Pirate Week: Home School resources

    A few years ago I was worried about what I was going to do during summer break, with two young very active kids at home.  I decided to get the kids involved and make learning fun!  Our family values education, we know how blessed we are to live in a country that provides education to all children.
During the last few months our kids have really seen this value and privilege in action.  One thing we do really well, finding gratitude in difficult times...it lightens the mood and helps us focus on what is important.

    We normally have a Harry Potter week (which turns into a month), Lego in some form, and whatever topic speaks to them that summer; sharks, sea life, holidays, picking several countries to learn about, one animal or a class of animals, we did marsupials once.  This year our 8 year old boy wanted to learn more about the Caribbean and Tortuga...if you couldn't tell he is a pirate fan.  So to add in the fun to a geography lesson we picked pirates as the topic.  It has been a lot of fun so far, and a lot of really great resource out there.  Since we love pirates here, we did have a few of the books and items we needed, but this fun project can be done at very low cost.

During my prep week there were a lot of moms worried about school and how the year is going to work.  I thought it could help other moms out there if I shared my research and resources.

I hope you enjoy our pirate week!  Which of course has turned into three weeks with all the life things that were thrown in...I will post pictures after our Escape room/scavenger hunt next week!
Below are the links and at the bottom a concept of how to run your study unit...if you can, find other moms that want to join in and split up the work.  It makes the craft projects fun!

Pirate week

https://hobbscrew.com/pirates-a-unit-study/

https://ourjourneywestward.com/pirate-unit-study/

https://rockyourhomeschool.net/constellation-cards/

Interesting facts (check the site for other videos) 
https://www.history.com/topics/exploration/bet-you-didnt-know-pirates-video

Pirate science and navigation

https://kidminds.org/pirate-science-20-ways-to-play-and-learn/

http://www.thepirateking.com/historical/navigation.htm

https://www.history.com/topics/exploration/pirates-navigate-the-high-seas-video

https://rockyourhomeschool.net/constellation-cards/

Famous ships flags and maps

https://www.thoughtco.com/famous-pirates-and-their-flags-2136233

https://www.thepiratesrealm.com/pirate%20flags.html#.VNOejZ3F-kk

https://mrnussbaum.com/tortuga-pirates

https://www.thoughtco.com/famous-pirate-ships-2136286

Extras you can throw in or save for a tie in later

Moon phase flip book

https://deceptivelyeducational.blogspot.com/2014/11/phases-of-moon-flip-book_21.html

Star clock
https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-resources/make-a-star-clock/

Pirate Escape room

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Pirates-Escape-Room-4387718?utm_source=pinterest&utm_campaign=Pirate+Escape+Room+launch

work sheets...we used the division to bring a little math in

https://www.education.com/resources/?q=pirate&cid=11.75

I made my own talk like a pirate document, I found a site with a list of words and then made the definitions kid friendly ; )

We made pirate treasure chest and started a fun sink or float ship build

Treasure chests, Treasure, Paint, Laminator, Girl costume , and boy costume


We opened pirate week by building a boat out of whatever they wanted, bringing it to the pool to see if it would float.  We looked at which boats did float and which would sink and talked about why...the plan is to rebuild using skills we have learned about boat building.  You could always learn first and build after.

During the week we read, add in worksheets, and the occasional education video with more art.
Then we had fun at the pool again painting treasure chests, decorating our own pirate flags, and again more learning during the week with the links above.  We will finish with talk like a pirate, costumes and the escape room!  It is all about making learning fun on their level or exciting from their viewpoint.  

Also Lego...

Have fun, ask questions and let me know how it goes! 

The above amazon links are affiliate, there is no cost to you.

Our Children are Our Greatest Teachers

.Our children are our greatest teachers

They choose us, just as we choose them.

I had a wonderful conversation with my 10 year old a few days ago.
And after a lot of thought, journaling and wonder, I wanted to share my thoughts.

She had a disagreement with her younger brother, and I could feel her rage. I asked her to sit with it, explore the feelings she was having and then to tell me why she is lashing out or having to get physical...though she looks so cute, she is around 6 months away from her black belt.

I have made it a point to over communicate emotions with them since they were very young...we believe it is never too young to start the conversation and it is so good for them to learn how to express themselves. She then said something to me that just clicked, and a flood or memories, people, events came flowing back.

She expressed the reason for the behavior was to make her brother feel her anger.

Think about that for a minute. How many times have you heard someone say I want them to feel pain, I want to make them change, I want them to see/understand why.
I suddenly had so much clarity from so many directions.

I wanted to share with you what the universe helped me to relay to her and why it is important for all of us.

-People will never really be able to feel your anger or your pain. The lens they are viewing their journey through is very unique to them, and 10 years from now it will shift focus and the meaning will again change. No one will ever completely understand your anger, pain, frustrations in this human world (her sweet face when she realized this and asked why).

-I gave her the example of forgiveness. It is very similar, since people often treat forgiveness as an emotion and then withhold it. When people treat it this way they expect the other person will then feel all the other emotions they have felt in regards to the event that caused the original need for unforgiveness...So if they felt hurt, unwanted, unheard, disloyal or even betrayed, they want that person to feel what they felt. But what people don't understand is that unforgiveness is "like taking a poison and expecting it to kill someone else" so that withholding forgiveness will never hurt the other person only self...For the grownups reading, this means there is a lot of ego exploring that needs to take place and many questions we should be asking ourselves. I gave her examples of some amazing people she knows, yet they choose this behavior and then the consequences they dealt with...in the end forgiveness is an ask of self care and should be done often, not withheld.  

-We cannot make people feel our pain, change, acknowledge you and your feelings, this is all anyone really wants.

-We are not our emotions. You are not anger, it is good to feel it, but don't become it.

-We can choose the path that our anger flows. 

-We should not suppress our anger so it becomes a part of us, defines us/actions, but we need to see it for what it is and let it go.

-Anger is a powerful energy. It can destroy, but it can also create.

-When we choose to acknowledge our own anger without expecting someone else to, we create an opportunity to change.

-Anger is not bad. Anger can change the world

-But...But, using force behind that anger doesn't make you right, doesn't make people agree with/or feel you. 

It changes that powerful energy into something dark
It causes fear
It suppresses the light
and light in the darkest places of our soul is the only way we will feel heard, loved, accepted, acknowledged etc

-Anger is for us to feel, to see it, acknowledge it, to let go of the tension and/or attachment with it and then to co-create change. We all hold infinite possibility within us.

I learned so much from her...for me, for empathy to others on their journey and how to handle hard conversations with family members.
We are co-creators on this journey. We have to take fear and the need to be right/heard out of the equation and shine a light deep within us.
I want my children to let go of the need to control others, to change them, to make them feel anything they will never truly understand.

I will continue to teach them anger is good, but it is what they do next that can define the event, change the course of action, and create a new direction or way of thinking.

I will continue to show them with my own actions, to express emotions like anger and frustration, by communicating well with others and asking for what we need.

I will continue to show them we do not suppress emotions. Neglecting our emotions and mental health leads to suppression, which then causes imbalance and disease.

I love that my kiddos are learning how important our energetic health is and how we can prevent disease with energy work. A healthy diet can only get you so far if you're not willing to let go of anger, fear and unforgiveness.

What are you doing within your own journey to let go of attachment to emotion?
If you aren't there yet, would you be willing to explore one emotion this week, and acknowledge that feeling, so it will help you explore why you are attached to it?

I encourage everyone to help your kiddos use their words, explore their emotions and instead of preaching it, teach it by showing them...leading them with love in the right direction, then get out of the way and listen. They are our greatest teachers.