Beginning at Zero

In deciding where to begin our trip around the world to "Discover. Learn. Explore." in our homeschool this year, I selected a zero point location. This location is not only the closest meeting point of the prime meridian and equator. It is also the "Cradle of Civilization" and birth place of Creation. The point at which the prime meridian (0 degrees latitude) and the equator (0 degrees longitude) intersect is in the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean. However, it is less than 400 miles from Ghana. What an amazing starting point! So, I felt led to start our world study on that country's homeland, the continent of Africa.

We spent the first few days reviewing map skills and different locations on the world map. Then we did a VERY broad overview of Africa. I printed out a map for each of them to label. I modeled this by labeling my own oversize map that I found at http://www.yourchildlearns.com/megamaps/print-africa-maps.html. It allows you to print the map several pages wide. I selected a 3x3 size and it worked great. The first picture shows the map I used posted on the whiteboard behind my children along with their maps and colored masks. The second photo is what it looks like up close after I labeled it. You can see there are nine 8 1/2 x 11 sheets of paper taped together to create the map in that size.

Tomorrow our journey begins and we take flight! On the first day of school I printed airline tickets that showed us departing from the closest international airport to us and arriving in Johannesburg, South Africa. They are really excited to use their tickets. So, I dressed in a white blouse with a scarf and hole punched their tickets as they enter our homeschool room. I don't know if you can tell, but I'm wearing my husband's shirt. It wasn't a perfect fit, but it worked just fine. Hopefully, it is obvious that this is my attempt to resemble a flight attendant. Hey, learning is supposed to be fun, right?

Kidzworld had some thorough information about South Africa. So, I printed it out and the children will read it by themselves first. Then we will read it together out loud and discuss the article. I liked it because it was written for children, not like looking it up in an encyclopedia. Sometimes information found during research can be over their heads. This article touches on early history, apartheid, Nelson Mandela and safari animals. It's a great introduction to South Africa.

One other link I want to share is for two videos I found on YouTube. One is a Welcome to South Africa promotional video. That video goes perfectly with the plane ticket and flight attendant scenario I plan to do. The other is an interesting video on Diamond Mining off the coast of South Africa on the bottom of the ocean. Both are long enough to feel informed but short enough that they won't get bored to tears. **Please be aware however, that there are two uses of inappropriate language in the mining video. I watched the time stamp to mute it so my children won't hear it. You may want to do the same.

Pandora is a great way to add another element for theme based learning. We did all of our work with Pandora playing South African music in the background. They loved it.

Enjoy the journey!

Passport Around the World

Homeschool at the Thornton Home Education Academy of Higher Learning began today for the 2015-2016 school year. What excitement filled my home as my little ones began to burst with anticipation early this morning. Part of the excitement was simply due to the back to school treats they receive each year. They were also eager to see the big reveal of what awaited them behind the door to our homeschool room. There were small changes to the room, nothing major. I simply removed last year's posters and other wall decorations and material and replaced them with new ones relevant to what we are going to study. I can certainly understand their anticipation. I am the same way when I purchase new bedding or change the table setting to match the holidays and seasons. 

Our theme this year is "Around the World in 180 Days: Discover. Learn. Explore." My homeschool planner is one of my favorite tools. So, naturally I had to add the theme to the cover of my spiral bound planner.

I downloaded a printable suitcase, printed it on card stock and folded it up according to the directions. I then filled it with some of the necessities for our trip around the world. It was filled with new markers, crayons, highlighters, colored pencils and of course passports and an airline ticket to our first stop. Believe it or not, I heard "oohs" and "ahhs" from each of my children! I found the suitcase at http://amanditadesigns.blogspot.com/2012/04/last-night-of-travel-themed-girls-night.html. They printed very nicely and didn't seem to eat up all my ink. Bonus! As you can see form the photo, it can hold quite a bit. They stayed upright all day and never fell over once. The airline tickets have each child's name, the date, and both arriving and departing locations. I squealed with delight when it printed with our first destination, Johannesburg, South Africa.

Our day began with a bible lesson. I did not do this as much as my heart desired last year. It's sad to say but I felt like we had to get more of the academics done. So, our bible lessons and morning devotions began to fade and soon we weren't doing them at all. However, this year reading and studying God's Word will be a priority for me in my homeschool. After all, isn't that the reason so many of us decide to homeschool? It's definitely one of our main reasons. I found a website at http://www.heavensinspirations.com/childrens-devotionals.html that offers some devotions. They seem to be limited in number. So, I'm on the look out for another FREE website to use. 

We did some light work for the first day. A writing assignment describing what country they would like to visit. We did our spelling and vocabulary from our faithful ABeka books. They watched an interesting DVD from public library about Making & Reading Maps. But here was the BEST part of the school day...I gave them an Atlas Scavenger Hunt. It was a hit! From the 4th grader to both 7th graders it was challenging and FUN. It wasn't until the final three where they even needed my help. This activity was so engaging I didn't want to pull them away for lunch...so I didn't. This is a must-do for a geography lesson or map reading lesson. Check it out at http://educationpossible.com/geography-activities-atlas-scavenger-hunt/. Here's a picture of them using our huge Costco world map to look for locations and answers. A few of the hints did require the use of an actual atlas. So, our Usborne Internet-Linked Encyclopedia of World Geography Atlas took care of any issues.

I would love to hear of any ideas you may have for our journey. Please feel free to post links to websites too.

Happy Homeschooling!

The Journey Begins

As I embark on the start of the new school year, I am flooded with memories from my first year. Now to be clear, this will be my second year homeschooling four of my children. I am by no means a veteran, however I thought it important to share my experiences with other moms just beginning their journey.

My husband and I agreed to withdraw our children from public school near the end of the 2013-2014 school year after I had a temporary teaching position (5th grade) at their school. However, several factors contributed to our decision, and it is one of the best decisions we have made concerning our family. Although, I still had thoughts like, "Wow, are we really going to do this?" Yes, we really were and we really did.

My middle child (age 10) agreed to share a bedroom with her two younger sisters...again. And we converted her bedroom into our homeschool room. I moved out every piece of furniture, bedding and clothing. The room was already painted yellow and I did not feel like taking on the task of repainting. So, I needed to come up with a theme and color scheme that would incorporate the yellow while making my son (11) feel comfortable. I wanted to make sure the room was not too feminine for his taste. Ah ha! A bee theme came to mind. Black was just what the room needed to tone down the yellow. Not shown in the pictures below are Bible verses that we later added. The verses were posted on the wall and went along with a 'bee wise' or 'bee kind' or 'bee thankful' theme. In the front of the room above the whiteboard was, "Bee a reflection of Christ."

We removed the closet doors for open storage options. I bought the square storage shelves from Big Lots ($19), desks and chairs from Ikea, and my wonderful whiteboard from Home Depot ($13).

Our classroom was complete and we were ready to begin our homeschool journey! But just as moms sometimes do, I began to question myself. I wondered whether or not my homeschool space was too much like a classroom. Should I have school at the kitchen table instead and just add a bookshelf? I had seen other homeschool moms do that and it looked great. It had an intimacy and coziness that I envied. That was not for our family though. We had what worked for us. Those questions brought me to the realization that we did't have to remain in the classroom all day every day. We could read in the family room together. The kids could lay on the floor if they chose to do so. Science and Art could still be done at the kitchen table because we would need the larger space anyway. As time went on, that is exactly what we did! Many days my husband would come home and the kitchen table was still full of the activities of the day.

There are so many field trips, lapbooks, activities and lessons that we did in our first year that sometimes I wonder how we did it all. I can't wait to share them with you. And even more exciting is our theme for this year..."Around the World in 180 days: Explore. Travel. Discover."