Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Hokokuji Temple - Our Second Visit

Hokokuji Temple - or the "Bamboo Temple" - in Kamakura is one of our favorite places. I was so excited to go back and visit a second time (our first visit was in winter), and to take my mom along. It was her first time to visit a temple in Japan and she was speechless when we walked through the gate. It was beautiful in winter, but even more so since everything was lush and green with the beginning of summer. It was only 200 yen to enter, but mom paid an extra 500 yen to have macha green tea in the small tea house located at the back of the bamboo garden.













I was so excited to bring my mom here. The temple is hundreds of years old and has such a serene and spiritual feel within its grounds. She says the green tea was good - a little "soupy," but good. Ha. THIS is why we moved to Japan. To see places like this. *sigh* I love Japan.
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Mom's First Days

As you know, my mom has been visiting... and we have been keeping ourselves busy by introducing her to everything Japanese. I have gotten behind in blogging our excursions, but I am finally trying to catch up. 

For my mom's first day, we put some spending money in her pocket and took her out to see our town. She thought the Japanese Yen was beautiful. 


Japanese money - roughly $50 US dollars
 We took my mom to the local grocery store and showed her the usual Japanese cuisine. She was a bit surprised by the octopus.... We also visited the hundred yen store (similar to a "Dollar Store" in the US) and a clothing store above the grocery.


 After doing a bit of window shopping, we stopped at my favorite Ramen shop for lunch: Fukuman. It is small, quaint, and totemo oishii desu (very delicious)! We sat at a traditional dining table with small floor cushions on tatami mats. I think mom really liked her ramen!





The next day, we introduced Mom to the trains. My girls LOVE the trains and they were very excited to take their grandmother. We took the train over one stop and walked about 15 minutes until we reached Zushi beach. On a clear day, you have a good view of Fuji. Unfortunately, however, it's starting to get humid and it was too hazy to see anything.






There were hermit crabs everywhere!



Found this dead little guy and we brought him home to study. :)
The next few days were spent visiting temples, the IKEA in Yokohama (my favorite store!!), and even Tokyo! More posts are coming!
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Saturday, June 15, 2013

Meigetsu-in Temple, "The Hydrangea Temple"

It's rainy season in Japan, and while that might put a damper on a lot of plans, it's actually the best time to go see some hydrangea. The hydrangea bloom during rainy season here - always in June - and draw crowds. One of the best places to view the hydrangea is at Meigetsu-in temple in Kamakura.

Meigetsu-in was founded in 1160 and has over 2,000 hydrangea throughout the grounds and lining the pathways. However, the hydrangea weren't planted until after WWII, so the huge crowds during June are fairly new (considering the temple's long history).

A word to the wise - if you want to visit during the hydrangea season, GO IN THE MIDDLE OF THE WEEK. We went on a Friday and it was packed. To make matters worse, it was raining, so much of our view was blocked by the many umbrellas. If you only have the weekend available, you should still definitely make a point to visit. It was beautiful.

Here's the info you need if you'd like to go:

Address:      189 Yamanouchi, Kamakura-shi, Kanagawa
Station:        Kita Kamakura (Directions from the station: Take a JR train to Kita-Kamakura [one   stop past Kamakura], then walk south past a folk museum and some houses. Turn left near the end of the street - before crossing the train tracks and just after crossing a small creek -  and follow that road directly to the temple.)

Hours:9:00 to 16:00 (8:30 to 17:00 in June)
Closed:No closing days



Photo: T. C. Thomas







Photo: T. C. Thomas

Photo: T. C. Thomas
Photo: T. C. Thomas
Photo: T. C. Thomas






































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Wednesday, June 5, 2013

Elementary Science (with a 3 and 5 year old)



Our 5-year-old LOVES science (which makes her Chemistry-major father VERY happy), so I have worked really hard to put together a fun, engaging science curriculum that not only she will love, but that will keep her little sister interested as well.

How I Planned the Year

The first thing I did when trying to plan our science curriculum was to look at the science overview of the Oak Meadow 2nd Grade curriculum (Oak Meadow moves at a slower pace academically, and the 2nd grade curriculum is a better fit our daughter's current progress), the Sonlight book lists and science topics covered for the PreK to 8-year-old age group, and Common Core/State science standards for kindergarten and first grade. And, as usual, I also browsed through the science videos on Brain Pop Jr (I can't recommend that site enough!).

What We Will Use

I am not purchasing an official science curriculum. What I did instead was to pick some topics that my children would enjoy, and I built my own. Once I had an outline of topics, I combed the internet (and Pinterest!) to find activities, books, and websites. I will say that one of the only things I bought specific to science was the Magic School Bus Complete Series (Season 1 was just added to Netflix!) because it pairs so well with what we'll be studying this year. 

Our Science Plan for the 2013-2014 School Year

*Yes, most things are catered towards our 5-year-old. We will be covering a lot, but almost half of our year will be focused on the human body. I would rather dive deep into a few topics, so that she knows them well, than touch on a huge list of topics. We will also be covering scientific inquiry, in hopes that my daughter will get a good grasp on the scientific process and will be able to use those skills as we progress. 

**Our 3-year-old loves to be in the middle of everything. So while everything is not suited perfectly for her, I have no doubt that she will also be learning. Remember - she's only 3! Much of her day should still be spent playing! So if she wants to dive in and soak things up, we will encourage that. But she will also be able to come and go from our lessons as she pleases. I have tried to make our lessons inviting to her where possible - with coloring pages, crafts, and activities that can be tweaked for her level.

And one last thing before you get into the nitty-gritty of our science plan, I have to give a shout-out to two fantastic blogs from which I pulled most of our content on the human body: Maureen Spell of Spell Outloud did an amazing unit on the human body and put everything she did on her blog so that others (like me!) could use it. Check out this page for an overview of everything she included in her unit. I also used the astounding craft idea from Keri from The Home Teacher. She made a toddler-sized human body and covered the different systems/parts of the body each week. I'm sure my girls are going to love it!

So here is my master science list. I poured a lot of time and effort into compiling this list, but that's because I'm a planner by heart. I love lists and I love researching things like this for my kids. Not everyone enjoys it like I do, or has the time, so I hope that others might find it helpful. I will also be updating this list throughout the year with other resources/activities that we included with each topic (and that's why some of the last few are lacking!). Enjoy!

[Also, I would like to apologize for the variance in the font size throughout the list. I am copying my lists from Evernote, and no matter what I do, I cannot fix it once it transfers to Blogger. Sorry!]

**MSB = Magic School Bus Episode**

HUMAN BODY

THE NATURAL WORLD

Plants:

Animals:
  • Life of frogs
    • "Hops Home" - MSB

  • Vertebrates and Invertebrates 

  • Food chain
    • "Gets Eaten" - MSB

  • Interdependence

SCIENTIFIC INQUIRY


HOW THINGS WORK

  • Air Pressure
    • "Goes on Air" - MSB
     

SPACE:

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Monday, June 3, 2013

2013-2014 Math (with a 3 and 5 year old)


Our math curriculum is not built around any sort of hard and fast rules about what children should be learning at any certain age. I want my kids to master what they learn, I don't want to just touch on a long list of concepts. So while I did consult several resources for ideas of what kids are typically taught in Kindergarten and First Grade, I will not progress to the next concept until I feel as though we have mastered whatever we're currently working on.

 How I Planned the Year

 I consulted several resources when trying to plan our math curriculum. I printed and reviewed the Common Core standards that many states are switching to and conveniently, they were organized into groups - one of which details K-2 standards. This allowed me to see the progression of concepts so that we could move ahead if we mastered concepts quickly. I also consulted the Oak Meadow 2nd grade curriculum overview. This is the curriculum guide that I used during the last year and though Oak Meadow was not the perfect fit for us, I do like their slow progression of academics in the early years. Finally, I browsed through BrainPopJr videos and looked through some Singapore Math books that I bought used from a fellow homeschooler.

 What We Will Use

 I made the decision to purchase Singapore Math textbooks and workbooks for a couple of reasons. First, it is the curriculum that many other US schools are switching to, including my mom's (she's a 3rd grade teacher), so I feel like it will keep us current if my girls go back into public school when we move back to the US. In addition, Singapore Math fits well with my overall homeschooling philosophy of going at the child's pace and prioritizing mastery.

 "[...] supporters [of Singapore Math] say it seems to address one of the difficulties in teaching math: all children learn differently. In contrast to the most common math programs in the United States, Singapore math devotes more time to fewer topics, to ensure that children master the material through detailed instruction, questions, problem solving, and visual and hands-on aids like blocks, cards and bar charts. Ideally, they do not move on until they have thoroughly learned a topic." (The New York Times)

 And my favorite supplement: BrainPopJr videos, the Khan Academy (free!) and library books about math!

 Our Math Plan for the 2013-2014 Year 

 *Our 5-year-old loves math and has almost mastered basic addition and subtraction. She can work any 1-digit problems using manipulatives or her abacus, but has also started memorizing a lot of addition and subtraction problems as well. She has also been able to dive into work on adding and subtracting 2-digit numbers (with no carrying). Because of this, our focus is on late kindergarten and first-grade work and is why we're using the Singapore 2A books.

**Our only focus with our 3.5-year-old is to have her become more familiar with her numbers, to improve her counting (right now she can count to 30), and to continue to introduce mathematical concepts by observing her older sister. If Thing1 is watching a math video, Thing 2 is usually right beside her - and seems to soak up a LOT of information.
 
GEOMETRY
 
MEASUREMENT AND DATA
ADDITION/SUBTRACTION

MULTIPLICATION/DIVISION
I hope this helps with your own planning if you are also homeschooling. I have no idea how long it will take us to cover everything, but again, my main goal is for my children to master what they are learning. I don't want them rushing through it for the sake of saying "it's done." Be sure to check in with us at the end of 2013. I will hopefully be posting some updates about how our "school year" is going! 
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Thursday, May 30, 2013

Is it my job to entertain?

"You never let me do anything I want to do."

"Our house is so boring!"

"I wish you could stop working on the computer."

"We never do anything fun!"

These types of things have constantly spewed out of my five-year-old's mouth as of late, and I can't begin to tell you how frustrating and exhausting it is. It always seems as though I will have just finished having circle time with them, doing some sort of activity or even returning home from a trip to a fun place. I will finally sit down to work on something for ME (even though it's usually something involving our homeschooling plans), and the next thing I know, Thing 1 is complaining about how terrible life is at our boring home.

The first thing I feel is "mom guilt." You know, that guilt that we moms feel no matter how ridiculous we know it is? I start questioning the kind of mother I am. Do I spend too much time ignoring my children, or at the computer? I feel like I've made some horrible parenting decisions, somehow, when Thing 1 sulks under her bed and says the only thing that will make her happy is ice-cream or watching tv. And then I just get frustrated. I get frustrated over the fact that Thing 1 is complaining about being bored when she hasn't even attempted to walk into her playroom. Did she forget that we just played two rounds of Candyland?!

And then, the most troubling question is whether or not my kids should be in school. No matter how strong my commitment to homeschooling, I always question my decision when things get a little rough at home.

On days like this, when I'm supposedly the reason for my children's terrible mood, I have to remind myself that it's not my job to make sure my children are always happy. It's okay for them to be bored. It's okay for them to be frustrated. It's okay for them to hear mom say, "I needs a few minutes to work on something, and then we can play together."

I wish I could make them understand that when I say I have laundry to do, it's because I want them to have clean clothes to wear to their playdates. I want them to understand that when I say I need to cook some dinner, it's because I want to nourish their growing little bodies. I want them to understand that when I'm spending an hour at the computer, it's because I'm planning a fabulous homeschool unit on the human body with some awesome experiments that they're going to love.

But they don't understand... yet. And that's okay.
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