Unit Study Week-Detectives and Mysteries--Day 1

Today was a lot of fun. This is the basic order in which we explored the topic today:


1. After our regular devotion today we looked up several Bible passages in which the word "mystery" appear. In our New King James Bible Mark 4:11, 1 Cor. 2:7, 1 Cor. 15:51, Eph. 1:9, and 1 Tim. 3:16 were just a few verses that used this word. I hadn't planned this ahead of time, but there were many interesting things that came up about the mystery of God's will, the mystery of the kingdom of God, etc.


2. We talked about what we already knew about detectives and what the job entailed.


3. We did some searching online at Wikipedia for detectives and Scotland Yard.


4. We spent some time on the CIA and FBI websites looking through their sections for kids. We learned about the history of the organizations and the missions and careers people have. We also learned about the CIA K-9 unit.


5. We used the printouts at the FBI site to make credentials and we talked about detectives sometimes working incognito.


6. We used pages 5-14 of the book Detective Science: 40 Crime-Solving, Case-Breaking, Crook-Catching Activities for Kids. So far it's really fun and age-appropriate for my 6 and 8 year-old.

One of the activities they did was to follow the correct procedure for securing a crime scene and collecting evidence without compromising it. The kids staged a "stolen coin" scene and then took photographs of the room to record any "evidence".

7. We discussed some of the mystery books they're currently reading, especially with regard to suspects, clues, and key words used to help solve the mystery.


8. Dh agreed to visit our detective school. He was to bring some things with him, take some things with him, and discuss some things with the "detectives in training". When he left, I asked the detectives to remember any and all details about the visit--what was he wearing, what did he bring, what did he take with him, what did he talk to you about...It was intended to sharpen skills of observation.

I should mention that we're using our Top Secret folders (pictured below) to hold some of the pages we've been notebooking/lapbooking on the topic.

We covered LOTS of vocabulary today, including intelligence, counter-intelligence, credentials, confidential, incognito, cryptanalysis, warrant, alibi, motive, sleuth...


The kids' thoughts so far:
Ds8 said he gave it a thumbs up. Dd6 said she'd give it 10 thumbs up. That's a pretty good start!

Unit Study Week-Detectives and Mysteries

The case files are ready.

The credentials are ready to be filled in.

The kids and I have been looking forward to this week. We're going to take time to follow and interest and see where it takes us. 


The goals:
-To learn about and do something fun 
-To follow an interest that we all share


To prepare, the kids spent the last school day last week covering math, grammar, piano practice, Latin, and Spanish. These are subjects that won't get much coverage with the detective unit.


Subjects that will get a lot of coverage this week are Reading, Writing, Vocabulary, History, Science, Logic, and PE.


I did some looking for resources online and have four major sources:
Squidoo
Homeschool Share
Scholastic (and search detective)
FBI (fun and games section)


I added other activity ideas as the inspiration hit.


I've inter-library loaned a couple of non-fiction books about detectives and science projects related to detective work.


I've also collected our dozens of detective books and inter-library loaned some more. These include Cam Jansen, Jigsaw Jones, Encyclopedia Brown, Concord Cunningham Scripture Sleuth, High Rise Private Eyes.


I'll report back on the activities we use.


Activity #1 For Fun: Watch G-Force, Disney's (PG) movie in which an elite team of special agent guinea pigs has to save the world. The kids really enjoyed the movie despite a few scary parts and typical PG-ish humor. It was a good way to get a "spies in action" feel. We also talked a little about detective-themed words like what a "mole" is (not the mammal).

Celebrating 11-11-11: Compiled List

As promised, here's our starter list of things to do with "elevens".


Ds8 decided that we could do 11 minutes of each subject. He also thought we could get 11 minutes of something extra-special. Maybe it could be electronic time, reading time at night, etc.


Other ideas:


MATH: 
-Can you use 11 coins to pay for these items in our pretend store?
-List 11 or more ways to make $11.11.
-Practice these 11 addition (or subtraction, multiplication, division) facts.
-How much money is in 11 pennies? What about 11 nickels, 11 dimes, 11 quarters, 11 half dollars, 11 ten-dollar bills, or 11 hundred-dollar bills?
-How many minutes are in 11 hours? How many seconds?


HANDWRITING:
-Practice writing (print/cursive) these 11 letters.
-Use these 11 letters to come up with at least 11 different words. Use them to practice handwriting.


WRITING:
-In your journal, write about what you will be able to do when you're 11 that you can't do now. What won't you be able to do anymore that you can do now?
-Write a paragraph (topic, details, concluding sentences) about why I should give you 11 (fill in the blank).


SPELLING:
-Use 11 spelling words this week.


VOCABULARY:
-Put these 11 words into a vocabulary crossword puzzle using definitions as clues.
-Look up the definitions of these 11 words. 


GRAMMAR:
-Find 11 nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, pronouns...in these sentences.
-Put these 11 words into alphabetical order.
-Make complete sentences with 11 words.


GEOGRAPHY:
-Locate these 11 world capitals on the wall map.
-Find out what locations are within 11 miles of your home.


HISTORY:
-Find out who was president 11 years ago. Ask someone to tell you what they remember about that person's presidency.


MUSIC:
-Use Finale Notepad to make an original song using these 11 notes (the notes can be repeated more than once).


LIBRARY SKILLS:
-Locate these 11 books at the library using their letter/number codes.


PE:
-Do an 11 minute walk/jog.
-Do sets of 11 jumping jacks, windmills, toe touches, etc.


OTHER LANGUAGES: 
-Count to 11 in the language you're studying. 
-Count to 11 in 11 different languages.


LIFE SKILLS:
-Bake 11 (pretzels...) or make pancakes with 11 chocolate chips each. How many chips will we need for 2 pancakes each and 5 people?
-Estimate and check: how many M&Ms in 11 grams?

Celebrating 11-11-11

Next up this week--the kids are helping brainstorm ways to celebrate 11s for this out-of-the-ordinary day.


We'll update you when we've got our list ready!

Love at First Listen--More Books on Tape

It's happened again! 


We put on a recording of Little House in the Big Woods and the kids are hooked.


I've written before about how we've used books on tape. This is another successful example. I can't say that ds8 or dd6 would have picked up these (long) books on their own. But now they're interested in the storyline and the lifestyle of this classic. It's provided for some really good discussion.


Another bonus is, of course, that there are another seven volumes of Little House books which they will likely pick up by choice in the months to come.


Some might wonder whether it's a good idea to let the tape do all the work. For us it's worked out pretty well. Once the kids get hooked they almost always pick up the books on their own. Sometimes they do it because they just can't wait to find out what happens next. (I suppose it helps that I'm well-known for stopping the tape "just at the good parts".) Other times they just like to re-read them.


I wonder if that could work for a Jane Austen classic...
Perhaps not quite yet.

Review Game--Good Idea that Never Materialized

At the beginning of the last school year I thought it would be fun to keep a running list of things the kids had learned so that we could play various review games during the year and at the year's end. I thought it would be fairly easy to jot down something at the end of every couple of school days on an index card for this purpose. My goal was to write down a new vocabulary word, science or history fact, math topic, etc. on these cards.

While I still think it was a good idea, it just never really happened. As I was looking ahead to the coming school year, I wanted to use the idea but actually carry it out.

What would have worked better? Was it just a habit that I never formed? Was it something I should have assigned to the kids at the day's end? Has anyone ever succuessfully carried out this type of idea? I'd love to make this work.

When do the kids listen to audiobooks?

In answer to The Mama's question I thought I'd give some idea of how we've used audiobooks.

We've done audiobooks at various times including:

-in the car while traveling (if it's a book everyone in the family will enjoy).
-during afternoon quiet time, each in his own room.
-during lunch sometimes.
-during the summer months when bedtimes are later each might read in their own rooms or listen to a book on tape before lights-out.

One thing I've noticed is that the kids are very willing to listen to something on tape or CD that is above their level, something they would not otherwise have taken off the shelf. It's happened with both of my children that they've enjoyed certain books this way. Often they return later to these books and they become some of their favorites. As a side note, ds8 has spent many hours reviewing history by listening to Story of the World on CD.

Books on CD-Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling

The kids have had a good time listening to these clever stories first published 100 years ago. They're on my list of classics-I-should-probably-have-read-but-didn't. Now I can enjoy them with my kids.

The kids can appreciate them on their own level. They love hearing about the outrageous antics of the characters as well as the crazy explanations for how things came to be (how the camel got his hump, why cats will always be enemies of dogs and men and why they prefer to be alone...).

I can appreciate them on a different level. I find myself laughing out loud at Kipling's clever use of words. How can a story go wrong when the father's name is 'Man-who-does-not-put-his-foot-forward-in-a-hurry', the mother's name is 'Lady-who-asks-a-very-many-questions', and the daughter's name is 'Small-person-without-any-manners-who-ought-to-be-spanked'?

But I wonder what kind of looks we'd get from the kids if dh and I started calling each other 'my Lady and Delight of my Life' or 'my Lord and Treasure of my Soul' (as in the "Butterfly That Stamped"). Those would surely provoke eye-rolls.

Enjoying "Summer"-Music Game

When you're on school break, what do you do? Are your kids completely free? Do they have certain times when they're allowed to have screen time?

I find that my kids usually get along better when we limit time on the Wii/computer. They also get a little tired of sibling togetherness. So during our "summer" break I've tried to have some other fun things available for them to do.

Today we played a fun music game from MakingMusicFun. It was a break-the-code game using simple rhythms and pitches on the piano. It was great for ds8 to practice his note reading. It was also good for dd5 to be involved as well. She caught right on to which notes on the piano to use and also reviewed some rhythms and note reading. (She just began piano lessons a couple months ago.)

It's a real hit. I'm sure we'll be playing it again. If your kids have basic skills in note-reading they may enjoy it as well. (I was thinking it would be fun to re-play the game with tougher note combinations as well. Maybe in the future...)

Writing Skills - Memory Skills

Today we practiced our memory skills with an activity reminiscent of a bridal shower game. It started out as part of a Writer's Workshop in which the kids practiced their observation skills. It turned into a great memory game.

The kids had to study the tray for a minute. Then I removed one item and they had to guess which item was missing.

After playing a couple of times, the kids wanted to test me, too. When I could name every item on the tray, the kids were intrigued. It gave me a chance to explain how to group the items in your mind, in pairs or threes, and find similarities that will help your mind remember. In this case:

The cassette tape and tie (necktie) are blue, start with t, and are at the top together).

The whisk, vegetable brush, and hairbrush look similar.

After the hairbrush naturally comes the comb and hair tie.

Lastly, the paperclip and pencils are office supplies (and start with p).

I'm not exactly sure what subject this falls under, but it seemed like it was worthwhile.

Couldn't it come in handy someday when trying to memorize the periodic table?

Addition and Subtraction Hands-On

Dd5 has been doing some basic addition and subtraction. She loves doing things that supplement her lessons. We've been...

*...playing store, first with whole dollar amounts, later with coins, too. He would have to add the price for two or three items and give me the correct amount. I would even ask him simple making change questions.

*...making up songs to remember even and odd numbers.

*...playing anything that required two dice that would be added together before moving. I'm pretty sure we made a few file-folder games to practice this, too.

*...playing addition or subtraction war, first with only the numbers 0-5 and later adding the other playing cards.

*...counting cereal pieces at the breakfast table.

*...reading books from the MathStart series by Stuart Murphy.

*...using mathfactcafe.com flashcards. They're easy enough for beginners, tough enough still for ds7 learning multiplication and division. Best of all, it's free.

*...making addition and subtraction riddles for everyday things. For instance, you can choose 3 + 1 books for bedtime reading time.

What to do when a friend moves...

Last week the kids found out that some really good homeschooling friends will be moving to Wyoming. After talking about it together, the kids and I decided we could do a couple things to help us adjust to this exciting time for our friends.

*The library has some good books on Wyoming and the west including books about geography, landmarks, and western history (goodness, pretty much anything cowboy helps, here). There are also some DVDs about the landscape.
*Find the state and capital on the map. Use mapquest to find out how many miles it is from here to their new home. What do you pass on the way? Any Wyoming state study information is good here, too. We sent for a Wyoming visitor's guide.
*Compare the population of your state with Wyoming.
*Music: Look at the words and music of the state song which happens to be titled "Wyoming". All kidding aside, the song speaks of lots more Wyoming tidbits of interest.
*Check the average temperatures and climate for the state.
*What interesting animals would be found in Wyoming that are not native to your state?
*Art: Jackson Pollock was born in Wyoming. Wouldn't it be fun to let out some of our feelings with a Pollock-style work of art?
*Author Patricia MacLachlan was born in Wyoming. Not only did she write many endearing books, many also include aspects of western life that help us learn about places like Wyoming.
*Write a note to give them. Or send it so they have some mail at their new house.
*Use the Cricut to make them a gift. Create cards that the kids of the family can use to send mail to people that are now farther away.
*Pray for their safe travels.

Christmas Countdown--25 Days until Christmas

Our story today was "The Story of the Christmas Rose". It went well with the hymn "Behold a Branch is Growing" (same as "Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming"). I also took requests. This has become a required portion of the countdown! The Bible reading for today was Genesis 3:1-15 (Fall and Promise).

In "The Story of the Christmas Rose" the main character stops to help or feed several woodland animals. We wanted to echo this sentiment in the yard. Pinecones rolled in peanut butter and seeds work well. I've also seen this done with a hanging container filled with cereal or popcorn and cranberries strung on thread.

We also went to the library today where they had supplies set up to make (large!) 3D paper snowflakes. The project was similar to that seen here, except that the library used full sheets of paper, fancy-edged scissors, and hole punches to make the snowflake fancier. I felt that the project was very do-able even for my 5 year-old (when done together) and the results are quite stunning.

Christmas Countdown-26 Days until Christmas

Today's book was "Christmas in the Big Woods" a "My First Little House Book". We talked a little bit about the simple traditions of yesteryear holidays. We pointed out similarities and differences between ourselves and Laura's family: the presents Laura got and the things she did for fun. In the book Ma makes pancake people for Christmas and we made pancake people for our lunch as well.

The Bible verses today were from Genesis 2:4-25--the creation of man and woman. "Of the Father's Love Begotten" is a Christmas hymn that fit well with the text. The children also had a chance to request a Christmas song.

For a messy project we made string Christmas snowballs. I thought they could remind us of the creation story since they're shaped like the globe. Note: The balls dried beautifully and I'd like to do the project again sometime BUT I would definitely add the glitter BEFORE popping the balloon. We followed the directions and popped the balloon, then painted the balls again with glue, then added glitter. The balls started to change shape (being wet from the second round of glue) and one of them even completely flattened and had to be redone.

I also made logic puzzles for the kids with holiday words. I think this type of puzzle is called chain letters. The letters must be linked in the correct order, and you may not cross over any other letters. Both the 5 year old and 7 year olds like these. Here is an example with the answer "candle". The puzzles can be made with 10 letter-words as well, adding a line of four circles under the line of three. The six-letter words I used to make their puzzles: Joseph, angels, lights, advent, candle, wreath, sleigh, and manger. My seven year-old realized that in his puzzle "manger" could also be "german". Leave it to him to find something new.

A Way to Change Up School for the Busy Holiday Season?

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A Way to Start the Day

How do you get your school days moving?

In order to just give a little nudge toward getting ready for the day I thought it would be interesting to write notes to the kids on the bathroom mirror with a dry-erase marker. It's something my roommates and I did in college and it was often a way to brighten someone else's day.

Sometimes I will write just a simple message about an event for the day. Sometimes it can be a riddle for them to solve. Anyone who has gotten ready for the day can then eagerly report to me at the breakfast table about what they think the answer is. I can also leave out letters of some words, make a grammatical mistake to be discovered, etc.

As an added bonus, the kids usually want to take a turn.

The down side: I think I may need a bigger mirror.