Physical Fitness Curriculum

What do you use for PE?
Every academic subject has plenty of options for textbooks, workbooks, and more, but what about PE?

This past year we decided to start from a practical perspective. We asked what they might need to be physically fit for. There is the natural benefit of being healthy, but in terms of physical abilities we felt the most likely real life application would be if they ever wanted to participate in the military.

We looked up the US military minimum requirements for physical fitness, and agreed that this should also be the minimum that we require of our children.

http://www.army.com/enlist/push-ups.html

The above link will take you to a chart for push ups and from that page you can link to minimum requirements for sit ups and for running.
These are the three areas that you would be tested in to pass Basic Training. The requirements are not exactly the same for every branch of the military, but they are similar.

To use this information; we had our children test themselves, and document where they fell on the chart. Their goal was to work their way up to passing the Basic Training Test by the end of the school year. To help them, we encouraged them to work at some form of exercise on a daily basis and to retest once a week to see how much progress they had made.

While not all of my children would be able to pass the Basic Training test today, they have all made progress since the first test, and that is the real goal. We will continue to hold the military standard as our standard until all of our children are able to pass it.

The author of this blog, Corinne Johnson is a Christian homeschooling mother of six, help meet to her husband Don, and author of Vacation Education Books (travel guides for families who love to learn, unit studies for families who love to travel).
www.vacationeducationbooks.net

Dinosaurs & the Bible

I have recently been researching dinosaurs as part of my work on unit studies to go along with Walt Disney's Animal Kingdom (this is our most recent title). I am trying to get this finished up so that we can distribute this book sometime this year (2009)

We discovered today an excellent resource in a website called Christiananswers.net.

Here is a link to get you started there.
http://www.christiananswers.net/dinosaurs/alaska/home.html

This particular link will take you to a story written by the leader of a group of Christian Creation scientists who journeyed to Alaska to find dinosaur bones. They were looking for bones that had been frozen in the permafrost, in hopes of finding some organic material. We found it both educational and entertaining, and especially appreciated that these men trusted the Lord in their struggles, and praised the Lord in their successes.

If you like adventure stories, you will enjoy this true story of their trek.

This blog is written by Corinne Johnson, Christian homeschooling mother of six, help meet to her husband, and author of Vacation Education Books; travel guides for families who love to learn, unit studies for families who love to travel.
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Tyler's Engineering Project

I recently wrote about a K'NEX set that Tyler found and we used for a days worth of school (focusing on Math, Science and Engineering). Here is the final result.

Homeschooling & Socialization Antics

Every now and then, I am reminded of the social skills that my children don't get because they aren't exposed to common worldly influences; like modern slang. In our house, we generally speak proper English, and with the exception of occasional sarcasm, we tend to say what we mean. So, when my ten year old daughter asked me what it meant when she heard someone say, "Don't have a cow", I was reminded that she doesn't often hear such phrases.
I explained that it was an expression that some people used to indicate that someone was throwing a fit or having a temper tantrum. Okay.
The next day, my husband told her not to do something because Mommy wouldn't like it. She asked him, "Will she get a cow?"

Why yes dear, whenever Mommy is mad, she goes right out and gets a cow; that's why there's so much hamburger in the freezer!

Engineering K'NEX, Life = Learning

We made the rounds of the resale shops yesterday looking for treasures, and Tyler found a grocery cart full of K'NEX for $9.

We negotiated that we would purchase it but it would have to be a loan, and he would have to agree to pay us back.
1) Finance lesson - this was a very short term loan, since he had the money at home, and we expected immediate repayment.

As soon as we got home, the boys sorted out all the different pieces, and dad went online to find some instructions.
2) Math Lesson - Jacob (2yr) sorted by colors & shapes; Ethan & Tyler sorted more methodically, organizing different types of connections.

Once some designs were printed out, the boys began to figure out what they could build. Tyler has also began to imagine and hypothesize alterations he can make to the designs using different parts and to create different effects.
3) Lessons in Math/Logic/Engineering/Science

4) Lesson in patience - A 2 year old who desperately wants to help isn't always helpful, but we have to treat him with love anyway.

We are not doing school today, we are building K'NEX and we are learning a lot!

The author of this blog: Corinne Johnson is a Christian homeschooling mom of 6, help meet to her husband and author of Vacation Education Books; travel guides for families who love to learn, unit studies for families who love to travel.
www.vacationeducationbooks.net

Dinosaur Troubles defeated by the Fallacy Detective

The work has been difficult this week, as I try to finish Animal Kingdom, specifically Dinoland. Almost everything available is from an evolutionary point of view, which I already expected. Answers in Genesis does provide some exceptional resources ( I highly suggest a visit to the Creation Museum in Kentucky if you get that way; and if you're not going that way, I suggest you plan a trip there).

What is distressing me is the vast amount of writing I have found that is just mean. As I search for information on dinosaurs that does not reject God, I have found many sites and sources that are anti-God, anti-Creation and anti-Christian in an extreme way. Even Q&A forums where anyone can pipe in, I have read very offensive language and a huge amount of name calling.

I am an intelligent person, and my faith is based on evidence; I would not be a believer if God had not revealed himself to me. So, when I am trying to read and understand different perspectives, I find it quite UNhelpful when the majority of the arguments begin with the premise that all Christians are stupid, and/or brain washed.

I don't believe everything my pastor says, I don't believe everything that I read, but I DO believe God. I believe that the Bible IS His Word, true when originally revealed, true for me today, and true for all generations to come. I am not opposed to hearing out those who disagree with me, but every argument that begins with emotionally charged name calling has little to offer in the way of actually being convincing, or even explaining any point.

So, if you would like to teach yourself and your children to be intelligent conversationalists who present their arguments with facts, not insults, then I suggest a book titled the Fallacy Detective. There are plenty of Logic curriculums to choose from and many of them are very good, but I like the Fallacy Detective particularly because we've been able to use it with several age levels. We also appreciate the "bite sized" presentation of material, as we (mom & dad) are learning too.

Corinne Johnson, is a Christian homeschooling mother of six, help meet to her husband, and author of Vacation Education Books; travel guides for families who love to learn and unit studies for families who love to travel.
www.vacationeducationbooks.net

Get an early start on next years Science Fair Project

The following is taken from Vacation Education destination Animal Kingdom, copyright 2009, Vacation Education Books, author: Corinne Johnson

Here's an idea for your 2010 Science fair Project:

TRY IT! Here is another nature idea for a science project you can do with your camera. Take photos of the different types of trees in your yard or neighborhood. Take the same photos again during the next season, and then next. You should have a shot of each tree at spring bloom, once at summers peak, once when the colors have changed, and again when it is winter bare. Make a display exhibiting the changing seasons in your area, explaining what happens to the different types of trees during these seasonal transitions.

Corinne Johnson is a Christian homeschooling mother of six, helpmeet to her husband Don and the author or Vacation Education Books; travel guides for families that love to learn. To find out more visit www.vacationeducationbooks.net; where you can order her books filled with educational unit studies and fun activities for your family.