Around the World in 80 Days

We did it!

We finished our reading and study of Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne.

This book was nothing like I thought it was going to be.  I mean, I knew it wasn't going to be anything like the Disney version, but still.  I actually thought it was going to be boring and dry and I couldn't have been more wrong! (Where do we get these ideas anyway?)  We couldn't wait to see what happened in the next chapter and it had us laughing many times.  I also was afraid it would be too "adult" but again  I was wrong.  It was a very appropriate book and actually led us into some really good character assessment discussions as well as discussion on drugs and alcohol.  These topics were brought to the surface in this book in a way that showed the consequences of this lifestyle. I remember some time ago another homeschool mom warned me that there was a lot of deceit in this book.  Maybe that's where I got the idea that it was inappropriate??  Anyway, yes there was deception, again part of that character assessment!  In no way were any of the "sins" of the parties glorified.  Instead ingenuity, resourcefulness, loyalty, compassion and "stick-to-it-tiveness" were displayed.  Overall we really enjoyed this book.

We followed up by watching this 1956 version of the movie.

Academy Award Winning Around the World in 80 Days

While of course it didn't follow the book exactly it was spectacular!

It even held my 13yo son's attention.  In this day of x-box and computers that's saying a lot.

At the end of the study the unit book asked, "Are you interested in reading other books by Jules Verne?"

We say, "Yes"!

Geography "Center" - Germany

German Geography Facts

Travels Through Germany

German Foods

Germany Weather

Germany Through a Kid's Eyes

Germany for Kids

Holocaust

This is what started it all. I received these in an e-mail and it spurred me onto studying this and taking my children to the Holocaust Museum. Click the above picture to read.

WWII Unit Study Wrap Up

As we closed this study I felt very satisfied.

We didn't do everything on the list.

We didn't even do everything we thought we would do each week.

But we did learn.

We did grow.

We had a few interruptions along the way; some very serious but God had a plan.

When we took our children to the Holocaust Museum I was never prouder.

They *knew* what they were seeing and hearing.

They were solemn, respectful and responsive.

When we listened to a very young Holocaust survivor,(he was 5 years old during that time) they asked questions and thanked him for sharing with us.

I believe God brought together this group of families for this time.

For this study.

Thanks to all of you!

I loved being with you and with your kids!

I know that this study has sparked a light in my son and he will continue to learn more about this subject the rest of his life.

PLEASE send in your pictures of projects, notebooks and your writing so we can post them here to share with each other and with family and friends.

June 6, 1944

This week marks the 65th anniversary of the D-Day landings of 6th June 1944.

Holocaust Museum

I was so proud of our students as we toured the Holocaust Museum. They did so well and I was proud to realize that much of it was review for them! It didn't seem as though we learned that much at the time but we did! Even my ds whom has to have everything read to him really comprehended a lot.

Otto Frank Interview

We're still here..

Just popping in to say we're still here.  

We are working on a unit study with some friends and are studying the Holocaust and WWII. Our family will be doing a very "light" study for ds who is only 11.  

Today he decided he'd like to make a diorama, a large diorama made from salt dough no less of a European or Japanese town/city that was destroyed by the war.  We haven't chosen exactly which one yet, but I'm going to photo-chronicle the project as we go.

We might make a squidoo page when we're done.  Look for it!

Meanwhile I'll leave you with this WWII song:

Video & Radio Broadcasts WWII

History Channel Video and Audio from WWII

Songs from WWII

Warning: I'm sure there could be some negative comments, I hardly ever scroll down to read them.

The Mills Brothers "Paper Doll"

The Ink Spots Mama Don't Allow - (A funny song!)

Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition

Louis Jordan

Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy

The White Cliffs of Dover

I'm Making Believe - Ella Fitzgerald

There'll Be a Hot Time in the Town of Berlin (This is sung by Dean Martin, I tried to find the one by Bing Crosby but couldn't find it.)

Coming in on a Wing and a Prayer

We'll Meet Again

Dream

Please review the following, I haven't looked at them all yet.

Rudy Valee

You Tube WWII Songs

You Tube Andrews Sisters

Number The Stars

http://www.mce.k12tn.net/reading23/number_the_stars.htm

There are some good lesson plans on this site for the book "Number the Stars". I don't particularly like the multiple choice questions but the vocabulary and lesson plans look useful.

WWII Unit Study Overview

Each week we will be reading The Diary of Anne Frank as family read aloud at home and when we meet, we'll have discussion questions, vocabulary etc.

Each student will then choose an independent reader, and a topic to research and report on for the next week.

You will have the choice of topic to research and the way you want to present your topic.

Here are some ideas:

• write a diary or journal as if you were there
  
• make a mock newspaper
  
• write and then video some mock newscasts or interviews
  
• write a story or letter from the perspective as if you were there
  
• write basic reports
  
• write character sketches
  
• write a poetic narration
  
• make a lapbook
  
• make notebook pages
  
• write a one act play or skit from one of the stories (you could enlist the others to help you video it!)
  
• write an obituary of the person
  
• make a poster or collage
• make a board game

We also have a stack of approved reading for independent reading for you to choose from each week.

Each week we should have some time to work on reports or projects together. This will give us time to brainstorm together, make videos or just general group work.

So each week will look like this:

Week 1 Friday April 17th

Meet together - brainstorm a little about "Who, What, When, Where, Why, How"

Introductory discussion about The Diary of Anne Frank.

Choose your reader to take home.

Choose your first topic to research and possibly take books for studying.

Choose the way you would like to report.

Group study time.

Work on assignments at home during the week.

Week 2 Thursday April 23rd

Meet together - Review first week of Anne Frank reading (bring something to write with and a spiral or notebook)

Present your report.

Choose your next reader or continue the one you chose last week.

Choose your next topic and report style.

Group study time.

Work on assignments at home during the week.

Week 3 Thursday April 30th

Meet together - Review Anne Frank reading (bring something to write with and a spiral or notebook)

Present your report.

Choose your next reader or continue the one you chose last week.

Choose your next topic and report style.

Group study time.

Work on assignments at home during the week.

Week 4 Thursday May 7th (6-Flags Homeschool Day, possible reschedule anybody going?)

Meet together - Review Anne Frank reading (bring something to write with and a spiral or notebook)

Present your report.

Choose your next reader or continue the one you chose last week.

Choose your next topic and report style.

Work on these at home during the week.

Week 5 Thursday May 14th

Meet together - Review Anne Frank reading (bring something to write with and a spiral or notebook)

Present your report.

Choose your next reader or continue the one you chose last week.

Choose your next topic and report style.

Group study time.

Work on assignments at home during the week.

Week 6 Thursday May 21st (This date is flexible, my son will be in from Indiana but he could go with us!)

Meet together - Review first week of Anne Frank reading (bring something to write with and a spiral or notebook)

Present your last report.

Field trip to the Holocaust Museum.

WWII Unit Study Booklist

This list will be updated as we remove or add books.

• The Other Victims First-Person Stories of Non-Jews Persecuted by the Nazis by Ina R. Friedman
• The Good Fight- How WWII Was Won by Stephen E. Ambrose
• Number the Stars by Lois Lowry
• Hitler by Albert Marrin
• I Am a Star by Inge Auerbacher
• The Story of the World (pertaining chapters) by Susan Wise Bauer
• The Diary of Anne Frank
• World War II: The Allied Victory -
• The Story of the Trapp Family Singers by Maria Augusta Trapp
• A History of US by Hakim Vol 9
• America's Centruy a DK book
• The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom

Highschool Plans Overview

I'm posting some future plans here so that I don't lose them! If they are on here, I can retrieve them anytime.

10th Grade Last Term April/May/Summer to finish up
Bible and Social Studies (2 credits)
Christian Cottage Unit Studies(CCS) Vol 2 for Bible, and geography
Streams of Civilization Volume II
Up From Slavery
Whatever Happened to Penny Candy? (Economics: partial credit)

English II (1 credit)
Easy Grammar Plus
Essay Writing
Les Miserables (very long!)
Uncle Tom's Cabin
Shakespeare's Henry V

Science (1 credit)
Finish Apologia Biology

Math (1 credit)
Finish Math U See Geometry

Foreign Language (1 credit)
Spanish Online

Fine Arts/Humanities (1 credit)
Folksongs – I’ve Been Working On the Railroad, Grandfather’s Clock
Hymns – When I Survey the Wondrous Cross, On Jordan’s Stormy Banks
Nature Study – Birds, Weather, Trees, Insects, Patch of Ground
Artists - Vermeer, Matisse
Composers - Mozart, Johann Strauss Jr.

Music
Daily piano practice
Occasional performances

Plus exercise, homemaking, budgeting, child care, drawing, webmastering, desktop publishing, speech, drama, community service, and all those other things that seem to add up.



Tentative Basic Plans for next two years

11th Grade 2007-08

Bible & Social Studies
CCS - for Bible, geography
Streams of Civilization Vol II(If not finished last year)
A History of the American People by Paul Johnson

English III
Easy Grammar Plus
Essay Writing

Science
Chemsitry

Math
Algebra 2

12th Grade 2008-09

Bible & Social Studies
Streams of Civilization Volume I
A History of the American People by Paul Johnson

American Government
Whatever Happened to Justice?
The United States Constitution

English IV
Essay Writing

Science
Physics

Math
Pre-Cal and/or Stewardship


Okay, this is not a complete list but I'll add more as I go along. This is all I had in my notes for now.

So far this week...

We've had a rough time getting back into the swing of things after the holidays. In fact the word swing indicates more motion than we've been doing! Nonetheless here's what we've done so far this week:
DS 3rd
Math- 2 drill sheets, 2 pages in Math U See
Phonics - 5 pages in Explode the Code workbook
Spelling - 10 words from ETC
Grammar - watching School House Rock Videos FUN!
Bible - reading and discussing Ephesians 6:10-20 (armor); and Psalm 100 (praise)
Copywork/cursive practice -Labeled the armor of God, copied a passage from "The Making of a Knight"
Read Aloud - Ivanhoe Chapter 1
Unit Reading - "The Making of a Knight" by Patrick O'Brien and "The Knight at Dawn" by Mary Pope Osborne (our first encounter with the Magic Treehouse series and DS is already asking if can we get the first book and the next and the next?)
For today's unit lesson we took some virtual tours of cathedrals online here, here, here and here.
We downloaded several photos of our favorite cathedrals and their parts and I'm going to send them into Wal-Mart photo lab and have them printed out to add to our notebooks. It saves a lot of ink and is much better quality than my printer can print.
We also made "stained glass windows" with crayons and wax paper.
DS has begun a "Big Book of Everything Middle Ages". I got the idea for this particular style from here (scroll down to notebook pages).
We usually just add to our 3-ring binder history notebook, or occasionally we make a lapbook, but I really liked this bound version. If we stick with CCS I plan to make one like this for each unit. I like the cross between notebooking and lapbooking AND we have been running out of room for binders!!!!
We are using the Christian Cottage Unit Study Middle Ages portion of In the Beginning God. I really like it because it helps keep me on track. It actually makes me feel accountable to keep up with the lessons and activities, yet it is flexible enough that we don't have to do too much if we don't want.
The main thing that attracted me to them was God's word seems the foundation of the program AND the fact that no particular books are needed. How FREEING!!! I have recently committed to homeschooling on a smaller budget and this is actually helping me do just that. I am really loving it! I hope at the end of January I'm still singing the same tune.
Now as far as highschool this week with DD-
Same as above plus +
Math - Geometry 2 pgs
Grammar - 2 pg
Vocabulary - Latin derivative "murus"
Piano practice
Science - Biology
Writing - Comparison on armor of the middle ages and the roman armor Paul refers to in Ephesians.
Okay, so not as bad as I thought and we still have 3 days to go this week!