We had our first family history club meeting today. Sarah and James were there, along with their dad and me. Our first topic is the two world wars. As World War I started in Europe, and since everyone in this family suffers from the deplorable lack of geography knowledge we Americans are famous for, we started by playing several rounds of Ten Days in Europe. Trishy played too. (Sarah, James & Trishy: Strategic Thinking; Geography; Map Skills)

We made a chart on the white board of things each of the two older kids knows about the two world wars and things they’re curious about. Considering the units Sarah has done on the world wars and the holocaust, and all the discussions that have been sparked by James’s World War II-themed video games, I’d expected the knowledge lists to be longer. *LOL*

Sarah Knows –
1. Winston Churchill was prime minister of England.
2. Adolf Hitler committed suicide.
3. Franklin D Roosevelt was president during the first part of WW II.
4. Joseph Stalin was leader of Russia. He was a dictator who tried communism. When it didn’t work, he started killing people..
5. The Nazis killed Jews, gays, retarded people, mentally ill people, gypsies, Czechs(??), blacks, people with various disabilities. She knows many gory details about the holocaust.

She doesn’t know why WW I started.

James Knows –

1. The Germans, with the MG42, generally didn’t survive long enough to fire the whole clip, because the clip was so huge and attracted so much attention when it fired (He saw this on the History Channel at Aengus’s)
2. The MP40 was half made of plastic
3. A tank called the Tiger, made by the Germans, was one of the most feared tanks on the battlefield. They were slow and heavy because of all the armor. The American response was mines. Russia helped make a much faster tank. The Tiger’s downfall was that it used too much metal in the armor. The state couldn’t afford it.
4. Many mistakes were made at Omaha Beach, and this prolonged the war.
5. WWII started because of WWI. Hitler promised to fix up Germany to how it used to be.
6. He’s heard of battles, like Omaha beach and the Invasion of Berlin; he knows the names of too many WWII weapons to count.

James is Curious About –

1. Why did Stalin help us against the Germans?
2. How many bullets are in the clip of a PPSH (Russian weapon)?
3. If you lasted for a long time on the battlefield, how would you get food?
4. Everything about World War I.

We also talked about my plans for the club, and I tried to get ideas. James is all about the weapons. Sarah agreed to find some relevant movies.

(Sarah and James; A Feeble Attempt (On My Part) at Collaboration; History)

Other Things We’ve Done:

Last night, we had a family meeting about learning at home and how we’re scheduling our lives. I won’t go into the ins and outs, but in short, we decided nothing we’re doing is working worth a damn. So there you have it.

John and I made some changes, with input from the kids. After that, John and the kids played Mario Karts and other video games, and we all played Pictionary. Playing this game as a family is SO much fun, and Trishy plays surprisingly well for a 5-year-old. She doesn’t read, but she can fast-draw along with the best of us.

Today, we had breakfast at the crack of dawn (ahem … around 8:30), during which the older kids looked like heavily drugged zombies. Then I had math class with the older kids. Each of them took a placement test for the Math U See curriculum. It looks like they’re both at about the Gamma level. Even though Sarah, who is 4 years older, is much more advanced in many ways, there are still gaps in her skills, and she could benefit from a review of multi-digit multiplication. James also practiced math facts (addition, subtraction, multiplication and division) through treasure hunts (he followed trails of flash cards to hidden prizes). (James and Sarah: Math: Computation)

We also did the first chapter from The Adventures of Penrose the Mathematical Cat, on the binary number system. James seemed curious and engaged during the lesson, especially when I told him binary numbers are the basis of everything electronic — that Garden of Eden around which all good things revolve. Sarah seemed bored, though she seemed pleased when she was able to work out the pattern on which binary place values are based: 1, 2, 4, 8, 16 … (she and James both realized 32 came next, followed by 64, 128, 256, 512, and so forth). Both the kids worked out how to translate a few simple binary numbers into the base ten system. (James and Sarah: Math: Computation, Number Sense & Patterns/Algebra)

James played Modern Warfare II online with Aengus, and he’s gearing up for a much-anticipated playdate with Sam. (James: Strategic Thinking; Collaborative Problem-Solving). Recently, he’s been gaming a lot and listening to plenty of audiobooks. He finished listening to Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney, which he said was hilarious (middle-school boy-humor). I had wondered whether he’d relate to the humor, since he hasn’t gone to school, but apparently he did. I was told that in one of the high points, a kid ate a piece of moldy cheese that had been in the cafeteria for an eternity. He also finished Hatchet by Gary Paulsen, and he’s re-reading the first two books in the “Harry Potter” series — he finished Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling. (James: Reading/Literature, Auditory Comprehension Skills)

James and I had set aside some time, this afternoon, for writing but we decided to start tomorrow instead. He’s conceded that he needs to spend more time practicing his writing, and he thinks he may need to study grammar and spelling as a separate subject. We agreed to hold off on the formal grammar and spelling for now and focus on writing more often. If he gets frustrated with mechanics and WANTS some extra instruction, we can do that. He also wants me to help him learn cursive.

Sarah worked up updating her Netflix lists and ran errands with her dad. She and James both “pianted” pictures on the computer with Microsoft Paints (Sarah and James: Art, Computer). We have set aside some time this evening for writing.

Trishy has been playing Sims Animals for hours on end during the past few days. (Problem Solving; Animal Habitats) I’ve been working on my ability to help her express her wishes and frustrations without whining or screaming, and we had a better day. (Social and Emotional Development)

She wanted to “do school,” so we played Rat-a-Tat-Cat (Trishy: Math: Computation: Addition and Comparing Numbers, Memory), Feed the Kitty (Trishy: Math: Computation: Basic Addition and Subtraction Concepts) and Mastermind (Math: Logic: Deductive Logic) As we were counting out mice, during Feed the Kitty, I modeled counting by twos and she seemed to find that interesting, so I picked this book to read to her: Two Ways to Count to Ten by Ruby Dee illustrated by Susan Meddaugh. We also read I am Really a Princess by Carol Diggery Shields, illustrated by Paul Meisel. (Trishy: Reading/Literature; Auditory Comprehension; Math: Computation and Patterns/Algebra (counting by twos).