Geo-conquest ideas

Layton's group for 2013:

"This is the list of books we will be reading for the coming year.  I have linked them to the book I have from Amazon, but feel free to buy them wherever you want or get them from the library, the links are just for reference. 

We will be using The Story of Liberty by Charles Coffin in September, October and November. 

We will also be reading the following (by month)

September- journeyman will be reading portions of Machiavelli's The Prince (it's free online and we will probably only read 2 or 3 chapters)

October- journeyman will be reading Call It Courage by Armstrong Sperry

November- apprentice will be reading Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare

                    journeyman will be reading portions of a sermon by Jonathan Edwards called Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God (it's
                    online here)

January- journeyman will be reading Johnny Tremain  by Esther Forbes

February- journeyman will be reading The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy (this one is also available free online)

March- apprentice will be reading The Kidnapped Prince  by Ann Cameron

April- journeyman will be using The Naked Communist by Cleon Skousen but we haven't decided yet how we will be doing that so you may want to hold off on buying it right now"

Kaysville's group for 2013:

"Hello to all new and returning families!  I'm really looking forward to teaching History and Geography this year.  We have the wonderful opportunity to learn about the Age of Exploration through the Revolutionary War -- what a great time in history!  I will be using Susan Wise Bauer's, "The Story of the World: History for the Classical Child" Volume 3:Early Modern Times.  (It is the Green Book in the series.)  It would be very good for each family to own this book.  We will be using it for every core class as well as most Journeyman classes.  For Geography, you may want to purchase some flash cards of the states and capitals (although it is not necessary.)  We'll be working on learning our states and capitals in core class.

I want you to know that I have become so excited about teaching your youth.  This year's theme is "Journey's" and I look forward to following some of the amazing journeys of the explorers and likening those journeys to the journeys and adventures that your youth will be facing throughout their lives.  I am excited about showing them how the hand of God truly did help prepare our country for the restoration and the now very important work of sharing of the gospel with the rest of the world.  I want your youth to see that their missions in this life are so important to carrying on the miraculous work of spreading freedom and truth -- the same work that so many others throughout history have given their lives for.  

In Geography, I look forward to learning about the cultures of many other countries.  I thought it would be fun to learn about a unique culture by experiening one of their celebrations.  Each month, we will have a celebration patterned after a celebration of another country.  We will have so much fun celebrating  a Chinese New Year (Genevieve's idea :)  ) and other wonderful celebrations as well -- I thought that some of the youth may like to help me plan these celebrations and prepare food, decorations, and maybe even costumes for them.  As we are "celebrating" we will have the opportunity to discuss why this culture celebrates the way they do -- are they religious?  What do the decorations represent?  Why do they use these colors or pictures or costumes? Why do they use this food?

These are just a few of the fun things that we will be doing this year.  Youth and Parents, please let me know if you are interested in helping out on the history committee.  We'll have a great time!"

Vanguard Yearbook

Layton Vanguard had a yearbook for the first time for the 2012-13 school year. We put it together at the end of the year, and it was a real  learning experience. We had a lot of pictures to go through in a short amount of time. Our yearbooks ended up costing $15 for a paper bound, and $25 for hard bound.

This year we plan to work on it throughout the year, as activities are happening. This will hopefully encourage the youth to take their cameras and take pictures on their outings and activities.  I expect this year's yearbook to cost $20/$30 respectively, due to more photos of more activities. The youth have LOVED their yearbooks. It has been a great pleasure to watch the kids open their yearbooks and their smiles as they saw special photos. Listening to small groups as they looked through together, and hearing their excited comments and giggles confirmed just how valuable these books are to them!

I have set up an account with Picaboo and use their services. They have a nice yearbook builder with a lot of options. They have a tutorial, but I would be happy to meet with other mentors who are working with their Journalism committees.

The only drawback that I have found is that we can't qualify for free shipping because we don't order 50 or more books. That means we pay 8.99 for the first book, then .99 per book after that- just for shipping! 

I'm looking into the possibility of ordering different yearbooks on the same order form to combine to get the minimum for free shipping.  If that is the case, I will be happy to share our group account for other groups to make their yearbooks on the same account/ order. We ordered 20 copies this past June, but with our larger group and  the possibility of combining yearbook orders with another group, we may be able to save money. Free shipping comes with 50 or more books ordered at one time. I submitted a question to the customer service help desk in regards to having a couple of different books on one order.

Hopefully I will have an answer soon.  It looks like I may be able to set up a *storefront* with the different yearbook options available to be selected. The drawback would be that we would have to set a deadline for orders and agree on a date that we will order (this past year, I had something come up and ended up not ordering until after *Showdown*, but we were able to include that final outing in the yearbook!).  The order had a 3 week shipping time listed, but it arrived a little quicker.

I'll be happy to answer any questions!

Brenda K
aka sahrow

Imaginative Arts ideas by years and subjects

As with most of the posts, this is intended to be a growing post.  If you are positively sickened by the lack of resources you were hoping were on here, then please know that is part of your genius saying, "I could do better!" and you should!  Post your ideas in the reply, or let me know them at mary.vanguard@gmail.com. T-E-A-M: Together Everyone Achieves More, right? Or my adaptation: "I-E-P-T-I-F-I-A-H-T-E-A-M":  If Everyone Puts Their Ideas For Imaginative Arts Here Then Everyone Achieves More"...okay, the first one is more catchy :).

"Spiritual Lives of the Great Composers"

Ancient Times


Medieval Times


1500-1750's
Renaissance & Baroque Art.
Bach
Hayden
Handel
Taj Mahal (1639)
1st piano built in 1709!

1750-1900
 Impressionism
Edgar Degas: 
Renoir
Cézanne--still lifes post-impressionism
Van Gogh
Seurat: Pointillism
Mozart
Beethoven
Schubert
Mendelssohn
Chopin
Liszt
Wagner
Gounod
Franck
Bruckner

1900-present
 My Place in Art:Modern Art. 
Matisse: fauvism
Picasso-Cubism
Mondrian-Abstraction
Dali, Salvador, Surrealism
Pollock, Abstract expressionism
Warhol: Pop art

"Brave Companions" by McCullough

Brave Companions: Portraits in History is a 1991^[1] book by American historian David McCullough.
The book consists of previously published essays, most of which are biographical portraits of a specific historical figure or group of figures. It is divided into five sections.

Contents

I. Phenomena
"Journey to the Top of the World" is a portrait of German scientist and explorer Alexander von Humboldt, with particular attention paid to the expedition to Latin America he undertook in 1799-1804 with Aimé Bonpland.
"The American Adventure of Louis Agassiz", about the 19th-century scientist and educator Louis Agassiz, focuses on the latter part of his life when he became established in the United States.
"The Unexpected Mrs. Stowe" is a biographical portrait of Harriet Beecher Stowe, the author of the novel Uncle Tom's Cabin.
II. The Real West
"Glory Days in Medora" focuses on the town of Medora, North Dakota and the people who inhabited the area in the 1880s, including Theodore Roosevelt and the Marquis de Mores.
"Remington" is a biographical portrait of the Western artist Frederic Remington.
III. Pioneers
"Steam Road to El Dorado" is about the construction of the original Panama Railway in the 1850s.
"The Builders" concerns the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge in the 1870s, and particularly the life of engineer John A. Roebling and his son, Washington Roebling.
"The Treasure from the Carpentry Shop" concerns the rediscovery of the original plans for the Brooklyn Bridge in 1969.
"Long-Distance Vision" is about the experiences and literary works of several early aviators, including Charles Lindbergh, Antoine de Saint Exupéry, and Beryl Markham.
IV. Figures in a Landscape
In this section, McCullough profiles individuals he is acquainted with personally.
"Cross the Blue Mountain" is a portrait of American author Conrad Richter.
"The Lonely War of a Good Angry Man", written in 1969, concerns the destructive environmental impact of strip mining in eastern Kentucky, and profiles Harry M. Caudill, local author and anti-strip mining political activist.
"Miriam Rothschild" is about the English zoologist and entomologist Miriam Rothschild.
"South of Kankakee: A Day with David Plowden" is a profile of American photographer David Plowden.
V. On We Go
"Washington on the Potomac" is a personal tribute to the city of Washington, DC, where McCullough lived for many years.
"Extraordinary Times", written in 1986, is a look back at the fifty years of world history since 1936.
"Recommended Itinerary" is an address McCullough gave to the 1986 graduating class of Middlebury College, in which he urged graduates to travel abroad to gain a better appreciation of the United States, and to study history in order to gain a better appreciation of their own time.
"Simon Willard's Clock" is an essay concerning the history of the United States Congress, in which McCullough writes that legislators must have a sense of their own institution's history.

A way to look at Eureka with the monthly principles

...and just put "etc" after everything

Life: very internal, self-examination, think small! microscope, patterns, math and science basics, scientific method, puzzles, fractals, pascal's triangle, different forms of measurement (although this can also fit in "society" well)...

Liberty: creativity, imagination, string theory, number theory, space...

Work/Property: study the character of a scientist like Edison who sacrificed and worked hard (most of them did!), buildings, stability, earthquakes, gardening, other things that affect or relate to our property...

Creator: study of theorems and laws, like evolution, gravity, geometry, study the wonder of God's creation :)...

Service-Oriented leadership: scientists/mathematicians motivated by desire to help, like Pasteur and other microbiologists or physicians,...

Society: Macro-patterns, architectural principles (bridges), engineering, how things relate, big picture stuff, plants, ecology, animals, etc., relationships between concepts, cryptography...

Citizenship: Cause and effect,  motion, force, mathematicians/scientists that changed their world for the good (so many!)

As you brainstorm which scientists/mathematicians/concepts you want to use for the year, it just might make for more connections if you can find a month from above where they might fit a little better.  Just thinkin' out loud...

Of course, some topics may fit better into different monthly themes, according to some people, so go with it! :)

Don't forget the post that has lists of mathematicians, scientists, and concepts!  Please add your own to it :).  If we all do a little, then it will be amazing!