Author Archives: Heather

Walking through History

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Yes, it is another history post; we do cover other subjects, but history gets the most field trips.   As we approached the turn of the century in our Canadian History studies we spent a week on the Klondike gold rush.  It was my turn to prepare the lesson and the more I read the more I realised that I just had to invent a game.  When I taught grade five in Melbourne we studied the Ballarat gold rush and spent a couple of days at Sovereign Hill.  Part of our unit was a gold rush game which I remember was very popular with the class.  I found the book Gold! The Klondike Adventure by Delia Ray full of insight into the discovery of the strike and the arduous journey many took to join the gold crazy miners.  Consequently the majority of my game related to the journey, not the gold mining.  All the consequences written into the game were taken from actual events documented in the books I read.

During the gold rush Wilfred Laurier was Prime Minister, so we visited the house he lived in at that time. Laurier House is furnished primarily with the furniture of William Mackenzie King, who lived there after the Lauriers and was prime minister in the 1920’s, 30’s and 40’s.  There are some pieces owned by the Lauriers including the player piano owned by Mrs Laurier, which she used to teach her piano students.  All four families who attended the field trip found it fascinating and I think our guide enjoyed the children’s enthusiasm.

A couple of weeks ago we attended two workshops at the National War Museum, covering WW1 and WW2.  Generally when we visit museums we are reviewing material covered recently, but at the time the World Wars were still ahead of us so the workshops served as an introduction.  As in the past the workshops give the students the opportunity to handle and investigate authentic artifacts from the time period.  Artwork, posters, uniforms, military equipment, copies of letters and other objects were available for the students to read, touch and discuss.  Although the workshop was aimed at much older students B8 coped very well and was engaged through out.  L14 was not able to attend that day as she was with Andrew for “Take your kid to work day”, which she enjoyed.

Autumn

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Autumn is…

Autumn is heaps of freshly raked leaves,
Maples exploding in scarlet and amber,
Reflected in lakes still and shimmering.

Autumn is the sun relunctant to shine,
Visible breath in the chilly air,
Frost etching spidery patterns on the windows.

Autumn is twilight rambles in the woods,
Lively music from rides at the country fair,
The sweet scent of harvest apples in the air.

by L14

Stepping into history

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Last year our family studied Canadian history with another family, an arrangement everyone enjoyed.  I appreciated sharing the lesson preparation with my co-teacher and benefited from her fresh ideas also.  We used as our guides both Donna Ward’s Courage and Conquest and Natives Long Ago.  This year as we study Canada in the 20th Century we have added Heather Penner’s Modern History through Canadian Eyes to our resources.

When we resumed our lessons we decided to review the last few topics from last year, Confederation, the CPR and the North West rebellion.   We approached each topic a little differently so as not to cover exactly the same ground.  When looking at Confederation again, we took the time to get to know a bit more about the individuals involved. Everyone became a lot more familiar with John A. Macdonald and George-Etienne Cartier as well as the leaders of the other colonies at the time.  Each of us took a colony and learnt where its leaders stood on the whole Confederation issue and then argued our positions across the table at each other.

We also added two topics of our own to the curriculum.  Firstly we spent a week reading and talking about the Underground Railroad.  The project we set that week is still under construction due to time restraints but I am hoping we find the time for the children to finish it.  They began a radio theatre story about a couple of slaves escaping north to Canada.  Although it was just the beginning I was very impressed with the section they played for us the other day.  All five children had worked together adding sound effects, musical backing and wonderful southern accents.

The second topic we thought necessary was some local history:  the beginnings of Ottawa, or Bytown as it was first known.  We used the Bytown Museum’s website and visited the museum also.  A couple of weeks later we were privileged to have a private tour of the Parliamentary Library, made all the more special in the children’s eyes as it reminded them of the Library of Congress seen in National Treasure ( their latest movie obsession).

After the library we were taken by tunnel to the East Block where we continued our private tour.  We were able to see the four rooms in the east block which have been returned to as close to their 1872 state as possible.  The offices of the Governor General, John A Macdonald and George Etienne Cartier as well as the Privy Council meeting room all contain much of the original furniture and fittings.  All of us were intrigued with the “modern” fixtures such as gas lights and call buttons which would summon staff to the offices from the other end of the building. Our tour was led by a young guide who had played John A. in the re-enactments staged during summer tours of the East BLock.  While the tour reviewed material we had just covered it added so much more as we saw where the leaders walked and talked and heard some quirky details about each one.

Wrapping up her birthday

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A12 turned twelve during our trip to China, but the party happened just a week ago.  Our children have birthday parties every second year if they wish.  Even while we were in China we were thinking about the party.  While shopping in Shanghai A12 picked up a few things to give to her guests.  Originally the party was to have a China theme but it became an Olympic party instead.

The guests were asked to pick a country and come with some representation like a mascot or flag or maybe dress in the country’s sporting colours.  Australia, Canada, Italy, USA, Great Britain, Botswana, Mexico, Israel and Argentina were represented.  The games were not all athletic, which was just as well, as it turned out to be a grey rainy day.  We had an obstacle course, balloon volleyball, an “eatathlon”, 1-100 sprint, ball toss, card relay, and a triathlon including horseriding, weight lifting and hurdles!

In most events gold, silver and bronze stickers where given out to be stuck on the medal tally chart.  I was very happy to see that every country placed in several events!  All competitors received a chocolate medal during the closing ceremony.  The athletes ate chicken, chips and salad together before consuming birthday cake made by L14 and decorated with the Olympic rings.

Newton and the Skate Park

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Group of Four spent the last two sessions together working on their skateboarding skills.  When we first decided to schedule this unit I must admit I was apprehensive.  I wanted it for B7’s sake; he is very keen to improve, but I just didn’t know how it would pan out.  I wasn’t sure that the non-skaters would be happy and I had no idea who would do the instructing.  I needn’t have worried.  The mother of three boys was in charge and she did a fabulous job.  We met at a local skate park and spent the first hour of each session learning the physics.  She took us through Newton’s laws of motion, using the skateboards whenever possible.

During the second hour she had invited Kevin, a skateboarder with a passion for encouraging children and inspiring confidence.  He spent some time teaching everyone about the parts of the skateboards and took them through some basic maneuvers before encouraging them to try the ramps.  There were gentle slopes and steeper slopes and Kevin was there to guide, instruct, even hold their hands if they wanted.

I was amazed at the progress B7 made in the first week.  He took the low ramp with no problems and then with some initial help mastered the second ramp.  When we returned the second week he considered the steepest ramp.

Kevin encouraged and advised him.

I held my breath and he did it.   Again and again.  He wiped out and got back up again and did it again.

(Click on photos to enlarge)

Campaign Close-up

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Friends of ours and fellow members of Group of Four welcomed an important visitor into their home this morning. The Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, was given a short cello lesson by B7’s friend J8. Mr Harper then used his new skills to accompany E12 as he played a fiddle tune. E, J and their brother M were able to chat to Mr Harper about their interests and music lessons. 

We were also able to experience an aspect of the current election campaign at very close range today when we were invited to the Conservative Headquarters to attend a policy announcement.  Mr Harper, announced three new initiatives to help Canadian families. One of those initiatives is to establish a tax credit on fees for children taking music, art or drama lessons.

We were present for the whole announcement and the question time which followed. The children listened to the Prime Minister outline the policy, which involved more than just the tax credit, and heard him field questions on a range of topics relating to the election. After the announcement he took a few minutes to meet each member of the three families invited. When talking to the children he asked them about their involvement with music and told them a little about his own piano learning as a young person. He also chatted to them about the instruments his son and daughter like to play.

It was great to be behind the scenes and see the large media contingent in action.  We were briefed before the announcement by one of the PM’s staff about what to expect and appropriate behaviour.  We were also warned that the strong lighting can get very hot and just last week someone fainted during a press release.    We had stood for twenty minutes or so and were just listening to Mr Harper answering the last question when I realised A12 was swaying beside me, I whispered to her but received no reply.  Not a moment too soon I put my arms out to steady her and maneuvered away to the side of the room, where someone picked her up and carried her to a chair.  As soon as she could walk we went off to a back room where she recovered.  That is why you cannot see either of us in the photos here.  Mr Harper did come back to the room with the rest of the families where A12 and I were able to speak briefly with him.

You can read the press release here or watch it here

Chore changes

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After two years of rotating the chores, we decided to move back to a system where each person has the same chores each week.  I compiled a list of all the chores we needed to do on a regular basis and divided them into five groups of four chores.  We then took turns picking a chore from each group with a different person getting first pick each time. Some of the chores are more time consuming than others but we seemed to end up with an appropriate distribution. It is a bit soon to know whether the new system is an improvement but I feel that we are keeping up better than last year.  The real test will be when all the outside activities start up again and we are in and out of the house more.

I read about an interesting chore system on Pioneer Woman a few weeks ago and told my children about it.  The girls felt that they were a little old for a “Chore Store” but B7 thought it was a great idea (no surprise there).  When children did all their allocated daily chores they earned Mom money or Dad dollars, to spend or save for purchases at the Chore Store.  We have never paid our children to do chores, looking after the house is just part of family life.  My hope is that over time they will learn how to do all the household chores and see it as a way to serve the family.  However I do want to recognise jobs well done, so I might come up with my own tokens of appreciation.

One of the girls came by as I was working on this post and wondered why on earth I was writing about chores!  Why indeed?  I just want you to know it’s not all watercolours and international travel around here.

Group of Four paints again…

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…this time with watercolours.  Our group resumed last week with a painting lesson.  I have an artist friend who is just wonderful at inspiring children to create their own works of art.  She came and spent a little over two hours introducing the group to watercolours.  We could have spent twice as long, it was such a great session.  The first project was simply to see what watercolour paints do when added to the wet watercolour paper.  The children were all encouraged to, “see the magic”, a phrase which has crept into conversation at our place several times since the lesson.  Watching the colours blend and bleed into each other was indeed magical.

After the completing the first experimental “painting” all the children tried creating colour gradations and then did a cloud and water scene. The finished paintings were as individual as our eleven children but all showing the beautiful effects of watercolour magic.

As one of the artists said, “I don’t usually like my paintings, but I love this one!”

Results

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Today the girls found out their results from the theory exams.  Both did extremely well with marks over 90%.  They were very pleased, Andrew and I were very proud.  A12 has to keep up the momentum now and work towards her Grade 2 theory exam next year.

I was excited to receive in the mail a magazine containing an article I wrote.  Homeschooling Horizons is a Canadian magazine and my article was about starting or joining a Co-op.

After lunch today, none of us were in the least bit excited to be joined by a mouse in the kitchen!  I am embarrassed to say I did my share of screaming and jumping out of the way.  Of course the tiny little creature was terrified as we all stood looking at it deciding what we should do.  Any time it looked like being brave enough to move we roared at it.    B7 had a few bloodthirsty ideas on how it could be dispatched; needless to say I didn’t go with any of them.