History Alive: the Alamo!

Last week our family enjoyed a week away from normal. We ventured south a bit to enjoy some time with the grandparents and to make a visit to the Alamo.

This past year's Ambleside Year 3 readings of American Tall Tales has sparked a wonder-filled world of frontier life and awestruck fascination with Davy Crockett.

Let him ... linger pleasantly over the history of a single man, a short period,

until he thinks the thoughts of that man, is at home in the ways of that period.

-Vol 1, p280

As Royal's interests gravitated toward this hero of the 19th century, I began to keep my eyes open for books he may enjoy and found a handful at various thrift stores:

Davy Crockett, Young Pioneer

Davy Crockett, Defender of the Alamo

The Story of Davy Crockett

Susanna of the Alamo

I also ordered Davy Crockett's Own Story, As Written by Himself.

I confess I did this because I was inspired by my son's interest, along with the notion that this book could be an option for Year 10's biography selection.

From my Commonplace:

(I can't help but think that Charlotte Mason would be proud to read this as well!)

What a pity it is that these theaters are not contrived that everybody could go;

but the fact is, backwoodsman that I am, I have heard some things in them that was

a leetle too tough for good women and modest men;

and that's a great pity, because there are thousands of scenes of real life that might be exhibited,

both for amusement and edification, without offending.

p168

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Let a child have the meat he requires in his history readings, 

and in the literature which naturally gathers round this history, 

and the imagination will bestir itself without any help of ours;

the child will live out in detail a thousand scenes of which he only gets the merest hint.

-Vol 1, p295

With all the past year's talk of Crockett and the Alamo, playing at frontier life and singing the Ballad of Davy Crockett, my kids were ripe for a visit to this shrine of Texas history.

Photos are not allowed inside the mission, but it was amazing to view relics once used by so many involved in the Texas Revolution...a Bowie knife, Crockett's rifle, a large wood piece from his Tennessee home's chimney, and his leather wallet (which we sketched to try replicating in the future, as Royal is now beginning to do leatherwork). 

Talking with various museum attendants:

... we learned where Davy Crockett's battle position at the Alamo was and where his body was found afterwards 

... we enjoyed handling a real flintlock rifle and .69 caliber round balls 

... and did you know Phil Collins (he was seriously my favorite rock star growing up!) is an Honorary Texan because of his generous donations of Alamo relics he has collected over the years? He has amassed around 250 articles relating to the Alamo and the Texas Revolution. A select few are already on display at the Alamo, but the rest Mr. Collins has asked specifically that there be a place where the entire collection can be housed together. These plans are in the works now.

For a bit of History in the Headlines, read this article: Phil Collins has always Remembered the Alamo

my little Davy Crockett & Jim Bowie

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The Church of San Fernando,

one of the oldest cathedrals in the USA

and the marker for the official center of the city of San Antonio lies on the floor of the back chapel:

Besides being beautiful on the outside,

the inside is quite lovely as well:

And in the entrance on the left side of the church,

another piece of history:

History is now alive in our minds!

"Education must be an appeal to the spirit if it is to be made interesting."

{Science} with a Drop of Water

Although we are in the final term of Year 3, when I saw that there had been added a science component using the book A Drop of Water, I didn't want Royal to miss out.

We began the book during our first week of Term 3 and have been enjoying the wonderful photographs along with the succinct, yet informative description for each topic.

Since week 1, the kids have been begging to do the "floating steel" experiment. Well today we finally got to that portion.

After reviewing some basic properties of water molecules and discussing the reasons why and how a steel pin can float, there was a lot of excitement when I gathered all the materials for the experiment.

I have to say it was pretty amazing that we were all successful at floating the pin!

After a first attempt fail, we tried a different way of lowering the pin into the water, balanced carefully in the cradle of a paper clip, held in "V" formation, so as not to disrupt so much of the surface tension:

Really amazing to see from below how the pin is held suspended on top of the water...

And then to float the paper clip:

If you are using this book, how are you all enjoying it along with the experiments?

{Foreign Language} :: Around the House + Printable

We have been using the Cherrydale Press book Speaking Spanish with Miss Mason and Francois for awhile now. I began using it as-is; however, after the first two or three series, I wanted to begin using the book more as a jumping-off point for other original series. After we complete a unit, sometimes I am at a loss as to what to focus on next so I will return to the book for another idea.

Our current unit is "Around the House". 
I have broken the unit up into rooms of the house, each room with their separate series to learn and act out.

Series 1: the bathroom
* I take off my clothes.
* I take a shower/I take a bath.
* I dry off with the towel.
* I put on my pajamas.

Series 2: the bedroom
* I put on my pajamas.
* I get into bed.
* I sleep.

Series 3: the living room
* I walk to the couch.
* I sit down on the couch.
* I turn on the lamp.
* I read the book.

Series 4: the kitchen
* I cook the food.
* I serve the food.
* I wash the dishes.
* I dry the dishes.
* I put away the dishes.

Series 5: the dining room
* I set the table.
* I put the food on the table.
* I sit down in the chair.
* I pray.
* I eat the food.

Series 6: the garage
* I get in the car.
* I start the car.
* I drive the car home.
* I park the car in the garage.

We spend about two weeks on each series, and include review of all previous series throughout the week as well. At some point during the course of the series, I have been making entries into their Spanish Notebook (more on that in another post sometime).

Besides regular review, I like doing games or activities on the last day of school each week to have a fun way to reinforce vocabulary and verbs. Some of the my routine go-to games include Simon Says, Charades, Karuta, Rock-Paper-Scissors and Bingo.

This last week we used Bingo in a fun way to review all the series. I made up several Bingo cards, numbered randomly with the numbers 1-6 so the enumeration would correspond to the dots on dice.

Instructions for Bingo: Home Edition are as follows...

1. Roll the dice. Each number (1-6) corresponds to one room of the house.
     1=the bathroom
     2=the bedroom
     3=the living room
     4=the kitchen
     5=the dining room
     6=the garage

2. Whichever number the child rolls, they must say an action or sentence describing something they do in that room.
     Ex) The child rolls a "4", signifying the kitchen. They can say something like "I cook the food" or "I wash the dishes." Once one phrase has been said, the next time that number is rolled, a different phrase should be produced. (You could even print a list of all the series and mark off phrases as they are mentioned)

3. If the child says a correct action or phrase, they may place a marker on that particular number of the Bingo board. If not, they must wait until another turn.

4. The first child to get 5 markers in a row wins :-)

Here are my Bingo cards if you'd like to print, cut & play this game too! The middle gray space is the FREE space:

Weekly Focus on Nature

As a part of our new scheduling plan, I wanted to make sure to incorporate some intentional nature focus once a week, apart from our regularly scheduled nature walk and study. My hope is that my children will find some nature friends to become acquainted with right outside our doors ...some friends they have not met yet (or don't know very well) ...some things they have not noticed before. Additionally this helps ensure we have focused nature time for those weeks where one of the school days may get absorbed into life, such as doctor appointments, grocery shopping trips, visits with friends, etc.

On the first school day of the week (usually Tuesday) I send them out during the morning for half an hour. I have them take their nature journals and colored pencils in case they want to sketch anything they see. However, I do not require it. I want them, at the very least, to observe and to be able to tell me about something after the half hour is up.


Week One :: August 4
Royal sketched some lichen growing on a fallen dead tree trunk.

Alice quickly drew a tumble-weed like grass head. (Not sure what it is)

I did lots of sketching and painting throughout this week. I think I was still on a high from the previous weekend's Hill Country Retreat and Heather's watercolor lessons! :-)

Week Two :: August 11
I made a point to remind them that when they draw, they should be observing the piece of interest at the time...not doing it from memory or what they think it looks like. (This is what Alice had done last week)

Royal said he didn't want to sketch anything; however, I had him take his notebook just in case. Turns out he did find something to draw, and did a mighty find job of it as well! 

Afterwards, I had him tell me about it in order to record his observations alongside the sketch. This is what he said:

I took a bucket and went out in the woods and I turned the bucket over and sat down.

I was looking around when something caught my eye. 

It was an elm tree where the roots had grown out sideways at the base and had formed two dens.

I looked for an animal in the dens, but there was nobody there so I thought that maybe I should draw that.

Alice didn't draw anything today, but she did point out a teeny-tiny spider in its web sitting right next to me that I hadn't noticed.

A Dewdrop Spider

Almanzo came over from his play, after which I went to retrieve our magnifying glass to have a better look at that spider. I showed him, then he wanted to look at some other things. He and Alice wandered around together looking at things then, while I ventured to record a few notes from the morning's observations. This is what I wrote:

Bluebirds in our front yard.

Lots of cardinals, as usual. Many high-pitched chips up in the trees: "ch-ch-ch-ch"

A teeny-tiny spider has spun its web on the yard swing. It has a silvery-white abdomen.

We used a magnifying glass to get a better look. It was so tiny!

Ant lion "traps" are everywhere.

Week Three :: August 19
Another successful morning outside!

Royal related to me the following (no sketch today):

Today I got the closest to a bird that I've ever gotten in my life.

It was literally like a foot away from me. I was just being real still.

It was on the branch beside me. It was a sparrow.

It was light brown all over with a white belly, black and white tail feathers and black around the eyes.

And then the other cool thing was I saw a squirrel in a tree about 20 feet away from me

and then all of a sudden I heard it make sounds. It was kind of a "chip-chip" sound.

Alice drew this that Almanzo brought to her. Apparently it is the same thing she hurriedly sketched from memory in Week One. She just didn't realize it! This time a closer look. (Still don't know what it is though):

And my entry into my sketchbook today:

...which is a rendition of the rouge-plant: 

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So how is Nature Study going over at your place? 

{Mixed Bag} :: Focus on the Riches

After a month of lethargy and high temperatures in July, my attitude and outlook is a bit refreshed now ... and our homeschool atmosphere perking up in turn.

:: We began our first week of Term 3 (Year 3 and Year 1) last week, August 4. So far the scheduling of our day is going well. I have forced myself to stick closer to 15-20 minute lessons/readings rather than reading to check it off the list. I am enjoying the change and feeling much more productive all the way around. I really like that I can also incorporate some much-needed cleaning tasks in the morning on a bi-weekly basis, enlisting the help of my little troopers. Interestingly enough, it also appears that we are still getting it all done within the week AND are finishing our lessons earlier in the day than in previous terms, so I guess there really is something to shorter lessons helping to keep energy levels more sustained throughout the day!

:: We have done a bit of handcrafting. Royal received a leather working kit for his birthday and has been enjoying learning how to make a few useful items. He has been working on a holster with his grandpa and has also done a couple of round coasters for practice with his tooling.

Both Royal and Alice have done a few review sessions on button sewing, and Alice brought her weaving loom back into commission.

A couple of recent mom-crafts on my part: 
~matching circle skirts for Alice and her doll: 






































~...and a decorative plate. I was invited to a Pinterest plate-painting party, which was lots of fun. I decided on this design to add to the atmosphere of our school:

:: We were blessed to get a good deal on a used keyboard from a new friend. Hoping to start my kids on some introductory music lessons sometime this fall in exchange for Spanish lessons for her kids perhaps!

:: Natural encounters have been happening this past week with moths, equine and baby cardinals (again!)

I *think* this is a Virginia Creeper Sphinx, Aug 13

the Pandorus Sphinx Moth, Aug 3

...some friendly equine...
a good opportunity to show the kids differences between horse and mule

This little baby is learning to fly. I think it must have jumped nest a tad early.
We watched it and followed it around for more than an hour.
It was hopping, then would fly just above the grass for no more than 2 yards.
Royal reported that Daddy cardinal came from time to time to give it food
on the ground.
He sure was "cheeping" a lot!

Stalking the baby Cardinal :-)

:: Painting, painting, and more painting! Yes, I think the watercolor session by Heather (part 1 and part 2 here) at the Hill Country Retreat was the jump-start I needed to flesh out my nature journaling this next year. I have taken a few afternoons to just enjoy this process and try my hand at some techniques along with honing my observation skills.

a mourning dove feather found on a Nature Walk

our resident Black & Green Argiope (or plain old garden spider)

a leaf from our Texas Redbud tree

Today I had Royal and Alice work with watercolors on a couple of projects. Royal also painted a Texas Redbud leaf, while Alice continued work on a still life painting she started a while back with a watercolor lesson book I picked up at a thrift store:

:: And we had a big birthday to celebrate this week as Hubby turned 40 :-) We went to a hoe-down and enjoyed learning some square dancing, doing the Cotton-Eyed Joe and the Virginia Reel line dance. (so fun!)

Now ain't these just the cutest little country bumpkins you ever did lay yer eyes on?

{Keeping} :: July's Firsts

2 - crepe myrtle blooms

17 - juvenile cardinals: males with a bit of red on breast, tail & wings

20 - cicadas making lots of noise, have found a few exoskeletons

22 - painted bunting at our banana plant

31 - frostweed blooms