Crafts: Shark Painting

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We love painting in our homeschool. So, I am always looking for new ways to incorporate painting into our homeschool day. For this shark-themed craft, I decided we would do something similar to the Father's Day painting we did a few years ago. We created the shape of the sharks as negative space so they would stand out on our paper when we were finished painting.

Materials 

• Painting paper
• Paint in a variety of colors 
• Sponge brushes or cotton balls 
• Something to hold the paint for dipping the sponges/cotton balls into the paint 
• Paper for cutting our shark shapes
• Tape 

Steps 

1. Gather all your materials. 

2. Cut out two or more basic shark shapes. 

3. Tape the shark shapes onto your painting paper. 

4. Use sponges or dot paints to paint on and around your shark shapes. 

5. After the paint is dry, remove the shark shapes to reveal the outline of your sharks. 

6. Hang up your new artwork. 

How is a Shark Designed? 

While waiting for your shark to dry, talk about the design of a shark with your children. They have special features which enable them to be fierce predators of the sea. There are over 1,000 species of sharks and rays, so you will have plenty to choose from to discuss. 

Sharks are different from other fish as they have boneless skeletons. They have cartilage in its place to help provide support. The fact that they don't have bones but cartilage also enables them to stay afloat easier as they are lighter. 

The lighter body also helps them in swimming. They are also streamlined to help them move through the water. So many sharks have a torpedo-like shape. They are probably one of the most agile creatures in the sea. 

Fins 

With the variety of sharks, there is also a variety of fins on those sharks. They have a large dorsal fin that helps provide balance. Some have a smaller dorsal fin on their back too. Sharks may also have pectoral fins that help with steering. 

Learn More 

Make another shark-themed craft! Choose from a paper bag shark puppet or a paper plate craft. 

Dive into the world of Marine Biology at SchoolhouseTeachers.com with Red Wagon Marine Biology for High School. This high school course is taught with online pre-recorded videos and text instructions to help children learn about the marine world. In addition to studying sharks, students will learn about marine ecosystems, tidal zones, coral reefs, and more. 

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Sale through September 6, 2024. 

Puzzles are Great Fun! A Review of the Human Heart Floor Puzzle

 

I received a COMPLIMENTARY copy of this puzzle from Genius Games in exchange for my honest opinion. I was not required to write a positive review, nor was I compensated in any other way. This post contains affiliate links. For more information, please see my Terms of Use and Disclosure Policy page. Thank you.

Puzzles are great fun! Our children, especially our daughter, really love completing puzzles, but sometimes finding ones that they can complete on their own that are quality, enjoyable, and even educational is not an easy task. They are not ready for 500- to 1000-piece puzzles, but so many of the 100-piece and up floor puzzles are babyish, or they are not well made. That's why it was a pleasure to review the Doctor Livingston JR. Human Heart Floor Puzzle, courtesy of Genius Games.

We had previously reviewed the Dr. Livingston JR Human Body Floor Puzzle and our children really loved it. We were able to incorporate it into our science studies and learn more about how they work, including reviewing the different systems. 

In this puzzle, our children put together the human heart. The 100-piece floor puzzle shows the arteries, aortas, ventricles, valves, and more at 6x magnification making it a centerpiece for science studies. There is also an anatomy reference guide that labels everything for you and your children. 

The colors are bright and clear. The puzzle pieces themselves are well made and should stand up to being put together and taken apart many, many times. The box itself is also wonderful because it is sturdy and has a Velcro close. It is easy for our daughter to open and close as she completes the human heart puzzle on her own.

Whether you are using a secular or Christian homeschool curriculum, the human heart puzzle would be a nice addition to your anatomy lessons. Not only is it fun but it is also educational. I think it would also be valuable for co-ops. You could have the children put it together as a team or merely have it on display for viewing and labeling of the different parts of the human heart. 

Both our younger children, aged seven and nine, enjoyed this jigsaw puzzle. Our son compared it to the Dr. Livingston's Anatomy Jigsaw Puzzle: The Human Thorax we completed with our oldest when he was in high school. He said it is like that puzzle but easier. "It is a handleable size." 

Our daughter said it is a good idea to do the puzzle because it teaches people what the heart looks like. She said, "It is fun to make your own heart." And she often asks if she can put the puzzle together while I am completing homeschool tasks with her brother. 

I would recommend this 28-inch by 22-inch floor puzzle to families with children ages six and up. While you may not use the anatomy reference guide with your younger children, it is a great inclusion for when you will be studying the human heart as they get older.

Genius Games has also released the human brain and the human body floor puzzles. I hope that they continue to release more anatomy puzzles for younger children as they will make for great additions to science classes for years to come.

Do you want to get 20% off any of the puzzles offered by Genius Games? Use the promo code: KIDSPUZZLES. 

Blogging through the Alphabet: M is for Magruder

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Confederate General John Bankhead Magruder (May 1, 1807-February 19, 1871) was known for his manners and his theatrics. Thanks to his tactics during the Peninsula Campaign in 1862, the Union did not advance as quickly as it could have onto the Confederates. He would serve in the military for three different nations, but outside of the American Civil War history, he probably is not as well known as other Confederate generals like Lee and Jackson. 

Career Military Officer 

Magruder was a career military officer. He served in the military of three different nations: the United States, the Confederacy, and the Imperial Mexican Army. After graduating from West Point as a second lieutenant, he would go on to serve in the Mexican-American War as so many future Civil War soldiers would do. He fought at Vera Cruz, Cerro Gordo, Contreras, Molino del Rey, Chapultepec, and Mexico City. 

He left to join the Confederacy when Virginia, his home state, succeeded on April 17, 1862. He was given the job of protecting the capital city of Richmond. He would direct the building of fortifications in the Virginia Peninsula and play a role using military deception. 

Magruder's Theatrics 

In April of 1862, there were approximately 13,000 Confederates under the command of Magruder. To delay Union General McClellan and his men, Magruder marched his infantry in circles outside of Yorktown. He also had his artillery fire from a variety of places to give the impression that there was more than he actually had at his disposal. "Prince John" Magruder wanted to give the idea that he had more men than he actually did and he succeeded!

Side note: He was called "Prince John" because of his manners and social graces. 

McClellan reacted just like Magruder had planned. He dug in for a siege because he thought there were more Confederates near Yorktown than there actually were at the time. McClellan believed he was in a much more difficult position than he actually was. This all delayed the Union movement during the Peninsula Campaign. 

There was a repeat performance at Chickahominy in 1862. Magruder was in charge of 27,000 men holding the line east of the city of Richmond. He instituted a few different techniques to help give the illusion that there were more Confederates again. The infantry lined up in attack formation and made small attacks on the Union defenses. He also had his officers call to imaginary regiments. Even though the Union was in good shape and they could have attacked on June 27, 1862, they didn't. Magruder was successful again in his theatrics. 

Even though he was successful in slowing the Union forces during the Peninsula Campaign, Magruder's performance was criticized and he was sent west. There were some problems during the Seven Days Battles, and it is debated how much Magruder deserved the criticism. Lee reassigned him to the District of Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona in 1863. He would spend the remainder of the American Civil War in the Western Theater.

Ruse de Guerre 

Magruder's tactics included using military deception of as the French call it: ruse de guerre (ruse of war). There are two ways we can define ruse de guerre. As either military deception or using creative or clear means to achieve a military goal. 

We've seen this idea throughout history from the use of the Trojan Horse to Alexander the Great marching his men back and forth to give the impression that they didn't know where to cross a river so they could surprise attack. During World War I, the British flew the American flag on some ships to avoid German submarine attacks. Prior to WWI, the Japanese lured the Russians out of Port Arthur during the Russo-Japanese War of 1904. These are only a few examples from military history. As you can see these tactics have played a key role throughout all of history. Magruder was among some of the best military minds when he engaged in his theatrics. 

Read more about Magruder and his actions in the Seven Days Battles here: Emerging Civil War. 

Images from U.S. History Images. 

Dice, Decks, and Boards: Challenge Your Mind With Horse Academy

 

I received a COMPLIMENTARY copy of this game from Timberdoodle in exchange for my honest opinion. I was not required to write a positive review, nor was I compensated in any other way. This post contains affiliate links. For more information, please see my Terms of Use and Disclosure Policy page. Thank you.

Games are a great way to challenge your mind. There are many ways you can keep different skills fresh no matter what kind of game you are playing. Games help us: 

• Build critical thinking skills
• Practice cooperation, collaboration, and learning to win or lose with grace 
• Keep reading and/or math skills in use
• Use logic
• Practice problem solving 
• Work on planning
• And more! 

Some games are better equipped to help you and your children work on these skills and ideas than others. For example, while the popular -opoly games may help us learn and practice how to lose graciously, games like Horse Academy can help build cognitive skills like spatial insight, planning, and problem-solving. As it is a one-player game, it can also help with patience if there is more than one who wants to work on the challenge at one time.

What is Horse Academy? 

Horse Academy is a one-person puzzle game from Smart Games where players need to create a path for their horse to jump over obstacles in a specific sequence to reach the exit gate. The box contains

• 1 game board 
• 1 exit gate 
• 10 puzzle pieces with obstacles and paths
• 1 horse with a rider
• Booklet with 80 challenges
• 1 sticker sheet with instructions on where to download timesheets 

There are five levels of challenges: 

• Starter
• Junior 
• Expert
• Master
• Wizard 

You look at the challenge to pick out the pieces you need and find out where to place the start and finish pieces (except at the wizard level where they don't tell you the starter or end position). Your horse follows the path in the order laid out in the challenge without changing course. There are some additional specifications regarding turning, order, and color in the booklet. 

Our Thoughts on Horse Academy 

At first, I was a bit confused, but I found once we started trying to solve the challenges, it was easy to get the knack of this one-person puzzle game. I did not give our daughter too much instruction once she got started. We ran through a couple of the challenges together, and then I went to help her brother with another one-person puzzle game from Timberdoodle that he is helping us review.

When I asked our daughter what she thought of this challenging puzzle game, she told me that it would help people learn about horses. She said, "the puzzles are not difficult. They are fun. They are not too hard." She also gave the advice that "you have to stay on the road. Make your horse jump over the fences. Some paths are wriggly and shaky. Like challenge number 10."

I really liked how she took quickly to Horse Academy and worked through the challenges without even realizing she was using critical thinking skills. Her mind was being challenged but she did not know it. She just saw it as having fun. 

The pieces are hard plastic and fit well together on the game board. It all fits neatly in the box too which is wonderful for storage and organization. I really appreciate games that go back into the box easily. 

As a homeschooling mom of two elementary-aged children, I like having one-person games that focus on cognitive skills. While working with her brother, our daughter can have fun while building her critical thinking skills. 

I would recommend Horse Academy to families of both homeschooled and non-homeschooled children. It is a great game for those times when a child needs to amuse themselves. It is part of the 2022 Third-Grade Curriculum Kit at Timberdoodle which seems like a perfect fit to me. Our daughter is going to be in second grade and while she can do the easier challenges, I think the higher-level ones will be a bit too challenging without help. 

Interested in More Products from Timberdoodle 

Read my reviews of Battle Sheep in Building Critical Thinking Skills with Games, Me: A Compendium, in Documenting Memories with your Homeschooled Children: A Review of Me: A Compendium, or the Tiger Art Crystal Card Kit in Art in Our Homeschool: A Review of Tiger Crystal Art Card Kit. 

Crafts: Create a Shark Filled Ocean

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When you hear the word, "Shark," what do you imagine? Are you seeing a terrifying creature jumping out of the ocean to attack any animal in sight? Or are you fondly remembering a fun trip to a touch tank at your local aquarium? 

Sharks are often considered one of the most fearsome animals in the world. Yet not all sharks rank among the top scary ones. After all, there are over 400 different species of sharks in the ocean. They can't all be scary.

Even though there are 50 species of sharks that are considered potentially dangerous to humans, they don't regularly go around attacking humans. There are some easy tips you can apply to stay safe when swimming in waters frequented by sharks who may pose a threat. You can read ten tips at National Geographic or eight safety tips at Australian Geographic. 

For your craft, you can decide upon a variety of sharks. For example, you could draw and cut out one of the following types: 

• Basking Shark
• Bull Shark 
• Great White Shark
• Hammerhead Shark
• Mako Shark 
• Nurse Shark
• Whale Shark
• Thresher Shark 

Materials

• Two paper plates 
• One paper fastener 
• Blue paint and/or markers 
• Paintbrushes 
• Scissors 
• Shark cut-out (you can draw this or download clipart to print out) 
• Glue stick  

Steps 

Gather all your materials for your shark craft. 

Cut a quarter of one paper plate. 

Paint both paper plates with various shades of blue. 

Allow your plates to dry. While they are drying, draw and cut out your shark.

After your paper plates are dry, glue your shark onto the paper plate that is NOT cut. Position the shark so that part of it will be seen through the slice of the cut paper plate. You can add more than one shark if you wish. 

Attach the cut paper plate to the top of the whole one with the paper fastener. 

Now turn your top paper plate so that the shark disappears behind the waves. 

 

Want to learn more about sharks? 

SchoolhouseTeachers.com has several courses that your elementary-aged student or high school student can learn about sharks and marine life in general. In All About Animals, our first or second graders will read through a variety of colorful eBooks to learn about different wild animals. In Under the Sea, your child will read about dolphins, whales, rays, crabs, and the shark! Realistic drawings and photographs highlight the different species of sharks and share the different parts of the shark body. 

Dive into a world of educational adventures with our Shark & Sea BOGO Sale! From July 22 to September 6, buy an annual SchoolhouseTeachers.com membership for $269 and get a second year FREE! Did you know that octopuses have three hearts? Just like them, we put our heart into every course we offer. Unlimited access to hundreds of courses for all grade levels.

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Create your own shark paper bag puppet! 

Blogging Through the Alphabet: L is for Literacy during the American Civil War

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One of the ways we know so much about the American Civil War time period is thanks to the numerous letters, diaries, and records kept by soldiers, civilians, and others. But can we view the literacy rate of those living during the time period? After all, a great number of the letters had various spelling and grammar errors that make some of them almost unreadable. Since there was great diversity in the Northern and Southern soldiery in their ability to read and write, let's examine it further.

Reading and Writing 

Reading was a source of recreation for many soldiers serving during the American Civil War. Even if one could not read, there was always someone willing to read a letter, book, or newspaper aloud. But reading was often difficult to do. There wasn't as much free time during the nicer, warmer weather and the winter made reading difficult. It was often too cold to out of covers during free time. But this didn't mean that newspapers were highly sought after no matter the time of year. They would be passed around and shared so much that they would be rags by the time the next newspaper arrived. 

If a soldier couldn't read or write, they could enlist the aid of their fellow soldiers, sometimes for a fee, or the chaplain. The regimental chaplain would often write letters to families for soldiers, especially those who were injured or dying. Sometimes they even held classes to teach the men reading and writing.

In the North, the majority of the soldiers were literate to some degree. There were a handful of illiterate soldiers from the larger cities, but most companies were all literate. According to Bell Irvin Wiley (known for The Life of Billy Yank and The Life of Johnny Reb), the Northern soldiers were more literate than the Southern soldiers. This was in part because of the emphasis placed on early elementary education in the North. 

If we look at four North Carolina regiments, we can see how much more common illiteracy was in the South. In one regiment, 27 out of 100 men could not sign their names on the muster rolls. They needed to make their mark. In another regiment, 36 out of 72 made their mark with an "x," while another 54 out of 100 made their mark. We could gather that all those men who couldn't sign their names probably weren't reading and writing themselves.

Educational Levels 

For both the North and the South during the American Civil War, the educational background and levels varied from those with no schooling to those with specialized training or college degrees. The majority of men serving were farmers, workers, and laborers, but there were many men with college degrees. We see this reflected in their letters. 

For example, in The Life of Billy Yank, Wiley details several Northern soldiers and their letters and diaries that demonstrate their high level of education. Edward F. Reid of the Third Indiana Cavalry shared in his diary quotes in Latin, Greek, and German as well as references to classical and contemporary literature. Harvard student Samuel Storrow, a corporal in the Forty-fourth Massachusetts Regiment, wrote letters that clearly demonstrate his proficiency in Latin and Greek. 

The North Critiquing the South 

When the letters of Southern soldiers made their way into the hands of Northern soldiers, there was often much laughter and critiquing. Many of the Union boys felt superior to those in the Confederate states, and the letters helped justify this in their minds. The Northern soldiers determined there was a lack of penmanship and proper grammar and spelling on the part of the Southern soldiers during the American Civil War. They also accused the Southern soldiers of not being very well-read. The problem is many of those critics were often not very literate themselves. 

Letters and Mail 

Even with the difficulties of getting mail, soldiers on both sides still wrote regularly. Some wrote once a week, setting aside Sunday for that task, while others wrote less frequently. On average, the letters were three pages long and contained similar information no matter where the soldier called home. In those letters, home soldiers wrote: 

• Good wishes for the health of those at home
• Prayers for the health of himself and his fellow soldiers 
• Accounts of recent battles
• Asking after the crops and farm back home
• Asked about home life
• Asked after their children if they were a father 
• Asked his wife to remember him to their children 

All of these things were often written in handwriting ranging from poor to elegant, along with poor punctuation or meticulous grammar. Sometimes, the same simple words were misspelled in different ways in the same letter. One can also find rustic figures of speech in these letters. One thing to keep in mind is that just because there was poor handwriting, grammar, and spelling, that is not always indicative of the educational level of the soldier writing the letter. Oftentimes. haste – the need to hurry up and write the letter – led to these things. So, we should not be quick to judge the men writing home. 

In closing, spelling and grammar were bad on both sides but more so on the South. Illiteracy could be a handicap because if a soldier wasn't able to read a pass or an order, then grave errors and mistakes could happen during or before battles. But no matter how well a soldier could read or write, he wanted to find out what was going on in the United States and share what was happening where he was with family and friends. 

Interested in reading more Blogging Through the Alphabet Posts? 

Blogging from A to Z: Kicking off a New School Year! by My Full Heart 

Homeschooling Tips from A to Z for 2022: The Letter K from Homeschooling Highway 

Keeping Up with the Joneses by Laura McKinney Adams 

Printables for your Homeschool Classroom

Disclosure: I received this complimentary product through the Homeschool Review Crew.

Resources that help us review, refresh, and expand upon our homeschooling subjects are wonderful additions to our homeschool classroom. We have been blessed with a one-year membership to Super Teacher Worksheets, which has a variety of printables for elementary students. Since it is the summertime, we are mostly using the printables to help review and expand right now, but I have plans to use several of their grade-level-specific resources during the entire year.

What are Super Teacher Worksheets? 

Super Teacher Worksheets is an online site that provides its members with over 20,000 printable PDF resources for children in Kindergarten through 5th grade. You can download as many worksheets as you need during your one-year membership. These 20,000+ printables are distributed among the following subject areas: 

• Mathematics 
• Reading
• Writing
• Phonics
• Spelling 
• Social Studies 
• Science 
• Holidays/Seasonal Activities 

And if you can't find the worksheet you are looking for...check back or create your own! 

Super Teacher Worksheets adds new resources on a regular basis, so don't forget to check back often during your membership. While many of their worksheets are Common Core-aligned, I haven't found that to make much of a difference other than the information is available for those who want it. 

If you want to make your own worksheets based on your curriculum, you can use their worksheet generator. I decided to create a crossword puzzle for our Roman history lesson to help our son remember the facts to know and the vocabulary from his first lesson. 

And many of their printables are also available with Spanish translations. 

Using Printables from Super Teacher Worksheets 

One of the first things I did when my membership to Super Teacher Worksheets was renewed was to check out the seasonal printables. I love finding mathematic sheets that will help reinforce our current studies that are themed. And Super Teacher Worksheets sometimes has coloring pages or crafts that we can do with our children. 

After I perused the Holiday printables, I began looking for worksheets that would help our children in areas where they were currently struggling. One of the topics in mathematics that our son needs help with is angles, so I found the various printables relating to identifying and measuring angles and printed those out for us to work on together. 

I decided to focus on grammar and spelling with our first grader in addition to the coloring sheets I printed for her. I found the Fix the Sentences collection for grades 1 through 4, where children correct the mistakes on the printable PDF worksheets. While we are using them daily, you could also use them all together rather than over the course of the week. I really like that there are different levels, so we can progress through them if our daughter is successful at the first grade level. 

Our Thoughts on the Printables from Super Teacher Worksheets 

One of the great features of Super Teacher Worksheets is that you have access to all the levels of worksheets at one time. You do not need to sign up for a specific grade level. So if your third-grade child is a wiz at mathematics but needs more help spelling, you could pick fourth grade math worksheets but second grade spelling worksheets. 

The worksheet generator was quite easy to use. I only needed to put in the names and facts to create our crossword puzzle. I also discovered they have a generator for classroom newsletters. This would be a neat thing to use with your homeschooled children, so they can create a newsletter for family and friends. I also like that I create as many math worksheets as I need so our children can practice addition, subtraction, and multiplication. You can make division worksheets, too. We just haven't reached that point yet in our curriculum.

Another neat feature that I didn't really use was the filing cabinet. You can create folders to save your favorite worksheets, and the worksheets you generate and save will be housed in your filing cabinet. I think this is a great feature if you travel and need your favorite worksheets accessible on different computers. 

While we have only been using Super Teacher Worksheets to supplement our current studies, there are some subjects where you could easily put together a semester or full-year curriculum from the printables on their site. I feel the most intuitive ones to use for a full-year curriculum would be spelling, reading comprehension, and perhaps science if you worked your way through the available printables.

I would recommend Super Teacher Worksheets to homeschooling families who are looking to supplement their curriculum. The printables make it very easy to help your children succeed in areas where they may be struggling. Review, refresh, and reinforce important skills with Super Teacher Worksheets.  

Please be sure to visit the Homeschool Review Crew to see how the other members of the Crew have used Super Teacher Worksheets in their homeschool classroom. 

Book Club: Book Review of Carved in Ebony

I received a COMPLIMENTARY copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for my honest opinion. I was not required to write a positive review, nor was I compensated in any other way. This post contains affiliate links. For more information, please see my Terms of Use and Disclosure Policy page. Thank you.

I am always looking to expand our daughter's library collection of books featuring Christian women. Having the opportunity to read and review the young reader's edition of Carved in Ebony: Lessons from the Black Women Who Shape Us by Jasmine L. Holmes was a true blessing! The short, paperback nonfiction book features the stories of ten Black women whose lives spanned the 1700s to the 1900s. 

About Carved in Ebony 

The 117-page paperback book is divided into an introduction, note for adults, 10 chapters on the women, notes, and pages for reflection. Each of the chapters on the Black women includes discussion questions and opportunities for further research. There is an emphasis in the early part of the book on distinguishing between primary and secondary resources (this history teacher loved this!).

The Black women featured in Carved in Ebony are: 

• Elizabeth Freeman
• Maria Stewart 
• Sarah Mapps Douglass
• Frances Ellen Watkins Harper
• Charlotte Forten Grimké
• Sara Griffith Stanley 
• Amanda Berry Smith 
• Maria Fearing
• Lucy Craft Laney
• Nannie Helen Burroughs 

For a quick glimpse into the book, let's look at Sara Griffith Stanley. She was born in 1837 in the South. She grew up in New Bern, North Carolina, but she and her family would eventually move to Oberlin. She wrote and gave speeches on the evils of slavery, referencing the Bible and other contemporary works. The chapter also discusses her work as a teacher and how she was a servant of Jesus. Before the discussion questions, the chapter closes, "There are always faithful people doing the work of the Lord in obscurity. And it is better to be a servant of the Most High God in the hidden places than visibly doing anything else. Let Sara teach you this." (71). I love this message to young readers.

My Thoughts 

As an adult, this is a very easy read. I was able to read several chapters at one time and completed the book in about a week. The text is clearly written but does not leave out 'big words.' Those words that might be difficult for young readers are bolded so they can go back to them and perhaps define them. 

I really love the fact that the author, Jasmine L. Holmes, brings all the women's hard work back to God. Even where they faced difficulties, they persevered because of their faithfulness. "They each have something to teach us about what it means to live fullheartedly as someone created in God's image. And whether that image is carved in ebony, alabaster, or some shade in between, his purpose is steadfast." (111) 

So many of the women featured taught in schools at one time or another. While I understand their reasons for being teachers, and I agree that they were needed in the field of education, as a homeschooling mother, I do wish that Holmes had included something that emphasized the learning that some of them received before they were able to go to public or private schools. Quite a few of the women were taught by their families how to read, many were taught the Bible, and I wish that home education had found a stronger foothold in Holmes' work. 

I think this book would be an excellent addition to your homeschool. I can easily see my daughter and me on the sofa, reading Carved in Ebony aloud and discussing the vocabulary and the questions. Even if you don't homeschool, I think this book would make a nice addition to your home so your children can learn more about Christian Black women and how they shaped America and the world around them. They are wonderful role models to share with your children. 

Interested in reading more book reviews? Please check out my reviews of 3-Minute Devotions to Laugh and Reflect, When the Day Comes, or The Deadly Shallows. 

Blogging Through the Alphabet: K is for Kentucky

This post contains affiliate links. For more information, please see my Terms of Use and Disclosure Policy page. Thank you.

"Kentucky! O Kentucky!" 

"John Morgan's foot is on thy shore, 
Kentucky! O Kentucky!
His hand is on thy stable door, 
Kentucky! O Kentucky! 
You'll see your good gray mare no more, 
He'll ride her till her back is sore,
And leave her at some stranger's door,
Kentucky! O Kentucky!" 

In the spring of 1862, General John Hunt Morgan led Confederate night raiders on a series of raids into Union territory in Tennessee and Kentucky. This would provide the material for a parody of the song "Maryland, My Maryland" in order to provide a warning to the citizens of Kentucky that they better not help Morgan. 

Tensions 

The tension in and around Kentucky had been brewing since before the beginning of the American Civil War. It was one of several border states where there wasn't a clear distinction of which way it would go when the Civil War broke out. There was a large secessionist population in Kentucky. If Kentucky joined the Confederacy, it would be a huge boon. Kentucky would bring with it a huge population boost and more military manpower. There were horses and mules for the cavalry and transportation, as well as manufacturing centers in Kentucky. It would also bring with it a natural defensive border with the Ohio River. And two rivers flow through Kentucky directly into Tennessee and Alabama. 

After the lines had been drawn, it was said that supporters in Kentucky were evenly distributed between the North and the South. After all, Kentucky was the birthplace of both Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis. But with three slave states and three free states on the border, Kentucky did not want to take sides. In fact, Henry Clay of Kentucky had written three compromises to try and prevent the necessity of taking sides in 1820, 1833, and 1850. And Governor Magoffin of Kentucky rejected both Lincoln and Davis' requests for troops. 

Of course, just because Kentucky wished to remain neutral did not mean that the American Civil War would pass them by. There were military activities along the border as there were northern regiments stationed in Illinois and southern regiments in Tennessee. Both sides eyed Columbus, Kentucky as it was a key city to the control of the Mississippi River. 

Columbus 

On September 3, 1861, Confederate General Leonidas Polk moved to take Columbus, Kentucky while the Union General Grant occupied Paducah and Smithlands at the mouths of the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers. As the Confederates invaded Kentucky first, they were seen by many of the citizens of Kentucky as the aggressors which led them to support the Union. But not all would support the Union as many of the citizens voted to set up a provisional government which was accepted as the 13th Confederate state. 

Raids 

John Hunt Morgan (June 1, 1825-September 4, 1864) was known as the "Thunderbolt of the Confederacy." He was born in Huntsville, Alabama but had strong ties to his mother's home state of Kentucky. Morgan would enlist in the 1st Kentucky Calvary at the start of the Mexican War. 

In the American Civil War, Morgan would be made a colonel in April 1862, participate in the battle of Shiloh, and start his raids into eastern Kentucky in the summer of 1862. On July 4, 1862, he would start a 1,000-mile raid to destroy railroads and telegraph lines and seize supplies. His raid would make national headlines and birth the song "Kentucky! O Kentucky!" He would lead more raids in October and December into Kentucky and would eventually become one of the South's most celebrated Calvary officers.

Even if a state or people wanted to remain neutral and not take sides in the American Civil War, it was near impossible. The Civil War touched upon every aspect of life during the 1860s, just as the problems leading up to the Civil War had for the decades preceding the first shots at Fort Sumter.

Online Math Curriculum for Your Homeschool

 

Disclosure: I received this complimentary product through the Homeschool Review Crew.

Math was a struggle for our oldest son for many years so I was happy when we were able to review CTCMath several years ago. Since that first review, CTCMath has been a staple of our homeschool schedule. Having a 12-month family membership to CTCMath has meant that I do not need to worry about how I will be teaching math to our younger two children. The video lessons, summaries, and weekly revisions are so helpful in an online math curriculum.

About CTCMath 

CTCMath is an online math curriculum for grades K-12. It has several key features which help parents and children master key mathematics concepts from addition and subtraction to geometry and calculus. Lessons are short and to the point and students can view the video lessons again if they need help on a specific point. You can even email CTCMath if your children need additional help. The customer support is fantastic. They really want your children to succeed in math.

As a homeschool family, we have access to every grade level for the children in our home. So while our children are working through first and third grade, I could move them up or down depending upon if they found the work too difficult or too easy. There are diagnostic tests and placement tests your children can take to see where they fit you don't want to assign them to a grade level. You can also use the diagnostic tests to skip lessons if your children are proficient in those skills. For example, for some of his third grade work, I asked our son to take the diagnostic test at the beginning of the section to see if he needed to complete the lessons within that section.

 

How We Are Using the Program in Our Homeschool 

CTCMath is the primary curriculum for our third grader. He is assigned to complete a lesson about three to four times a week. I merely write in his agenda that he is to complete CTCMath, and he will log on and complete the next lesson. With the addition of Mastery, he has been completing additional questions to achieve Mastery on the specific lessons.

For our younger daughter, we aren't using CTCMath as frequently during the week. I will often ask her to complete a lesson when I believe she needs extra work on a math skill or she needs to learn about a different mathematical topic than is in her current math curriculum. It provides a nice break for her to be online completing her mathematics lessons. She has also taken to completing additional questions to achieve Mastery.

There are many features to CTCMath that help your children engage in this online math curriculum. One of the features we are not using in our homeschool is that of assigning tasks. I used that feature when homeschooling our oldest so he would know specifically which lessons I wanted him to complete and when, but for our younger two children, I merely have them do the next lesson on CTCMath. Since they are completing their work at the dining room table rather than in their bedrooms, it is easier to monitor their math assignments on CTCMath.

Another feature that I am not currently using is the Question Bank Wizard. I did use that for our high schooler when he was using CTCMath, but I have not used it for our younger children. This allows you to pick lessons from different course levels and topics to create your own question banks to assign to your children.

These features are available in the parent login. The parent login also allows you to view your children's profiles and examine their specific grades on different lessons, try lessons and questions yourself, assign tasks, create question banks, browse lessons, download checklists, and export the data for your children's grades. I can also see when my children have logged in, what they completed, and how long it took them to complete those CTCMath lessons. I can also download awards to print out and see weekly reports (which I can have emailed to me).

Our Thoughts 

Your children will be able to learn about math at their own pace and watch video tutorials as many times as they need to ensure mastery of a topic. CTCMath also allows for your children to be independent while working on their math. While I do sit by our children on a regular basis, I can also just ask them to log in and complete their work without my needing to be there for them.

Our younger son really enjoys CTCMath. He shared with me the following: 

"My favorite part about CTCMath is its fun math with videos and games. It's not just some test. It's fun! I think the ages are through 4 and a million. I mean it's like kindergarten through 12th grade. The newest thing is Mastery, where if you get three questions right you get a star. If you get one wrong though, you lose a part of the bar. (You don't lose stars though. Whew!). There's four stars so you'll need to do the same one [lesson] again to get a final grade. And for people who already have CTCMath before this update, you won't lose grades."

I think – of all the online math programs he has tried – CTCMath is our younger son's favorite program. He enjoys the videos and the multiplication game. I think he also likes the fact that he has control over his work. He can move at his own pace and see exactly how well he understands something as the program grades each question immediately.

While our son completed a lesson on tally marks, our daughter has been working on geometry. One of her recent lessons was on the cube. She enjoyed watching the video and bringing out her dice to physically examine a cube. So even though the program is online, you can easily include manipulatives or (for the older grades) print out worksheets so that your children complete math assignments offline. 

I would recommend CTCMath for homeschool families. I find that one of the greatest features is your ability to move around within the different grades to pick the lessons that are right for your child. You are not beholden to one grade level since you get access to kindergarten through twelfth grade. And with the parent login, you can try out the different lessons and questions without it counting towards your children's grades. I like that I can refresh my memory on topics if I need to or just look through them to see what is coming up for our children.

If you are interested in seeing how other homeschool families use CTCMath in their homeschool, please visit the Homeschool Review Crew. And be sure to check out the homeschool discount offered CTCMath!