Standish of Standish: a story of the pilgrims by Jane G. Austen

I wanted to read a historically accurate account of the pilgrims during November. I knew there were stories of Squanto, but I couldn't find any the were free so I kept digging for something to read. I came across this book. It didn't have very good ratings and the one review said that they didn't care for this story. When I first started reading it, it was hard to get into. It was kind of like reading Shakespeare, you have to read it for a while to get used to the language. Then I started teaching Kendi from the I Love America history book about pilgrims. Comparing the writings made me realize how accurate this book must be and all of a sudden it became fascinating to me. This book was written by a direct descendant of the pilgrims who had still lived in the area and had heard the stories of the pilgrims at the feet of her ancestors.

Then as I was reading about so many different people and their characters, I remembered that my sister had found some ancestors who had come to America on the Mayflower. All of a sudden I wanted to know to whom I was related. So far some of the people had been described as dirty and unrefined, strong and trustworthy, and even some genteel nobles. So I pulled out the pedigree charts and found out that I was a descendant of John Alden and Pricilla Molines (Mullins). They were about 22 and 16 years old, respectively, when the arrived and are famous for their love story whom Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (also a descendant of theirs) has written a poem about, called The Courtship of Miles Standish. I can imagine that because John and Pricilla had a large posterity that many people can tie themselves back to them.

I don't know if it's because it is Thanksgiving time or if it is because I'm related to these people, but I found this book excellent. I've never understood the pilgrims until now. The actual feast lasted three days and didn't happen until about a year after they arrived. The women under the direction of Pricilla, who was noted as a great cook, served up the feast. The pilgrims provided all the vegetables that they had learned to grow from the Natives back in the springtime and the Indians provided venison, quail, and clams for meat. The Pilgrims were surprised that Squanto spoke English, he preferred to live with the Europeans and moved in with them as soon as he could, along with Hobomok who remained loyal to the Pilgrims even when the rest of the Indians grew intolerant.

There were indescribable tragedies that set the people of the Mayflower apart from future coming pilgrims. They started with 106 people and only about half of them made it through the first winter. Some blamed the poor conditions of the boat they sailed on. They were not on good terms with the Captain of the Mayflower who basically begged for some pilgrims to help him sail back to England. Even after all they had been through to establish a new life in a strange land, none would go back with him. I'm really glad I took the time to read this book. It was worth it to me.

The Wizard of Oz

I was really excited when I found this large picture book version of The Wizard of Oz at a used bookstore. The large artwork made it especially interesting. On the front of the book is has the original authors name, L. Frank Baum. I was very disappointed to open it up at home and find that it was really a condensed version. I always try to stick to originals as much as possible. In the end, the kids loved this book. It was perfect for young children. This story is very different from the movie we've all seen. The kids were riveted the whole time. Whenever we do long read alouds, I let the kids color or draw or do something quiet because they listen better and for a longer period of time. Kendi had just gotten a new Christmas coloring book that she was ecstatic about, but it didn't keep her from coming over and looking at the pictures and hanging on to every word. I really like the message of this book, "There's no place like home."

Ripple with Skip Bo Cards

This is how Kendi learned her numbers. We started playing this game a few years ago. It's called Ripple and you play it with Skip Bo cards. I can't find the original rules anywhere and we've been playing a simplified version with the kids for so long that I don't remember all the correct rules.

We start by mixing all the cards in the middle of the table. Then we each make two rows of five cards. We line them up because the object is to find matching numbers on the top row and the bottom row. When we first started Kendi didn't know names of numbers or what they looked like, but it only took a few games for her start learning them.

Each player turns over two of their cards. Make sure they are not two that are supposed to match. Then you just take turns picking cards from the pile. If a card you pick up matches one of your numbers you put it on the corresponding spot and turn over the card that has been sitting there. If that card you just turned over matches another card then you keep going, like a ripple effect. If you pick a card that you don't have then you decide to either keep it in a spot that doesn't have either top or bottom card turned over yet (possibly starting another ripple) or you put it in your own discard pile and then your turn is over. You can take cards off the top of others' discard piles if they match one of your cards instead of drawing from the middle. Someone wins when they have matched up all their cards.

Sorry about the silly faces. Pictures always look so good on the camera phone. By the time I see it blown up on the computer screen its too late to take another one.

A Few Homeschool Days

Last year, on Veteran's Day, I took Kendi to our local Veteran's Day Assembly. I highly recommend taking your kids there. It was the first time Kendi asked questions about soldiers and war and we had some really good discussions. We heard local Veteran's stories and the high school band did a few numbers and we watched videos.

This year both of our kids were really sick on Veteran's Day so we stayed home and I felt bad that it was just going to pass us by. So, a week later, when we were in town to see the dentist I took them over to the Veteran's Memorial. We were lucky it was a beautiful day. The kids are pointing to the section of Bulloch's that served in WWII. My Grandpa's name is listed, but I don't think he actually made it into combat before the war ended. I had no idea that many soldiers served from our tiny little county. We estimated about 1400 names were listed.

My mom called while we were in town to see if we'd pick up some garden veggies before we went home. When we got there they were finishing up butchering one of the four animals (this one was an elk) they harvested this year. I let the girls stay longer to watch. Someone once laughed at me when I said I was a homeschooler. They thought I would hate to have to dissect a frog on my kitchen table. After all that my kids have seen of the anatomy of animals this year, dissecting a frog would seem silly.

The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin

I cannot believe how much I enjoyed reading this book. It completely took me off guard. I didn't really know what to expect, but this was just as fascinating as any novel I've read.

Benjamin Franklin reminds me a lot of my own husband, Jared. He just took off one day when he was young and didn't tell anyone and had no plan as to how things were going to work out well. That is totally something Jared would do. Not to mention the way they both enjoy a good debate and sometimes get a bit carried away with it. It was so fun to talk to Jared about the things Benjamin Franklin would do to try to control his pride and not come off domineering.

I think it is interesting that he tried so hard to do a lot of things anonymously yet today he is a household name. And he believed strongly in having great moral character. It gets a little long toward the end, but I knew there was his experimenting with electricity to look forward to. Unfortunately, he didn't write as much about that as I wish he would have.

This book is adventurous, character building and educational. Everyone should read this book.

The Great Math Adventure

Math is the subject, to date, that I have spent the most time researching and pouring over other blogs trying to figure out how to do it in our homeschool. Reading the math classics and learning about how formulas came about is something that I'm actually looking forward to, but I already know that reading Euclid to my five year old is not going to work right now.

I felt like it was an answer to prayer when I came across THIS LINK. It is a mathematicians lament on why math in public schools is so far from what it should be. Unfortunately, this essay doesn't go into great depth on how a person really should be learning math. At least, not specifically. My conveyor-belt-brain still needs step by step instructions to things like teaching math. But I know I want to do it the best way possible so I've been thinking and praying about what to do.

In a perfect setting, I would have math be an adventure and discovery process. I feel like if a child could be put in a situation where they were compelled to figure out math problems in order to accomplish something important then they would see the value of math and never forget what they learned. Coming up with these situations is not going to be easy, but I'm sure going to try.

I ordered the Math-U-See Alpha set, but have only done one lesson with Kendi. We are going to spend more time on learning how to write numbers really well and fine tune how to count to 100. The first lesson in Math-U-See Alpha is about Place Value. I wanted to follow a math curriculum to make sure we covered everything, but then include some adventure activities to make math become real and memorable. So how do you put a child in a situation that makes Place Value sink in? I couldn't think of anything and I wasn't sure it was even possible. Then I came across a math game on YouTube. Place Value Hopscotch. This was more of a game than a real life situation, but Kendi loves hopscotch and was willing to do it over and over until the information really sunk in. So while the math principals are simple I will include games as long as they work really well.

At this point I'm hoping we'll have math adventures two or three times a month. If anyone out there has ideas please, please, please let me know what you think. We will be calling this The Great Math Adventure.