We kicked off Martin Luther King Jr day with a Youtube video about him by Homeschool Pop. From the video, we learned how his name came to be, what his childhood was like, and how he was inspired to become a civil rights activist. We followed up with a clip of his I Have a Dream speech and did some research on Mahatma Ghandi. We spent quite a bit of time discussing the importance of equality and how much has been sacrificed to try to achieve it. As tends to happen when we delve into a topic, we began to jump down a rabbit hole of American history and started discussing how Indigenous peoples had also suffered in our country. By texting your zip code to 907-312-5085, you can find out what native land you are on. We discovered Lafayette is Chitimacha land and we found some information on this tribe in a Native Americans of North America Atlas we got from the library. The Chitimacha were once a tribe of 20,000 people. After colonization, their numbers dwindled down to 51. Today the Chitimacha tribe is rebuilding and it’s population is 1,250. We’ve visited the Chitimacha museum before and it was a very educational experience. Because of a temporary closure at the museum this time we went on a nature hike at Lake Fausse Point. We’d never had the opportunity to hike there before as the trails were closed due to flooding but they are open now and the weather has been beautiful for hiking. There’s a great look out spot where we chose to picnic and in the opposite direction are some very pleasant trails. We plan to go back in spring to see how the scenery has changed.
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I’ve been trying to sneak a little math in everyday in ways that don’t make the kids feel like they’re doing math. We learned about measuring the volume of irregular objects through displacement by dropping toys into a measuring cup of water. I’ve also been using an adorable children’s number book to teach my daughter to write both numbers and the words for those numbers, then reading aloud the corresponding poem for each number. The book is called My First Book of Numbers illustrated by Margaret Tarrant. I’m also constantly asking my son for help measuring things, even though I don’t often actually need the help. He seems to enjoy it. Today we learned that for the next several days, the dates are palindromes. I explained what palindromes were and we sat down with pencil and paper to test out the dates. I’m constantly on the hunt for new fun ways to teach math. Have a fun trick you want to share with Macaroni Kid subscribers? Email jenniferer@macaronikid.com and we will include them in next weeks home-school article.
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About Annette:
I’m a homeschool mom of two, ages 11 and 5. We’ve been homeschooling from the beginning for 6 years and our preferred method is unschooling with a Charlotte Mason twist. I love homeschooling for the freedom it gives us and because I enjoy learning alongside my kids. Our favorite ways to indulge our interests are by exploring the world around us, doing experiments and activities, talking to people who are passionate about their fields, and reading well written books. I believe so much in what we do, I’ve kept it through divorce and now working full time from home. It’s my hope to continue our journey until college or whatever next step my kids choose to take.
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