Author Archives: Adriana Zoder

Jun 4 2015

Story of the World, Vol. 1, Chapter 36

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The First Roman Prince or Chapter 36 happened fast. The children colored their maps and the portrait of Augustus Caesar.

Augustus Caesar colored by a boy

Augustus Caesar colored by my son

In case you are wondering what the drawings are at the top, they are lions and angels, added by my son and his imagination.

I read the entire chapter. Sadly, I chose not to make a toga. I took sewing in college but I just don’t feel very motivated to make a toga for the kids at this point.

The other suggested activity also seemed tiring and complex, so I skipped on to the next chapter.

Jun 3 2015

Story of the World, Vol. 1, Chapter 35

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Caesar the Hero or Chapter 35 was sad. Really, really sad. It was tough to introduce the kids to the way Julius Caesar died. Again, I question the generosity of violent details in this history curriculum for first graders. I understand that they made it usable by children in grades 1-6, but it really was geared to first graders in the first place.

Boy with flag craft

Our Caesar with his flag

My librarian actually posted a note on some of the ILL titles she ordered for me. She wanted to make sure I reviewed these titles, because she deemed them appropriate for high school or, at the very least, for somebody in middle school. I told her that I previewed everything anyway and I thanked her for her concern.  Continue reading »

Jun 2 2015

Story of the World, Vol. 1, Chapter 34

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Chapter 34 took us back to my favorite ancient civilization – Rome. The story of Julius Caesar touched us all in a profound way. They were amazed by his ambition and life.

Boy with leaf crown

My JC wearing a leaf crown and a shirt declaring, “I will.” A coincidence, but a fitting one.

This is why I love homeschooling so much. I had fun in school growing up. Learning to me is a pleasure and a lot of fun. When I teach my children, I re-live those moments of my childhood when I had fun learning. On the other hand, when I learn new things in order to present them to my children, it’s fun also, because I love to study and find out new things.  Continue reading »

Jun 2 2015

10 Activities To Do on a Cruise

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A cruise is one of the most fun things a family can experience together. From all you can eat buffets to water slides, there’s no shortage of things to do no matter what the age. Of course, this is made all the better if you happen to be exploring the warm waters of the Caribbean. In light of that, here are 10 great activities you can do while on a Caribbean cruise.

1) Unlimited Ice Cream and Pizza

That’s right, unlimited soft serve ice cream and all the pizza you can eat, any kid’s dream. The choices don’t stop there of course, with multiple buffets offering a plethora of food options. It’s a foodie’s paradise.

Cruise ship

Cruise ship

2) Relax by the pool

Once you’ve had your fill of food, you can sleep it away poolside. Plus, if you want to get away from the kids for a bit, most cruise ships have an adults only pool, so you can get some peace and quiet.

3) Work out at the gym

Feel a need to get some exercise in while on vacation? Well, you can do that on a cruise, with a fully stocked gym, along with running tracks, all available to cruise goers.  Continue reading »

May 31 2015

Story of the World, Vol. 1, Chapter 33

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Chapter 33 deals with Confucius, tangrams and tea. We drank tea. Not green tea, because we stay away from caffeine, nor mint tea, as suggested in the activity book, because we did not have any on hand. I started a tea pot and placed three Bigelow Orange and Spice tea bags (affiliate link) in our respective tea cups.

Tea Cups

Our tea bags steeping in the cups

They remembered how we used to drink tea with cake or cookies or scones in the winter and at our recent afternoon tea at Buckhorn Inn, so they decided they wanted some pumpkin pie with their tea. (We made pumpkin pie yesterday so they knew we had some in the fridge.) It was a lot of fun and we talked about how tea originated in China, but it is now the national drink in the United Kingdom, India and many other countries.  Continue reading »

May 28 2015

Thoughtful Thursday Week 22 – Fussiness

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For the past two weeks, I have been eating humble pie. I have made so many clumsy mistakes, I finally saw what I was supposed to learn: I am human and clumsy. So are my children. I need to stop with the fussiness already. It all culminated with my finding Mom Enough – especially the first chapter by Rachel Jankovic. I received a new perspective and repented some more.

I have been a bit too harsh and hard on them lately. When they make mistakes because they are small and human and still learning, I have overreacted. And then I spilled the gelatin mixture as we were pouring it into LEGO molds, giving myself 30 minutes of cleaning sticky goo from the kitchen counters and floors. My son even helped of his own free will, even though it was not his mistake. But he was helping his mom because he wanted to, which humbled me further.

Don't fuss at your children

And then I forgot I placed my cell phone inside my son’s violin case, which meant we thought I left my cell inside the building where our son had his recital. This wrong belief, stemming from my own forgetfulness, meant that we spent two hours in front of a building on the UTK campus, waiting for a police man to come unlock the building on Friday evening Memorial Day weekend. It gets worse: it was our 10th anniversary, too.  Continue reading »

May 28 2015

Story of the World, Vol. 1, Chapter 32

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Chapter 32 deals with China: the First Emperor, the Great Wall of China, pictograms, calligraphy, and the burial chamber filled with clay warriors and horses. My son had a lot of fun listening to the stories. I thought it was a long chapter, but he was not bored at all. I mentioned there is yet one more story in the chapter and he said, “Keep going! Read it!”

Boy building a dirt mold for a backyard Great Wall of China

Filling the dirt mold

After map work and coloring, we built the Great Wall of China: first on the table, then in our backyard. Here is a clip showing him fill up the dirt cast. Here is the next step – removing the cast.

To make the cast, we used super glue and craft sticks, as directed in the activity book.

We had lots of fun, although I did get some super glue on my fingers. Two days later, I am still dealing with it. The duct tape left some residue, too. I just could not figure out how to use super glue to connect the four sides. So I opted for duct tape instead.  Continue reading »

May 28 2015

Kitten in the Storm – El Gatito en la Tormenta

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Kitten in the Storm is now available in an English-Spanish bilingual edition, El Gatito en la Tormenta. Please note this is an affiliate link.

Kitten in the Storm Spanish Cover

On May 29, 2015, this Kindle book will be FREE to download. After that date, it will cost $1.99. Paperback copies will be available later this summer.

Please note that some Kindles (like the Paperwhite) cannot download picture books like this one.

 

May 27 2015

Story of the World, Vol. 1, Chapter 31

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Chapter 31 or The Mauryan Empire of India introduced us to the Jakata Tales and Rabbit Ear Productions. Apparently, PBS showed a series of books read by famous actors between 1984-1995, put together by Rabbit Ear Productions. The Tiger and the Brahmin with Ben Kingsley is one of them. I did not want to look it up through my library, especially because I found something similar online. The kids loved it.

For this chapter’s activity, we made white rice. Three things I want to say about this. First of all, I don’t usually eat white rice because it is not as healthy as brown rice.

Rice Container

But I happened to have some white rice in the house and we gave the recipe a try. Continue reading »

May 26 2015

Story of the World, Vol. 1, Chapter 30

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The Aryans of India or Chapter 30 helped us understand the roots of Buddhism and Hinduism. The kids colored The Buddha and the map while I read the stories.

For our craft, we made rakhi bracelets. First, we made one for sister to put on brother. She liked it so much, she wanted a bracelet for herself, too, so we made her one as well. I have not handled a hot glue gun in a while and I got burned, several times. Ouch! So be careful if you are doing this, too.

One new thing I am doing, by the way, is I walk on my stepper while I read to them. This has nothing to do with history. But I thought I should mention it because it doubles up my time and my blog means to provide tips for a thriving homeschool. I did not think I could do both at the same time, but I tried it and it was fine. I get 10-15 minutes of exercise while reading to them, depending on how long the lesson is. We live such sedentary lifestyles, as 21st century Americans. Every little bit of movement helps.  Continue reading »