a study of the Wisdom books in the Bible.

Oh, you say.

When he asks you if you want help with the dishes, magnanimously wave him off, thanking him for the offer.

Go back to doing dishes. Feel light at heart.

Noah's Ark Math

Read the story of Noah's Ark to your kids. Have one inquisitive kid ask, "so how big is a cubit, anyway?" Use your dictionary skills to look up definition. Kids suddenly want to measure the distance between their forearms and tip of middle finger. Locate retractable tape measurer (this might take a while if your house is anything like ours). Kids measure the distance used to determine cubits. Argue over whether it is really 21 inches or 18 inches. Start measuring everything you can. When one sibling says let's go out and figure out how big the ark was, gently recede into the background (but first warn them to be careful not to cut themselves on the sides of the metal tape). Watch them tumble out of the house enthusiastically planning and organizing how they are going to do this measuring. Think about how beautiful the crisp fall morning is. Go change the baby's diaper. Check outside and see that the kids are still at work on their project. Make yourself a cup of tea. Sit by the window and nurse the baby. Notice that the kids have gotten sidewalk chalk out and are using this to help measure out the distances. Listen to one child as he excitedly runs into tell you that they figured out that the ark was about the length of our very long driveway. Puzzle about how Noah could have fit all those animals on there. Watch the children continue to measure bushes, trees, the length of the house, their body lengths after having another child mark it off with chalk. Look down and coo at the baby. Think about how blessed it is to be home raising your children.

Getting Started with Latin

Getting Started with Latin by William E. Linney

I think the study of Latin is an eminently practical thing to do. It expands the mind so much. A person who is even passingly familiar with Latin is that much more literate in English. It connects one to history in an intimate way, it teaches one all kinds of word roots that expand one's English vocabulary exponentially. It is great for those who are interested in science or learning other romance languages or languages that are inflected like German or Russian. It teaches the role of words and the structure of sentences (otherwise known as grammar) that reveals in a wonderful way the logical methodology we humans naturally developed to communicate efficiently. Because of its logic and structure it teaches analytical thinking. One can feel one's neurons connecting differently as one studies! And for me, as a Catholic, it is the language of my Church and that makes it that much more precious to me. It is the language of Gregorian chant and prayer and sacred song.

I only just got this book, so maybe I shouldn't be gushing over it just yet, but I love it! It is the best, simplest, most user friendly intro to the Latin language I have come across in my 14 plus years of homeschooling.

It is beautiful in its direct, clearly explained, incremental, engaging approach. One book does it all. No need for anything else, though the author does provide some aids on his website.

This is definitely a strewing kind of book. You can pick it up and entertain yourself for a few minutes by reading the very simple explanations and exercises. The exercises are very well done, never overwhelming and perfectly reinforce the little lesson just taught. Next day you can pick it up and read a little more. It is perfect for reading together with someone and then doing the little exercises together.

This is just a simple intro, just a dip your toe in the water of Latin, but even if this is as far you go in learning Latin it will still be valuable to your every day life. Or it might be the perfect stepping stone into a more intensive study of the language. Either way, it is a gem!

Greek

While sitting at a stoplight, notice a bumper sticker for a fraternity on the back of the car in front of you. This makes child curious about what the funny symbols are. Explain that they are Greek letters. A couple of months later happen to be looking at some religious art. Notice the symbols for alpha and omega and explain what they are and what they mean in the painting. A couple weeks later vaguely remember somebody talking about some kind of video of some guy teaching the Greek alphabet in 10 minutes to kids. Google it. Come up with this video of Mr. Steve Demme teaching the Greek alphabet. Have your children gather around the PC while you all watch the clip. Play it again at a child's request. Play another time just to make sure you've all got it right.

Some days later overhear children trying to remember the Greek alphabet together.

Put out some money to buy this. This is kind of a home published, no frills but oddly fun workbook. It goes very slowly and simply so that even an interested 5 year old can do it. You could try Level 1 or Level 2. There is something highly satisfying about decoding the letters and words.








However, a cooler resource is this one. It's splashier and fun with a clever detective theme running through it where the child decodes clues to solve a mystery.

Both do the trick of learning to write Greek letters and providing a very beginning introduction to the Greek language.

Photo credit: HomeschoolChristian

Photo credit: Timberdoodle

Bat Alphabet Game

This is for little ones. I saw my neighbor do this with her children. I blatantly stole it from her.

At twilight on a soft summer evening, take a blanket out to your lawn and spread it out. You might want to bring bug spray, a flashlight, some books to read, or not, if you don't feel like it.

Lay on the blanket with your children looking up at the sky. Watch for the first bat to start hunting bugs. When you see one, count 1 out loud and name the bat a name that starts with A. Count the next bat no. 2 and think of a name that starts with B. If you want and you remembered ('cause I forgot to mention this earlier) you could write down the names as you go. Sometimes the bats will start flying around faster than you can count. Just do your best. Sometimes you recount the same bats. If your child doesn't notice, it doesn't matter. If he does, then he gets to determine whether or not you can rename the bat.

Talk about how mosquitoes are good for feeding lots of animals, like birds, bats, fish, etc even though they are bothersome and carry diseases. Think about how bats are interesting but also can be spooky and carry rabies.

Wait until the first star comes out and make a wish. Catch fireflies. Sings songs. Read books out loud by flashlight. Finally go inside to go to bed.

Photo credit: TheSchoolBell

Money Matters

Give your 11 year old ten dollars for weeding the garden. Unbeknownst to you he is thinking about purchasing a new game for his DSI. Have him come back a day later and talk about how much the price of games can vary and how by looking around at different places, he got the game he wanted for only $8.00. Let him tell you in detail his whole process of looking for the best deal. Tell him he did a good job!

Congratulate yourself on having such a money savvy son.

Cinnamon Toast Fractions

Make your child cinnamon toast on a regular basis. Ask the child if she wants her toast cut into halves or quarters. At some point get silly and cut child's toast into thirds or sixths. When child is having a 'tea' for her dolls, experiment, while child supervises, with cutting toast into various different fractions. Make sure you have a loaf of bread and enough cinnamon and sugar. This may take a while!

Learn that it is harder to cut toast into odd numbered fractions than it is to cut into even numbered ones. Use a sharp knife or else cinnamon toast will get really mashed up and crumbled, the smaller the fractions you try to make. Learn that trying to cut cinnamon toast into 1/16 pieces is a little extreme.

Child from this scenario now regularly asks for cinnamon toast cuts into 1/8 pieces. She gets upset if you only cut it up into 1/6th.

Brother of said child still likes his cinnamon toast in halves. Though it is best if it is cut into two triangles. This means you can take a bite in the center of the hypotenuse and get lines of buttery cinnamon sugar on both sides of your mouth. Girl child likes the dainty little 1/8 size pieces because it avoids this messy phenomenon. Also, 1/8 size pieces fit perfectly on toy dishes, if you happen to be sharing a snack with your teddy bear. This may be the difference between boys and girls.

[Photo credit: WikiHow]

Jar O' Pennies

You know how pennies accumulate in jars or bowls. At least around our house they do. Take said jar of pennies. Place them somewhere your children can reach them. For us this is the kitchen counter. Make sure your child is old enough to know not to put pennies in their mouth. At some point the child wants to explore the pennies. This either happens on their own or you begin playing with them and they want to join in. I forget how it happened with us. This was all serendipitous to begin with.

Anyway, play with the pennies. Make long snakes out of the them on the table. Count how many pennies are in the snake. Stack up pennies and see who can make a taller stack. Make shapes from the pennies: triangles, squares, rectangles, circles, animals, people, whatever!

Leave the jar available for as long you want. After a few days, weeks, months, the child might stop playing with the pennies. Thanksgiving or some other holiday comes along forcing a deep cleaning of the house. Counter gets clear of all day to day debris. The jar of pennies gets put away in a closet. A year later, it is the closet's turn to be purged. Jar of pennies makes another appearance. Child squeals with happiness when she sees the jar. She demands to be able to play with pennies. This time she's a year older, so while you and she are playing you show her how to count by twos. It makes the counting go faster. You tell her that maybe we can count up some pennies and use the money for something: a lollipop, a packet of seeds, some money to put in the poor box at church. This has the effect of motivating her to count higher. You can start learning to count by fives too, this way.

Play casually like this, in and out of the days, sometimes ignoring the pennies for a few days, sometimes playing a lot. Again at some point the jar of pennies begins to gather dust from neglect. It gets put away again. The seasons come and go. The closet gets rearranged to make room for something. The jar returns again to the counter.

This time the child is even older. Her dad tells her that if she can identify all the coins and all the dollar bills going up to $20.00 she can begin to receive allowance. Child thinks this is the coolest thing ever! This means she'll be able to buy her own lollipops, seed packets or give her own money to help the poor. So set alongside the penny jar (the pennies are still fun to make shapes with, count by twos and fives) is a small bowl of change gathered from Dad's dresser top. Now we discover that 5 pennies equals 1 nickel and ten pennies or 2 nickels equals 1 dime.

For our kids it was a developmental thing to understand all this coinage and how it worked. Some kids got it faster than others. Periodically dad quizzes child. Dad possesses magical ability to make everything fun. So these quizzes are gentle and humorous. One day child gets it all right. She remembers a nickel means 5 cents, she remembers that a quarter is 25 cents and that 4 of them equals a dollar. Calloo Callay! Oh frabjous day! Beaming child receives an allowance.

Even later, that big jar of pennies is great for illustrating the concept of multiplication. Take twenty pennies, break them into 4 groups of 5, count them up by ones and then by the 4 groups, change to 5 groups of 4. Put them into two rows of ten. Do this lots of times. It is especially appropriate to do this when you've broken out the Multiplication Rock and you've been listening to it as you drive around on errands. When your child is happily singing, Three, It's the Magic Number, you can play with the pennies to illustrate.

Pennies: the ultimate math manipulative.

Photo credit: Ephemerist

Photo credit: Coinguy

How Not to Write by William Safire

This little book, to me, has all the characteristics of a good book to strew. It is slim and pithy. You pick it up casually, begin to skim, and are immediately engaged by Safire's clever humor. It has important information which it conveys beautifully. It would make a great bathroom book if I were the type of person who put books in my bathrooms. I dropped it on my family room coffee table. A couple days later teen-age son was seen browsing through it, emitting an occasional chortle. Chortles became outright laughter. Then we moved to another characteristic of a good strewing book, he felt compelled to read parts of the book out loud to whomever might walk through the room. It is so engaging it makes you want to share it with another!

The book is easy to pick up and put down. Over the course of the next few days, teen-age son read the book in minutes here and there. And now he knows How Not to Write.