Highhill Homeschool

Educational Videos

Most of the time my children are playing, reading, doing science experiments, building, crafting or creating something. They do however occasionally watch movies. A question I often read on homeschool group websites is "what educational DVD's do you recommend?"

Here are our favorites:

Phonics

These Leap Frog videos are excellent. The first one starts by introducing children to letters and their sounds, the second one progresses to reading three letter words, and the thrid is about more complex words. They are entertaining and educational.

In the videos the children visit factories that make letters or words. In the Letter Factory they visit each letter stored in its room. Each letter is doing something that has to do with its sound. For example the C is /c/ /c/ /c/ cold. This was one of the major learning resources I used in teaching my children to read. It really works!

History

Animated Hero Classics Biographies by NEST Entertainment are a set of 20 thirty-minute videos each featuring a different hero. They provide a good introduction to different historical heros.

Here is the list of heros in the set:
Pocahontas, George Washington, Galileo, Marco Polo, Benjamin Franklin, Florence Nightingale, Thomas Edison, Harriet Tubman, Helen Keller, The Wright Brothers, Alexander Graham Bell, Marie Curie, The Maccabees, Beethoven, Louis Pasteur, Joan of Arc, Abraham Lincoln, William Bradford, Leonardo Da Vinci, and Christopher Columbus

It looks like some of them can be found on amazon or they can be purchased directly from Nest Entertainment.

Language

Muzzy is a language learning program that people either tend to love or hate. You can see a portion of the video on youtube in English to determine if you would like it. Although it has worked well for our family I wouldn't recommend it for children under 8 years old due to the story-line.

The Muzzy program includes books, audio CDs and DVD or VHS. The video portion is broken into Level I, parts 1-6 and Level II, parts 1-6. Each part lasts about 15 minutes so there is around 3 hours of total video. We have not really used the audio or book portions of the the program.

The entertaining cartoon begins with very simple language in the native tongue, which in conjunction with the visual component is easily understood. Each progressive part increases slightly in difficulty. Upon viewing each part repeatedly, language comprehension grows and at the end of the program a decent introductory vocabulary is learned.

Muzzy is available in several languages and many Muzzy products are available on amazon. Unfortunately the packaging of the Muzzy languange program seems to have changed several times. It has changed so much in fact that it is difficult to know what you are ordering. We have Spanish Muzzy in the yellow and orange packaging, and German Muzzy in the blue packaging. It has been offered on DVD with all languages included. Muzzy can also be purchased direct from Early Advantage.

German

After Muzzy we have continued learning German using the following videos produced for German children.

Der Maus - there is a little on youtube

Sesamstrasse - also on youtube

Die Kleine Hexe - also on youtube

Der Kleine Eisbar - also on youtube

Lauras Stern - also on youtube

Benjamin Blumchen - clips available on youtube

Spanish

We have also continued learning Spanish in the same fashion as German although with different videos. Some of them are available free on the internet or in portions on youtube.

Salsa Spanish - Free on the internet

Pororo – Spanish Penguin on youtube

Pocoyo – Spanish Boy, Duck and Elephant on youtube
We also were able to download Pocoyo to the ipad.
Plaza Sesamo - also on youtube

What educational videos do you like? Feel free to grab a Highhill Homeschool button, leave a text link back here in your post, or just leave a comment.

* I did not receive any compensation for this recommendation. I'm just a homeschooling mom who has found many products that I like. If you're interested in the products I recommend on this blog I want to make it easy for you to find them.
** I am an Amazon associate and receive a small portion of the sales on orders made after clicking in from this site, which I promptly spend on homeschooling books and supplies for my children.

German Birds

There are many birds in our area of Germany. This week we went on several nature walks to look for them. These photos were taken on the trails that wind through the farm fields and wooded areas behind our village.

Did you see two birds in the top left photo? These are European Robins. They look quite different than American Robins because they are actually classified in different families. The European Robin is part of the Flycatcher family while the American Robin is a Thrush.

I think this bird is called a Yellowhammer. The same bird is also in the bottom right photo.

This is a large wading bird. We have seen them frequently in the spring. I think it is a Great Egret.

Storks can be spotted in the area. (This one was spotted at a rest area on the Autobahn.)

Great Tits are everywhere. We see them in our yard every time we go outside. They are so cute with their blue backs, yellow breasts and black neck ties.

If you would like to learn more this is a nice website to help identify the birds of Europe.

Cooking Sushi with Kids

Making sushi was fun, tasty, entertaining and difficult. We are definitely going to have to try this again!

After watching a Youtube video about how to make bubble game, a video about how to make sushi popped up. My son loves sushi so he clicked on it. Then he decided to look for recipes. He found this one and asked to make sushi this week. I was thrilled because it's actually something I have wanted to do for a long time but just haven't gotten to.

First the kids cooked sticky rice.

While the rice was cooking they cut avocados, cucumbers and yellow peppers to stuff into the rolls.

Rice vinegar, sugar and salt were mixed together to add to the rice. (Next time we will use less sugar as we thought it tasted a little too sweet.)

Then the real fun began with trying to roll them up.

Even though some turned out better than others they all tasted good. I'm sure we will get better on round two.

Scythian History Co-op. Week 5: Weapons and Armor

Week 5: We made Scythian armor.

The Scythians were fierce people who fought enemies on horseback. They were so connected to their horses that they are thought to be the inspiration for the Centaur. Although their favorite weapon was a bow and arrow, they also carried axes and lances. Their arrows were dipped in poison to ensure major damage when injected into an enemy, and warriors were paid upon bringing back the heads of their enemies.

Although Scythian armor was constructed from iron, the kids used felt.

They started with old t-shirts and then stitched the metal (felt) plates in place.

Here are the kids pretending to shoot their bows and arrows while wearing their newly constructed armor.

Click on one of the groups below for more hands-on history activities.
Celts
Vikings
Scythians
Ancient China

This post is linked to
Weekly Kid Co-op

Fair Isle Hat and Mittens

One way I like to encourage the kids to be crafty is to do crafty things myself. My mom taught me to knit about four years ago when she taught my daughter (six at the time). I love it, and really need to make a point to fit knitting into my schedule.

Fair Isle knitting is a techinique which involves knitting with two colors of yarn at the same time. Think of Norweigian or ski sweaters. It has become one of my favorite ways to knit. I love choosing colors, designing and tweeking paterns and seeing my project through. (Although this can easily take six months.) Fair Isle involves quite a bit of concentration, because the pattern must be constantly followed. However, it is easier than it looks.

Basically one color is held in each hand and you knit with the right-hand or left-hand depending on the color called for in the pattern. If there are two stitches or less of each color in a row that's it. If there are three or more stitches of the same color in a row there are two techniques that must be learned to "wrap" the yarn so there are not long loose sections of yarn on the back of the project.

So the jump from knitting to Fair Isle knitting involves; one color of yarn in each hand and two yarn wrapping techniques.

The pattern I used to make the mittens came from Magnificent Mittens & Socks by Anna Zilboorg.

Free Blank Timelines

Timelines are an essential tool for helping children understand the order in which past events have happened.

Blank Timeline 1000 AD - 2000 AD
Blank Timeline 0 - 1000 AD
Blank Timeline 1000 BC - 0
Blank Timeline 2000 BC - 2000 AD

The first three files each print out on ten sheets of 8.5 x 11 paper (regular size American), and each page spans 100 years. The fourth timeline 2000 BC - 2000 AD prints out on four 8.5 x 11 sheets of paper with each page spanning 1000 years.

I created these timelines and have used them often. Each child has their own blank timeline which is stored in a three ring binder. Every few weeks the timelines are lined up on the floor. Then we read everything that's on them. When I read A Child's History of the World, we add something to the timeline for each chapter. Although they are stored in a book, they could be taped to a door from floor to ceiling if a shorter time period was being studied.

The 2000 BC to 2000 AD timeline is currently being used in our China Unit Study. My free Ancient China Timeline Figures can be found at this link.

If you would like, you are welcome to print copies of these timelines for personal or classroom use. Please let me know what you think. Maybe I will create another one or two.

Potholders - Kids Weaving Project

Weaving is an excellent handicraft for children. It can lead into a life time love of crafting and is good for hand-eye coordination, math (patterns), sense of accomplishment, art (design) and so much more. Each of my children has enjoyed creating potholders between the ages of five and eight.

We have always used the Harrisville Brand potholder loom and loops. One of my friends purchased another brand and the difference in quality was amazing. The cheaper one she got included a loom made out of plastic, which bent when used, and loops made out of a material similar to panty-hose. I would definitely recommend this model.

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