questions and a captain's log

In American History we are studying the early explorers. I decided against another tired Christopher Columbus lesson, and decided to have a full 10 week study on New World Explorers. To start off our Time Traveler Adventure, we've been learning what life would have been like for those seafaring explorers. We tasted limes and beef jerky (known as 'salted horse' to the sailors), tied knots, looked at Ptolemaic maps, and tried to figure out why they would want to become adventurers in the first place. This week we made a Captain's Log, so that we will be able to chronicle the rest of our findings more authentically.


We first dyed paper in a coffee bath. (My children were sufficiently horrified when I brought coffee home. They were still somewhat skeptical that we should even be dying things with it.) We then hung the paper to drip dry.
The next day we covered cardstock in fabric and then sewed the pieces of paper into the spine.

We are now ready to work with our quill and ink. I love living history, so needless to say I was thrilled when I stumbled upon Homeschool in the Woods, an amazing source for both living history and timelines. (We adore timelines around here as well, but that's for another post!) Even if you don't homeschool, check out their site. They have so many fantastic resources available to enable history to come alive at an exceptionally reasonable price.

Now, to answer some questions we've been asked...

How much time do you spend in each subject?

We don't really have a set amount of time for each subject. But here's a very rough breakdown.

Morning Meeting (pledges, calendar, weather etc.) - 5-10 minutes

Morning Devotional (Scripture of the Week, Primary Song of the Week, Book of Mormon Study) - 20 min

Math/Journal/Spelling (These are occurring simultaneously with me teaching a math lesson to one child while the other works independently on the other subjects) - 45 min.

Reading/Grammar/Recitation (Again, occurring simultaneously) - 45 min.

Snack (During snack time I introduce, depending on the day of the week, either our 'Hero of the Week', 'Virtue of the Week', a section from the For the Strength of Youth, or a 'scripture adventure') - 10 - 15 min.

Personal Study - 10 - 15 min.

Citizenship (Mondays) - 15 min.

Geography/Copy Work (Mondays) - 20-30 min.

Art (Mondays/Wednesdays) - however long the project lasts

Science/Copy Work (Tuesdays/Wednesdays) - 30-45 min.

American History (Tuesdays/Wednesdays) - 30 - 45 min.

Music (Tuesdays/Thursdays) - 15-25 min.

World History (Thursdays) - 30-45 min.

Another mother and I alternate every other Thursday teaching a class. This week my kids went to her house for two hours for World History. Next Thursday her little girl will come to my house for a two hour class on Composers.

Yes, I only teach Monday - Thursday!

What are you reciting?

Each week each child has a different saying/poem to memorize. At the end of the week the recitation is given in front of the principle (Corey). Last week John memorized a quote by President Monson; "Work will when wishy washy wishing won't." This week he is memorizing a line from the book Pinocchio; "To become a real boy one must prove himself brave, truthful and unselfish." This week Madi is memorizing - "A happy home is heaven on earth." We are also memorizing scriptures as part of our morning devotionals, but the children are not graded in that area.

What does citizenship tackle?

Citizenship is a Texas state requirement. However what Texas defines as 'citizenship' is totally ambiguous. We are choosing to focus on patriotic themes each month. This month we are studying the symbolic nature of the flag, how to fly a flag, the importance of the flag etc. We are reading Betsy Ross from The Childhood of Famous American Series in conjunction with our flag study.

How much time do you spend planning your day's activities every night?

Right now when school is over I can turn off the light and leave it all until school the next morning. This is due to the fact that I spent a tremendous amount of time prepping the month before school started. Theoretically I could not really have to prep much of anything until Thanksgiving, but starting in the next week or so I plan to set aside 20 or so minutes every day to continue to prepare for the rest of the year. In all honesty, it's been a lot less stressful than I had anticipated. As strange as it sounds, I am finding that I have more time now than I ever did when both my kids were in public school.

I am more than happy to answer any questions - so feel free to keep sending them my way!