National Mythology Exam

There are several students in KPHS with a love and passion for mythology.  ETC, Excellence through Classics, offers the National Mythology Exam each year and our students were excited to take the test in March. This week we presented our seven participants with their certificates and medals.  We had two silver and one gold amongst the kids!

 The test is available for students in grades 3-12, and it’s the same test for all students.  How much they are required to take, depends on their grade.  Everyone takes the first 30 questions of the test dealing with general Greek and Roman mythology.  The next 10 questions pertain to the theme for the year.  Each year a new theme is assigned and for 2014, it was Transformations. This section must be done by students in 5th grade and up.

The third section of the test deals with the great epics: Odyssey, Iliad, and Aeneid. Again, only one book from each epic is assigned for the year so it’s not overwhelming. Each of these is also 10 questions each, and one is required for grades 6th and up.

Finally, there are several additional tests of ten questions each that pertain to different mythologies: Norse, African, and Native American.  One of these tests may be substituted for the epics for grades 6 and up..

Beyond your assigned tests, anyone can do as many additional tests as they wish.  The only restriction being once the test is started it is graded.  In order to be awarded a medal, one must score above 90%. Except at the 10^th-12^th grades, only gold medals are awarded.  Gold medals are only awarded for perfect scores. 

Next year we hope to have more participants and involvement with the DoDEA schools.  (We had one student from Sullivans participate and she medaled, missing a gold by one question, on a sub-test she didn't even need to do!)  Stay tuned in the fall for the syllabus and registration information for the 2015 National Mythology Exam.  We are also looking to start a Classics Club to help us prepare and share our love and knowledge of things Greek and Roman.

Literature Adventure

The KPHS Yokosuka Literature Adventure will be concluding another year shortly. Our reading list this year has been quite varied, and the kids have really enjoyed it. We met with dragons in Dealing with Dragons, the first of the Enchanted Forest Chronicles. We discussed if we'd want to live forever, and at what age, after reading Tuck Everlasting. We discussed the classics and mythology with the Aeneid, only to find that the kids much prefer Homer over Virgil. After the New Year, we read a book that really pertains to us as Americans living overseas, Homesick, by Jean Fritz, the fictionalized story of the author's life in China and her move to the US in the 1920s. As a companion work, the parents were encouraged to read Third Culture Kids by David Pollock and Ruth E Van Reken.

This has been a very eye-opening book and thoughtful read. I had so many ah-ha moments while reading it. For this lesson, we put out a small, informal survey to get an idea of how our group compares with others, particularly those at home in the US. We didn't get as many entries as we would have liked, but the information made the kids think. Some of them realized that growing up overseas makes them different, others didn't see the big deal. Pollock and Van Reken define a Third Culture Kid as someone who "spend(s) a significant part of his or her developmental years outside the parents' culture." I think the biggest impact will occur when these kids move back to the US. I have always found that the reverse culture shock, is so much more difficult to deal with than the initial move. As Ms. Van Reken states in the book:

". . .disappointment was greater because they had always presumed if they could make it 'home,' they would no longer feel so different from others. . . . Friends, relatives, and classmates are shocked at the TCK's ignorance at the most common practices necessary for everyday living. If they were true immigrants, no one would expect them to know all of these things." Pages 227-228

Being in the military world, moving often is common place and moves overseas always a possibility. Summer is approaching and that means PCS season.  Van Reken's comment about being sure to unpack and "plant trees" upon arriving really resonated with me. One can't relax or enjoy life, if you're always looking for that next move. Yes, it can sometimes come faster than expected, but it may not happen for some time either. When I think it about it, we planted our first garden only three years ago. Prior to that, there had always been the thought of why bother, we're just going to move. So yes, she really says to plant trees! Plant something and watch it grow while you're here. Take advantage of all that your host culture has to offer. and perhaps someday you'll be able to return to see the fruits of that tree.  

Do you have any suggestions or advice for a move overseas?  Something you did to help make the transition easier?  What about the "re-entry," how did you deal with those stresses? We'd love to see your comments.

Our Survey Results:

Books, Books and More Books

I am bad, really bad when it comes to books. I LOVE books and always have. I read constantly and usually more than one book at a time--which some people have a hard time grasping. I am currently visiting the US and going crazy with all the books here: discount stores, used book stores, library sales. It's almost too much! I find I can't part with my books either for I enjoy reading them over, and sometimes over. As such, I am also trying to work at instilling this love to my children. Yes, they too love books, but I want them to also love literature. I do think there is a difference. Right now, they too love books, but they haven't quite come to appreciate good literature, even children's literature. As I sit here at the computer on these last days of my vacation, I have been doing a ton of searches on the internet and have found all sorts of fun stuff involving good books.

First, I am so excited to discover that September is Roald Dahl Month. He has always been one of my favorite authors. I have fond memories of my second grade teacher reading us James and the Giant Peach. This was actually one of the first works of good fiction that I was able to get my son to read. He already knew the story from the movie and liked it, but the transformation that took place when he was able to compare the book to the movie. It was like . . .magic! And yes, he did agree that the book was so much better. I am really looking forward to following the activities and having the boys read some new Dahl books in the coming months.

As home schoolers, I see that trying finding literature guides is a common endeavour. I have recently come across a few more sites that might be of interest and include some free literature guides to popular titles. First, there's Glencoe Literature. They have a huge list of guides and seem to be adding new ones. There appears to be a wide range of offerings and for most upper elementary levels and above, everything from The Adventures of Tom Sawyer to A Wrinkle in Time, classics and award winners alike.

A site that I just found today and has a smaller listing, but does include books for younger readers is Kidsreads.com. This site doesn't have guides as such, but discussion questions for book clubs. Another book club site that has quite an extensive listing of books is Litlovers. This site is fantastic! It has all sorts of book info, but from what I have seen the titles are for an older audience, although many classics are included too. I liked this one for in addition to the questions, it also includes book info, a synopsis, and reviews.

Finally, there's Books 4 Boys. If looking for guides is a big question, finding books that boys want to read is even bigger. This site has recommendations by age, author, theme and for all age levels, from picture books to young adult. There are no true guides, but several books do have discussion questions to accompany them. Some of the newer books even have excerpts available.

If you have a favorite book or author, please share. I am always looking for new books to read and share. Happy reading!

Lord of the Rings Literature Study

I found another good free literature study, this time for The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings. (Scroll down to the bottom of the page for links to the unit study.) This looks like quite a good basis for a middle school or high school exploration of the themes in the books.

I also found that Cliffs Notes are available for free online.

Free Science and Literature Studies

One of the exciting things about homeschooling is the number of families who are writing their own curriculum to suit a particular interest or area of focus. Sometimes this is tweaking of something already in print. Sometimes it is a full fledged series of books and activities. Story of the World, by Susan Wise Bauer, for example, started out as a series to fill a niche that she thought was lacking, that of a world history continuum for the elementary grades.

Even cooler is the fact that the internet allows some families to share their creations with the world at large and for other homeschoolers to benefit too. And it is great when some of what you find is available for free.

Little Blue School has several literature units that the author developed for use in her coop in Norfolk, Virginia (which almost makes me want to put Norfolk on the top of our duty station wish list).
Aeneid
Treasure Island
Elections
Novel Writing (This is a great breakdown of the parts of a novel, even if you don't sit down and write your own.)
Jungle Book

The blog Handbook of Nature Study has lots of resources for focusing your time outdoors. Barb sells some of her studies as inexpensive ebooks, but also has lots of nature study ideas that can be downloaded for free. Don't miss the Outdoor Hour Challenges and the free downloads on the sidebar.

I also found a blog called Fieldwork that was posting a series of lessons in marine biology/oceanography. She ended up only finishing 24 of the 34 she had planned, but I still think it is a nice resource. Something that I like about her approach is that it is hands on and could be used as a basis for exploring any seaside, not just the east or west coast of the US. That's something that has been important to me since we've spent the last decade living beyond the scope of most English language field guides.