Chemistry Games . . . and more!

I just have to share the link to this fantastic website:  Ellen McHenry's Basement Workshop:

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http://www.ellenjmchenry.com

I learned about this on a homeschool forum. This site is like a treasure trove for those who are looking for interesting ways to study science and history.  Especially science; Ellen has written several science courses for children, available for sale on her site.  We have not used any of these yet, as we already have chemistry course materials for this year, but have really enjoyed using the free board and card games she has-- these are PDF downloads; it's easy to print them out and make the games.  

James and I have played "The Periodic Table Game" several times-- this game board is printed onto 4 pieces of card stock, and forms the entire Periodic Table.  To play the game you start on the element with atomic number 1, and go in numeric order across the elements, rolling a die to make moves.  At each stop, you acquire a certain number of pennies-- depending on the element, you may gain pennies or have to give some back.  Also, certain elements get bonus pennies or an extra roll if you identify them as being named after a person or place, or having certain characteristics.

"Quick Six" is a card game-- these cards are very interesting to read; there is a card for each element, and they have information about how the elements are used, with some simple artwork.  You read through a list of "clues," and see if any of the five cards you have been dealt match with each given clue.  You set aside the card, if it does.  The goal is to be the first to have six cards in a set aside pile.  A new card is drawn each time a match is made.  Chemistry info is both learned and reviewed by doing this game, and we have enjoyed playing it.

There are some other chemistry games, too-- we haven't tried them all yet.  

The games are all free downloads; we've found them well worth the effort to print out and prepare (very minimal work is needed, but cutting out cards can take a little while).

Out-of-Print Music Stories Book -- A Rare Gem

We've been reading this rare old book-- Stories of Great Musicians, by Kathrine Lois Scobey and Olive Brown Horne. The high school library in my hometown was purging all their old books when I attended there many years ago, and I am so happy to have been the recipient of this-- a collection of stories of classic musicians, in the "living book" Charlotte Mason style.

James and I have enjoyed this book a lot.  We learned about many composers-- Bach, Handel, Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Chopin, Schumann, Schubert, and Wagner; the stories are short biographies that span the entire life of the musician.

These are written in a way that is fascinating and has evident respect and affection for the musicians themselves. There are stories here that might not be found in a music history textbook-- such as how Beethoven wrote his "Moonlight Sonata" as a result of a surprise visit to a blind music lover who was a complete stranger.

I have read this a couple times through, with two different groups of my children, and each time I read it I feel so privileged to have a copy of this old book that is long out of print. The copyright in my copy is 1905.

Although this is out of print, there are some other old, used copies available on Amazon.com very inexpensively-- WELL WORTH the price to the fortunate people who purchase these remaining copies.  It is also available for Kindle readers.

Africa

We have taken a look at a few countries in Africa so far this year. Here is our wall map of Africa; the countries we've studied have colors and names. Our map isn't exactly in correct proportions, but we have the general size and shape of things. Needed to make an extension for the horn of Africa, after had already drawn in a lot of the rest of the map!

This is an interesting study. We're using Expedition Earth, by Cindy Horton. It actually has a page for every single country in the world-- unless some new ones pop up (after March 2011), like maybe in Sudan?
There are some interesting facts to read, and for some of the countries there are recommended video/photo links. We enjoyed watching and listening to the drummers of Burundi, on the computer.

Along with this book and our wall map, we're using two books in a series: You Can Change the World, by Jill Johnstone, and You Too Can Change the World, by Daphne Spraggett with Jill Johnstone. These give stories about people who live in different countries, or are in different people groups. They also have specific info about the religion of each country/people group.


It took a little preparation ahead to plan a reading schedule for the stories from the "Change the World" books so that they will line up with our main geography text (Expedition Earth). Also have found some misc other supplementary reading. For each continent, the countries are presented in alphabetical order. That's why our wall map is getting filled in with what looks like random geography.

There are country flag flashcards and country shape flashcards that we've been using to match up and help with review. I think putting the shapes on the big wall map does help a lot, too, in being more familiar with each country's location and shape.

We aren't planning to go through every country in the world this year, though . . . because we want to go a little more in depth, and at a relaxed pace. So will be looking at Africa and Asia. Those are pretty big continents, with LOTS of countries so it will be easy to spend a year on them.

You can learn more about the Expedition Earth world geography text here: http://tinyurl.com/3dbxcgg

Butterfly Mosaic

Here's another example of what you can do with plastic lids-- all those milk jug, buttermilk, kefir, vitamin bottle, and misc. other small lids. We saved lids for about a year, and then had a really big collection. These colorful lids work great for making mosaic pictures-- LARGE mosaic pictures!

Big Pig

Here's a photo of our pig-- Molly and James and I made this big picture (it's about 2 1/2 feet by 3 1/2 feet), with recycled plastic lids. See, there is a reason to save odd materials like plastic lids . . . ! These came off a variety of milk jugs, buttermilk, kefir, etc. It took awhile to collect them, but then we had a big bunch of lids-- and they worked great for mosaic materials. We arranged the lids first, within a pencil sketched pig shape (on a large matboard lying flat). Then one at a time, we put glue along the lids' circular edges and pushed them on. The pig's tail is made of felt.

Summer-- the Set Up Season

Am so glad to have time during the summer to think about what we are going to be studying, and get things set up. The last few days I've been doing a lot of sorting and organizing and reorganizing . . .

Have found that using plastic tubs and toteable file boxes is a good way to store materials we aren't currently using. We have put them on some large racks in the garage. (When you see the above picture, don't worry that homeschooling is going to take over every inch of your house; it will-- that's part of the "learning lifestyle"-- but you have to keep in mind that we have a lot of materials, from 25+ years-- and for many of these things, out in the garage is a good storage place . . .)

James and I are going to be studying chemistry, physics (intro level)and some anatomy/health as well as looking at history during ancient, Bible times, and also world geography.

While setting up for our own school, I also am trying to set up some new e-books for sale . . . am working on a couple new titles, and if you're a CurrClick shopper, all of our e-books will be on sale there for 25% off during their "Back to Homeschool" sale (will be coming up in August). Here's a link to our products at Currclick: http://www.currclick.com/index.php?filters=0_0_0_0_0&manufacturers_id=250&affiliate_id=60643

Announcing: Bible Memory Passages - NKJV! And Bible Verse Songs . . .

We have a new freebie on our website; it is Bible Memory Passagesin the New King James Version. This e-book is also available in the 1611 King James Version. The NKJV is what I usually use, so I'm really glad to have gotten permission from the publisher to make the e-book in this version-- and to have it ready and up on our site!

Also, speaking of Bible memory, Here is a review of a different Bible memory product, available through another company, that I’m really excited about:

The other day, while doing some artwork, I was listening to a CD that a friend of mine created, that has Bible verses set to music. There is a verse to go with every letter in the alphabet.

I was so impressed with this music, and wanted to tell you about it; it is a great way to reinforce verses kids already know, or just to “slip” some in while they are playing quietly or doing art/crafts or household tasks.

I don’t think I could adequately describe these songs—you’ll have to listen for yourself—but these are some of the adjectives that came to mind when I was listening: delightful, charming, impressive.

There are a variety of musical styles—in general they tend to be mellow (no hard rock or rap here . . . !) and have some interesting solos as well as group singing.
The name of the CD is ABC Bible Memory Verse Songs, and the songs were composed by Mrs. Candace of Sonbeams, a homeschool curriculum company.

These songs can be used as part of a school routine, too, if you’d like to include them—Sonbeams has created a preschool curriculum for teaching letters and numbers and colors, etc. that also uses the Bible verses that are in these songs.

She has a special offer (that ends tomorrow—June 30 is the last day) for receiving a full month of lesson guides—these have some creative and kinesthetic activities as well as Biblical concepts. For example, for letter D the story of Daniel is used, and kids also write “D” in the dirt with a stick and glue over a workpage letter and sprinkle it with dirt! There are some fun matching card games in the letter lesson guides, too. Click on the following link to receive access to these lesson guides—you are welcome to save them to your computer for future use. These cover letters A,B,C,D as well as some numbers, colors and shapes, and Bible stories, and give a good idea of what the curriculum is like.

http://www.sonbeams.com/blog/2011/06/11/free-1-month-homeschool-preschool-kindergarten-curriculum-trial/

Candace has also generously offered two special coupon codes for friends of Gentle Shepherd, for the Bible Memory Verse Songs:

for 30% off the mp3 files and parent/teacher guide, use code GENTLEMP3
for 30% off the CD (without a guide- but this is a hard-copy CD that will come in the mail), use code GENTLE