I can't take credit for awesome planning, but we happen to be studying Ancient Greece and Ancient China in our history studies. You can bet that we won't be missing the opening ceremonies of the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China on Friday evening! Check out the NBC Olympics site for great information.
Our family watched all of the Olympic trials for swimming (Russ's sport). It gave the kids a taste of what is to come. I think I'm clearing the schedule (and the DVR) for the next few weeks!
The Eyewitness Olympics book (above) is full, full, full of history, information, and tons of color photographs covering the Olympics from the earliest games to present (2005). I highly recommend it to give kids a terrific overview of the games.
The Magic Tree House Research Guide (below) is an excellent non-fiction book covering the ancient games. Kids who enjoy The Magic Tree House books will be particularly interested.
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Edited to add: Here is a link to a wonderful Olympics unit study! Find your child's name in Chinese, plot the route of the Olympic torch, make an olive wreath, and so much more!
Thank you for not taking credit for planning that. I don't need the guilt that I am not planning our school better. :)
ReplyDeleteReally though, what you are doing is the key. You are taking advantage of opportunities in life to enhance your boys' education. These opportunities are everywhere - we just have to recognize them and act on it.
Great job!
I've been meaning to ask you this because I haven't quite figured it out yet...maybe you have a solution.
ReplyDeleteI assume that Luke is joining in on History with you and Levion some level, but what do you do with Leif when he is closer to "school age" assuming that you will be in a later volume of SOTW. Do you start him with the volume you are currently using with the older boys at kindergarten age and then go back to ancients later? It wouldn't make sense to have each child in a different volume during the elementary age because the parent wouldn't be able to do it all, right?! Any insight?! Does this even make sense?!
Kiley~ I'll be staying with the current history rotation and just adding in the other boys as their ready. Leif will actually be in 1st grade when we start the rotation over, so he'll be on the same schedule as Levi but at a lower level. Luke will be the one who will be a couple years off (starting history at early modern in 1st grade). I'm not going to worry about it until high school when I'll have to decide what their history studies and great book studies will entail. Since we're doing multiple rotations of history, I figure they'll get a good idea of the chronological nature no matter where they jump in during the elementary years.
ReplyDeleteGood question! Thanks Kiley.
Thanks, Heidi! That's kind-of what I thought we could do as well but wasn't sure it made sense. I don't know anyone else who is using SOTW yet in my circles, but I love the idea of chronilogical studies. I just got Vol. 1 and the activity guide the other day. I've been digging through it and checking my library system to see what books are available for us to borrow as supplemental reading.
ReplyDeleteIt's so cool that you are able to watch the Olympics along with your studies...who else gets to do that except homeschooler families?!