Category: Homeschool Happenings

Homeschool Happenings – New Zealand

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Last week was New Zealand week and we read some fantastic picture books. So many I just had to share. I love to use picture books as a teaching tool, even as I teach my middle schooler. They garner interest for further learning and can be used as a part of the lesson themselves.

Circle by Jeannie Baker. 48 pages.

I am in love with the illustrations in this nonfiction book about the godwits migration from New Zealand (and Australia) to the Arctic and then back again. Great for learning about migration in general.

Inky’s Amazing Escape: How a Very Smart Octopus Found His Way Home by Sy Montgomery and Amy Shimler-Safford. 32 pages

Such a fun and colorful story about a real octopus who was rescued and then freed himself. The story was fantastic as were the end notes. Your kid will learn so much about octopus and will most likely want to know more. This was my favorite book of the week.

Elizabeth, the Queen of the Seas by Lynne Cox and Brian Floca. 48 pages.

Elizabeth was an elephant seal who made her home in the Avon River in Christchurch. She became a problem when she started sleeping in the middle of the road in the afternoon. Three times they captured her and took her far away to live, but each time she came back. The solution they found will make you smile. I loved the picture of the real Elizabeth in the middle of the road at the end of the book.

**For school, Gage had to write a paragraph comparing the two animals and their journeys.

First to the Top: Sir Edmund Hillary’s Amazing Everest Adventure by David Hill and Phoebe Morris. 32 pages.

Why is a book about Mount Everest on this list? Because that’s where Hillary was from! This was full of information, even with a timeline of his life at the end. Don’t let the page count fool you. Excellent resource.

Two at the Top: A Shared Dream of Everest by Uma Krishnaswami and Christopher Corr. 32 pages.

I didn’t love the illustrations, but did love the concept. Sir Edmund Hillary didn’t get to the top of Everest alone and yet he always gets the credit. This book tells the story of Hillary but also the story of his sherpa Tenzig Norgay on each opposing page. By telling their stories side by side, it is giving Norgay the due he deserves.

**For school, Gage made a Venn diagram comparing the information featured in each book.

Anywhere Artist by Nikki Slade Robinson. 40 pages.

This is not a book about New Zealand, but one created by New Zealander. This is most definitely geared toward a younger audience and it was Gage’s favorite. It’s all about making art wherever you are using what nature has provided. The only fictional book (except for Ranger which is only half fiction)

**For school, Gage and I set the timer for 20 minutes and each created art from whatever we found in our yard. His was super cool with big branches sticking out of theground to look like trees and stones making a circle around it. I’m not embarrassed to say it was way better than mine!

Race to the South Pole (Ranger in Tme Series) by Kate Messner. 160 pages.

This was our longer read and I love this series! The journey starts in New Zealand aboard the Terra Nova and, while obviously fiction since it’s based on a time travelling dog, only Ranger and the boy he was there to save were fictional characters. All the other characters were based on real life people and a real life race to the Pole. The end notes were the best part even though they were sad.

**We read this aloud as a family, each taking a chapter each night.

Homeschooling Happenings – Mexico

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Today we finish up our time in Mexico. Last week we studied the country as a whole and this week we concentrated on what’s going on at the US-Mexico border and its history. These are a few of the books we liked this week.

The Other Side: Stories of Central American Teen Refugees Who Dream of Crossing the Border by Juan Pablo Villalobos. 160 pages, 2018, 4.5 stars. This is labeled as a teen book, but most could be shared with younger kids. So important for kids(and adults) to understand the why of the kids that are coming.

Hear My Voice: The Testimonies of Children Detained at the Southern Border of the United States compiled by Warren Binford. 96 pages, 2021, 4 stars. So many things I loved about this picture book. I loved that each page was illustrated by a different artist with Mexican ties. I loved that it was told in both English and Spanish. I loved the additional information at the end, along with questions and ways to help.

Between Us and Abuela: A Family Story from the Border by Mitali Perkins and Sara Palacios. 40 pages, 2019, 3 stars. A more upbeat story for younger kids about a one day event between San Diego and Tijuana where families on different sides of the border can come together. Fictional story about a real event.

Travesia: A Migrant Girl’s Cross-Border Journey by Michelle Gerster and Fiona Dunnett. 72 pages, 2021, 3 stars. It’s listed for teens, but I think mature 10-11 year olds could also read it. This was about actually coming across the border, with the afterward telling how it changed their family.

We watched videos, read different viewpoints, and had a writing assignment for the week. I wish we’d had time to delve into it further.

Homeschool Happenings

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Let’s talk about charity mail. This year as part of our homeschool I wanted to make giving a part of our school day. Jason and I came up with a weekly giving budget and asked Gage to kick in $1 a week of his money to make it an even number.

Starting in August each school day we looked at a charity request we received in the mail. We read the literature they sent and looked them up on Charity Navigator, making a note of their financials and how much they spend on programs, fundraising, and administrative costs. At the end of the week we put the 5 charities on a chart with relevant information (including whether they sent any ‘free gifts’). Then we discussed how we’d like to donate our money.

We kept track of every incoming request. In these last two months we received…61 mailings asking for money from 33 different non-profits. That’s right, 61.

I’m going to call out the worst three for the sheer amount of stuff they sent. World Wildlife Foundation sent many gifts along with their SEVEN requests for money. That’s right. They sent almost a request every week. Habitat for Humanity and The City Mission tied for second place with 4 requests each in a two month period. Three charities sent three requests.

And no, we didn’t give money to all of the repeat requesters. The worst is when they sent a letter thanking us for a donation and asking for more money at the same time ☹️
I’m going to give a shout out to Rescue Village for being the ONLY one to send us a thank you letter without a request for more money. Much appreciated.

This has been an interesting learning experience for us both. We’ll continue to track the information and requests, but we’ll be doing things a little differently in October.

I love making projects like this a part of our school day. It’s real world math education and decision making. How can this $1 make the biggest impact and what things are important in making the world a better place are discussions we had every single day.

And, yes, Gage was annoyed when a charity wasted the money we gave them to send more gifts and request more money. An important lesson learned.

Homeschool Happenings

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We started our third year of homeschooling about a month ago and this year feels different. We started because I didn’t like the plan Gage’s school had in place for Covid and I thought I could manage 4th grade at home. We did, but due to Covid it was isolating. There were still Covid issues last year so we thought we’d do another year at home. Thankfully he was able to join a weekly nature group, but as a whole it was still isolating. For that reason I contacted Gage’s previous school in the spring to see if he could go back this year, but there wasn’t an opening in his grade unless we wanted to travel 30 minutes away to a new school they just opened. That was an easy no.

Am I still concerned about Covid? Sure. We still wear masks inside if there are a lot of people. Am I more concerned about my son’s mental health? Yes, I am. So, this year homeschool looks different. He goes to tutoring everyday at an office (not at home), he still has his weekly nature group, he takes a homeschool art class at the local art center, he just started chess club last night, and there are a few more in person activities I’ve signed him up for in the next few months. I planned a game day with other homeschool kids at our library last month and 22 kids showed up so I’m going to make it a monthly thing. He’s in two Outschool Zoom classes with the same kids week to week. It feels like a new homeschool beginning.

This year I wanted to make what we learned interested Gage so I’m letting him choose a country each week and I base our learning time on that country. I ask him for 3 countries then I go to the library and request everything I can. I start reading/searching usually the Thursday or Friday before and plan our activities and learning for the week. Not only does he learn about the country and its history and geography, he learns some of the language (he’s done French and Spanish so far) we also cook something, listen to the music, and do some kind of art. I can include math by having him do currency conversions and word problems.

Our homeschool days are more fun and varied this year and we’re both having a lot of fun. After three weeks of the countries of his choice, he spends a week doing a project from something we learned. This way he delves a little deeper into something that interests him. (Also this gives me a week where I don’t have to start a country from scratch!) His first three countries were Canada, France, and the UK and for his project he researched British high teas, wrote about the history, planned a menu, and put on a tea for his dad, grandma and me with minimal supervision and he did a fantastic job.

I know this is long, but I feel like the blog needed a little TLC and this is what’s happening in our lives right now, so I hope to do more of these, either long rambling thoughts like this one or just what we’ve studied for the week. As a bonus for making it this far I’ll share the recipe we made yesterday for this week’s country Peru. Gage loved learning how to use our zester and garlic press. This was a super yummy dish.

from The Big Peruvian Cookbook.