writing

Kids Create: Making a Historical Documentary

January 30, 2019 by Amy 2 Comments

As a kid, I always wanted to be a teacher; as an adult, that hasn’t changed. I was worried about that when we decided to homeschool, but I find myself still teaching – just in a wider variety of roles than ever!

Sometimes, what needs to be taught is pushing my boundaries of knowledge, however. Earlier in the year, when one of my history club kids wanted to make a documentary, I went looking for resources, since that’s not anything that I’ve done in this decade. It took a bit of doing, but I found a way.

Our library is fantastic, and you can reserve a librarian – how cool is that? You simply book a time, and they help you with what you need. I love that! Fortunately, our librarian has a great tech guy, and he agreed to teach us how to use iMovie and to help the group complete a documentary. (That may not seem like much to you Mac users, but since none of us have Macs, it was a big deal!)

When one heard about the documentary workshop, more jumped on board – and then they decided that if they were going to need video to edit, they might as well make something real out of it. They chose to examine the controversy surrounding Dolley Madison’s birthplace, part of our local lore that is really popular here.

We began our research by collecting information locally, online and from local historians. Then we headed to Chapel Hill, where we spent a good part of the day culling through books and online journals, looking for information. We found more than we expected!

Following all that hard research, we went out for lunch on Franklin Street, the main thoroughfare in Chapel Hill. Restaurants line the side opposite the University of North Carolina, where we conducted our research, and so we ate with the big college kids. Big stuff!

Back home, we continued working. The kids wrote a script and traveled to the important places mentioned in their research, filming and taking pictures that they could use as the visual elements to their documentary. They chose not to be onscreen themselves, so they needed a lot of visuals.

That amazing librarian spent several hours over the course of two weeks teaching them the finer points of iMovie. He made himself available to answer questions when they got stuck, and after about 20 hours, they completed their documentary!

They’ve chosen to enter it into a statewide competition coming up this spring. In the meantime, however, if you’d like to know more about the controversy surrounding Dolley Madison’s birth, check out their documentary below.

Maybe it will give your kids some ideas…

because while I never expected my middle school kids to be out making movies, they did a great job – and they can’t wait to do more.

Kids can do big things.

What big things are your kids up to lately?

“Balancing Diapers and Deadlines” – Review

November 2, 2018 by Amy Leave a Comment

My kids are long out of the diaper stage, but there’s more to balance than ever, and that’s why I was excited to review the class Balancing Diapers and Deadlines from Lisa Tanner Writing.

I haven’t taken this type of online class before. It’s a go-at-your-own-pace thing with a box to check when you’ve finished a module and some printable activity components. I really liked that structure. The sections have outlines table-of-contents style, so you can see what you’ll be learning, and there are buttons at the end of each page to go directly to the next one. Each page is it’s own module, so if you’re working through more than one at a time, that’s really convenient.

The action steps at the end of the modules give you something concrete to think about and work toward. It can be easy, I think, to read someone else’s advice who has it all together and has figured it out and feel like it’s impossible to get there, even when you’re reading their ideas about how to do it. The action step gives you something positive to do to work toward the goal of the chapter – an achievable, definable plan for making progress. I like that.

The purpose for this course is to help you find ways to balance a busy home life while running your own work-from-home business. The author is a homeschooling mom of eight, complete with animals, lessons to teach, and a house to manage, so she has experience at multitasking and getting things done. Knowing that your teacher has accomplished what you’re trying to learn is always a plus, and it sounds as if Lisa Tanner has really made her business and schedule work for her.

Because the idea is to run a business from home, it’s important that your home already be running smoothly before throwing a business into the mix. To that end, many of the modules and ideas in this class are to help you do just that. There are ideas for streamlining meal plans and basic, everyday decision making so that those routine tasks don’t eat away at your brain power. How to handle household chores also take up a big part of the early sections of this book. Who can concentrate on their creative work when the floors are sticky and the laundry stinks, right?

One of the biggest themes I see in this course is how to get your family to come alongside you in your work in nearly every way. From helping them understand your purpose and goals for the business to helping around the house to actually acting as a virtual assistant or secretary, the author makes a case for having your family very involved.

This is really important. If your kids don’t understand the time you spend on the computer or you can’t work there uninterrupted, your work won’t be it’s best. I think, though, that many of the ideas shared in these sections are going to work best for larger families; at least, some of them wouldn’t work in my house, with my two, middle-school-aged kids. That’s only logical, since the author is sharing what works for her, at her house, with her family; but if you’re coming from the perspective of a smaller-family Mom like me, I think that’s an important factor to consider. I can see how some of these ideas might have worked when my kids were a bit smaller, too, but they’ve outgrown important aspects of them for now.

My kids are both big enough to help with my work, though, and ways to involve them more is something I’ve been kicking around, so I appreciated reading about the ways that Tanner’s kids help her. I’m not sure which parts I might pick up yet, but she definitely gave me food for thought.

The author provided sample routine ideas for how to get household chores and school lessons completed, but one thing I would have liked to see more of is what her work schedule looks like. She gave great examples of how to fit bits and pieces of her work into the busy parts of her day, but does she ever have a larger chunk of time when she’s able to sit down and do some focused work? I would have liked to see an example of that kind of schedule.

My favorite modules were the ones talking about sustainable growth and being creative with your time. I think that Tanner provided really clear ideas and goals that should be transferrable to any type of home business here. The absolute best, though, is at the very end where she talks about not comparing yourself to someone else. Your plan for your home and business will look different from mine, and that’s okay. I love the assurances she shares in this chapter.

If you’re struggling with how to find time to run your home-based business, check out Balancing Diapers and Deadlines from Lisa Tanner Writing. I bet you’ll find some really sensible ideas to smooth your path.

Balancing Diapers and Deadlines {Lisa Tanner Writing Reviews}

NEW! A Linked Unit Study for Elise Broach’s “The Wolf Keepers”

September 2, 2017 by Amy Leave a Comment

Every once in a while, I read a book that I grabs all of my attention and screams to be used for fun with kids. I love taking those books and turning them into fun unit studies for educational purposes, and Elise Broach’s new book The Wolf Keepers is just such a book.

A high-stakes middle grade historical adventure through Yosemite National Park by the New York Times-bestselling author of Masterpiece.

Twelve-year-old Lizzie Durango and her dad have always had a zoo to call their home. Lizzie spends her days watching the animals and taking note of their various behaviors. Though the zoo makes for a unique home, it’s a hard place for Lizzie to make lasting friends. But all this changes one afternoon when she finds Tyler Briggs, a runaway who has secretly made the zoo his makeshift home. The two become friends and, just as quickly, stumble into a covert investigation involving the zoo wolves who are suddenly dying. Little do they know, this mystery will draw them into a high-stakes historical adventure involving the legend of John Muir as they try to navigate safely while lost in Yosemite National Park.

Elise Broach has written a fantastic novel around the real life story of John Muir! I love the approach she takes with his mystery, and she deepens the story by adding layers upon layers of moral dilemmas. While the story is suspenseful, it stays upbeat, even when there are large things afoot, making it the perfect book to carry deep, yet kid-friendly discussions.

So what will you find in a unit study for The Wolf Keepers?

a vocabulary puzzle with answer key
discussion/comprehension questions by chapter
creative and expository writing prompts
research projects for history, science, math, and biographies
poetry and literature activities
art projects
a recipe

This work can be done individually or cooperatively. You could assign all of it or just certain projects. Students can work at their own pace, and safe links are provided to ensure a safe Internet experience.

The Wolf Keepers would make a fantastic book club book, as well!

If you want to grab a copy of this unit study, you’ll find it here.

Happy reading!

Writing History at Epic Patriot Camp

July 19, 2016 by Amy Leave a Comment

Last week my kids experienced the most amazing camp ever. It was Epic Patriot Camp, sponsored by the National Park Service, held at the Abingdon Muster Grounds, and taught, in part, by the wonderful author Jenny L. Cote.

For six hours each day, the lived the Revolutionary Battle of King’s Mountain. Over the course of the week, they were given a real person who participated in some way at the Battle. They researched this person and wrote his/her story – while wearing period clothing and receiving technical writing lessons from Cote herself.

It wasn’t just costumes and quills, though – the National Park Service went all out. The week was full of hands-on lessons about colonial life. The kids did weapons drills with wooden muskets and watched a reenactor shoot a real one, and then they made musket balls and powder cartridges. They hiked around the Grounds and examined the native plants, learning about herbal remedies and properties of many of them. They learned how to write with a quill pen and ink and used wax and seals to mark their journals. Each day, they continued to research their historical people, add to their stories, and conference with Cote herself.

The final day was huge, though. The campers stayed the night at the grounds and slept in colonial-style canvas tents! They helped to cook their dinner over the campfire, washed dishes, played graces, and spent time around the fire. The Little Man in the picture above? The picture doesn’t do him justice. He was incredibly mud-spattered and stinky when I picked him up – but he couldn’t stop smiling.

The next morning we were treated to a special tea and ceremony. The kids had the chance to show off what they had learned by sharing parts of their stories.

They also performed a reenactment of the Battle of King’s Mountain for us. They really got into it!

I was impressed each day with the tight, well-planned lessons planned by Cote and the leaders from the NPS. I loved the hands-on activities and the enthusiasm which I saw pouring out of my kids – but there was one aspect I didn’t expect: homework.

As homeschoolers, we don’t encounter homework very often. We’re typically done with our schoolwork long before dinnertime – and so we had planned some fun outings for our evenings away.

Those didn’t go quite as expected, partly because there was homework. Extra credit assignments, really, that weren’t required, but the kids were adamant that they do them. They wanted to know more than what they were learning at camp. They wanted to do their very best for Jenny L. Cote – and they wanted to win her prize.

The kids excitedly shared after their first day at camp that Cote would be watching for the most epic story to be written that week and that the writer of that very story would make an appearance as an animal character in her next book.

As big fans of Cote’s work, that’s all it took: we adjusted our evening outings to accommodate (several hours of) extra credit work each night. As crazy as it sounds – because who gets excited about homework in the summertime? – the kids couldn’t wait to settle in at the kitchen table and get started each night.

At the final tea, however, we all found ourselves nervous. There were 18 campers in attendance and many were older than my kids. Knowing how badly they wanted to win, I was crossing my fingers for them both, but realistically speaking, I knew that the camp was full of smart, talented writers.

The campers turned out to be so smart and talented that Cote created many more awards than just her original one. I loved hearing the descriptions of what the campers had done throughout the week to earn these honors.

In the end, however, Cote announced that My Big Helper had won the chance to be an animal in her next book – and we were so shocked that neither of us were certain whose name she called! (Turns out we each asked other people when the ceremony was over.)

My Big Helper is looking forward to that future day when she’s found in the pages of a Cote book, but she didn’t learn only about writing. Writing was a big part of it – she came home with pages of notes and techniques, her mind full of stories and examples Cote told during the lessons.

Both kids came home with so much more, though. They’re more confident writers. They’re more enthusiastic about writing than ever before, but they’ve also fallen deeper in love with history. They’re able to put themselves into the story and see the events from multiple perspectives. They’re able to see each scene with all their senses, describing in detail how it might smell and feel and taste to be there. They’re full of stories of Patriots and Loyalists of whom I had never heard and know how they’re interconnected. They know how they changed history and know how to do the research to find out more. Better yet, they know how to analyze it to see what it all means. They even met other kids from Tennessee, New Jersey, Alabama, Oklahoma, and Missouri – because that’s how far other people traveled to attend.

When I discovered this camp on Cote’s website, I never imagined anything this amazing – and that’s saying something; I know I’m a pretty tough critic of lesson plans and teaching. I expected some writing excitement and fun history projects, but Epic Patriot Camp truly lived up to its name. With tight lessons, generous supplies, kind and enthusiastic teachers, and the encouragement to take their projects as far and as hard as they wanted, Epic Patriot Camp is the best experience we’ve had in years.

The NPS’s Camp Leader, Katherine Lynne, is sure that Epic Patriot Camp will return next year, possibly to some new locations. I’d encourage you to watch for the announcement that registration is open and to sign your kids up if it’s at all possible for you to get there. It’s well worth the effort.

*I shared only pictures that I personally took, but there are many more fabulous pictures available on Jenny L. Cote’s Facebook page. Scroll down to find her Epic Patriot Camp 2016 posts and check them out.

Learning to Write with Author Jenny L. Cote

April 27, 2016 by Amy Leave a Comment

Our recent visit to Patrick Henry’s Red Hill was exciting for more reasons than the hands-on ones I shared yesterday. It’s where we got to meet author Jenny L. Cote for a writing workshop.

I’ve always wanted to go to a book signing, and although I’ve gotten a few invitations from authors whose books I’ve reviewed (eeek! excitement!) they’ve always been too far away.

That’s why I was extra excited to sign us up for a writing workshop with author Jenny L. Cote following homeschool day at Red Hill.

The event was scheduled by Red Hill and was entitled, “If This Be Fiction, Make the Most of It!” Cote used this parody of a famous Patrick Henry quote to teach about the various ways that an author prepares and plans the story (and her next three books will involve Patrick Henry).

Cote shared about writing techniques, like researching, but she extended each concept beyond the basic. She challenged the listeners to go beyond the library and the internet to the world beyond. She asked us to think big and dream bigger and to take action on those ideas. The workshop was not a do-this-then-that kind of class but more of an inspirational lecture based on the author’s own experiences. She has traveled the world doing research for her books and had loads of amazing stories and pictures to share.

Hearing Jenny L. Cote speak made me wish I had a story in my head that I could zoom off to research (another dream of mine – maybe someday?) but her visit wasn’t just about writing itself. Her lessons were really all about life.

Shouldn’t we all dream big? Trust God for miracles? Approach Him boldly? See beyond the words on a page to the miraculous wonders they share?

My Big Helper finished Cote’s first book on our way to Red Hill, and she was bubbling over with excitement about it. She purchased the next two and Cote signed all three. Now My Little Man is reading the story and he’s just as enthralled as his big sister is.

I love when an author inspires a reader to greatness. I love when a book makes you loath to put it down.

Cote has done both with my children, and after meeting her, I’m quite excited to begin them myself.

Want to read Cote’s books for yourself? You can find them all here:

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A Little R & R

1 Easy Way to Teach about the American Southwest

February 29, 2016 by Amy Leave a Comment

Recently my Little Man asked to read Elise Broach’s book Missing on Superstition Mountain. I knew he would love it – it’s packed full of adventure, danger, and treasure hunting – but I hesitated. This book is perfect for teaching about the American Southwest. There are many, many threads that can be tugged to build deeper learning and critical thinking.

So we made a deal: he would wait to read the book until I had created some ‘stuff’ to go along with it, and then I would give him a week off from school to read the book and complete the ‘stuff.’ I’ve been hard at work creating a series of fun extension activities to accompany it ever since, and it’s DONE! I’ve created a web-linked novel study that incorporates your typical vocabulary quizzes and creative writing assignments, but also has math, science, and history activities, too. Many include writing or art projects. All of it can be done individually or cooperatively.

Since it’s made and finished, I’d like to share it with you! Missing on Superstition Mountain is a fantastic book that’s sure to excite any child about treasure hunting and solving mysteries. Better yet, it’s based on the real history and legends of the Superstition Mountain Range in Arizona (and this study has more about that linked up for your convenience, too!). It’s also the first book in a trilogy, and since the other two books are just as great as this one, novel studies will be coming soon for the other books in the series.

Missing on Superstition Mountain will make a great book club pick for upper-elementary or middle school book clubs. Our boys’ club will be reading this story next fall, and I can’t wait to see what they think of it.

So don’t delay – go Missing on Superstition Mountain and catch gold fever yourself.

How do you keep your children excited about learning?

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Tell it to Me Tuesdays

Become a Published Author with Lulu

April 24, 2015 by Amy 5 Comments

Taking school on the road is one of the great perks about homeschooling. Nothing can match being out in the real world, learning about something from an expert who lives and breathes the subject. We’ve met some pretty great ones through the years, but last week we met a bunch of them all at once.

We visited Lulu.com in Raleigh, the first open publishing company. Lulu provides a wide variety of services, including publishing print and digital books to creating book ‘kids’ to help kids become published authors. We hoped to find out exactly how books get published, and we learned that – and much, much more.

Nestled on a busy street near a college campus, Lulu’s home matches the people who work there. It’s a mix of modern and renovation, full of light and energy.

Our tour began in a conference room with juice and doughnuts. Many of the kids were won over right there. To make it even better, a Foosball table and basketball game rounded out the room. Lulu values creativity and isn’t afraid to play when inspiration is needed. How much fun must it be to work there?

Glenn Hunt, senior technical writer for Lulu, kicked off our tour by sharing the history of the company and the way that this open publishing system works. Lulu prints on demand, so there is no stash of books waiting to be sold anywhere – instead, they work with printers around the world to get your book to you soon after it’s ordered. Their website allows you to plan every aspect of the books that you publish so that you retain complete control over your work – as well as 80% of the profit. Wow!

Next we took off for a tour of the building and each department. We learned about the complexities involved in running an international business from a financial standpoint, about the creative services offered by Lulu, about customer service, new products, and computer engineering.

After our tour, we headed back to the conference room to prepare our own stories. Lulu was super generous and gave each student a publishing kit. Several employees came out to help the students plan their stories. They talked about characters and plot, about storyboards and flow. The kids loved it!

There’s nothing like being inspired to write by people who publish books every day.

Since leaving Lulu, I’ve heard that several of these students want to grow up to work at Lulu. They were impressed by the creativity and teamwork. Several more are hard at work creating stories and can’t wait to see the finished product.

Our visit to Lulu was excellent. They went above and beyond the call of duty to teach us about the publishing world. The staff at Lulu planned our visit with exacting detail, and I can only expect that they put the same care and attention into their work.

Thank you, Lulu, for setting such a great example of innovative professionals – and for opening your doors to our group. You gave our students a fabulous experience – and great lessons we couldn’t learn from our classrooms.

To learn more about publishing with Lulu, click here.

Write Your Own Thanksgiving Psalm

July 21, 2014 by Amy 1 Comment

One thing that I love about homeschooling is the flexibility to go with the flow when inspiration strikes, and sometimes that springs from the scripture I read during my own early morning quiet time.

A few months ago, when I was reading the Psalms, I was struck by the repetition in Psalm 103. I liked the detail, the way that David listed what he was thankful for, and it reminded me of parts of the New Testament and how we are to give thanks always. I decided that this would be a great way for us to recognize just how many blessings God showers upon us, and so the Psalm 103-Bradsher-style began.

We started with a roll of easel paper and our favorite smelly markers. We chose to keep the first and last stanza of the psalm but to make our own list in between. We also kept the sentence “May we never forget the good things He does for us.” I acted as scribe so that the kids could think creatively and not worry about spelling or grammar.

They soon were shouting out things they were grateful for, and as their list grew longer, their sentences became more poetic. After writing a full door-length worth of blessings, we ended our psalm as David did.

Then the kids took the smelly markers and drew small pictures near the nouns in their psalm. They made it colorful, and by the time they were done, it was a great visual reminder of God’s provision.

We’re definitely going to do this again.

Want to see the real Psalm 103? Here it is – the parts in bold are what we kept in ours.

1 Let all that I am praise the Lord;
    with my whole heart, I will praise his holy name.
2 Let all that I am praise the Lord;
    may I never forget the good things he does for me.

3 He forgives all my sins

    and heals all my diseases.

4 He redeems me from death

    and crowns me with love and tender mercies.

5 He fills my life with good things.

    My youth is renewed like the eagle’s!

6 The Lord gives righteousness

    and justice to all who are treated unfairly.

7 He revealed his character to Moses

    and his deeds to the people of Israel.

8 The Lord is compassionate and merciful,

    slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love.

9 He will not constantly accuse us,

    nor remain angry forever.

10 He does not punish us for all our sins;

    he does not deal harshly with us, as we deserve.

11 For his unfailing love toward those who fear him

    is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth.

12 He has removed our sins as far from us

    as the east is from the west.

13 The Lord is like a father to his children,

    tender and compassionate to those who fear him.

14 For he knows how weak we are;

    he remembers we are only dust.

15 Our days on earth are like grass;

    like wildflowers, we bloom and die.

16 The wind blows, and we are gone—

    as though we had never been here.

17 But the love of the Lord remains forever

    with those who fear him.

His salvation extends to the children’s children

18     of those who are faithful to his covenant,

    of those who obey his commandments!

19 The Lord has made the heavens his throne;

    from there he rules over everything.

20 Praise the Lord, you angels,

    you mighty ones who carry out his plans,

    listening for each of his commands.

21 Yes, praise the Lord, you armies of angels

    who serve him and do his will!

22 Praise the Lord, everything he has created,

    everything in all his kingdom.

Let all that I am praise the Lord.

Have you ever written your own psalm?

Write Your Own Irish Blessings

July 19, 2014 by Amy 5 Comments

Okay, I realize that if you write them yourself, they won’t really be Irish (unless you are) but this is a fun introduction to poetry and a way to think about others while studying a neat aspect of Irish culture.

We began by reading some traditional Irish blessings. We found a bunch over here. Of course, we had to read my favorite:

May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind always be at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
and rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of His hand.

Then we set to work. We always send ‘Happy Saint Patrick’s Day’ cards to our relatives, so we broke out the white and green paper, the rubber stamps and ink pads, and some stickers. I let the kids create their cards however they wanted, as long as they wrote a message inside. My Big Helper’s had to contain some kind of blessing.

At first she wanted to copy blessings from the website, but we continued to talk about the format. The neat thing about many Irish blessings, practically speaking, is that they follow a simple pattern. “May you” followed by a good thing. Soon she wanted to write her own.

My Big Helper got creative with this. She really had fun with this assignment, and I think each card will bring a smile when it’s opened.

Write Your Own Irish Blessing @ www.anestintherocks.blogspot.com

Have you ever ‘studied’ Irish blessings? What would you include in one?

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A Little R & R

Field Work Friday – How to Write a Story

July 18, 2014 by Amy

This week we met at our local library to learn about story writing. Children’s Librarian Amanda Weaver started out by reading a Toot and Puddle book, and then she shared a story that she had written as a child.

Next she talked with the children about the important parts of a story: the characters, the conflict, and the resolution. They also discussed the parts of a printed book, such as the cover, the spine, the words, and the illustrations.

Amanda had prepared simple story pages for each child, and after distributing the pages and crayons, the kids set out to write their own story. They had some really creative ideas and were eager to share their work, so they decided to read them to each other.

Even the very youngest of children had something to say, and with a little help, they got their words on paper and shared them with our group.

It’s never to early to begin writing!