Quick Update...

So I haven't kept up with my blog lately but it really wasn't entirely my fault. It all started almost two weeks ago when I was going to post a worship article on a Wednesday morning. That was the morning my shoulder decided it did not like living in it's socket. So that put me out of commission for a few days. (I did the bare minimum that I needed to get stuff done.) Finally Monday rolled around last week and I thought I would spend the evening getting some writing done. Apparently that was not to be as I started to feel pale while waiting in the line of the bank and ended up with a full on Stomach Virus that landed me in bed all day Tuesday. Felt better on Wednesday and had to play catch up with our homeschooling and I had to work in the afternoon and Church that night. Thursday I was still feeling pretty run down but I thought I was on the mend, that was until Friday morning when I woke up with a scratchy throat and a runny nose that wouldn't quit. So now It is Tuesday and I am finally starting to feel better. Hopefully I'll get an opportunity to get some writing in either tonight or tomorrow. This Friday is the first day of our Homeschool Co-op's Spring Semester and I will be teaching 2 classes this time around. The first is a music class for 2nd and 3rd graders focusing on percussion instruments. The second is a class on the Ten Commandments for 3rd graders. should be fun.

Until next time...

Teaching Tuesdays: Making Music

So this semester at our homeschool co-op I will be teach a music class to 2nd and 3rd graders focusing on percussion instruments. This got me thinking about all the ways you can incorporate music into our homeschool programs. First off I think we can all agree that music is highly beneficial to our children's learning, both from an cultural and educational standpoint. Music is one of the few things that can unite people of different cultures all over the world. Studies have also shown that music helps with cognitive ability and logical reasoning.

So how do we introduce music to our children? Many of us have little if any musical background, but that is no excuse in our modern day and age. With the internet we can research almost any topic, music included.

The first thing I would recommend is letting your little ones drum. give them some pots and pans and some chop sticks or pencils and let them experiment with different items. Let them discover that each item has a distinct sound. Older children can learn to repeat patterns and eventually create their own rhythms. 

Musical instruments don't have to be expensive either. Sand pails make excellent drums and don't discount those toy xylophones when teaching about toned percussion. Again older students can use them to create their own compositions. Also inexpensive kits that include tambourines and hand bells are great for little ones to express themselves.

Music can also help to enhance learning especially when it comes to memorization. Set a list of facts to a well known nursery rhyme and you have a powerful mnemonic. For example sing the following to the tune of This Old Man:

North America

South America

Europe, Asia, Australia

Africa and Antarctica

I mean how many remember School House Rock. You can still get them on DVD and there are plenty of Geography and Bible memory song CDs out there.

So next time your homeschool lessons seem to be dragging try adding a little music to the mix and see where it goes.

I would love to here how you use music in either your homeschool or classroom. Leave a comment below!

Fox Knights for Royal Rangers

OK, I just got finished making these for my bulliten board in my Ranger Kids classroom, and they are beyond cool. We are starting the Fox quarter, where the boys will earn their Fox Advancement, and the theme of the quarter is Bravery. Well, I let the creative juices flow, and what could be more brave than knights, well how about fox knights?

Feel free to share and comment.

Happy NaNoWriMo

Yes, it is National Novel Writing Month. The premise is to start on November 1st and finish by Midnight on November 30th. The total word count should be no less than 50,000 words, but the Young Writers Program (YWP) allows you to set more reasonable goals for students. The idea of writing an entire novel in a month is intriguing and well, CHALLENGE ACCEPTED. I will be blogging about my experience as the month progresses, I'm getting into this late but hey, I'm a bit of an overachiever so lets see what happens. Also going to be using the YWP program with my daughter (pray for her as she does not like to write :P)

Want to write a novel yourself you can check out the program and sign up at:
http://nanowrimo.org/

Want to get free curriculum to use with your students goto:
http://ywp.nanowrimo.org/

Happy Writing!

Teaching Tuesdays: Election Day

So Today is Election Day, and as in past years we have been discussing the importance of voting and in making an informed decision. Part of our homeschool philosophy has always been to use the events of our everyday lives as a jumping off point for learning. After all we are trying to raise our daughter to be a responsible adult. I know that this year isn't a major national election but that doesn't mean it isn't important.

If you are considering a study on the electoral process (whether you're a homeschooler or not) the following resources may prove helpful:

• Election Lesson Plans Page 

• Ben’s Guide to U.S. Government for Kids

• Learn about Elections and Voting (From USA.gov)

• Electoral College Map (from C-Span Classroom)

Teaching Tuesdays: To Snow Day or Not to Snow Day

That is the question isn't it? As homeschoolers do we keep going when everyone else has no school due to the snow or do we allow ourselves to take some time off to enjoy all that wonderful white stuff?

I don't think there is any right answer to that one. It really all depends on what works best for your family, and that may even vary from year to year. One of the joys of homeschooling is the flexibility it gives us to do school around our lives and schedules and not the other way around.

So if you feel you need to do school even though public schools are closed then go ahead, (that is what we are doing this week as we have a big family vacation coming up next month and our homeschool co-op is also staring up next month so I don't want to fall behind anymore than we already are (-: ). On the other hand if you feel it is more important to your children to go outside and make a snowman or go sledding then by all means do that. We've done both and we have even taken a snow day or two even when the public school is still in session.

Our days off don't have to line up with the days the public school are taking off. We can manage our school schedule to fit the circumstances of our own individual families. So go ahead and do what is best for your family and stop worrying about what other schools and families are doing, and remember you can even do "school" while having fun. Field trip to Sea World anyone?

Like I always said when I worked as a Training Facilitator "Let's have fun and learn something!"

Teaching Tuesdays:Board Games

Who doesn't like games? Why not use that love of games to help our kids learn things?

Some of my favorite games also teach some basic and not so basic concepts. Today I want to go over a few of my families favorite games and what makes them so special.

Carcassonne

http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/822/carcassonne

My daughter began playing Carcassonne at age 6, though much of the games mechanics were lost on her at first (she really liked to complete roads so that they looked pretty.) No at 14 she can give me and my wife a run for our money. So why is this a great learning game? Well, let's start with the whole scoring system that involves basic addition and multiplication. Then there is the spacial reasoning and also the ability to plan ahead. Resource management is also something to take into account. You could also go extra geeky and look up the actual city of Carcassonne on which the game is based.

Made for Trade

http://cathyduffyreviews.com/history-geography/made-for-trade.htm

So my next pic is Made for Trade. This game is designed to be a learning tool, but unlike most games of this nature was actually entertaining to play. The game includes 4 different levels of play and is based on collecting items in a barter economy. This is definitely a great addition to any study of colonial America.

Stone Age

http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/34635/stone-age

The last game I want to mention is Stone Age. This has fast become one of our families favorite games. The game revolves around collecting resources in order to build your village and develop tools and agriculture in order to survive. This game makes the list due to its involved scoring system in which makes use of multiplication and division as well as addition. It can also spark conversations about history and the development of civilization.

This of course is just a sampling of the many games that we have used, usually without my daughter realizing it, in teaching.

Teaching Tuesdays

So, what is 'Teaching Tuesdays'? Teaching Tuesdays is going to be the heading under which everything related to homeschooling gets placed. It may not make it on the blog every week, but it will quickly highlight that article as relating to homeschooling. These articles will consist of reviews, lesson idea, homeschooling philosophies, etc.,. So, that being said, I need your help. I'm looking for submissions for this new feature. Do you have a favorite curriculum you would like to tell me about, how about a great lesson plan idea, or how about a virtual field trip. If you would like to submit an article for the blog send it to knaptihuved@yahoo.com

So the breakdown of the site is now as follows:

Managing Mondays
Articles dealing with running a household, as a guy many of these things do not come naturally so if I discover some new idea or recipe I figure others may want to know about it too.

Teaching Tuesdays
Articles dealing with homeschooling and education.

Worship Wednesdays
Being a Worship Leader is a great honor and it is also one of my passions.

Fun Fridays
This is where I'll share things of a geeky nature, I'm not just a Homeschooling Dad or a Worship Leader. I'm also a gamer and technophile.