June 24, 2010

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My son just finished devouring the Percy Jackson series this year and promptly went to the library and checked out a stack of books on Greek mythology.  He’s really been enjoying the stories of the Odyssey and the adventures of the Greek heroes.  I’m happy to squeeze some history, philosophy, and educational discussions in without him realizing it. 

If you have fellow Ancient Greek enthusiasts, point them to a fun interactive website with a whole section on Ancient Greece called “Odyssey Online.”  They also have sections on the Near East, Egypt, Rome, Africa and the Ancient Americas, with pictures of museum objects, puzzles, games, and worksheets.

Enjoy!

Posted under History Curriculum

March 25, 2009

We do a bit of memorizing here and there.  In the past we’ve mostly done scripture verses, poems the kids pick out, and the infamous times tables.

Just last week, though, I thought it might be fun to look at some other famous bits of writing.  I tried to think of what I had memorized in school, and scraps of the Preamble to the Constitution came to mind – a bit jumbled, but most of the parts intact.   And then my husband started singing it and told me where he’d learned the song from:

Did you know that Schoolhouse Rock did a little short film on the Preamble?  It’s cute and fun, and the kids pick it up pretty quickly after listening to it a few times.

(Just make sure to add “of the United States” after “We the people” at the beginning if you want the accurate Preamble.)

And introducing the Preamble turned into a great discussion with my 9-year-old.  By the time we talked about justice, welfare, a perfect union, liberty, and a fair bit of early American history, we had a great ‘session’ of ‘school’.  What is life about?  Why were those ideas important enough to fight for?  How are those ideas present, or not, in our lives, our homes, today?  It was great fun!  Those are the conversations with my children that I consider priceless.  

And I just started by looking for a bit of something to memorize and stretch the brain.  Isn’t homeschooling great?

Do you do much memorizing in your families?  If so, what types of things do you memorize, and do you have a method that you could share with us?

Posted under History Curriculum, Memorizing Facts