Computer Science

Just when I thought we had a bit of a schedule in place, we decided to add a whole new course of study. So I shaved 10 minutes off of each subject and shortened our previously leisurely lunch, and now Casia has a chance to learn all about computing.

She started showing an interest when a good friend of ours pointed her in the direction of a program called Scratch. It's a programming language developed by a group at MIT to make it easy for kids to create their own games, art and animations. Casia has been using it to create games for her brother and friends to play. From a layman's prospective, it seems like a great way to get a child interested in programming in a free, user friendly way. 

Naturally, when she'd run into a computer question, Casia didn't come to me. She'd head straight to the software engineer in the family, her daddy. She was getting comfortable with most of the functions, but she was running into problems of not being able to do specific things she wanted or having to repetitively add the same element over and over again. When she'd approach Jacob for help, he was very frustrated because he thought it was a very limited tool and felt like she should just learn a more useful programming language. After a few weeks of these discussions, he finally convinced her that she should learn some programming basics.

Thus, the new course of Computer Science has been added. Fortunately, this class is handled entirely by Jacob. He spends his lunch hour giving instructions. He does the planning, gives the tests, and assigns the homework. Casia couldn't be happier about all this. She loves learning how it all works. And I think she really loves having her daddy involved in her homeschooling. It's a great opportunity to learn from a different teacher with different strengths. It also gives her a greater understanding of what Jacob does for work. And Jacob is doing a great job. He's breaking it down for her and making it fun; it's no wonder it's become one of her favorite classes. I'm so proud of them both!

Chef Casia

As part of a unit on nutrition, Casia was given the assignment of planning, shopping for and making a whole day's worth of meals. She had to make healthy, well-balanced meals based on daily recommended guidelines.  

Here's her menu (with pictures, of course!):

Well, I forgot to get a picture of breakfast, but she made oatmeal with raisins and a side dish of fresh strawberries.

For lunch Casia made guacamole grilled steak sandwiches.

Casia making guacamole.

Casia grilling the steak.

Casia assembling her sandwich.

 For a snack, Casia made yogurt parfaits with graham crackers and fruit.

Garrett and Casia enjoying the snack.

And for dinner, Casia made baked honey chicken, a garden salad and three bean salad. I didn't get any pictures of the finished meal because I set the table for her and forgot (probably due to my hunger building as I smelled her yummy chicken baking!)

Casia preparing the raw chicken.

Making the sauce for the chicken.

Basting the chicken.

I might be a little biased here, as I think Casia's a pretty impressive kid, but this time, she out-did herself.  She really got into the project. She spent a lot of time picking meals that fit the nutritional requirements and allowed her to do most of the work. She helped with the shopping. She did an awesome job making all the meals and through it all she was loving it!

Jamestown Settlement

I have to admit it, history is my favorite subject. Casia loves it, too, and field trips are one of the best parts about homeschooling. Oh, sure, Casia had field trips while in public school, but never more than one per year. And they never allowed flexibility to check out the things she was most interested in, nor was there the time for her to ask her great multitude of questions. She relishes our field trips that are tailored to her whims and fancies. We spent almost an hour talking to a Pawhatan guide in the village because she was fascinated by the choices of rocks and how he made the weapons. She remarked, as we were returning home that day, how much she enjoyed being able to stay longer in some areas and move faster through others that didn't appeal to her. Casia said that she couldn't do that in her old school trips and paid me the compliment that mine are the best field trips ever. I love adding to the reasons to homeschool!

This year, learning early American history and living in Virginia, we have a wide variety of suitable field trip locations. Our first for this year was to the Jamestown Settlement. It's not the original site of Jamestown (the first permanent English settlement) but it is a re-creation of the site, complete with the fort, the ships and a Pawhatan Indian village. Historic Jamestown is the actual site of the first settlement and can also be visited. It is a current archaeological dig site, which is very cool in and of itself. Yet I choose the re-creation because I thought all the hands-on stuff would really appeal to Casia. We'll try to get out to Historic Jamestown another time. 

Our first stop in our visit was to the Pawhatan Village:

Casia learned that seven layered deer skins makes for a very comfy Pawhatan bed.

Casia enjoyed being able to touch the beautiful animals skins.
This bear was gorgeous.

This bobcat was so soft!

Unlike a museum, everything in this village was meant
to be touched and examined. It was wonderful!
Casia's playing with the arrow (minus the arrowhead) she found in the quiver. 

Casia was sanding a stone down the old-fashioned way:
rubbing it in a stone basin filled with water and sand.
It was a very slow process.

 Our next stop was to the port:

One of three re-created ships in the port at Jamestown,
the Susan Constant had multiple decks to explore.
Casia got to learn where the passengers and crew slept (on the barrels),
who got their own rooms (the cook and the captain) and
how to tell a gun powder barrel from the rest
(they used copper instead of steel so it didn't spark.)

Cook's cabin. My favorite; he got his own room and he could snack between meals
(which numbered one per day!)

Casia is standing at the bow of the Susan Constant.
The Discovery and Godspeed are in the background.
We were able to go on those boats as well, but were limited to a tour of a deck.
Still worth it though to hear their stories.

They offered a cannon demonstration where Casia learned all about the benefits of breach artillery. 

Susan Constant from on board the Discovery.

Our last stop was in the re-created fort:

A building replica in the Jamestown fort.
Casia was very disappointed to find we were not allowed upstairs in any of the building.

Casia in the window of a house.

Casia at a writing desk.

Casia trying on her armor. She said it was heavy and uncomfortable.
The pointy stomach area that I thought was just a silly fashion
actually served to send arrows flying off to the side. 

Inside one of the roomier and well appointed houses.

That's Casia up there with her head peeping over the pulpit.

The Jamestown Settlement was a great field trip. It was very accessible to children, you could get through it in one visit (about four hours) and it was relatively inexpensive. It cost us $22.25 for the two of us and we packed our own lunches. The facilities were very nice, the guides knowledgeable and the atmosphere very inviting. 

Spices vs. Microbes

Casia switched from ancient civilizations to early American history this past spring. As a lead in, we studied various indigenous people of the Western hemisphere and early exploration and conquest by Europeans. To go along with this line of study, I found a couple of interesting articles on the big why behind the drive to explore. 

Since the acquisition of spices was such a major impetus, I found this interesting article on the subject and shared it with Casia. Spices: How the Search for Flavors Influenced Our World, written by Paul Freedman, examines the historical impact of the spice trade. In another article, What's So Hot about Spices?, by Gail Jarrow and Paul Sherman, the authors discuss the use of spices as food preservatives. This led me to the idea to combine some science and history and after a little Googling, I found this experiment:  Food Preservation.

I prepared some broth ahead of time. Casia then selected five spices: salt, pepper, sugar, cinnamon and allspice. She labeled the containers with the spice names, plus one for a control and the other labeled boiled.

She then added one cup of broth to each container followed by one teaspoon of the corresponding spice. No spices were added to the control or boiled containers.

 Casia stirred.

And then they were left without the lids on overnight in the kitchen. The next day, Casia covered all the containers except for the boiled. The boiled sample was first boiled and then left to cool for a few minutes and then covered. All containers were then left to sit for three days.

I asked Casia at the start of this lab to guess which containers would have the most microbe growth. This is what she predicted:

Most growth to least:  sugar, control, cinnamon, allspice, pepper, boiled and salt.

Now that the containers had been sitting for a few days, it was time to open them up. Casia did a great job with her lab write-up including a chart she made for her observations. She inspected each sample for smell, then with the unaided eye and then under the microscope. 

We decided that a good way to determine the amount of microbe growth would be to randomly select four areas under the microscope and then she would estimate what percent of the area that she saw under the microscope was covered in microbes. Then she averaged the four samples per container to come up with an overall estimate of microbe growth for that solution.

Casia got a lot of practice making her own slides for this lab. After six smelly containers (Casia claims the allspice solution still smelled 'yummy'), seven slides, 28 views under the microscope, and ten minutes to calculate and make a snazzy chart, Casia was ready to announce the winners in the spices vs. microbes.

Most growth to least:  sugar, control, cinnamon, pepper, allspice, boiled and salt.

Here are her results:

Spices	Salt	Boiled	All Spice	Pepper	Cinnamon	Control	Sugar
#1	15%	20%	10%	60%	40%	70%	70%
#2	5%	40%	50%	30%	90%	65%	80%
#3	30%	32%	5%	70%	2%	80%	60%
#4	10%	25%	90%	20%	50%	40%	70%
Average	15%	29%	39%	45%	45%	64%	70%

Casia's guess was really close! Her allspice and pepper were reversed. We both agreed that we we wouldn't want to consume any of the samples, as even the salt smelled foul. And with only four random samples per container, some with a range of more than 80%, she probably should have taken more sample views. But she was given only a couple of hours to complete this section of the lab. It also might have been interesting to see what would have happened had she combined multiple spices in a given sample. 

Overall, this lab was very easy to do (though a little smelly), used supplies I already had on hand and rated an awesome from Casia. 

Start of a New Year

I left off blogging abruptly last spring when everything got chaotic during the move. I continued homeschooling Casia for a couple more weeks, but then just gave up when my list of to-do's got bigger and her excitement about the move got too distracting. We picked it up again for a few weeks over the summer, but with a constant stream of visitors and activities, it seemed like more effort than it was worth trying to squeeze it in here and there.

So here we are, the second week in September, with one week under our belts in our second year of homeschooling. I think it is really interesting to see how both Casia and I have grown in our roles as student and teacher over the last year. 

The changes I've seen in Casia from the start of last year to the start of this year are huge. To begin with, her attitude has improved immensely. She's more accepting of my dual role as parent and teacher. She transitions from one activity to another more smoothly. And most importantly, her enthusiasm for learning has increased.

In addition, her ability to work independently has come a long, long way. Since she's technically in Middle School this year, I've incorporated a 'study hall' into the day's activities. It's the last hour of school before we go pick her brother up at the bus stop. She has a calendar of due dates and assignments, and anything she couldn't finish earlier in the day, she has that hour to complete it. If she doesn't have any assignments to work on, she can use the time to practice her violin or read. If it's not finished by the end of study hall, she has homework; a dreaded concept for her, so she becomes very motivated to use the time wisely. At the start of last year, when  she had a block of time for independent work, she would continually come back to me for guidance and reassurance. This year, I only see her if she has a question for me or if her work is complete. It's so reassuring to see her blossoming self-reliance.

Another area of growth for Casia is in her test taking and assignments. A year ago, she was interested in giving the most concise answers to get it done quickly. This year, she is much more deliberate. She takes her time and gives well thought out answers with a lot of detail. Overall, I feel she is in a much better place to begin the new school year than when we started last year. 

On my part, I think I am a lot more relaxed than last year. I'm still a person that thrives on a schedule, so I do make daily and weekly ones. The difference is, that this year, I don't get (as) frustrated when we can't keep on track. In fact, I've come to expect it. I also put more wiggle room in our plan to accommodate disruptions and to allow for added time on discussions that take us onto interesting tangents.

I think the biggest change in me this year is that I no longer really care what people think about the fact that I homeschool. Initially, I felt the need to explain why we were homeschooling. I felt like I had to convince people that it is a good option and in Casia's best interest. Now, frankly, I don't give a damn. I'm tired of explaining myself, only to find that people that are against the idea, still think I'm making a mistake. I'm tired of being asked how Casia's going to get the 'appropriate socialization' or how am I qualified to teach her what she needs to learn and how do I even know what she needs?

The academic success of homeschooling Casia is glaringly obvious to me. At nine years of age, currently in 6th grade, she is successfully working at the high school level in multiple subjects (something she was not allowed to do while in public school). She has many friends, is involved in team sports, is participating in various musical groups and has managed to make more acquaintances in our new neighborhood than even I have. She's a social person by nature and with the freedom to interact in the world around her (more freedom offered her than if she were confined to a brick and mortar school for seven hours a day), she is successfully navigating peer relationships and interactions with children of various ages. She will independently  place an order at the deli counter, call the local toy store to see if they have a product she desires and converse with adult neighbors about the new houses being built on the block. Socially, I think she is doing just fine.

With one year into this educational endeavor, I have become confident enough in my own judgement; I witness daily the academic and social opportunities that only homeschooling can offer; and I can see by the eager smiling face that greets me every morning, that this is definitely the right choice, the best choice for my daughter.

Science and History Collide

A couple of weeks ago, Casia was learning about the skeletal system in science. She had fun memorizing all the major bones in the body and learning about the structure of bones and how they move at various joints. During this time, she also started a unit on Native American civilizations and European explorers. It was a happy surprise when the two unit happened to overlap while watching the video called "Great Inca Rebellion". 

It's a National Geographic film and it takes a look at Pizarro's conquest of the Inca Empire and the physical evidence that supports the idea that he had a tremendous amount of help from other indigenous people who were enemies of the Incas. The medical anthropologists reveal new evidence unearthed in a hastily made burial ground. While we were watching the video, they made mentioned of many of the bones Casia had just learned and she was very excited when she realized that she knew exactly which bone they were referring to! I love it when a lesson immediately demonstrates itself to be useful.

We also watched a couple more movies that I highly recommend. "Cracking the Maya Code" was a Nova video about the anthropologists who  spent decades trying to understand the meaning of the Mayan hieroglyphs. This was one of Casia's favorites. She really enjoyed the artistic nature of the hieroglyphs and the puzzle to solve their meaning. Her other favorite was Nova's "Ghosts of Machu Picchu". In it, they showed the elaborate design and incredible engineering that went into building Machu Picchua. Casia really enjoys architecture and this video gave  her a fascinating look into the difficulties of building an enormous estate high atop the mountains and how the ancient architects were able to overcome the abundant rainfall that allowed it to remain intact five centuries later.

Science

In science, Casia has been learning some basic biology this year. We started with evolution, and learning about the scientific process and how to use tools, like the microscope. Then I taught her a bit of chemistry, so she had some basic understanding going in for the unit on cells followed by cellular respiration. Recently, she's been studying the diversity of living organism and learning about the different kingdoms and their general characteristics. We started with the single-celled organisms and worked our way through fungi, plants and then animals.  

I thought it would be good background for Casia to understand the various animal phyla (plus it makes 20-Questions more fun!), and I found this great resource from PBS. They have a video series called The Shape of Life. It was an awesome eight episode guide to most of the animal phyla. They had some online sheets, Introduction to Phyla and Phylum Comparison Challenge, that I used as background and a study guide for Casia as well. It took us awhile to get through all the episodes, but each was just under an hour long, which was the perfect length. They were extremely well done; informative and entertaining. We both enjoyed them and I highly recommend the series.

Now we've moved on to humans. This week, Casia has learned about the skeletal system and we're moving on the muscles next. If I'm able to stay on target (always a big IF), we should get through the rest of basic human anatomy, with some genetics, reproduction and nutrition thrown in, by the end of the school year. Our units are quick (just a few days each), but I think it's giving her enough biology basics that I'll feel comfortable moving onto something new next year.

Changing Gears in History

A month or so ago, Jacob and I had discussed changing gears in history and focusing on more modern history. Jacob felt I was spending too long covering the ancient civilizations and didn't feel it was as important as modern history for Casia to learn. He thinks it's important to have a general understanding of history, but not necessary to go so far in depth. Casia is a depth person. She likes to sink her teeth into topics she enjoys and really spend time exploring them. And history is one of her favorite subjects. 

Admittedly, I've fallen behind in my schedule of where I wanted to be in the history curriculum. I wanted to cover all the major ancient civilizations through the world this school year. So far, I've gotten as far as the Egyptians, Greeks and Romans. I was planning on tackling Mesopotamia next, but abbreviating the material covered. I was still hoping I could get to ancient China and India as well as the ancient civilizations of the Americas, at least in part, by the time the new school year rolled around and we started modern American History, from the Civil War to present.

But two weekends ago, we made a trip to Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia. I hadn't been there since I was a kid, and Jacob and our children had never been, so it was really exciting. Casia loved the time period clothing, the old buildings, the tour of the Governor's Palace and the old-time feel of the place. When she found out some of the residences are privately owned, she declared that she too, someday, would live in Colonial Williamsburg. She also wanted to work there, and if possible, she'd like to have her next birthday party there as well. Needless to say, she has has started a new obsession.

Casia, hoop trundling in front of the Governor's Palace.

Casia and Garrett in the stockades.

For this reason, I've decided to rework the history curriculum (best part of homeschooling: the ability to change things up as the need or desire arises!) We are skipping the rest of the ancient civilizations for now and focusing on the Americas. Casia spent one week on catching up what happened between the fall of the Roman Empire and the Age of Exploration. I felt she needed to understand the changes in Europe and the Middle East to understand the drive for exploration and the technologies that made it possible. Currently, we are spending a couple of weeks learning about the indigenous people of the Americas and then we will move on to Colonization. 

Casia had some colonial history in 4th grade, but  it was a superficial covering and considering her new interest, I thought she'd enjoy some more depth. I'm still hoping to do modern history next year, but we'll have to do some history over the summer to get there. Living in Virginia, we are centrally located for early American history, so I'm hoping to be able to take a lot of exciting field trips!