Kids are Naturals at Nature


From the time they can walk, children love to explore each blade of grass and every tiny insect. They really are naturals at nature and I got to wondering what type of nature resources I might find here at HEM now that we are enjoying spring and the returning birds. Like Brenda, I have bird feeders all over my yard and we have a whole variety of feathered friends that visit to drink and eat here. I also have three well worn reference books next to my desk that we have enjoyed since my boys were young naturalists. There is The Handbook of Nature Study by Anna Botsford Comstock, Reader’s Digest Nothern American Wildlife and Birds of Ohio. We also have smaller guides, but those are in the car for when we go hiking.

Below are some great nature resources from past issues of Home Education Magazine

Supplements Are The Key! by Lois Szymanski

Have you ever thought of the world around you as one giant supplement? I do. When we go on walks, (which is physical education) we take along a great book called The Birder’s Journal. Created by Mel Baughma and published by Stackpole Books, the journal is filled with sketches of birds that can be colored. Under each bird is a place to list when and where it was sighted as well as a spot for notes. Using her Peterson First Guides to Birds, (by Roger Tory Peterson- Houghton Mifflin Company) and her Golden Guide to Birds (by Herbert S. Zim and Ira N. Gabrielson- Western Publishing Company, Inc.) she looks up the birds she sees and colors them in. When we go marsh mucking on Assateague Island on vacations, we drag every unknown specimen we find into the naturalist to learn more about it. Then we document our findings on paper and with photographs and keep them in a notebook.

Older Kids – Learning and Doing Science by Cafi Cohen

Instead, your teenagers may want to consider a specialized area, a single problem, in The following areas – astronomy, botany, geology, meteorology, electricity/electronics, nature studies, health and disease, nutrition, parasitology, paleontology, herpetology, history of science. College catalogs usually state two or three years of “science” as adequate preparation for their programs. Most do not specify biology, chemistry, and physics. And most do not specify that applicants must have taken a survey course. Choose an interesting area. Work on one topic or problem in depth.

The Road to Enthusiasm – S.A. Terhorst-Steele

Julian (four) has become interested in flora and fauna. I’m not much of a naturalist. In fact I rarely noticed plants and animals until I began having my own children. I was more likely to be found reading a book or writing. These days however, I am spending a great deal of time contemplating what types of plants or animals reside in our world and what they have in common with each other. The focus of my day with Julian is reading National Geographic, plotting the map, watching the occasional nature video, watering plants and visiting various nurseries so he can ask what kind of care his orchid needs.

Five Steps to Unschooling - Joyce Kurtak Fetteroll

To unschool, you begin with your child’s interests. If she’s interested in birds, you read – or browse, toss aside, just look at the pictures in – books on birds, watch videos on birds, talk about birds, research and build (or buy) bird feeders and birdhouses, keep a journal on birds, record and ponder their behavior, search the web for items about birds, go to bird sanctuaries, draw birds, color a few pictures in the Dover Birds of Prey coloring book, play around with feathers, study Leonardo DaVinci’s drawings of flying machines that he based on birds, watch Alfred Hitchcock’s “The Birds.”

But DON’T go whole hog on this. Gauge how much to do and when by your child’s reactions. Let her say no thanks. Let her choose. Let her interest set the pace. If it takes years, let it take years. If it lasts an hour, let it last an hour.

Good Stuff – To Dissect Or Not To Dissect by Becky Rupp

My homeschool journals are stuffed with photographs. There are pictures of our three boys building toothpick bridges, inflating hot-air balloons, weaving Navajo-style headbands, making papier-mache Viking helmets, painting birdfeeders, planting beans, firing rockets, making clay models of the Parthenon, raising butterflies. And – a fat lump in the middle of Journal #3 – there’s a whole stack of snapshots of the kids dissecting frogs.

Here are some great resources from other folks:

• Anna Botsford Comtock’s bookinspired one family to create their own Handbook of Nature Study blog journal as they use the book.
• Handbook of Nature Study by Anna Botsford Comstock can be read in its entirety online here.
• Nature Study – Charlotte Mason Style
• Journey North
  

There are many, many more that you can find at your library or by doing a search. I found a blog that I really enjoy that is specific to Ohio, but the writer is a passionate naturalist, so I check his Ohio Birds and Biodiversity blog on a regular basis. As blogging has grown, it isn’t hard to find informative blogs on subjects that people are passionate about. Enjoy!

Reading her columns again has been a walk down memory lane as I have checked to see if the books I’ve listed are still in print. I’ve listed some of them below along with links to her original column and some occasional snippets from her reviews. I hope your family enjoys each of her recommended books as much as we did!

I distinctly recall borrowing and reading Steven Kellog’s I Was Born About 10,000 Years Ago after reading Joan’s review in her July-August 1997 column. She wrote:

No one retells a tall tale with more panache than Steven Kellogg. In this one, which was adapted from a nineteenth-century American folk song, multiple narrators boldly take credit for some of the most outrageous claims in history. One by one, they brag about having seen King Pharoah’s daughter fish Moses out of the water, of seeing Adam and Eve being banished from the Garden of Eden, of showing Columbus the way to the New World, of secretly marrying Queen Elizabeth in Milwaukee, even of playing hopscotch with spacemen on the moon (with plans to visit Saturn). All of these outlandish boasts are embellished with Kellogg’s own verse and typically exuberant illustrations.

In that same column she reviewed A Journey to the New World: The Diary of Remember Patience Whipplle, the first book in the Dear America Series, A Drop of Water: A Book of Science and Wonder, by Walter Wick and Lives of the Athletes: Thrills, Spills (and What the Neighbors Thought.)

In her January-February 1998 So Many Books column, Joan Torkildson reviewed:

• Cracked Corn and Snow Ice Cream A Family Almanac, by Nancy Willard
  Joan writes this about the book: Perfect for browsing during long, wintery afternoons (even if you don’t happen to live in the Midwest), the almanac is both an engrossing read and a poignant reminder of a quieter, less complicated time not so very long ago.
  
• I Wonder Why Trees Have Leaves and Other Questions About Plants (Kingfisher books by various authors)
  The books are an eclectic mix of bold, easy-to-read type, beautifully realistic illustrations, and humorous cartoon-like drawings. Questions range from the sensible (“Why do leaves change color in the fall?”) to the quirky (“Which bird sniffs all night?”).
  
• The Kingfisher Young People’s Atlas of the World
  Extensively indexed, the book also includes detailed charts of facts and figures for each continent.
  
• I Saw a Purple Cow by Ann Cole, Carolyn Haas, Faith Bushnell, and Betty Weinberger
  The emphasis here is on the simple and homemade, a feature that will no doubt be appreciated by budget-minded homeschooling families. Most of the activities in the book use recycled or common household items, such as cardboard boxes and tubes, egg cartons, newspapers and magazines, cans and jar lids, old clothes and jewelry, crayons, and watercolors. Have plenty of white glue and tape on hand.
  
• The Best of Shakespeare: Retellings of 10 Classic Plays E. Nesbit

In the So Many Books March-April 1997 Column, Joan wrote this about

• With Needle and Thread: A Book About Quilts , by Raymond Bial, With Needle and Thread would make a nice addition to a unit study on quiltmaking, or could simply add depth and background to a family quiltmaking project. Ambitious types might try researching a few of the hundreds of colorful names (Broken Dishes, Chinese Coins, Drunkard’s Path, Trip Around the World) to uncover more of the history of this gentle “art within.

In this column she also reviewed

• The Shelter of Each Other: Rebuilding Our Families
• Mapping a Changing World
• My Brother Sam Is Dead

Here is a list of other books that she recommended via her column:

• Pass the Peas Please
• Crinkleroot’s Nature Almanac
• Grandfather’s Christmas Tree
• Amelia Erhart, Young Air Pioneer

I’ve linked many of the books to sites where you can purchase them, whether brand-new or well-used, but don’t forget to see if you can borrow them from your local public library first!

Below you will find a brief synopsis of Kathy’s past columns(click on the title for those included online) and some links to other resources Kathy has to offer online.

Hands-On Learning Columns by Kathy Ceceri

Magnifying Lenses (January-February/09)
Kathy explores magnifying lenses of all kinds explaining ways you can bend light for a clearer look at the smaller things in life.

Economics and Recycled Crafts (November-December 2008)
Kathy Ceceri shares ideas about how your kids can learn how to make good choices … AND how to get creative when money is tight.

Two-Jar Ant Farm (September-October 2008)
An ant farm is a great way to learn about the lives of insects and ants are real low maintenance pets!

Mancala Board Game (July-August 2008)
There are many ways to play a game of mancala. When you make your own playing board, it gets even more fun.

Geography and Arctic Life (May-June 2008)
There’s much to learn about and from one of the world’s coldest places.

Chemical Crystal Garden (March-April 2008)
Utilizing common household chemicals, you can experiment with and grow your own crystal gardens.

Coil Baskets (January-February 2008)
The humble basket is probably among the earliest human inventions. There are many ways to make a basket, but coiling is a method found around the world.

Archeology (November-December 2007)
Kathy Ceceri suggests how to introduce and involve your kids in the world of Archeology.

Inventions Old and New (September-October 2007)
Kathy tells us how we can get a taste of inventing by making a model of Morse’s telegraph.

The Sport Of Boomerang Throwing (July-August 2007)
Kathy Ceceri explains why boomerangs fly, shares a story about Aborigine tradition, tells the record for keeping a boomerang in the air before catching it, and shows how to help your kids create their own beautiful and far-flying boomerangs – which will really return

Medieval Beasts (May-June 2007)
Kathy’s Hands-On-Learning project looks at the fantastic beasts of the Middle Ages.

Build A Robot Hand (March-April 2007)
Instructions on how to build a simple cardboard robot hand that uses strings as tendons.

Foreign Language: Mexican Yarn Craft (January-February 2007)
Kathy shows how to combine the study of a foreign language with creation of a local handicraft; in this case, studying Spanish while crafting the lovely Ojo de Dios, or “Eye of God.

Jug Band Music and Invented Instruments (November-December 2006)
Hands-On Learning editor Kathy Ceceri explains how to make and play jug band instruments

Flipbooks (September-October 2006)
Kathy introduces her readers to flip books as a great way for beginning animators to create instant movies.
This article originally appeared in the issue of Home Education Magazine.

Solar S’mores and Other Sun-Powered Crafts
Kathy Ceceri describes how to make a solar cooker from simple materials and use it to create tasty S’mores.
This article originally appeared in the July-August 2006 issue of Home Education Magazine.

Early American Paper Quilling (May-June 2006)
Kathy Ceceri shows how quillwork can be used to make greeting cards, earrings, mobiles and holiday ornaments.

Ice Age Animal Cave Paintings (March-April 2006)
Kathy Ceceri describes the wonders of Ice Age Animal Cave Paintings, and shares ideas and tips for helping your homeschooled kids create their own “prehistoric” masterpieces using everyday resources found in the home.

Make a Wooden Abacus (January-February 2006)
Kathy Ceceri explains how to build your own abacus, and offers tips for using your new math tool.

World History Crafts (November-December 2005)
Kathy Ceceri explains the history and traditions of the unique Tibetan Sand Mandala – and provides instructions for helping your child create a beautiful replica of this ancient art form.

Other Resources from Kathy Ceceri

Kathy Ceceri’s Crafts for Learning

Around the World Crafts by Kathy Ceceri offers 30 plus projects that includes step-by-step photographs. In addition to the crafts, Ms. Ceceri includes resources and facts about the people who originally made the craft an how they would have used it. At the site you can read a sample chapter or peruse the Table of Contents. There are also things to make, things to read, and links to explore.

Home Chemistry
Making science fun for my homeschooled kids

Kathy does make science fun for her kids and more in this chemistry blog. You will find many interesting science resources within her posts along with some great resources as well.

Home Biology

Kathy’s blog tag reads: For Homeschoolers-And Anyone- Who wants to learn about life science without a lab.

Here are a few more excellent Kathy Ceceri resources on the World Wide Web:

• The one-stop world of Webcams
• 10 Cartoon Classics to Share with Your Kids
• What Makes Kids Love Math: Community and Playfulness
  

Also available online:
Around the World Crafts: Great Activities for Kids who Like History, Math, Art, Science and More! by “Hands-On Learning” columnist Kathy Ceceri

Time Travel with a Teaspoon Archaeology For Kids by Rebecca Rupp was featured in the September-October 1998 issue of Home Education Magazine. Rebecca opened the column by writing:

Caleb, our youngest son, wants (just now) to be an archaeologist when he grows up. Accordingly, he reads everything he can find on archaeological topics, surfs the Internet in search of the ancient, and subscribes to the magazine Archaeology, published bimonthly by the Archaeological Institute of America. Archaeology, which is aimed at adults, has a fairly sophisticated text, but the pictures – all in color – are great for persons of all ages. Each issue includes several feature articles about archaeological discoveries worldwide.

In this one paragraph, Rebecca explains the beauty of learning and that children do not have to be limited to age appropriate material when exploring their passions in the real world! The column was written over ten years ago, but as always, much of what she shared remains available today. Here are some of the Archaeology resources she shares:

Society for American Archaeology (SAA) http://www.saa.org. This first one offers many great resources, but I was delighted find Frequently Asked Questions About A Career In Archaeology In The U.S.

Next she offered these recommendations:

• Calliope http://www.cobblestonepub.com/magazine/CAL/
• Faces http://www.cobblestonepub.com/magazine/FAC/

I was able to find the following book suggestions at my local library:

• Dig This! How Archaeologists Uncover Our Past (Michael Avi-Yonah; Runestone Press, 1993) Also in this series; Scrawl! Writing in Ancient Times; Fired Up! Making Pottery in Ancient Times; Piece by Piece: Mosaics of the Ancient World; and Sunk! Exploring Underwater Archaeology
• The Magic School Bus Shows and Tells: A Book About Archaeology (Jackie Posner; Scholastic, 1997
• The Young Oxford Book of Archaeology by Norah Moloney (Oxford University Press, 1997)
• Gods, Graves, and Scholars by C.W. Ceram (Bantam, 1976

I could not find these at my local or statewide library, but as Becky writes, many can be found in libraries or used bookstores.

• All About Archaeology by Anne Terry White (Random House, 1959)
• Archaeology by Dennis Fradin (Children’s Press, 1983)
• The Practical Archaeologist by Jane McIntosh (Facts On File, 1986
• Archaeology: A Brief Introduction by Brian Fagan (Addison Wesley, 1996)

As always, Rebecca offers some interesting hands on resources as well.

• Prehistoric Cave Painting Kit and Rock Art Painting. Both kits are available from Ancient Graffiti, 52 Seymour St., 888) 725-6632 fax (802) 388-7104; e-mail: ancientg @ sovernet.com. (I could not find the company on line, so I’m not sure if they remain in business or not.



• Archaeological Fieldwork Opportunities Bulletin (AFOB)
• PIT (Passport in Time) Traveler
• The National Center for Preservation Technology and Training

In this column Rebecca also reviews some other great resources. was able to find: Reading Through the Ages By Linda Thornhill and Sally Barnard, The Game of Shakespeare, Beaver Tooth and Days of Knights and Damsels

HEM columnist Rebecca Rupp has a Ph.D. in cell biology, has written for many magazines, and has published several books. She lives in Vermont with her husband and three sons.

I discovered, “Feed the Birds” from Rebecca Rupp’s Good Stuff column in the January – February 1997 Issue of Home Education Magazine and as always I found enough resources to create a unit study.

She writes:

It’s fine to feed the birds all year round, but a wonderful time to start is right now, in the heart of winter, when seeds are sparse and those birds who didn’t hightail it south in September really need a helping hand.

She then shares some books for potential bird feeders that I was able to find online or at my local library:

• Birdfeeders, Shelters, and Baths by Edward Baldwin
• Invite a Bird to Dinner: Simple Feeders You Can Make by Beverly Courtney Crook
• The Bird Book & Feeder by Neil Dawe
• Susan Bosnak Science Is… by Susan Bosnak

She also shared these great field guides:

• Peterson guides -A Field Guide to Western Birds and A Field Guide to Birds East of the Rockies by Roger Tory Peterson
• Audubon guides – The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Birds, Vol. I by John Bull and John Farrand, Jr. and Vol. II by Miklos D.F. Udvardy
• Everybody’s Everywhere Backyard Bird Book

She also suggests some Dover Publications Coloring Books. These include:

• State Birds and Flowers Coloring Book (Annika Bernhard)
• Fifty Favorite Birds Coloring Book (Lisa Bonforte)
• Tropical Birds Coloring Book (Lucia DeLeiris)
• Birds of Prey Coloring Book (John Green)
• Audubon’s Birds of America Coloring Book
• Audubon sticker book (Audubon Bird Stickers in Full Color)
• 50 full-color bird stickers in an eight-page booklet

She then shared these real life books about kids and their bird experiences all of which I was able to find at our local library.

• The Birdwatcher by Felice Holman’s Elisabeth
• Owl Moon by Jane Yolen
• Owls in the Family by Farley Mowat
• That Quail, Robert Margaret Stanger (a favorite at our house)

For legendary birds she recommended:

• The Long-Tailed Bear and Other Indian Legends by Natalia Belting
• How the Guinea Fowl Got Her Spots: A Swahili Tale of Friendship by Barbara Knudson
• The Hummingbird King: A Guatemalan Legend by Agentina Palacios
• How the Birds Changed Their Feathers: A South American Indian Folk Tale by Joanna Troughton
• The Tale of the Mandarin Ducks by Katherine Paterson
• Ka-ha-si and the Loon by Terry Cohlene

Continuing down the bird investigation trail, Rupp suggests posting a checklist on the fridge to record the birds that visit. Also in this article she shared Bethump’d With Words, How Math Works by Carol Vorderman, XIT(could not find this one), Catchpenny and Duo.

You can read the entire column here.

Here are some more of my favorite bird resources from around the web:

• Celebrate Urban Birds
• What Bird the Ultimate Bird Guide
• Cornell Lab of Ornithology
• The Life of Birds- Sir David Attenborough
• Wildbirds.com
• Journey North
• Funschool Bird Watcher
• Natural History Notebooks(Birds)

My family has always loved to hear our family’s history. I recall that my oldest child interviewed his grandparents, aunts and uncles when he was very young. I would love to have done the same with my relatives who are now gone. We treasure the records he has of how they all met their spouses, what their first jobs were and any other bits of their experiences that they shared with him.

No matter what history or herstory that you might be researching today, I hope the following articles and resources are helpful to you.

HEM Articles

So Many Books – Joan Torkildson

Explorations take readers all over the world, from the frozen tundra of the Arctic to the highest peaks of the Himalayas. In between, there are coniferous forests in Canada to tramp through, as well as African savannas, the Australia outback, Asian swamps, South American rain forests, and a host of other exotic locations. After arriving at their destinations, readers have the opportunity to soak up a suitcase full of engrossing facts about howler monkeys, snow geese, chinchillas, blue-footed boobies, hairy-nosed wombats, and scores of other creatures in the animal kingdom.

Other titles in Candlewick’s Gamebook series: The Magic Hourglass, The Magic Globe (reviewed in Sept/Oct 1995 HEM), One Green Island, A Puzzling Day at Castle MacPelican, The Pirates of Doom, and The Planet of Terror. The gamebooks come in three skill levels, so there’s lots of fun reading and exploring in store for armchair adventurers/detectives and history/geography buffs of all ages.

A World of Learning by Barbara Theisen

Next fall we will be sailing to Central America for six months. While there, our studies will include Mayan Civilization, coral reefs, rain forests, and geography and history of Central America. Kate would also like to study for her Ham Radio license, a great way to keep in touch with the rest of the world. I’ve already started teaching the girls (and Tom) Spanish – I have a degree in Spanish, so I definitely have an advantage here. But I know the girls’ Spanish will improve by leaps and bounds. There is nothing like being immersed in a foreign language to really learn it.

The Bunyans – A Drop of Water – A Journey to the New World Lives of the Athletes – I Was Born About 10,000 Years Ago - Joan Torkildson

I Was Born About 10,000 Years Ago

I Was Born About 10,000 Years Ago, retold and illus. by Steven Kellogg, Morrow Junior Books, Sept. 1996, ISBN 0-688-13411-4, $16.00 hardcover, ages 5-up

No one retells a tall tale with more panache than Steven Kellogg. In this one, which was adapted from a nineteenth-century American folk song, multiple narrators boldly take credit for some of the most outrageous claims in history. One by one, they brag about having seen King Pharoah’s daughter fish Moses out of the water, of seeing Adam and Eve being banished from the Garden of Eden, of showing Columbus the way to the New World, of secretly marrying Queen Elizabeth in Milwaukee, even of playing hopscotch with spacemen on the moon (with plans to visit Saturn). All of these outlandish boasts are embellished with Kellogg’s own verse and typically exuberant illustrations.

The Value of Virtual Expeditions – Judy Aron

Every homeschooler knows what a wonderful learning opportunity travel is for kids. They learn mathematics (conversion rates in currency, distances traveled), history, social studies, geography, art, writing skills… you name it, because travel is a real life experience.

For homeschoolers who have access to the Internet, virtual expeditions are also an incredible resource. There are many web sites which can “take you away” to a particular place, but a virtual expedition is different: it’s more interactive and is added to on a daily basis. These daily unfolding experiences are almost like a real trip.

From Home to Higher Education – Sunshine Campbell

So what are some useful suggestions for homeschoolers who are preparing for college? First of all, read a few classics while you are still in high school. College literature, history, social science, and humanities courses make frequent allusions to the “great” works of literature – and, believe me, college affords little time to go back and catch up on this reading!

Time Travel with a Teaspoon Archaeology For Kids – Rebecca Rupp

Issues of Calliope, Cobblestone Publishing’s magazine of “World History for Young People,” recommended for kids aged 10-13, often center around archaeological or ancient civilization themes. Also see the March 1991 issue of Faces, Cobblestone’s magazine of world cultures for kids aged 9-12, which is titled “Archaeology: Finding the Past.” It includes short nonfiction articles about the history of archaeology itself, the excavation of Pompeii, the discovery of a lost Spanish mission in the American Southwest, and the techniques modern archaeologists use for determining ages of ancient artifacts. (There’s also a fictionalized account of the discovery of the Lascaux cave paintings by four young French boys in 1940, a Pompeiian puzzle, and an archaeological board game.) Back issues of Cobblestone publications cost $4.50 apiece; an annual subscription to Calliope (5 issues) costs $17.95. Order from Cobblestone Publishing, 30 Grove St., Peterborough, NH 03458; (603) 924-7209 or (800) 821-0115; fax (603) 924-7380; e-mail: custsvc@cobblestone.mv.com; web site: http://www.cobblestonepub.com.

Biography Fair – Nancy Winningham

Real people, true stories…who isn’t fascinated by them? Biographies are consistently on the New York Times’ Best Sellers list, and “based on a true story” is a staple of made-for-TV movies. A&E, a cable television channel, has been running its popular Biography series for ten years, and now has imitators on other cable networks. What better way to jump start a child’s interest in history than to investigate the life and times of one fascinating person

History Resources

• American Historical Association
• Animated Timeline
• Bill of Rights Institute
• Federal Resources for Educational Excellence
• History Channel
• History Place
• Library of Congress
  
• Making His Own History (hat tip to Susan Ryan at Corn and Oil)
• Roman History – Google Earth
• Ted Talks

Home education allows the individual who is not a fan of math to see that the subject goes far beyond the math text book. There are so many different ways to study it and a variety of hands on resources to explore it. Below you will find some great math articles and resources.

Articles

Measuring Up – Becky Rupp

Everything, in homeschooling, connects; sometimes home education has a lot in common with “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon.” You know how it goes: you’re reading Aesop’s “The Grasshopper and the Ants” and somebody asks how grasshoppers are different from crickets; and in no time at all you’ve wandered off into how to determine the temperature by timing the rate of cricket chirps and then they decide to read The Cricket in Times Square and then somebody wants to know how the New York City subway works and then… You all know what I mean. A case in point around here was the study of measurement.

Starting in kindergarten or so, according to the math manuals, kids should be encouraged to investigate the science and mathematics of measurement in active hands-on fashion, comparing and contrasting the lengths, heights, weights, areas, and volumes of various objects using nonstandard (how many pencils long is the kitchen table?) and standard (inches, feet, yards, centimeters, meters) measures. My initial forays into this flopped: our kids, no matter how charmingly encouraged, showed little interest in determining how many paper clips could be lined up end to end across a desk top or how many teaspoons it took to equal the length of the piano bench.

Time Travel with a Teaspoon Archaeology For Kids Rebecca Rupp

A pair of bimonthly science magazines for upper-elementary through high-school students from New World Publishers. Atom is targeted at readers aged 9-12; Cogniz is aimed at teenagers. Each magazine issue contains several color-illustrated feature articles on a wide range of scientific and mathematical topics.

Past features in Atom, for example, have covered lightning, whales, infinite numbers, and the geology of the Grand Canyon. Regular columns include “Space Scoop,” accounts of recent astronomical events and explorations; “Science Reporter,” which includes interviews with scientists and researchers; and “Water World,” which covers oceanographic studies and research updates.

Sample feature articles in Cogniz have centered around the biology of elephants, the laws of gravity, and the geometry of the Eiffel Tower. Each issue also includes “Chat,” a column of interviews with working scientists; “Space Beat,” on astronomical phenomena and space missions; “Earth Life,” on all aspects of life on Earth; and “Every Body,” on human health and physiology. Both magazines also contain science news, book and software reviews, web site recommendations, and science-related puzzles, problems, and exercises.

User Friendly Homeschooling Records – Larry and Susan Kaseman

* Children playing with blocks or legos are learning arithmetic and geometry as they discover from direct experience how various shapes fit together, how smaller units can be added together to form larger ones, how numbers as represented by blocks relate to each other, and other important principles.

Revelations of a Homeschooling Mom – Carol Wanagel

Math is one thing that’s still handled in a more-or-less traditional way, I’m not sure why. Justified or not, I insist that Jonah do algebra before he goes off to finish his latest graphics animation, and Luke may have to figure out negative exponents before he goes upstairs to play drums. They all have other texts in their school book slots too, and sometimes they actually read them. I’ve seen Jocelyn read quite a bit of an American history source book before going off to do gymnastics and Jen has been known to do stuff in a grammar workbook before disappearing into the woods with Jill to work on their fort or invent a new game.

All Aboard! – Rebecca Rupp

In “Dino Math Action,” players draw The 36 “Action Number” cards after moving their dinosaurs, and follow the instructions. “Your red dinosaur skips ahead 2 thousands.” “Your ones dinosaur has a thorn in its foot. Hobble back 2 spaces for help.” And in the more challenging “Prehistoric Problem-Solving,” players draw The 36 “Problem-Solving Cards” after moving their dinos and tackle the listed problem. “A flying dinosaur flew 520 kilometers last week and 603 kilometers this week. How far did it fly altogether? Move that many.” “Archaeologists must ship 25 tons of dinosaur bones to the museum. If each truck can haul 2 tons, how many trucks do they need? Move ahead that many.”

My Best Math Puzzles

Author/mathematician Theoni Pappas – of “The Children’s Mathematics Calendar” – and her mathematical cat, Penrose, have devised this illustrated 52-card deck of “My Best Math Puzzles” for mathematicians aged 12 (or so) and up. Puzzles, which vary from the mildly tricky to the mindboggling brain-buster, include logic problems, number puzzles, optical illusions, and geometry puzzles. Answers are included on a separate little paper booklet; we lost ours, which adds considerably to the challenge. The cards also work as conventional playing cards; if mathematically exhausted, you can play rummy with them.

“My Best Math Puzzles” is also available as a double deck of 104 different puzzles.

So What Do You Do? by Lisa Bugg

By homeschooling my daughters, I am giving them room to develop into young women who do not know that math and science are still considered boy subjects. I have daughters who, during their young lives, are completely unaware of what it means to be graded and judged on what they wear. They think nothing of taking months to master a skill or, conversely, figuring something out in an afternoon.

No Fear!, by Jeanne Mills

According to our favorite math text, Dr. John Paulos hated math as a kid but is now a widely respected mathematics professor. He admits he learned to love mathematics by browsing through books in the library. Though my son doesn’t know it yet, he is learning what Dr. Paulos already knows: “Doing mathematics depends on computational skill no more than writing novels does on typing skills.” My son is also learning he doesn’t have to be afraid. He’s a homeschooler now. He’s free to learn in his own way at a safe pace. Learning is now his adventure, not his fear. Jeanne Mills lives in PA with her family.

Resources
Closer Look: Math

APlusMath

Geometry Web Page

Living Math

Math Study Guides from Sparknotes

S.O.S. MATHematics

S.O.S. Math offers free math review material from Algebra to Differential Equations!

The ArithmAttack
How many computer-generated arithmetic problems can you answer in 60 seconds?

HEM Back Issues: Six Issue Pack on Math & Science $20.00 postpaid “Math articles include: learning math through construction, unschooling math, math anxiety, understanding math through language, measurement, algebra, money and business, learning math with games.”

Many new homeschool parents often ask when their child  will learn to write?   Just like any other skill, there is no set time table and the answer is largely dependent upon each child.   In the same way that they learn to read, walk and talk, they will write when they are ready.

The following articles and resources may help you to find a method or tools that will best meet your child’s learning to write needs

Learning to Write Without School – Aj DeBee

Until a few weeks ago, I had never attended school. My entire education, and my entire development as a reader, writer and thinker, was solely dependent on the teachings of my ex-English teacher mother, my eccentric father, and myself.

Portfolio Assessment – Ana McDonald,

For each book, Dottie can fill out a form describing the book and what parts she likes best and least. She can make a story map, draw her own illustrations for text-heavy books, or do any of the workbook-type activities that I can discover or devise. If she wants, she can even write her own books, borrowing characters, plots, or themes from the books she reads

Homeschooling From Abroad – Leslie Clary

I discovered when I backed off and loosened up, Zak began taking more responsibility for his education. He likes Chinese. Every evening he practices writing characters. As a result his handwriting has improved.

Unschooling - Sandra Dodd

Lyle writes well and frequently about his unschooling. He could choose to write nothing, or he could separate himself from his family to become a professional writer and write every day for many hours. Lyle writes, as do many other unschoolers, for real purposes. He shares what he has discovered and experienced for the benefit of others who want their families’ lives to move toward unschooling. His writing is real, because it affects the thoughts and actions of others.

Learning Logs – Ivy Rutledge

A learning log can be a conversation as well as a private place for a child–it is up to you and your child to decide what you need. You can record the thoughts of young children for them, and you can also write your own thoughts in a dialogue form with your child. Writing letters back and forth in a notebook can be an effective way to communicate and share ideas.

Getting It Down -Ways to Encourage Reluctant Writer -Sue Smith Heavenrich

The biggest obstacle to writing isn’t the inability to write. It’s our attitude. If we can believe that our children can write, if they choose to, then we can look for ways to help them overcome their stumbling blocks. Sometimes it’s fear. Sometimes it’s motor skills. Sometimes we just need to play with words.

The Ongoing Debate in Reading Instruction: Finding a Balance – Mark B. Thogmartin

Several years ago, I completed a research project where I examined the reasons that Christian educators gave for their apparent, almost exclusive use of intensive phonics approaches to teaching beginning reading (Thogmartin, 1994). In addition to an exhaustive literature review about my question, I interviewed a number of Christian educators, homeschooling parents, college professors, and curriculum providers to find out their beliefs about reading instruction. I took for granted their opinions that their chosen method worked; rather, I wanted to find out the philosophical/theoretical reasons why they believed what they did.

Ready Reference – Kim O’Hara

I don’t think a day goes by but someone comes up with a question that sends us to the Internet for an answer. (Sometimes we stew about it for a while and then suddenly remember: “We could check the computer!”) We look up weather forecasts, research vacation spots, get great deals on plane fares, and reserve hotel rooms (at discounted prices). We answer sticky grammar questions, get background (and illustrations) for essays, and research settings when we write fiction.

Previous Closer Look: Writing

I read many books as a child, but I think I have enjoyed many of them twice as much when I read them with my children. Homeschooling gave us ample time to read countless books, taking our time to explore the contents, moving along slowly as we digested it, or rushing to find out how the story would unfold in the next chapter.

We also enjoyed hours of fun listening to books on tape in the car or as we worked on crafts and other projects.

Whatever type of materials you enjoy reading, Home Education Magazine offers the following articles and resources on reading.

Articles

Revelations of a Homeschooling Mom – Carol Wanagel

Once I realized how bad the textbooks were, we started going to book stores and libraries more often. The kids bought or checked out whatever they wanted. Suddenly, with all their reading and discovery, THEY were the ones giving ME information. Josh asked, “You know about klipspringers, European mountain goats that can land with all four hooves on a ledge the size of a quarter?” No, I never knew that. Joanna, experimenting with the piano, asked, “You ever notice that a melody sounds better if you use notes right next to each other or at least two apart?” No, I’d never noticed. Jon J explained to me, “For SOME people (meaning himself) it’s just as easy to add large numbers by calculating all the columns at once.” Gee, I wouldn’t have suggested that method.

Homeschooling Fathers - Gary Wyatt

Second, read good books with your children each day, possibly in the evening. Reading provides families with the opportunity to master new words, visit faraway places, and learn important lessons of life. I have come to value reading time with my children more than any other time that I spend with them. Currently, my 14-year-old son Christopher and I are reading Robert Cormier’s The Chocolate War, The most poignant fictional accounts of what happens to a teenage boy who defies his peers. Invaluable discussions about the power of peer groups have followed each reading episode. Cory, my 11-year-old, and I are finishing Paul Creswick’s Robin Hood. Lessons about morality, loyalty, friendship, power, and corruption, as well as information about medieval England have been learned. Aaron, my 5-year-old, is just learning to read. We read Dr. Seuss books and other early readers. We look at picture books and talk about the pictures we see. Reading is the perfect way to end the day, and with children of different ages who go to bed at different times, it provides valuable moments of one-on-one time with them.

Playtime A Time for Children and Parents to Share and to Grow - Amber P. Keefer

Storytime is an important way for parents to share time with young children and help them learn and develop new skills. Long before my own daughter could read, she looked forward to the times when she would snuggle up between her father and I and point to the pictures as we read her a story. Eventually, she could recite her favorite stories word by word just by looking at the pictures. She chattered away at an early age, proving that the time we spent together helped her develop language and communication skills even before she was reading. By the time she did begin reading on her own, we reversed roles and allowed her to read to us. This role reversal not only helped to improve her reading skills, but it helped improve her vocabulary and language skills, as well. For years to come, this child who loved to hear the sound of her own voice (and still does), continued to look forward to our shared reading time together.

H is for Homeschooling - Scott Stevens

R is for Reading, reading, reading! How can children be successful in life? By reading, reading, reading! How do children learn to read? They have parents that read, read, read to them. They read books, newspapers, magazines, comic strips, dictionaries, encyclopedias, children’s books and more. There is no magic formula to learn how to read, but children who are read to daily for as little as fifteen minutes from the time that they are born will develop reading skills quite naturally.

Reading Resources

Today in Literature

Jim Weiss
Greathall Productions Inc. – Wonderful books on tape

Project Gutenberg
Project Gutenberg is the first producer of free electronic books (ebooks).

Closer Look: Reading

A Collection of Biographical Sketches

Carol Hurst’s Literature Site

FUNBrain Reading

Linda Dobson described this process in her 1999 November-December HEM Column, Early Years Child’s Learning Assets.

With childhood energy flowing, imagination and creativity turn your child into a learning scientist who puts the information he’s gathering to the test. He’ll hypothesize, investigate, analyze then do it again and, likely, again! Creativity then allows him to expand the thinking process to bring ideas together in new and unique combinations.

In our fast paced frenzied society, the world can only grow richer as our children become self-educated adults, continuing to investigate, think and contribute to the world around them.

Below you will find some great science articles and resources.

Articles

Learning High School Science Outside a Lab – Sue Smith-Heavenrich

Most homeschooling parents have no problem accepting that science, at least for young children, is largely a matter of discovery and exploration. However, when those children begin reaching adulthood, the ages one normally associates with high school, a sort of panic sets in. “How can I teach biology (or chemistry) without a lab? How can I teach physics if I never took it myself?” You can’t – teach, that is. You can gather materials, open doors to opportunities, share ideas.

Of a Flat Universe and the Nature of Science – David Albert

When Aliyah was working through her high school biology (which we did via a distance learning course with the University of Missouri), she’d find errors all the time (based on her reading of Scientific American) and would come to me with her laments. What she was learning about, even if she didn’t immediately realize it, was the process of scientific revisionism, and how textbooks (and teachers who parrot them) aren’t holy writ a good lesson!

Shooting Hoops, Riding Bikes – Sue Smith-Heavenrich

Science and Math in a Kid’s World

My younger son loves to play basketball. Or ride his bike through the just-melted mud patches on the logging road. Or follow frogs or kick a soccer ball or just about anything except sit for long periods of time trying to figure out useless math problems from a workbook.

Learning with Leonardo – Rebecca Rupp

Leonardo da Vinci is a treat for homeschoolers: just like us, he had a multiplicity of interests, and those studying him are thus likely to spin off in any number of mind-building directions. Variously a painter, sculptor, inventor, mathematician, meteorologist, geologist, biologist, philosopher, and engineer – and a left-hander, who kept his voluminous journals in mirror-writing – Leonardo is both an enviable role model and the quintessential Renaissance man. He’s also just plain irresistible.

How a List Can Become a Personalized Curriculum and Learning Adventure- M Roth

Learning about heroes and heroines, their lives and ideals, their struggles and triumphs, leads us into history, science, art, architecture, music, literature, civics and many other traditional school subjects. But it also reaches beyond academic learning.

Running Through Walls - Cafi Cohen

Just Read

This is a variant of self-instruction. One homeschooling mother explains, “We have shelves of books by creative people who have done it better than we ever could on our own. Our homeschooler learns science from real scientists – Mendel, who grew peas in his garden, and Gerald Durrell whose first scalpel was a razor blade.”

A Visit with Mary Hood – Janine Calsbeek

For science, the critical element is to learn to think and act like a scientist, said Mary. Ask a legitimate question and find the answer. Don’t simply do experiments because you think you must. Gardening, wildlife, and nature are explored by the Hoods – Roy got out the bird-identification books and that inspired the kids. But more structured subjects like chemistry haven’t been part of their “school” and may never be.

Good Stuff- Rebecca Rupp

Rain, Snow, And Sun: Weather For Kids

The weather in Vermont lately has been spectacularly disastrous. We’ve had torrential rains, glacial ice sheets, wind, thunderstorms, floods, and week-long power outages. Four counties have been officially deemed emergency zones. This meteorological excitement has affected all of us – small talk about the weather isn’t as small as it used to be – and the boys have picked right up on the current trend. Ethan, our middle kid, – the weather freak – was beside himself at missing two days’ worth of dramatic data. (“Mom! Where’s my rain gauge?”)

H is for Homeschooling - Scott Stevens

S is for Simple Science Experiments that you can do in your kitchen or your garage that can provide more opportunities for young minds to learn than the most advanced science labs in any school building. Science is about trial and error, making observations, learning from mistakes. Some experiments may be quick and easy, but many require time, and homeschoolers, fortunately, have control over how they to choose to spend their time.

Gifts of Homeschooling – Rachel Phillips

Experience of What?

The gift of time lets children explore, discovering through experimentation where their innate interests and talents lie. But what about homeschooling’s gift of experience? Experience of what? Homeschooling offers children experience of the real world. While their schooled peers are in the artificial world of school at least six hours a day, homeschooled children are immersed in the intricate, diverse, nuanced world they will navigate as adults. What a gift!

Interview with Sandra Dodd - Emily Subler

I think setting “academics” apart from the rest of cool stuff to know is just as bad. Is science more important than auto-mechanics? Hey, it is auto-mechanics, everywhere but at school, where auto-mechanics is in one building, and science is in another building, different teacher, different book, different line on the report card. In real life there are thousands of buildings, and teachers, and books.

Resources

• Previous Closer Look: Science
• NASA Kids Club
• Journey North
• Exploratorium
• The Backyard Scientist
• Discovery Channel Young Scientest Challenge
• About.com: Homeschooling: Science Resources
• Science Inquiry & Technology