Native American Custom and a Spinning Tale

We went to see a performance called "Native American Custom and a Spinning Tale,” an  event at Maudslay State Park where kids and adults learned about the lives of Native Americans.

While waiting for the program to start, the kids colored pictures.

From the program we learned that the Native Americans who lived near Newburyport ate  seafood that they caught along the coast, such as lobsters and fish. They harvested crops such as corn and squash, as well as hunted animals for food and clothes. My favorite moment of the day was when the kids touched that dead skunk on the bottom of the first pic below. Jayden thought it was fake so he pet it. I told him that it was a dead animal that Native Americans used it for food and as an accessory. He didn't say a word, just quickly walked away, wiping his hand on his shorts.

Cait's reaction was even funnier. She pet it and picked it up absentmindedly, looking at other things on the table while cuddling it. I told her that it was real and she launched, and I mean LAUNCHED it, back to it's spot. I tried explaining what the Native Americans used it for but she was trying to convince me that I was tricking her and refused to listen. She finally believed me when May walked over and told her that I was telling the truth.

 

 

 Theater in the Open came and performed a folk tale called How Grandmother Spider Stole the Sun. Cait and I only caught the end of it because her small bladder was about to explode, but what we did see, we enjoyed. There were masks of a fox, bear, opossum and buzzard. I'm not sure what happened in the beginning and middle but in the end, the buzzard had the hot sun on his head, taking it back up to the sky where it belonged. 

After that, they allowed the children to look at and touch the masks. They even gave us pointers on how to make our own. I know that I am challenged in the creativity department, so hopefully Vanessa will help us with this! I DID hear them say they made most of the animals with pizza boxes. I guess I'll have to order pizza, you know, for the kids' education and all...

The kids also played a version of basketball that the Native Americans played.

Native American tools

 I made The kids made a spider web out of a plate.

What a terrible photographer I am, cutting off the top of his head!

 

Cait showing an acorn she found

 

The Beach

Apart from the fiasco in April, we have not been to the beach all summer. I think I was traumatized by the gazillion hour ride that May claimed would only take 30 minutes. Stupid traffic had other plans for us. I digress!

We met up with some friends for some beach fun and to celebrate Vanessa's birthday. It is a beach in Newburyport, about 30 mins away. There was hardly anyone there but our group. It was so peaceful and beautiful!

This was my childrens third time at the beach. Cait FREAKED out the first time. (She was about 18months old). So we didn't go back until this past April. And even then she was not too fond of it. This time was different. She let the water creep up her ankles and splash all the way up her dress and in her face.

Her lips were purple and she was shivering but she insisted she wasn't cold and wanted to keep going in. I think she might be ready for swimming classes, unlike last year!

Jayden and Cait made Vanessa a card for her birthday

Jayden had so much fun with Hayzel, Owen, and Vinny. He thinks they are the greatest kids ever. He thought he  could take on the big waves. He tried inching deeper and deeper into the water. I ruined the fun by telling him he couldn't go in so deep. Oh well.

All of the kids hugging Vanessa after we sang to her

Cait became pretty ornery (surprise) after I said no more water.

I love how engaged everyone is in Jayden's story

She wanted to bring some of the beach home with her

The kids fell asleep within 5 minutes of being tucked into bed. I wish we lived closer to the beach! We would visit every afternoon!

Park, Nature Walk, and Library with Friends!

Still enjoying the last days of summer. I have to admit, I am excited for shorter days, colder nights, and the upcoming holidays!

This face tells you all you need to know about her attitude lately.

Jayden finally made it all the way to through the monkey bars! This was a huge thing for him. He and I have had so many discussions about the monkey bars. He wanted me to hold him through it because he was scared. I told him that he was strong enough to get through it without me carrying him, but I would be right there in case he fell (life lesson, anyone?). What I loved best about this whole thing is that even though he was scared, he kept trying. He would always freak after the second bar, but he went back and tried again and again.

 Suddenly he was at the fourth bar, and I kept cheering him on.

He was really proud of himself for making it through to the end, and so was I. His hands burned but he was thrilled with his accomplishment.

"Mom!! DID YOU SEE THAT?! I DID IT!!"

 After that, I got conned into joined everyone for a nature walk. Have I mentioned how gross I think bugs/snakes/etc. are? If there were just trees and pretty animals, like deer, I'd be fine with a nature walk. But Cait grabbed a big log and all I saw was the end of a snake slithering deeper into the pile. I nearly ran.

Carolyn and Olivia found some little frogs in the pile. Carolyn was brave enough to even try to catch one for Olivia.  1. note how far away I am from the pile, taking this picture. 2. the camera was zoomed in, so I look like I am closer than I really am.

 Thankfully, we went back to the park.

Earlier this week, Juan was sick and actually (for the first time ever!!) called out of work. I decided to take the kids and disappear so he could rest quietly. I'm an awesome wife, I know. (I won't mention that he got sick because he caught my cold. I also won't mention that he let me sleep in until 10:30 on his only day off so that I could get rest. If I mention it, then he gets to be awesome too) So I, being as fabulous as I am, decided to make him a big pot of chicken noodle soup and braved the scorching heat.

We stopped at the air conditioned library. The kids spent time on the computer, doing puzzles, and picking books.

The heat nearly cooked us. We went through SIX bottles of water in a couple of hours. We had a picnic lunch in the only shaded area we could find. The kids were so thirsty they even grudgingly sipped on May's lemon water. I wish I had a picture of their face when they tasted it. It was PRICELESS!

Finally someone suggested we switch parks. Talk about a brilliant idea. The other park is almost completely shaded by huge beautiful trees.

 

Most surprising thing of the day: these two got along. The heat must have made them temporarily insane.

 

Our Curriculum 2012

As our first official day of school draws closer, I am in the final stages of planning out our curriculum. This is the first year that we had to declare ourselves as homeschoolers. I submitted our letter of intent, a requirement of New Hampshire. We will be keeping a portfolio and Jayden will be evaluated at the end of the school year, as per NH Law. I have spent many hours piecing together what I feel will be the right fit for them, so hopefully they like it. 

This year we will be doing Ancient World History. We will mostly be following a curriculum called Myths, Maps, and Marvels. This curriculum coordinates books, maps, timelines, activities, and websites to provide a thorough overview of Ancient Civilizations for early elementary grades. Update 9/27/12- We are no longer using that curriculum. I felt like it was too fast paced and the lessons weren't sinking in well enough. We will still be using these books but The Story of the World will be our spine. We will use the books listed below, as well as other resources, to supplement .The books we purchased for World History are:

1. Internet-Linked Encyclopedia of World History
2. The Story of the World (Revised Edition)
3. Ancient Greeks
4. Tut's Mummy: Lost... and Found
5. Egyptian Activity Book Creative Fun
6. History Pockets: Ancient Civilizations
7. Mythology

As we go through the timeline we will also borrow books from the library to get a better understanding of anything we are learning.

Jayden, and sometimes even Caitlin, have been asking many questions about religions. We plan on keeping their education completely secular, since we aren't religious, but I do want them to learn about different religions. We picked up a book called One World, Many Religions: The Ways We Worship, which explains Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism and is beautifully illustrated. We will be using this for Social Studies. We haven't used this book yet (as of 4.13.13). We are having discussions about different religions but we haven't read the book yet.


We may dabble in Geography with our Beginning Geography workbook as well.(We are halfway through this as of 4.13.13)

For science we will be using Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding (I purchased the PDF download for $5 here) using pictures and projects from our Explore and Learn textbooks. We only have volumes 1 & 2 right now, but we are on the look out for the others at our local used book store. This curriculum requires a LOT of preplanning. Not something we were prepared for. Instead we have followed Jayden's interests and studied whatever he wanted to study in Science, which included the human body, dinosaurs, the solar system, matter, and more! (4.13.13) We are also joining two Science co-ops that meet 2x a month each. (Co-ops are over 1/13)

For math we will be sticking with Time 4 Learning, as well as supplementing with worksheets. Jayden LOVES this interactive web based program. He will also be doing some Language Arts, Science, and Social Studies there whenever he wants. As of 4.13.13 it has been a while since Jayden used T4L. He is no longer interested in it and feels it is too babyish. Instead we do worksheets on time, measurements, addition (both basic and regrouping), subtraction (both basic and borrowing), and even some multiplication! We will also be using Math U See Beta in the next week or so.

We will be working on Spelling (Grade 2) and Grammar (Grade 1) with National Treasures Workbooks that I printed for free.

We will also be learning Spanish with some cds and English-Spanish Everything for Early Learning.

We will continue reading our Magic Tree House books, as well as several classics, such as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Mrs. Piggle Wiggle, James and the Giant Peach, and more! (4.13.13-Saving those for 2nd grade. We have a list of the chapter books we have read at the bottom of the blog). Jayden loves to write so we will do several book reports as well.

We will be creating lapbooks and doing various art projects based on what we are learning, and voilá, we have art covered too!

While this curriculum is more age appropriate for Jayden, Caitlin will be joining us for pretty much anything she is interested in doing. Reading time will be the only mandatory time for her. We will continue working on alphabet and numerical recognition, as well as phonics and basic addition.


None of this is really set in stone. This is our first official year so if we find something isn't working for us, I will definitely change it up. That's the beauty of homeschooling! I also have a couple of ideas in mind for things I'd like to do, I'm just still trying to figure out how to incorporate it all.