American Indian unit study – week two

In my enthusiasm for teaching a unit on American Indians during the Thanksgiving holiday, I neglected to factor in how BUSY I would be during Thanksgiving week! What a nube mistake. So it turns out we didn’t get much done.

We studied the Cherokee for a day, and briefly covered the Trail of Tears, watching a few clips of documentaries on youtube. We made some quick Cherokee blow guns.

Then we talked about the Iroquois, focusing on the Mohawk, since we had the most resources on that tribe. The boys were fascinated by some of the Mohawk customs, like the practice of eating a captured warrior to absorb his bravery.

We attempted to make Mohawk corn bread, but it was a culinary disaster, saved only by frying (what was left of) them up in butter. Because butter.

We had the most fun last week learning about the Iroquois False Face Society and making some false face masks of our own.

On Thanksgiving, the boys dressed up as Wampanoag Indians, using some of the things they made last week.

And that was pretty much week two! Not as much ground was covered, but plenty of fun was had.

Reading aloud

I thought this article was timely for us, since I just finished reading aloud The Sign of the Beaver. My boys have always sat well for books, but this was our first longer chapter book. H constantly begged for “just one more chapter,” while M, although he loved listening, was always happy to switch to a picture book. I found that M–and even H–enjoyed playing with Lego bricks while listening. Keeping the hands busy frees up the mind. And it helps pass the time! I read to them today from Matt Christopher’s Body Check while they folded their laundry. Winning!

American Indian unit study – week one

As I mentioned in my last post, we began our year with Five in a Row, which I still think is a fantastic curriculum. We already read a ton of books, some of my favorite children’s books are covered in FIAR (like The Story About Ping and Andy and the Lion), and it just seemed like a natural fit for our family.

So I was surprised when H was just not into it. He gave me grief every day when it was time to start school and would sometimes ask in the middle of a book how much longer we had till it was finished. He loves math and science and hands-on stuff, and maybe there just wasn’t enough of the things he loves in the lessons. To be fair, one of the things I love about FIAR is how easy it is to adapt and scale to your child’s needs and interests, and we were supplementing with math workbooks and other things. One of my favorite activities suggested in the lesson plans for Madeline was to take a trip to a local river, so we spent several hours one morning exploring the water walk alongside the river in our city.

But it clearly wasn’t working day in and day out. So when I became pregnant with Baby No. 4, and subsequently became too sick and tired to do much school at all for a few weeks, it seemed like a perfect time to reevaluate.

We picked up last week with a unit study on American Indians. As a sort of spine for the unit, I began with a book I picked up at the library sale a couple of years ago: The Indian Book: The 1980 Childcraft Original. This book covers 13 tribes across the US and Central and South America. Then I headed to the library and got another 20 or 30 books on tribes from all different geographic areas, as well as a few movies. Then I combed the Internet for more information and recipes and activities. We also got plenty of ideas from the KONOS unit on American Indians.

Last week we spent most of our time on the Plains tribes of the Blackfoot and the Sioux, although we also talked about the Osage and the northern woodlands tribes like the Chippewa and the Penobscot. The main reason we covered the woodlands tribes was because I read aloud to the boys the book The Sign of the Beaver, and then we watched the film version that I got at the library. Afterward we compared and contrasted the print version and the film version (obviously, the book was better, but I think the film really helped bring it to life for M, who is only 4).

They really enjoyed learning about the Plains tribes. For reading, I had H read two books we already owned: Indian Two Feet and The Legend of the Indian Paintbrush. And we did LOTS of crafts.

We made Sioux shields using instructions from this site.

H shows off his breechcloth, necklace, and medicine bag.

Making moccasins from a kit we bought at Hobby Lobby.

We learned about how the feathers a warrior wore represented specific feats he had performed.

H shows the details on his shield. The design in the middle is a wolf paw print.

The boys played outside in their teepee. We learned that the Plains Indians always faced their teepees to the east.

We did some work with patterns using cut drinking straws and beads.

We made Siouxx Indian Pudding using this recipe.

 

A few other activities that we did included writing up stories using pictographs (plenty of examples are to be found online), making and playing a Chippewa game, and reading legends from different tribes. I found many creation stories on wikipedia by searching for the tribes’ mythologies.

I’m super excited for this week’s fun because it happened to line up perfectly with Thanksgiving week. We spent this morning reviewing some more on the Plains tribes because we had a few more library books that we didn’t get to last week.

Tomorrow we’ll talk about the Cherokee and the Powhatan, then Wednesday will be the Mohawk, Pequot, and Wampanoag. And don’t worry, the boys will NOT be learning the fabricated PC narrative we all learned in school as kids. We’ll face the real story.

 

A new direction

To mix metaphors, The Roof Beam is veering off course. Our family has grown and changed since we first imagined this space, and we’re finding ourselves undertaking new adventures. What began a couple of years ago as a (short-lived) family fitness log is now going to become our family’s homeschooling blog. With three boys and one more on the way, let’s see how well we can keep things updated this time!

Meet The Roof Beam boys:

H is 6, and we started homeschooling this fall using Five in a Row. We’ve shifted gears on that in the past few weeks, though, which I will go into more detail on later.

M is freshly 4, and we’re working s-l-o-w-l-y on letters and numbers and patterns and things. It’s fascinating to me to see how differently he learns from his older brother.

S is 1, and he spends most of his time trying to smash our crafts, steal scissors, and throw crayons across the room. He’s really just a joy to be around. It’s not a coincidence we do most of our schoolwork while he’s napping.

Okay, that’s all for now. Just wanted to update you on the exciting changes–“you” being, well, no one right now, but we hope to get better connected within the online homeschool community very soon.

So long!

J

Throw it out the window

Happiness does not come from doing easy work but from the afterglow of satisfaction that comes after the achievement of a difficult task that demanded our best. ~Theodore Isaac Rubin

Here is an excerpt of an email Chris sent to our Saturday morning workout crew:

As far as the workouts themselves, I want to specifically address anyone who may have anxieties about performance, looking dumb, inexperience, no exercise knowledge, not being “in shape” yet, etc.  I want you to throw that all out the window RIGHT NOW, because none of that matters.  Just like with life and being truly known in community versus the façade we tend to show to the world, this is not about trying to prove how awesome (fit) you are to everyone else, how much you’ve got it all together, not looking foolish in front of everyone, how much of an “expert” you are, and so on.  I don’t care about that and I don’t want any of you to care about that either.

Working out, getting in shape, whatever you want to call it, is about bettering yourself, pushing your limits, and celebrating successes, not comparing yourself to others, worrying about failure, or trying to look or be perfect during your routine (although healthy, fun, positive competition can be a good thing sometimes).  In fact, I fully expect and want us to see each other in a less than perfect state (as we try to spiritually), including, but not limited to: excessive sweating, tears/shouts/grunts of pain, occasional blood, cursing, mud stains, labored breathing, and who knows, maybe even some vomiting (not that I’m actively TRYING to make anyone puke, but you never know…I have done it to myself before…).  As long as you are giving it your all, pushing yourself, and striving to do better than you did last time, that’s all you should be concerned with and what we should be celebrating with one another.  In short, I don’t care if you can’t even do a full pushup or a perfect box jump right now; keep at it, have confidence, and eventually you’ll get there!

When I think about all the things I want to accomplish fitness-wise, or when I see others that can do those things already, sometimes it’s easy to get discouraged.  Instead of sitting back in awe of what they can do and I can’t, though, I remind myself that I just can’t do it RIGHT NOW, but I am on my way.  My favorite fitness quote at the moment really sums it up: “I may not be there yet, but I’m closer than I was yesterday.”  A little bit of hard work done over time with intensity and consistency will yield results.  In fact, if anyone wants to post some of their current health/fitness goals they are working towards, feel free so we can encourage each other in that!  Don’t feel like you have to, but I do want you to take the time to at least consider them internally.  Be as specific as possible because progress breeds motivation, and if you don’t have a specific goal than there’s no measurable way to determine if you’re making progress (for example, “I want to lose 10 pounds” instead of “I’d like to lose some weight”).

Some of my current goals (but not all of them by any means) are to get my first muscle-up, be able to do a freestanding handstand, and to perfect the Olympic lifts to the point where I can use them in my workouts.  One of the best ways to track and measure progress toward your goals is to write down your workout.  Record the exercise or movement, weight, sets, reps, time, etc., so that way you have a basis of what to shoot for; if you did 30 presses with 25 pounds last time, then do 31 or more next time, or go up to 30 pounds and try to match the reps.  If weight loss, weight gain, and appearance are priorities, then take pictures in your bathing suit and record your weight, inches, and clothing sizes every month.  You don’t ever have to show anyone, just compare on your own how your appearance changes from one month’s picture to the next, how many inches you’ve lost/gained, and how your clothes fit.  Don’t sweat day to day fluctuations or get too discouraged if you miss a workout or eat poorly!  Just get right back on the horse and never let it be two days in a row, because two leads to three which leads to four and so on.

 

 

Holden’s workout

Holden loves to work out. He’s an animal. Chris told him that protein helps build muscle, so he constantly asks about the protein content of everything he eats. He would work out all day, every day if he could. Last night he wanted to exercise, so Chris gave him a quick workout routine to do, for time:

10 pullups (assisted by Chris)

20 alternating lunges

30 pushups

40 squats

50 burpees

Holden’s time: 7:11

Holden’s tiny, graceful squats are a thing of beauty. One day I too aspire to have such perfect form. It’s a shame we lose that natural ability over the years by sitting on our butts on the couch.

Afterward, all three boys showed off their big muscles and did some primal roaring.

Family WOD + weight training

50 up-downs

50 kettlebell swings 20lb (single arm snatches for Chris)

50 box jumps 20″

__________________

Jess: 12:14

Chris (wearing a 15lb weighted vest): 8:19

________________________________________________

Jess:

• back squats: 55lb 3x 5, 5, 3; 45lb 2×5

Chris:

• back squats: 195lb 5×5

*If you look back over the last few heavy lifting posts, you’ll see that Jess was lifting much higher weight just a few days ago. The hard lesson learned from today’s workout is that sometimes you just have an off day. You can’t get discouraged or down on yourself about it. Just listen to your body’s cues and give it everything you’ve got. Next time you’ll be stronger.

Saturday group workout

We recently began Saturday morning workouts with a group of friends from our gospel community. We are doing a version of CrossFit’s Fight Gone Bad, where each participant completes a workout station for 1 minute, then everyone switches. Each person must keep track of his or her reps from each station, and the scoring at the end is the total reps completed. This morning’s workout consisted of six stations: presses with 25lb or 45lb bar, up-downs*, kettlebell swings, jump rope, 20″ box jumps, and sledgehammer slams. We did two circuits.

• Chris: 496
• Jess: 306

We had seven people total working out together. We had enough equipment to let husband and wife teams work through the stations at the same time, which, you know, was pretty romantic. (Holden did his modified workout afterward with a small, lightweight bar for the presses, a rubber mallet for the swings and the hammer slams, and a stack of weights around 12″ for his box jump; and, as usual, destroyed everyone, scoring 474.) It was a lot of fun! There’s something about suffering together that really builds community.

*I don’t know the official name of this exercise, so we call them up-downs, but this means different things to different people. When I say up-downs, I’m talking about a move that begins in a standing position with feet about shoulder width apart. Drop the hands to the ground and lower the chest and thighs all the way to the ground, then immediately jump the feet back up to the hands and stand all the way up. That’s one rep. Do this as quickly as humanly possible to realize the full, insanely taxing effect of the move.

After the group workout, Chris and I did some heavy lifting (which I later sort of regretted; it’s incredible how taxing these heavy lifts are on the endocrine system).

Jess:

• back squats: 65lb 5x 5, 5, 5, 4, 3 reps
• deadlift: 65lb 1×5, 95lb 1×5, 115lb 1×1, 125lb 1×1, 140lb 1×1, 150lb 1×1

Chris:

• deadlift: 225lb 1×3, 255lb 1×1, 275lb 1×1, 300lb 1×1, 315lb 1×1, 330lb 1×1, 335lb 1×1

Family WOD + weight training

30-21-15-9-6-3 reps of the following, for time:

presses (25lb bar for Jess, 45lb bar for Chris)

box jumps 20″

sledgehammer slams

jump rope jumps

__________________

Holden: 11:00*

Jess: 13:42

Chris: 11:10

*Holden used his small, lightweight bar for presses, a stack of weight plates for his box jumps, a rubber mallet for his hammer slams, and jumping in place for the jump rope. As Chris always says, all of these exercises are infinitely scalable.

__________________

Jess:

• back squats with 55lb 5×5
• deadlift: 85lb, 95lb, 105lb 5×5

Chris:

• back squats: 185lb 4×5
• deadlift: 205lb 1×5, 225lb 1×5, 235lb 1×5, 245lb 1×5

Chris’ workout

Chris often does two workouts a day: one during the afternoon at the gym near his workplace, and another in the evening with the family. He varies the individual workout to cover a range of skills, such as pullups, pushups/handstand pushups, dips, running/sprinting, rowing machine, stair climber, core, bench press, etc. He also set himself a personal goal of performing 10,000 pushups this year; to date he’s reached 9,030 pushups. He’d be happy to fill you in on the details of his individual exercise, but here’s an example of a recent workout.

Running: 1.5 miles

Superset of kipping pullups/pushups (for every one pullup, do two pushups, for example, do 10 pullups followed by 20 pushups, then 9 pullups followed by 18 pushups, 8 pullups followed by 16 pushups, etc.): total 70 pullups/140 pushups

Dips: 3 sets of 25, 16, 13 reps