 Math:
Math Antics, a series of funny and usually very short videos on basic arithmetic through lower algebra concepts Life of Fred, a series of simple math stories about a goofy 5 year old math professor at Kittens University and his doll Kinge. Dragon Box, a math game that teaches you all of the basic principles of solving algebraic equations Youtube - various short math videos Amazon and/or local library - for math stories and riddles Sir Cumference - all of the books in this series are great! Neuroscientists have found that our brains are wired to remember information in the form of stories, so we're big fans of learning through fiction! Maths Mansion - a British tv show for 9-11 year olds (or whatever age at which your kids like it); it's modeled off of a reality tv show in which kids are stuck in a creepy Maths Mansion until they learn their math lessons; super duper weird humor in my opinion; my daughter loves it though; very educational Real life - nothing beats real life! Budgeting, baking, cooking, Lego's, Minecraft, building, statistics, math games, board games, card games, dominos, price comparisons, measurements, weight, temperature, time, and so much more! Science: Flying Deer Nature Center - these guys are such lovely and amazing souls who run this program - homeschool Forest day, summer camps, and coming of age programs. You could also count them under "social studies" for the primitive skills and Native American lore the kids learn or PE for all of the exercise they get. They'll come home exhausted, muddy, tired, and INSPIRED. It's great! Herb Fairies - This is an amazing series of stories, coloring pages, recipes, word searches, journal activities and so much more for children. We mostly just listen to the stories and use the herbs in real life. So incredibly well done! Wildlife Bio and Careers Resources: Smithsonian National Zoo - brief info and some videos on various zoo careers Jobs in Wildlife - more detailed info on various areas and jobs Wildlife . org - list of jobs and functions Animal Wonders - YouTube channel of a wildlife rescuer and rehabilitation lady Girls Who Looked Under Rocks - a great book about pioneering women naturalists. Fun stories! Feminist. Women who overcame odds to study science. Science Clubs - our local homeschool center has a number of science clubs, everything from a middle school exploration of basic chemistry or physics to a weekly class by a college professor that combines math and science. Birding - we've done our homeschool birding club and mostly just fed our backyard birds and observed birds in the wild. We've done the Audubon national backyard bird count on several occasions. Wilderness School - Flying Deer Nature Center was a wonderful place to learn a lot of naturalist skills! Wilderness Awareness School in WA has an online naturalist program that would be great for teens as well as a children's program. Ranger Rick Magazine A huge stack of nature stories, seasonal stories, and field guides that we own.... We collect and identify nature objects, track animals, do bark rubbings on trees, identify autumn leaves, forage for wild herbs and edibles, pick wildflowers (never pick more than 1/3 of something at most, and don't eat food from near roads), identify animals and their homes and scat and signs and so on... Little Bits - super fun for learning about electronics. We've also picked up various basic electric kits here and there, some about circuits, some solar, and so on. Physics Girl on YouTube. Awesome explanations of weird phenomenon by a young woman scientist. Biology for Kids - brief info and brief videos on a variety of bio topics Wolf Conservation Center - especially fun to follow them on their FB page. Helena follows a number of animal rescue and conservation places. And we never tire of any sort of cute animal videos. Crash Course Kids on YouTube - multiple science topics SciShow Kids on Youtube - again many topics List of science shows for kids - mostly younger crowd but not all... AnimalWonders Montana on YouTube - we've watched a few; looks like mostly wildlife bio SmartLearning for All - also on YouTube. Note that this is the chemistry link; also includes maths; various topics Local farms, children's science museum, NYS museum.... Other Crash Course on Youtube - great brief reviews on hundreds of subjects. We love these! TheKidShouldSeeThis - brief videos on a million topics! Haven't watched any yet... but they look great! STEAM - a huge list of STEAM YouTube videos/channels that I'm looking forward to exploring more with Helena Brain Pop - these are great brief reviews on just about any subject imaginable; done by a boy and his robot friend; if you know a local teacher ask if they have a username and password from your school district so you can access them for free! Note that there's a Brain Pop Jr section for younger kids through early/mid elementary and a regular Brain Pop for older kids. Art/Music YouTube - great resource for music, art demonstrations, cartoon drawing, how to make Lego stop motion animations, how to tutorials on iMovie and so much more! Art Museums - As soon as your kid is old enough to focus for about half an hour start bringing them! I've brought Helena since she was a baby. We'd hurry through and I'd say "Ooh! Look the artist made a horsy in that one!" or "Wow! Look at that pretty sunset." It evolved to looking for animals and pretty dresses with some occasional comments "I wonder what the artist was feeling when s(he) painted that one?" And Helena would talk about what she thought. Or I'd say "Hmm... where do you think the sun is, where's the light coming from, in that picture?" and she'd note the direction. The key is to keep it short and sweet. Plan a picnic lunch outside or something else to do in the town as well. Go see *just* the Van Gogh exhibit and read about his history, but don't do the entire art museum - unless your kid really, really loves art. Get hot cocoa afterward. Buy a postcard in the gift shop for a friend. Make an adventure out of it! Free music events, folk festivals, and so on. Theater plays, ballets, etc. Look for school productions and you can get deeply discounted tickets. Homeschoolers can go to school productions. Health Paleo Girl book - some great stuff in here although I do think she emphasizes weight and some poor body image things too much Omnivore's Dilemma for Young People by Michael Pollan New Moon Feast by Jessica Prentice Gardening, foraging, menu planning, cooking Continually reading short articles and giving information; being aware of health, toxins, exercise, diet, meditation and so much more Daily guided meditations Talking about emotional intelligence issues Documentaries such as Food Inc; The Secrets of Sugar; Plant Pure Nation; Cooked and many others emphasize to kids the importance of a healthy diet and reveal the awful details that food companies and marketers go to with food additives to make us crave more. TV shows like Master Chef Jr teach a lot about culinary traditions and cooking techniques - and are super fun! Social Studies Great list of books for kids, about slavery Photo essay of child labor in US history Story of the World audio books; I only recommend these with the caveat that they are history as usual: largely the story of white, male, patriarchal, domination. They do give a somewhat decent timeline of historical events, but I would only use them listening with my daughter and discussing the issues of social injustices, who gets to write history and so on. And we supplement them with a number of other story books and videos and such to learn more about the people's history, history of minorities, slaves, women, and so on. Howard Zinn's website is full of amazing resources examining history from the perspective of the common people rather than the few, elite, powerful. Be sure to check out the educational resources link above as he has another website that is about him and his work A Mighty Girl website and FB page have really great book suggestions and brief blips about "mighty girls" in history from all ages and times through the present. Google Maps! Helena just told me (in 3/2016) she wanted to learn more about maps/explorers/navigation/orienteering. So we got out a pile of books from the library; have poured over atlases of old maps and old explorers routes; and she's discovered that she can become what she calls a "virtual explorer" and go to any nation, any city, any street, any landmark location, and explore on the ground through Google Maps! She's been excitedly exclaiming over all of this, exploring the city her ancestor's are from in Spain and just having so much fun! NYS History River of Dreams, The Story of the Hudson, by Hudson Talbott is a beautiful picture book that explains the history of NYS along the Hudson River. All of the local libraries should have a copy, and I can't recommend it enough. It's both beautiful, informatiive, and fun! Hudson, The Story of a River by Baron & Locker is also beautiful and commonly found in local libraries. The library is generally a great resource for NYS history. Pick a short book of boring facts like the state bird and economic info... There's a great book out there about the history of NYC from the Native Americans until now... Just don't get bogged down in memorizing facts. Instead check out the field trips below and some GOOD books that excite you! Crailo is a Dutch home/museum in Rensselaer NY along the Hudson River.$5 for adults and children under 12 are free. A wonderful field trip to see what life in this region was once like! Cherry Hill Mansion - a museum of Albany family life from 1787-1963. Can you believe we haven't been here yet?! It's on the list for this year!! NYS Museum - Free; about $5 to park. Worth it to visit over and over and over and over again! There are just so many things to see here, and we prefer to take it a little at a time along with a few rides on the historic carasoul on the top floor (also free). Everything from Sesame Street to 9/11 to a super fun Iroquois longhouse where you can hear grandmother telling stories. (Photo at top of page!) Corning Tower - ride the elevator up to the 42nd floor for amazing views of Albany. Right across the street and up the stairs from the NYS Museum, off the outdoor plaza area. Olana, the home of Hudson River School Painter (you'll learn about them in the first book above) Frederic Church. The home itself is amazing and it's full of his art. Home, art, and landscape combine into a unique artistic expression. Amazing! Beautiful! My advice for kids and art: take it as quickly as they like... find a few fun things to note and comment on... bring a picnic lunch and bubbles and enjoy running around the landscape too. Kids enjoy art if they aren't forced to "endure" it for long periods of time. This place is perfect because after a short tour of the house there are plenty of places to run! Thomas Cole's house in Catskill is another great place to visit. The grounds here are not as expansive, not as much room to run. I recommend surprising the kid(s) with painting supplies and a picnic in the garden! Again, if you don't get to every last bit of art, no worries. Let kids enjoy art at their own level! Albany Institute of History and Art - another one we haven't been to yet, but have heard great things about. It's on our list for this year! Saratoga National Park contains several historical and Revolutionary era sites to visit. I highly recommend learning about the Revolution via Liberty Kids on YouTube and maybe a library book or two. We have a journal kept by an actual child (teen girl) during the Revolution. What was it like to live during the Revolution is a great book (title goes something like that...). The Who Was George Washington, book, while we generally (ha!) like that series, is actually quite boring. American Girl Felicity series is set in the Revolutionary era. General Herkimer Home - I remember this being super cool when I went as a kid. I haven't been back since then, however. I think it's only open weekends in summer. Oriskany Battlefield - not much to see here, but I grew up near it and it's a nice little ramble through the woods and meadows with a few historical markers - if you happen to be in the area. Fort Stanwix is another place near my hometown, and one I think is worth the 2 hour drive from Albany. There's an indoor museum with objects and movies as well as the ginormous rebuilt fort full of things to see and TOUCH. Unlike most museums, this one is hand's on. We climbed on bunks and canyons, tried on clothing and skins and so on. We went during the week and had a private tour - yay! The guide was quite impressed with Helena's knowledge of the Revolution based primarily on watching Liberty Kids. Erie Canal Village - we were hoping to visit this on our last trip up to Oneida County before my family all moved to NC, but it seems it was just bought out by another organization and is being remodeled. Not sure what it will be like, but keep it in mind. English Language Arts Animated Shakespeare - just one here; we'll have to look for more... Shakespearean rhyming - old English so different from ours... MadLibs - buy online, gift stores, bookstores; super fun way to learn basic parts of speech Book Creator - an Apple app for creating e-books complete with illustrations and music
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Just a few things from our day....
Math: bulk section of co-op; counting money for pizza; counting music Music: piano lesson learning to play Star Wars music Social Studies: - Geography... looking up cities and nations mentioned on the spy show we watched several episodes of: Madagascar; Budapest, Hungary; Buenos Aires, Argentina; Sri Lanka etc.... Spy movies are great for learning geography ;) Science: Chemistry club English Language Arts (ELA): met with an author to discuss Helena's latest work of fiction; typing/reading during gaming Minecraft and other games with friends; spent most of the day at the local homeschool center  Once again, I marvel at day's end all of the "subjects" covered in a day of child-led, unforced, non-curriculum-based, learning!
Math: Finished another Life of Fred book together English Language Arts: Read a poem together on parts of speech and posted it on the fridge; played a rhyming guessing game at PPA, independent reading; reading together; working on science report; working on fiction writing. History: Focused on Black History Month, we watched a short video of inventions brought to us by Black people: everything from traffic lights and mail boxes to super soakers. We also looked at some amazing photos of Misty Copeland, America's first Black principal dancer at ABT, recreating famous Degas paintings. Science: We learned about the scientific current event of the century, the discovery and proof of gravitational waves that Einstein predicted the existence of. This led to a question of what exactly Black Holes are. Helena's two favorite places to look things up are Brain Pop.com or YouTube. We watched an Astronomy Crash Course on Black Holes on YouTube. Crash Course videos are awesome! And did you know spaghettification is a real scientific term? It's what would happen to you if you fell into a black hole. The gravitational pull on your feet (presuming you fell in feet first) would be so strong it would stretch you out crazy-long and thin like spaghetti. Yep. For realz! Helena also watched a short video on chlorophyll and photosynthesis to help her better understand the concepts for the iMovie she's creating for her science project. And we could also count funny animal videos as science! :D Arts: Helena is a big lover of the arts! Today she did Playful Performing Arts (PPA) class with me, and she also finished her iMovie, learning more editing techniques in the process such as the Ken Burns affect. Practical Life Skills: housework, cooking, caring for her animals, set-up and break-down of room for PPA; figuring out the best way to keep our 2 hens warm in the predicted NEGATIVE 12 degree temps coming up... Health & PE: cleaned chicken coop, PPA class, healthy food choices, slept when tired, woke when rested Fine Motor Skills, Spatial Reasoning, Geometry, Geology: Video games, spec Minecraft Culture: Facebook, Skype, Video games, cartoons, hanging out with friends at PPA Rainbow Roasted Veggies! Total prep time for below = 5 minutes! Faster than any drive-through! Haha Stock up on frozen organic veggies and fruits when they're on sale. Roasted brussels sprouts with garlic infused olive oil and Himalayan salt Roasted beets with a drizzle of olive oil Roasted sweet potatoes with blackberries, coconut oil, tsp of bacon fat, sage, and salt. Also delish with raspberries or cranberries! Helena is having a frozen burrito with hers. You could add a can of wild-caught salmon or even pan fry some sardines dredged in tapioca starch.   I love being the mama of an unschooled 10 year old. Each day is full of curiosity and adventure and so much learning!
Just today.... reading; connecting with friends on Skype which they helped her sign up for; building and mining in Minecraft with and without her friends; video gaming; reading together The Last Safe House about the underground railroad, questions about the Civil War, several BrainPops on the highlights of the Civil War and Civil War discussions; watched dance online from several different nations; watched a brief video on how deep the ocean really is and marveled together at it; talk of the upcoming election and the candidates; taikwondo class, practical life skills cooking lunch, cleaning the kitchen, taking care of the dog and getting/paying for things in the grocery store; watched a brief video together on Pixar animation and math and lighting; read over a list of English phrases that come from Shakespeare's writing and we both marveled at how much we owe to him; read together about the Greensboro Four who staged sit-ins for desegregation; read some Life of Fred math together; worked on her science fair project iMovie; meditated, watched cartoons, talked about similes and metaphors, pointed out similes and metaphors in daily life, listened to Robert Louis Stephenson's Treasure Island audiobook in the car and of course some funny/cute animal videos! This was for a class assignment for my MS in Herbalism, Physiology class, at Maryland University of Integrative Health. Thought I'd share here...
The first thing that comes to my mind when I think of calcium rich food is bone broth. But since several people have already mentioned bone broth, and since - despite eating Paleo - I really dislike the meaty flavor of bone broth, I’ve decided on a different meal. For my calcium rich meal, I’d make pan-fried sardines, kale chips, and sweet potato oven fries. This is actually a meal my 10 year old and I really enjoy. I know.. I know… you’re probably thinking, “Sardines? UGH!” But trust me, if you like seafood at all, this is mild and really delicious! :D We buy the skinless and boneless wild-caught sardines in olive oil from Trader Joe’s. If you choose bone-in ones, the calcium levels would be even higher. However, a 5 oz tin of boneless ones contains a whopping 10% of the RDA of calcium (1000 mg) for a grown adult (NIH, 2013 & Trader Joe’s can). Additionally, that same five ounces also contains up to 100% of the RDA of Vitamin D, less if without bones (Nutrition Data, n.d). Finally, that same can of sardines also contains 3.6 grams of difficult-to-get Omega 3 fatty acids. There is no RDA for Omega 3’s, but the American Heart Association recommends 1 gram per day as typical and 2-4 grams per day to lower triglycerides (Mayo Clinic, 2013). We all know that Vitamin D is needed to help the body metabolize calcium. Researchers are now finding that Omega 3 fats play an important role as well in bone health. In a study with rats, they found that Omega 3 supplementation resulted in speedier bone formation rates, and they believe this benefit is linked to an alteration of osteoblast functioning (Watkins et al, 2003). So how do you prepare these ((supposedly)) delicious sardines? So easy! Pour enough extra virgin olive oil to fully coat the bottom of a cast iron frying pan. Bring to a medium heat - not too high as olive oil has a low smoking point and dislikes high heat! Now dredge the sardine pieces in some tapioca starch. You can add a bit of mineral rich Himalayan to the starch or add it at the table. Warning: this dredging part gets very messy. Place the “floured” sardine pieces in the pan and fry until just crisp on both sides. That’s it! Alternately, if you want to fry them faster, you could use lard from a pastured pig which is also high in Vitamin D. Kale is also high in calcium, with 101 mg in one cup of chopped kale (USDA n.d.). That’s another 10% of the RDA. We like to chop or shred our kale, pour some garlic-infused olive oil over it, sprinkle with some sea salt, hand massage it, and then place on baking sheets in the oven at 350 degrees til it’s just starting to crisp. I can easily eat an entire head this way! But usually I share with my daughter and we each get in more than a cup. Finally, some oven baked sweet potato fries would be delicious with this meal. One cup of sweet potato contains another 40 mg of calcium. In total, this meal would contain almost 30% of the RDA of calcium. References: Mayo Clinic (2013). Omega 3 fatty acids, fish oil, alphalinolenic acid. Retrieved from: http://www.mayoclinic.org/drugs-supplements/omega-3-fatty-acids-fish-oil-alpha-linolenic-acid/dosing/hrb-20059372 NIH (2013) Calcium. Retrieved from: https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Calcium-HealthProfessional/#h3 Nutrition Facts (n.d.) Sardines. Retrieved from: http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/finfish-and-shellfish-products/4114/2 USDA (n.d.) Calcium in kale. Retrieved from: https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=calcium+in+kale&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8 Watkins, Bruce A. & Li, Yong & Lippman, Hugh E. & Feng, Shulin (2003). Modulatory effect of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids on osteoblast function and bone metabolism. Prostaglandins, Lukeotrienes, and Essential Fatty Acids. 68(6) 387-398.  I eat 100% Paleo and stick to the even stricter paleo autoimmune protocol; it keeps my autoimmune disease in remission! Helena eats mostly paleo with me, but she's grown 6 inches in the last year and enjoys the extra calories from occasional grains and dairy.
Breakfasts: grass-fed beef, bacon and apple sticks; fruit smoothies; carrot & banana bread n'oatmeal; veggie juices; also oatmeal and Cliff bars for Helena Lunches: Tuna salad; salmon salad; dinner leftovers; also rice, frozen burritos and gluten free pesto pasta for Helena Snacks: herbal teas; paleo chocolate chip cookies; fruit; veggie sticks; dried fruit; also for Helena - rice bars, popcorn, Dinners Sat - Fish taco salad with guacamole Sun - co-op takeout while I get groceries M - Marinated citrus, oregano steak; sweet potato oven fries; salad T - Crockpot moroccan chicken, salad or cauliflower "rice" W - Honey, lime, strawberry salad with scallops for me and with salmon for H Th - Crockpot leftovers F - Paleo pizza loaded with veggies; kale chips Sat - Pumpkin chili with rice for H Sun - Leftovers M - teriyaki chicken; stir-fried cabbage and carrots; caulflower fried "rice" T - pork and saurkraut in crockpot W - Bacon, salmon chowder with dill; salad Th - crockpot leftovers F - Helena at dad's and mom takeout from co-op  I love sharing these because I'm always amazed at the immense amount of learning that takes place when it's all child-led. And my nerdy, academic self gets so excited seeing it all detailed according to the required NYS "subjects."
Second Quarterly Report 2015/2016 Helena Aviles 5th Grade Hours of Instruction: 225 + Helena has made satisfactory process in all subject areas. Math:
- Redstone in Minecraft - Attended a Little Bits electronics maker’s workshop at the Gravity Tech Center
Spanish: Spanish games club weekly at Yacon, a variety of active games that allow for usage of basic Spanish vocabulary such as greetings, directions, prepositions, places, animals, actions and so on. |
Rebecca Grace AndrewsWelcome! I'm a college professor, herbalist, writer and photographer. Archives
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