The Fascinating World of .... Toilets!!!!

What an eventful week! Halfway through our Middle Ages, we took a detour when we discovered how toilets were invented. Now, before you think I'm completely mad, what happened was this... We were reading about castles and moats and how back then, before proper flushing toilets came about, people would actually empty their wastes out into the moat surrounding the castle. This, of course, was a most innovative way of firstly getting rid of their unmentionable wastes, and secondly, it made the moat nice and smelly so that enemies would think twice before wading through a filthy moat to invade the castle.

Naturally my sons found this snippet of information highly entertaining and wanted to delve further into the invention of toilets. Thus began our first detour of many :) From the invention of toilets, we moved on to how flushes work and how toilets can be improved. Then we moved on to the digestive systems of people, since waste that is usually flushed down comes from the bowels of one's digestive insides. Finally, when we had exhausted all that, we came back to the knights and castles. And with gusto, my sons delved into the parts of the knights' armor (of course wondering just how did they go to the toilet covered in armour???). We also made shields and swords and various long range missiles like catapults and siege towers using lego and other stuff, and worked on making a drawbridge with a portcullis. I didn't realise that so much science and math could be weaved into this unit, but we have done simple machines, three dimensional figures, volume of solids, area and perimeter. Plus lots of skip counting in between.
Finger puppets for storytelling. Sword and Coat of Arms from cardboard, acrylics and silver foil.

Okay....gotta go coz the brood beckons for dinner! Photos will be posted tonight! Promise!

Step Back into the Time of the Middle Ages

This week we continue our theme on the Middle Ages. What started out as a Knights and Castles theme last week has gotten so exciting that we will extend this to include much more in the Middle Ages. So we'll be covering the Vikings, William the Conqueror (what is it with boys and the fascination with battles etc???), all the stuff related to knights/castles/nobility/feudalism, The Black Death (this part, I'm sure will be studied with great relish because it is so morbid and my sons are fascinated with germs, bacteria and viruses), the Crusades, stained glass and of course famous literature associated with that period. I've already got a simplified edition of King Arthur and found a vcd in the back of the cupboard of the cartoon Sword in the Stone so now I just have to look for an easy peasy edition of Canterbury Tales by Chaucer. I love literature. Last week we spent an entire week poring over the book All about Knights and Castles. I have a dear friend, Lorna who lives in Scotland so I'll try to see if I can be online at the same time for my sons to ask her questions about castles since Scotland has some pretty famous castles if I am not wrong. See, this is what I mean about learning having no boundaries. With home schooling, you can really afford to take time off to dwell on a subject of interest....

I'll post again at the end of the day with the photos of what we've done. TTFN!!!!

A School Day at Home

Firstly, the title of this post is rather misleading because in our home school, there is no such thing as a typical day. Although I plan my weekly schedule, I always allow room for change because the curriculum I design for my boys is meant to cater to their interests and needs. Their lessons are planned thematically and in any given unit, Lang Arts, Math, Science, Geog/Hist/Social Studies, Art, Phys Ed and a field trip are usually covered. Last week we started on a Medieval Theme which will be continued this week.

Our school day begins typically after breakfast and bathtime, and the first part lasts anything from an hour and a half to two hours. We usually start by brainstorming on the theme, or recalling facts learnt the day before, and then we do some lang arts and math/sci etc This is then followed by playtime and a mid morning snack.

For moms who have sons, I think you can probably emphatise with me when I write that boys generally get hungry a lot quicker than girls and have higher energy levels. This is the case with my sons at any rate. So in between lessons, we always schedule a break for them to recharge with a healthy snack and some free play. This is a good time for me to get lunch ready for everyone else too.

After break, we have our shared/individualised reading and book related activity. For each theme covered, I try to include different genres so as to expose them to different writing styles. The reading activity depends on the books we read. Lunch follows suit, and then it's More Play for the boys including the opportunity to go downstairs to ride their bikes, rollerblade or just run about. Some days we go for a walk round the neighbourhood or to the post office if we have letters to post.

When we get back, the second part of home school continues usually with art, baking, computer time, letter writing or swimming lessons. This takes up anything from an hour to two hours. They get their tv time after this while I prepare dinner. But I'm really picky over what they watch so tv time is still what I'd call a monitored activity.

So there you have it....a "typical" day in our home school!

Snail Mail as part of Homeschooling

It has been almost 4 months since I introduced postal penpals as part of my homeschool curriculum. I wasn't sure at first how my children would take to the idea of snail mail since everything today is so fast paced and children are practically born into a world of high tech gadgets where everyone seems in a hurry all the time. I remember though as a child, running to the mailbox every afternoon to see if I had received any letters from my penpals overseas. This feeling of anticipation coupled with the joy of holding a long awaited letter (and sometimes little gifts from afar) was truly wonderful. (Incidentally, I'm still writing to two of my penpals who live in London and Portugal) Initially only Dalton and Dale were writing letters as part of their writing curriculum, (my other three looked on with interest though skeptical of the whole thing) then like the flu bug, this penpal craze suddenly took off and soon all my children were having penpals! Individual penpals soon became family penpals, and now we have entire families writing to us, from New York, Texas and even Spain and Canada. The benefits of having snail mail pals are amazing. My children have learnt so much from this experience. From letter writing skills to world geography to social studies..... Dalton and Dale's spelling and penmanship improved dramatically and they have learnt (and are continually learning with each letter they write and receive) how alike people are despite all their differences (and vice versa), how schools differ across the oceans and they've learnt to recognize the different continents, countries etc.

This learning experience extends to Math as well for they've learnt how to weigh the letters themselves at the self automated machines and how to match different denominations of stamps to get the right amount required for their letters and how to count money to make sure they pay the correct amount. Many countries also feature stamps with pictures unique to their country of origin so we discuss the stamps and in doing so, our knowledge of geography/history expands in leaps and bounds! For myself, it is always such a joy to see their faces light up each time they check the mailbox and find a letter addressed to them. At least now, my mailbox has something other than bills!!!

Adventures of a Homeschooling Mom

I have decided to take my first step into this world of blogging. Almost everyone I know seems to be doing it these days from my friend Karin in London to my dear daughter Denise. I've decided to blog about homeschooling, since this is something I enjoy doing. Why did I decide to homeschool? Well.. the whole adventure of homeschooling (and I call this an adventure in learning because no two days are ever the same when you homeschool) is a lot like a learning journey that has no boundaries! People have often asked if being homeschooled would make one less sociable? Hmmm....looking at my extremely sociable sons, I seriously doubt it. My twin boys, Dalton and Dale are currently homeschooled and they have absolutely no problem making friends. In fact, their friends range in age from 4 year old Isaac (their favourite homeschool mate) to the 85 year old uncle who cleans the void deck in the next block. They strike conversations with the supermarket cashier, the bus drivers, the postal lady and really, almost anyone whom they meet up with. Recently they discovered postal penpals, and now regularly snail mail to friends around the world. So, to skeptics who think that homeschooling breeds antisocial behaviour, I would say, check out my blog and decide for yourself! (Gosh...I've actually written in my blog for far longer than I thought I would be able to!)