Tag: history

The Big Wave

What can football have to do with a discussion about Roman-era cultures?

September 8, 2018

The Big Wave

Football season started…

Yes, we watch lots of college football and I have one daughter determined to be a Gator cheerleader for at least one season.

Becky and I are watching Ben-Hur and we start talking about Biblical families and eventually trace back to the origin of the Ishmaelites and Israelites.  Sheik Ilderim is one of Becky’s favorite characters in Ben-Hur and she’s making the case that his culture appears to follow nomadic Jewish teachings.  (This was another hypothetical history, culture, and religion play debate.  I love to make their brains work by asking questions and playing “defense attorney” when they choose to lay a case for something.)

During this discussion, Becky says “well, Ishmaelites are technically all family; sons of Ishmael like Israelites are all sons of Israel.”

I said, you could go to say we are all descendents of  Noah.  She replies with “Adam,” pauses, “oh, yeah, Noah and his family were the only ones living after the big wave.”

And I, with my over-active imagination, get a hilarious mental picture:

I see cartoon water as “wavelets” all lining up and “doing the wave” around the Earth like football fans around a stadium.  Little wavelets rise up on top of each other like cheerleaders in a pyramid as they shout, “we’ve got to cover all those mountains!” There’s a dolphin with flippers up shouting, “roller coaster!”  A few hammerhead sharks try to ride the wave (my Daddy tells a story of surfing into the Savannah River & seeing hammerhead sharks surfing next to him).

I will never think of the Great Flood without hearing Becky’s voice say “big wave” and seeing that mental picture.  (Used to be, when I heard “Noah” and “ark,” my brain replayed the 50s cartoon Noah where everyone is singing and this line always sings through my mind: “I’m Mother Noah, Captain Noah’s wife, I wear the pants aboard this boat, you bet your life.”)  I like the wave-surfing sharks and roller coaster loving dolphin picture better.

Sometimes the over-active imagination of a writer is a strange thing…

Thanks for reading!

Type at you later…

~Nancy Tart

 

School Supplies

School supplies on a budget – our methods

August 31, 2018

School Shopping

Lots of people do school shopping in late July or August, just before school starts.

Since we do school year-round, I’m constantly replacing school supplies by stopping in at my favorite thrift shops and scooping up extra pencils, notebooks, erasers, or expo markers (the most commonly used items in our school).

I do try to take advantage of the school sales that pop up at the end of school supply shopping months.

Take notebooks: one independent writer in our home goes through an average of five single-subject notebooks a year!  (That’s not a lot when you consider that each notebook usually has 70 pages.)  Our history, science, and most upper math courses require a paragraph or page of written work.  Grammar practice is to edit said paragraphs or pages and rewrite them correctly.  So we use a lot of paper.  I prefer to use notebooks because they keep all the papers together and they are easier to carry than loose leaf paper (we often do work in remote locations).  This year I have four independent writers and one still using training paper (the ones from tablets with three-line-spaces).  But my training-writer is writing times tables and measures this year.  She will need one or two notebooks.  I always add one extra for each student because I would rather have extra than to buy them at 4 to 10 times the sale price!  (Most of us homeschool on a budget, don’t we?)

Oh, yes, another trick I learned was to buy college-ruled notebooks because you get extra lines at the bottom.  (Silly, but it also makes you write smaller thus more work ends up on one page.)

We bought 22 notebooks this year!  Staples & Officemax both claimed the “normal” price for a college-ruled store-brand notebook with 70 pages was $2.49.  I know Walmart has them for $1.20 or so and the thrift shops have partially used ones for $0.50. They were on sale for $0.25, usually I can find them for $0.10, but this year if someone had them super cheap, I missed that sale.  Shopping the sales essentially saved us $20.90 just on notebooks.  (The receipts claimed we “Saved” way more, but I base my savings off the cheapest normal price, not the inflated office supply store price.)

Pencils, erasers, markers, rulers, and other assorted small things I usually buy from thrift stores because you can get a lot more used items less expensive than the sale price on new ones.  Rebeccah does Sunday School and likes to buy cute craft stuff for it, which is also less expensive (and a much larger collection for choose from) at the thrift stores.

Backpacks are another thrift store buy.  I generally choose to spend less than five dollars on a backpack.  Someone’s hand-me-down from last year often has a lot of wear left in it.  We use backpacks for school stuff, travel bags (you can only carry what you can fit in your backpack), and overnight bags for Grandma’s house trips.  Even Lucas has a backpack (a cute smaller Cars one we found for a dollar at a thrift store).  He’s funny, when we’re headed to drop off at college, I’ll say “grab your school stuff.”  (Generally, a writing tablet or book)  Lucas puts two books (usually two the bigger girls have been reading – lately a favorite has been Prince Caspian), his crayon box, and his tablet in his backpack and will say “I’m ready for my school!”  His backpack swallows him!

We have learned to use the before-school sales to help keep our expenses low yet still get the items we like to use.  (Filler paper is cheaper than using notebooks, but I’ve learned notebooks are neater and easier.)  The older girls need computer paper for some college assignments and CAP work, so we also tend to buy computer paper during the sales times as they will have some super mail-in rebate offer or something.

The coolest part of shopping for school supplies is the practical math lessons that go along with it!  (I can find lessons in everything!)

Thanks for reading!

Type at you next time…

~Nancy Tart

 

Our Curriculum 2018

A Peek at our curriculum circa 2018.

July 31, 2018

Our Curriculum

One of the most popular questions I get asked (in regard to my children and homeschooling) is “what curriculum do you use?”

So, here’s what our jumbled “organized chaotic” curriculum looks like for 2018:

Honestly, most of what I use depends on the style of the learner and what books I have.   My core for the first few years has been A Beka Book Arithmetic (K5, 1, and 3) with A Beka Book Phonics (K5, 1, Phonics and Language 2, the first third or so of A Handbook for Reading) and A Beka Book writing (K4 manuscript, K5 cursive, 1, Cursive Writing Skillbook 3, and Penmanship I or II if needed for extra practice).

Beyond that, “traditional” style learners who get the most from reading a textbook and repetition of problems (my two oldest) like A Beka Book’s math program so mine goes (5th, 7th, Pre-Algebra, Algebra 1, Geometry, Algebra 2, either personal or business mathematics).

A Beka Book’s language program actually starts in their “Phonics and Language 2” book (this is new last year and I LOVE IT since it combines phonics and language cohesively – instead of me doing the same thing by switching papers around from their previous first grade letters & sounds and language).   So I usually go: Phonics & Language 2, Language B or C (I like B/5th best, but C has more practice writing formal documents), and then we move to any vocabulary book they choose (I’ve used A Beka, Hanson, Pearson, and even the vocabulary list in our 1960s dictionary!) while writing an essay, poem, or report daily (this is usually a paragraph or essay for a history, science, or literature assignment).  You learn grammar, spelling, and vocabulary by reading and writing.

For more tactile learners, we’ve discovered that Teaching Textbooks works very well.  Those who have mastered the basics (5th grade math or up to basic operations) can pick up with Teaching Textbooks’ Pre-Algebra and perfectly understand it.  We’ve only used version 1.0, since I buy everything used, but am told 2.0 has the same content without trading out discs.  I won’t use 3.0 because it’s all online and our internet access is spotty at best (according to Teaching Textbooks, it has the same educational content as 2.0 so for those with good internet and toddlers who like to play with the big kids’ CDs, 3.0 is probably the best option).

Basically, I make sure each core subject (Grammar/Language/Reading & Math) builds easily for the particular student who is using it.  The girls choose their own textbooks for Science (the 3 “required” by me are by Apologia: high school Biology, Chemistry, and Physics), History (I have two “required” textbooks, one is by Eggleston originally published in 1884, and a high school level two-semester course on US History), Social Studies, and Electives based on their interests starting with 3rd grade (paragraph-writing level).  I use those to reinforce grammar and writing skills.  Three students can be (and often are) using the same history or science textbook but end up with varying levels of reports.

Thanks for reading!

Type at you next time…

~Nancy Tart

 

My Civil Air Patrol Cadet

July 12, 2018

My Civil Air Patrol Cadet

One day Louis was driving past the Saint Augustine Civil Air Patrol building and saw cadets marching around in uniform.  He stopped, asked them what they were, and raced home to tell Christina that he found the perfect activity for her.

She is my flying nut.  She loves planes.  Just like Lucas loves anything with wheels – she loves anything that flies (except mosquitoes and no-see-ums).  Better said; Christina loves anything mechanical that flies.

She’d studied famous flying people, physics, beat her way through math, and taken a helicopter tour for her birthday.  She’d talked with pilots as Louis shuttled them to the airport from their hotels.

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She had the time of her life when some friends took her to the Jacksonville Air Show! (Photo credit above & below – Hannah Clark & crew)

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The poster from that day was the first one tacked to her wall.

So, she “visited” the CAP meetings with Louis for three weeks – but Wednesday morning after her first meeting, she was like, “Mom, I’m going to join Civil Air Patrol.”  Of course, Christina’s decisions are never small – “I’m going to get to officer rank and they have all these things I can learn so I can get into programs to help me learn to fly…” and she continued talking me through the book and information someone had given her.

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She is a scrimping saver and refused any help with CAP dues, fees, or for her first uniform.  (This is a point of pride for her – to be able to cover all her own expenses.  She saw God’s love in action, though, when she thought she wouldn’t be able to go to winter encampment but our amazing church family gave her enough money for the trip and the extra items needed!)

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CAP gave her a grant to go toward buying her first blues uniform though – something about earning a certain rank.  (These are my borrowed shoes for her first day wearing blues.  Her real ones have a one inch heel and no decoration.)

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Lucas loves Christina’s uniform – especially the caps (aka, covers).

Thanks to CAP, Christina has matured greatly in social interaction (you can order younger siblings around all day, but it is different ordering someone else around!).  She is more confident, more physically active, emotionally and physically stronger, and enjoying the company of respectful, goal-driven, encouraging fellow cadets.

Our family has learned some new terms: water is hydration, anything not a uniform is civies, a funny backpack with a water bag inside and a fishtank-hose looking straw hanging around the cadet’s neck is a camelback, among others.

 

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We’ve swelled with pride watching our cadet march in parades (even if we only get a picture of her back half hidden behind another cadet)…

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…assist veterans in her blues…

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…and attend encampment as a student…

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…and staff.

She’s constantly challenging herself to new higher limits – one day, I’m sure, she’ll touch the sky!

Thanks for reading!

Type at you next time…

~Nancy Tart

 

 

 

 

 

Any Book is Curriculum

April 14, 2018

Any Book is Curriculum

In our homeschool curriculum, we have base books that everyone has to go through.  These are standards like Arithmetic and Language Arts.

I add vocabulary workbooks to teach etymology.  Once etymology is learned, the student usually finds spelling and vocabulary far easier so only some use vocabulary or spelling workbooks.  The main way students continue learning spelling and vocabulary is along with writing assignments.

We have a base of standard History.  After the first book, we move to whatever textbook teaches a section in which they have an interest.  Any history book is accompanied by writing assignments at the end of each unit, chapter, or small book to recount what has been learned and how it compares with other texts.

Literature study usually coincides with history of an era or region.  I find  it fun to teach history as a story of  the people; which includes their writings, lifestyle, scientific achievements or lack thereof, and culture.

Basic science is usually learned hands-on in our house through the chemistry that can be found in the kitchen, biology learned from our animals, and physics discussed when someone trips on something or while building a new project.  Our final science books require a command of Algebra; these Biology, Chemistry, and Physics books set the foundation for and help with the transition into college learning.

But any book can be a part of a curriculum!

We’ve used novels and storybooks to write about and study culture.  We’ve used classic literature to teach etymology and practice translation.   We’ve used history books to build Lego cities.  We’ve used Lego sets to cross into history books and study culture.  We’ve used cookbooks to teach fractions, chemistry, and time management.   Any book a student reads can be turned into a book report, which requires practicing the skills of writing, grammar, and comprehension.

Therefore, we’ve discovered that any book can be incorporated into our home school curriculum with positive encouraging results!

Thanks for reading!

Type at you later…

~Nancy Tart

Silver Springs

Exploring the Real Florida at Silver Springs

November 10, 2017

The Real Florida

What comes to your mind when you think of Florida?  Sunny beaches, theme parks, high priced T-shirts, Publix supermarkets?

How about alligators, turtles, cypress trees with diameters of fifteen feet, shimmering sunlight streaming through dissolved limestone particles in gushing spring water to give a silver blue tint to the crystal clear water?

This is Silver Springs. 

As the sign says (it’s the Florida State Parks logo) “the Real Florida!”

History is alive with the mementos of past years when numerous television shows and movies were made in the beautiful surroundings.

Tourists were riding on glass bottom boats in the 1870s – and if you want to feel like you are swimming with the critters without braving the cold springs water, you have to take the glass bottom boat ride!  (And you are safe too; the alligators, turtles, and snakes are outside the boat and your windows have bars!)

The Captain will say “this is 81 feet deep,” and you stare down at magical swirling waters pushing fish up in rising natural roller coasters.  (You can hear them squealing “weeeeeee” as they spiral up from the bottom with their tails wagging behind them.)

If you want to get even closer to the water wildlife, rent a canoe or kayak!  In one of these sleek craft, you can paddle down the beautiful river and feel like you are part of the unscathed beauty of nature.

There is a boardwalk through the swamp where you can get close to the huge trees and look down into the water.  Amazing birds are easy to hear but hard to catch on camera when your assistants are pretending the boardwalk is a drum for feet!

On the magnificent nature walks, you will see gigantic ancient trees and could possibly run into the wild monkey troupe!

(Or you may have your own wannabe monkey riding on you.)

Some of these trees have fallen and create amazing obstacle courses for the more adventurous in your group.  (You can play “don’t step on the ground” and jump from fallen log to fallen log – just be very careful not to fall off!)

Or you can sit at the top of a leaning stump where no one can reach you.  (Unless you are surrounded by wannabe monkeys who race to see who can reach you first!)

The cost to get in is only $2 a person!  It is extra to ride the glass bottom boats or rent a canoe.  This wild, historic destination is a perfect setting for a wedding among the wild flowers and rustic wooden arbor.  Research this gem at www.SilverSprings.com and check out the Real Florida any day of the year!

Thanks for reading!

Type at you later…

~Nancy Tart

 

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