Our Big History Project

We've decided to try our hand at The Big History Project with my son next year. He'll be completing his tenth grade and whilst we want to cover history, so far we are yet to find any one program that we have absolutely loved and have absolutely wanted to continue to work our way through.

I have begun working on the teacher training (9 hours in length) so that I am well prepared for the complexities of this course. So far I am extremely enthralled and can't wait to get started, but then I'm a history loving kinda gal! I am excited to know that we can make this as involved or as simple as we want to, but yet everything is still there for us, in an organised, well laid out fashion that is used daily by teachers all around the world.

Some of the points that have been raised in the teacher training so far are all of the reasons why I am drawn to using BHP next year and hopefully over the years to come.

Be sure to register for the school component of the program, so far what I can see it contains a great deal more than the the standard registration.

Big History Project utilises challenging texts, it is organised and highly structured and one of the key components of the program is to sharpen the students critical thinking skills. BHP includes claim testing activities which aim to teach students how to analyse claims and has a strong focus on evidence based writing.

The activities are many and varied and include research activities and project based activities. I think this would be a fabulous course to complete as part of a small group co-op, but we are already stretched quite thin with our current co-operative activities so we will be tackling this on our own.

So how is the Big History Project structured? This is a secular program and does begin way back with the big bang. The entire program is broken into what BHP calls thresholds, where each of these represents a moment in time where the universe got more complex. It is made up of 10 units covering 8 thresholds, with the thresholds comprising of:

1/. Big Bang
2/. Stars
3/. Elements
4/. Planets
5/. Life
6/. Collective Learning (humans)
7/. Agriculture
8/. Modern Revolution

All of the materials provided throughout the course are designed to be downloaded, thus allowing for flexibility, especially in cases where there may be none or limited internet access. So essentially I could head to the library, download what we are wanting and head home to use it without needing to access my internet.

Each unit also includes a guide, lesson plans and assessments, so what I am most intrigued by is that we can choose how we do this. We can work through it simply as is or decide on our own structure. That of course, we will not know until we actually delve into the program.

The other reason that I am most drawn to this is the interdisciplinary approach they have taken when creating the curriculum. The students will look at disciplines such as chemistry, biology, archaeology, anthropology, cosmology, economics and of course history. The Big History project will show them how these disciplines are all connected, unlike many other courses of study that are disjointed and the student often misses the point and doesn't see how it all fits together into one big picture.

Let's hope that Big History Project delivers what they set out to achieve.

Given that I have only just recently begun the teacher training I don't really have a solid plan as yet as to how we will tackle this program. My gut feeling is that if we are both engaged we will take longer than the course suggests of up to one year. That way we can add in documentaries, living books and our History Odyssey series we have here.

I hope to share more of how this goes for us throughout the year. But for the first time in a long while we are actually feeling some excitement about history!

Have you utilised the resources over at The Big History Project in your homeschool? Please let me know if you have, I'd love to hear from you.

Happy Homeschooling,
Kylie

Come on over and join me at

Facebook ~ Pinterest ~ Instagram ~ Google + 


Have you looked at my Pinterest Boards lately?


Visit Our Worldwide Classroom's profile on Pinterest.  

Introducing A New Reader

I sometimes get asked about readers and those children that are in their prime learning to read stage. One question that often arises is that of, 'how do I introduce a new reader to my child'. This is by no means intended to be the only way, it is simply what I have found that works for us here.

I am now onto our third and final child that is just about at the stage of reading early chapter books and my time as a homeschool mum introducing early readers to my kids will be over.

Step 1

So you have brand new beginning reader on your hands. Maybe they know all of their alphabet sounds and possibly can sound out a few simple words and so you feel it is time to make a start on introducing readers to your child.

"Readers are most often a set of books that children (and their reading mentors) utilise to work their way through the sounding out of simple words and letter combinations, slowly and systematically progressing them into more detailed texts."

Most readers at this stage will have a focus, it may be a short vowel sound in the middle of what is known as a CVC word (vowel consanant vowel). So could be something like 'dig' where the focus of the book is to practice words with the short vowel sound 'i'.

This step in the process is to introduce the new sound, in the lower level readers it is most always a single letter sound but will progress into letter combinations, such as blends, like ch, ck, sh and then onto longer combinations of letters that make a single sound.

For example here in this particular reader titled 'Mark and Mars' the new sound is made up of the letter combination 'ar'.

We will read the title together, talk about the sound combination and try and come up with some other words that might use that sound all before we even open the book.

Step 2

I read the story. Yes, I read it from cover to cover, not my child. Let's face it the whole point of introducing a reader like this to a child is because they don't know the new sounds that are going to be presented. If they could already read the words why would we bother even introducing the reader. However, because they don't know the sounds it can make for an anxiety driven time trying to focus on what they've recently learned in earlier readers, sounding out words that may be familiar to them and then also trying to add in the brand new sound in a series of words that they most likely have never come across before. Let's not forget that at the same time they are trying to read for comprehension. Put all of this together and many young children simply do not cope.

So together we cuddle on the couch and I read. That way we both to get to enjoy the story (the stories generally get better as the readers progress in levels), we get to know the story and we understand the premise behind the text. We will have a brief chat to check for comprehension at the end of the story.

Step 3

We go back through the story looking for the words that contain our new sound, which in this book is 'ar'. We spend time sounding out those words and saying them out loud to ensure we have the correct sounds coming out. This is often a time for lots of giggles, especially with letter/sound combinations that may be a little different.

That's basically all we do on the first days introduction of a new reader. We always have a couple of books that are at a lower reading level which we use to help build fluency and practice recently learned sounds. So now is the time the child reads those out loud.

Step 4

This step happens the following day. We remind ourselves of the story and the new sound that we are on the lookout for.

Then it's time to begin reading. As you can see from this particular reader we are at the stage of having several short sentences on each page. So that my new reader is not overwhelmed we take turns. Sentence by sentence. That way he can focus on what he needs to focus on, he hears me reading and modelling with every new sentence and he isn't overwhelmed with the length of each page and in turn the entire book. We continue in this turn taking fashion for the remainder of the book. Then it's time for fluency reading with some lower level readers.

Step 5

This step happens the next day. Step 5 in essence is exactly the same as step 4, however we swap. If I went first in step 4, then he goes first in step 5.

Step 6

Step 6 happens the following day. By now we are on our fourth day of reading with this new book so the story line and the new words are mostly becoming quite familiar. Sometimes this is a slower process depending on the particular sound combinations.

Here we read an entire page each, but still taking turns until we've come to the end of the book.

Step 7

Day five into our new reader. This particular step is when I need to assess how things are going with the book and the new sounds. If he has picked things up with relative ease today will be the day that he reads the entire reader out loud and it will then get added to the fluency pile. If it was a little tricky we will complete step 6 again, but swapping with who goes first, so we are reading different pages.

Depending on the book, the sounds that were introduced and the child we spend somewhere around a full week on a new reader. This can be easily shortened or lengthened in time depending on how much progress is being made.

Step 8

It's time to start all over again with a new reader. And really, it is as simple as that.

I am not a qualified reading instructor. I am simply a mum in her eleventh year of educating her kids at home and this is a process that, through trial and error, I have found, works for us.

If you are struggling with introducing new readers to your child, I encourage you to give something like this a try. Be sure to let me know please if it helps in anyway.

Happy Homeschooling,
Kylie

Come on over and join me at

Facebook ~ Pinterest ~ Instagram ~ Google + 


Have you looked at my Pinterest Boards lately?


Visit Our Worldwide Classroom's profile on Pinterest.  

On Saying Goodbye To A Very Dear Friend

So I’ve been somewhat absent for a time. In fact it appears as though I just fell off the face of the earth. Most of you know that I don’t normally share deeply personal aspects of my life here on the blog, except when I have had major life changing moments, like this one. 

For some reason when those moments strike I always feel compelled to write and so here I sit writing yet again.

These past few months have seen me walking yet another big life changing path, one that I never chose to walk, one that chose me.

Today was the final stage of an ordeal that I never wish upon anyone. Today, in front of all her family and friends I said goodbye forever to my homeschooling best friend.

We’ve been by each other’s side for close to ten years. I have never known homeschooling without her. She has been my partner in crime, my teacher buddy (my Miss T), my confidante, my counsellor, my book buddy and my late night chatting (texting) about rubbish tv and without a doubt one of the dearest most treasured friendships I have ever known.

Nine days ago my friend left her earthly body as it could no longer go on. The cancer inside her was simply far too big a beast for her to fight. But fight she did, for nearly three years she has done everything imaginable to beat it. This included leaving her family behind and heading to the other side of the world for treatment. Whilst all of these things gave her more time, they simply weren’t enough and in the end there was nothing anyone could do except ensure she was comfortable and well loved.

Everyone keeps saying what a beautiful service it was today and I have spent all afternoon trying to reflect on all that took place there today. However, the reality of the situation hit me hard sitting there this morning. Today I couldn’t go busy myself with a job that needed doing (I had no patient to care for, no hospital appointments to attend). Today I had to immerse myself in the fact that Miss T is simply not away on extended leave, she truly is not returning to us on this earth, ever again.

All of the beautiful words spoken and sung about my friend were all just a little too much for me to bear and it took every ounce of my being to not completely lose myself there today. Consequently I don’t really remember anything much about the service.

I wrote a poem, after she passed and I did stand to deliver it but even that is a blur and so I will write it down once more and send it out into the universe where I know that my dear Miss T can hear it.

When She Walked In

Today I weep

For my friend

I hold so dear.

For goodbye I must say

To our earthly friendship here.

She was taken from me

Far too soon, with much life left to live

Her years here so few

There was still so much she wanted to do

She was always there

Through thick and thin

My life became much brighter

When she walked in

Many a day we’ve spent together

Talking and laughing

No matter the weather

This past year

Has seen us shed many a tear

But by her side I vowed to stand

Always loving her, holding her hand

Whilst things today are pretty tough

And the future ahead looks a little rough

I know that when I look to the moon

We will always have each other in sight

And one day, in time

Everything really will be alright

So now the time comes for me to get on with my life, get back to normal, to find a new kind of normal, without my dear, dear friend.   

For I know her all too well enough that if she could visit me for even just a moment, the first thing she would say to me is to live, to live a life she would proud of, a life I am proud of. To go on and face each day with an open, joyous heart, making the best of all that I am blessed with and giving all of me to those that are a part of my world.

In all moments of our life there is the good and there is not so good, but even in the not so good moments there is always, absolutely always, something positive and valuable to take away from it. 

Miss T has been one of the few people in my life that has loved me unconditionally and that, no one can ever take from me. 

Love truly is what makes the world go round, love truly is at the centre of everything and to love unconditionally is an amazing gift to possess and one that I will continue to strive for day in and day out.

Until we meet again my beautiful friend, I will hold you in my heart and I will love you forever xxx

In saying all that I really don't know when I will get back to my blog. Right now I have very little desire to write about homeschooling, but I am sure, in time, when it feels right, I will jump back in.