Boy in the Kitchen

David woke up while I was in the midst of my morning quiet time a couple of days ago.  Rob and I had already eaten breakfast together earlier that morning (quiche and a nonfat latte for me, cinnamon roll and mocha for the hubs from 929 Coffee Bar --the best coffee shop in town!), so I thought that it would be good for David to prepare something for himself and Aidan to eat. This would allow me to finish reading my Bible. :)

David was not interested in the options of oatmeal or scrambled eggs and toast (two things he knows how to make and prepares semi-regularly).  His lack of interest in making scrambled eggs could have resulted in the fact that he nearly caught my oven mitt on fire the day before when he forgot to turn off the gas burner before dumping the eggs onto his and Aidan's plates...that's only a guess though.  ;) His disdain for oatmeal probably stems from the fact that he tells me (all. the. time.) that he likes my oatmeal much better than his own. He really wanted apple puff pancake, but hasn't learned how to thinly slice apples yet.  Plus, the cast iron skillet we use for apple puff pancakes is full of canola oil from our homeschool cooking lesson the night before--Indian Fry Bread. After much pondering on his part, I saw him grab Hasty Pudding, Johnnycakes, and Other Good Stuff: Cooking in Colonial America.

 He told me that he was planning to make johnnycakes using the recipe from this book.  Then he proceeded to get out all of the ingredients and got to work.  My instruction was to use the griddle instead of my tortilla pan since I figured the surface would be easier to work on for my budding chef. David put everything together and only needed assistance pouring the batter for the first johnnycake.

David - waiting patiently for his johnnycakes to be ready to flip.

 He was so pleased with how they turned out, and with the fact that he read the recipe and made them all by himself. I love seeing him so happy with his accomplishment.  He had an idea, set out and followed through until he completed it.  True, his johnnycakes may not look as nice as if I had made them, but they still were good to eat.  My kitchen may have looked like a bomb blew up in it.  However, by allowing him to try, I was able to see the most awesome smile light up my 11-year-old's face. This mama is realizing that she needs to let go more often in the kitchen.  She needs to relax, let go of control and let them go and learn and grow.  Yes, the kitchen will be a disaster zone.  Yes, there will be many questions asked, and not every attempt will end up as a glowing success. But in the end, as the mama, I need to let them try.

Aidan kept Quincy occupied so David could cook in peace.

Now, to begin teaching and implementing kitchen clean-up skills! ;)

Family Vacation (Field Trip) to Virginia's Historic Triangle - photo heavy post

(Catch - up post and follow-up to our American History studies part 1 post)

December 2012 - our family made the trek to Williamsburg, Virginia to spend a week vacationing and touring the historic triangle of Jamestown, Colonial Williamsburg and Yorktown.  Our final day was spent touring George Washington's Mount Vernon. This was a perfect way to end our studies on the American Revolution.  Seeing things through new eyes, and then also witnessing the light of understanding turn on for the boys was incredible.  :) I feel so fortunate to have the privilege to homeschool my children, and then to be able to take trips such as this one where we could help make learning come to life.  

Watching the cooper in Colonial Williamsburg

David and Aidan enjoyed getting to drill as new recruits in the Virginia militia.

The boys' senior officer - teaching the steps for preparing an 18th century firearm

David and Aidan were allowed to help out in the kitchen at the Powell House in Colonial Williamsburg.

More helping out in the kitchen at the Powell House

Having a race with the wooden hoop in the courtyard area at the Powell House in Colonial Williamsburg

David wanted me to take a picture of the powder kegs in the magazine at Colonial Williamsburg

The boys had to spend some time in the stocks for poor behavior ;) (just teasing!)

Aidan was learning how to play battledore and shuttlecock 

The back of the Governor's Palace at Colonial Williamsburg - I was very excited to get to tour the palace on this trip!

Our family out in front of the Governor's Palace

This was one happy 10-year-old at the Yorktown National Battlefield - he wanted his photograph taken with almost every piece of field artillery we came across!

Fog hanging lightly over the field at Yorktown 

That musket was HEAVY! I think that my purse accessorizes it nicely though. :)

All 3 of my guys were part of the gun crew at the Yorktown Victory Center - each one learned their role and did a practice run or two before they actually fired the piece.

Another one of the gun crew--very fun!

The glassblowers between the old Jamestowne Settlement and the new Jamestown Settlement and visitors center. The boys loved watching the artisans at work. David said that he would consider apprenticing as a glassblower, a blacksmith or as a gunsmith. I think it has something to do with the fact that they all work with fire.

Boys wearing 17th century style armor at the Jamestown Settlement

David and Aidan - holding Pocahontas' hands at Jamestown

The boys with one of our interpreters at the Jamestown Settlement

David and Aidan on the replica of the Susan Constant

The Susan Constant (from the dock) 

Mount Vernon

The Christmas camel at Mount Vernon

Aidan led us in the Pledge of Allegiance, and David read George Washington's prayer for our country during the wreathlaying ceremony at George Washington's tomb

The boys after they did the wreath laying ceremony at George Washington's tomb (the wreath is one they made with some of their friends in their Cub Scout pack here in MS - it traveled all the way to VA with no mishaps!)

The magnolia, holly and evergreen shrub wreath positioned between Martha and George Washington's sarcophagi 

 Overall, this was a very fun, albeit exhausting trip. My head hurt at times from all of the information I was learning.  :) Colonial Williamsburg and the Yorktown Battlefield were probably my 2 favorite stops on this particular trip, although I did truly enjoy it all. I think I can honestly say that the others enjoyed this trip as well.

Studying American History (part 1)

American Revolution Lapbook Cover

This month marks our 2-year anniversary of delving into American history for our homeschool.  Yes, you read that correctly--2 YEARS! What we started out with in Sonlight Core 3 (now called Core D) stretched into unit studies on Native Americans, Aztecs/Incas/Mayas, and early colonial history, namely Jamestown and Plymouth.  I should have some grace on myself for having taken a year to get to Jamestown and Plymouth--we did move from deep south Texas to north central Mississippi during this time which brought so many adjustments (first preparing our home to go on the market and be sold, packing and moving, adjustments to living in a new town, trying to establish a new routine, adjustments to living in a new house with all of the unpacking and settling that needed to transpire...you get the gist!). The boys and I really seemed to start hitting a rhythm last fall when we were in the thick of the American Revolution, but I digress. :)

Aidan holding his 3-D model of the Jamestown Settlement

David holding his 3-D model of the Jamestown Settlement

While we were studying the Jamestown settlement and Pocahontas last spring, I stumbled across the Time Travelers History Study Series by Homeschool in the Woods Publishing. Oh my, I was in heaven!  Seriously, it was love at first sight. [sigh] :) Here was something that corresponded to our Sonlight studies that included projects.  The materials were so thoughtfully put together and beautifully done that I took the plunge and purchased the American Revolution CD.  The boys and I all love Sonlight; however, I find that I'm constantly scouring the Internet for project ideas to enrich our studies, so my discovery of Homeschool in the Woods was truly a blessing!

We took the first part of our studies fairly slowly, reading various stories about Jamestown, Plymouth and then the French and Indian War. We also spent a lot of time in Boston reading about the initial conflicts that occurred there, and read quite a few biographies and other stories about Paul Revere, Samuel Adams, The Boston Tea Party, John Hancock, etc. During this time, Homeschool Freebie of the Day offered two vintage radio programs about Paul Revere as a MP3 download.  The boys and I all enjoyed listening to those programs while discussing the events that were transpiring in the stories. 

The boys and I were still in Boston on October 19.  Yes, that would be just over 6 months after we "arrived" there in our studies.  You can now see that we do take things a little slow.  By this time, Rob and I knew that we wanted to take a family trip to Williamsburg, Virginia during Christmas break, so the push was on to get through the rest of the American Revolution unit before December 12. I created lesson plans (I will write a post about this process soon, especially since I will be going through the process again for post Civil War-WWII within the next month or two) to hold myself accountable, and so the boys could see what to expect each day.  The lesson plans also included books I needed to check out from the library, which was really helpful to keep myself organized! I think I can honestly speak for all three of us when I say that we really enjoyed studying this era in American history.  I know that I learned more about the history of my country going through this unit than I did in all my years of formal schooling (this includes college American history!). That being said, I am still thankful for my teachers and professors who invested their time, insight and passion when teaching me. Some of the information they shared in their classes ended up getting shared with David and Aidan. 

Below are a few photos of projects and one of the games we did while working through this unit, courtesy of Homeschool in the Woods. You might be thinking, "Did they ever finish studying the American Revolution?" Yes, we did...in January 2013 when we wrapped things up with the writing of the Constitution and our Bill of Rights. We are now in the midst of the early 19th century. More to come on that later! 

The boys playing "Taxation Frustration"

Close-up view of the "Taxation Frustration" game - Aidan had the BEST quotes when we played this game! Let's just say that he was not overly fond of Parliament by the time this game was finished. ;)

Aidan posing with his haversack he helped make.

David - hand sewing the buttonhole on his canvas haversack he made when we studied the soldiers of the American Revolution.

Winter at Valley Forge dioramas

Inside view of the lapbook (sorry about not rotating the photo) 

Another inside view of the lapbook.

American flag "floorcloth" placemats--this might be my favorite project, even if David almost stitched over my fingers when sewing the hem on his!

Rock Cycle.

The boys holding their foil "rock" packets over the candle flame to convert the metamorphic rock into an igneous rock.

Little man is standing on the top board to change his sedimentary rock into a metamorphic rock (him standing on the board signified the pressure that metamorphic rocks undergo). The "big" little man is lighting one of the candles for the next stage.

The packet of crayon shavings, er "sediment," was placed between 2 boards, then the boys pounded the top board with a hammer to cement the layers together to make their sedimentary rock.

D - pounding away to create his sedimentary rock.

I have to admit that projects like this make me love homeschooling even more! It is SO much fun doing an activity with my boys and then seeing the light come on for each of them as they are bettering their understanding of a given subject. In this instance, we were studying rocks and minerals. What better way to learn about the rock cycle than actually participating in an activity that illustrates a concept that seems abstract on paper.

To prepare, I shaved crayons with my dad's old Boy Scout knife--we used 4 or 5 different colors (honestly, I probably only used 4...by the time I got to the last color of crayon, I was ready to be done). The boys both gave me a few crazy looks, then looked at each other to communicate in a way that only two brothers who are best friends can only understand--"Mama is at it again...here she goes with another crazy project!" ;-) This project was surrounded by much intrigue. After all, how often do my boys see their mama break out a pocketknife to shave crayons? I would have had them do the dirty work if we would have had a regular crayon sharpener.

After I finally finished shaving crayons, we drew a 4 cm x 4 cm square onto a piece of aluminum foil, they layered crayon shavings, one color at a time, onto their square, we folded the foil into a little packet, then were off to the garage in search of a hammer and 2 boards. The hammer and boards were found in short order, then the boys took turns hammering their crayon "sediment" packets that were placed between the two boards. One of the crayon sedimentary "rocks" broke, so we could actually see the different colored layers--it was really neat to see! After they inspected their rocks, they put the packet back between the two boards and stood on it to add pressure to the "rock." We discussed what we read in The Magic School Bus: Inside The Earth about metamorphic rocks being created by heat and pressure being applied to an existing rock. Once they inspected their pressurized rocks, they were impressed by how much more compact it was.

The final step was to hold the foil packets over a candle flame to melt the "rock" and then to let it cool to form an igneous rock. We clipped clothespins to the corner of our packet so our hands were further away from the flame. There was a time where the packets also rested on the lip of the candle. Be careful with this step--if you don't have a tight seal on your foil packet, or if holes or tears have been made to the packet during the sedimentary or metamorphic rock phases, hot wax will flow out, I repeat, hot wax will flow out if you are not careful.

I hope that you enjoyed a little glimpse into one of our many fun school projects! :)

School Views...

We just finished up a geology unit and did so many fun things with it over the last 2 weeks! We grew a crystal garden, played a game to go through the rock cycle, modeled the rock cycle with crayon shavings (will do another post about that), made a lapbook (some of the pockets and mini books were printed from this site--I found them under the Rocks In His Head lesson plans and materials). I also purchased a rock and minerals kit from Home Science Tools--the boys really enjoyed getting to do the different tests when learning how to identify the different types of rocks and minerals. We read Magic School Bus Inside the Earth and Magic School Bus: Rocky Road Trip. There are 2 more things we have to do to finish this unit: finish our volcanoes and look at coal.

A and I also made a lapbook for review on our studies about Ancient Egypt, and we are now doing spring-themed copywork for penmanship and writing practice.

Here is a look at the "board" at the end of lessons today. D's spelling words are on there (A decided to write a few of them himself). A lot happens here--I don't know how I managed without it before now! :) I'm also going to start placing a few Spanish/English flashcards up here for the boys to grab to help them with learning Spanish. For the next week or so, we will be looking at colors.

Science experiments - electricity with batteries. The boys had a blast making their circuit maze and the headlamp. We still need to make our buzzer game, make our electromagnet in addition to a couple of other lab activities. Some things require more planning and time to execute, but we all have been learning a lot (and Rob thinks I'm now ready to start changing out outlets since I am becoming quite adept at stripping wires, connecting them, etc. I may leave those sorts of fun tasks to him though).

Math. We are just finishing up the first unit in each of these books. A flew through Singapore levels 1A and 1B and is just starting out in level 2A. It is definitely more challenging for him, but he enjoys it. D is now in Singapore 3B. I have really enjoyed using Singapore and Miquon math. My only qualm with the curriculum, Singapore especially, is that there is not enough drill and practice for certain sections. We have been able to by-pass that through various math websites online where you can print worksheets for free. Math-drills.com has been my favorite go-to site for the past 3 years when we need to do a little extra drill and practice. I think the boys like it best when they get to do speed drills with Daddy, or when we get to play other games.