We started our American Indian studies today. We're using volume one of a History of US, and combining with it Keepers of the Earth, Keepers of Life, Keepers of the Night and Keepers of the Animals. Today we read chapter 5 of History, which was about the Inuit. Keepers of the Earth, chapter 11 included an Inuit tale and activities about the ocean. Violet and I pretended to be different ocean animals, determined (very approximately, it is cold and rainy outside today so we didn't do it out in front with string and a tape measure like we should have) the sizes of various ocean animals. And she's doing some salt water versus plain water experiments. Salt water froze slower than tap water. Now she's letting some evaporate to look for residue. And we discovered that salt versus plain water experiments are part of the Water Wonders Badge so tomorrow we'll try some more they suggest: boiling speed, soap bubbles with both, and floating properties. Finally she's freezing the parts to make her own igloo. We bought this Scholastic igloo kit ages ago and finally broke it out today.
I'd better be careful or I'll start looking like an organized, together, real homeschool mom!
I'm also trying to set up a tour of our local library for the homeschool Juliettes and some friends. Violet asked the other day when we left the library what it would be like to work there. I said, "Let's find out." I spoke with one of the children's librarians today and she thought it was a wonderful idea. She's checking with the head of the department on dates and they will get back to me. Our areas of interest are how the library works, what librarians do, and kinds of volunteer activities teens can do.
One last quick note. Why I call them "American Indian Studies" and not "Native American Studies" (and by the way, we do realize that Inuit are not American Indians but a separate people, they just happened to be the first chapter since we were talking about the Bering Straight, but I digress). My mom is half Choctaw and half Cherokee. She (and her brother and sisters) refer to themselves as American Indian and do not like the term Native American. They are Indian. So out of respect for Grandma and the many other Indians who embrace the term, we use "Indian" and "American Indian."
2 comments:
You are a together Homeschooling Mom!
We have that same Scholastic igloo kit. B had a blast putting it together and her igloo sat in our freezer for awhile. Have fun with the American Indian studies. We spent a lot of time on that subject the entire half of last year, it was fun. For part of it we used the history pockets from Evan-Moor which were a big hit with her.
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