Goss Homeschool Academy

   This past week was my 40th birthday! A #bucketlist item has been to see New York at Christmastime - especially the lighting of the tree in Rockefeller Center! Fortunately, my birthday landed on the same weekend of Thanksgiving which made it easy for my teaching schedule, but unfortunate that it was still too early for the tree lighting. Boo hoo!!! I still had the time of my life and want to share my travel tips for all my friends! If you like adventure, don't be afraid of public transportation! We saved some bucks by flying into Newark, NJ. There is the very convenient NJ Transit train that takes you from Newark to Manhattan, you'll just need to give yourself some extra time for commuting if it is during rush hour. Once in Manhattan, the subway is a cheap and wonderful way to travel. Our trip was only 5 days but it was still cheaper for us to purchase a 7 day unlimited pass. Each single ride on the subway is almost $3 a person. If you know that you will ride the su...

While looking for some owl folk songs to sing with my music and nature group, I fell in love with this old song! I first read about it on Mama Lisa's website here. After transcribing it myself from the YouTube video , I found the wonderful Danny Rosevar had already transcribed and recorded it for all of us here ! She has an amazing folk song channel and is such a generous person! I encourage you to follow her videos! In the mean time, you can click my sheet music to download and use if you prefer!  I've included the solfa at the top of the melody!   Other owl songs: Wise Old Owl (echo song) One of these days I look up and see A wise old owl Sittin in a tree He'll look at you And he'll look at me Those two big eyes They don't scare me One of these nights When raindrops fall He'll give a hoot He'll give a call

  In my continuous research on composer study materials, I came across a wonderful article on developing the relationship between young students and the great composers. Franciska Schwimmer wrote the book "Great Musicians as Children" and reminisces in the introduction of the book about her experience as a young pianist. Her teacher, a student of Liszt, imparted a joy and passion for the character qualities of the composers she was studying in her piano repertoire. Her teacher would tell her personal stories about Liszt and other interesting anecdotes about many composers so that the music she played took on a personal quality directly attributed to the connection she felt to these great composers that had lived in the past. When Franciska came to the United States as a piano teacher, she noticed that the American students were very technically talented, but had developed none of the relational quality that she had grown up with as a student.  She writes: "...

One thing I love about homeschooling is that there are various ways to teach and present information to your children! As we've been following the Charlotte Mason methods and principles in education, we have found so much beauty in seeing that each child is unique in their own born person! I feel that this CM principle can also be applied to Gardner's theory of multiple intelligence. Some kids may do really well with one style of learning, and others may thrive with another! But one thing is true - there is a divine law of education in "applied wisdom" through a principle based education! One technique I found successful with my son was this idea of "memory palaces." (Also called Mind Palace or Roman Room.) My mom used this technique with us through a book by Jerry Lucas called "Ready-Set-Remember." It is a fascinating book and Jerry Lucas has done some amazing research in in brain physiology to show that picture association and visual learnin...

 The September full moon is extra special for our family because we love learning about Chinese culture and mooncakes sound soooooo delicious! I have students from China that show me their beautiful cakes and talk about how yummy they are.  This year, I was able to find an online link to purchase a sampler of various flavored moon cakes! I can't wait to try them this weekend! We are lucky that many of the books recommended below are available with our library. I'm looking forward to checking them out! In addition to picture books, you might be interested in doing a nature study with your kids! Outdoor Challenge Moon Study   Books about the moon relating to Chinese stories (The Mid-Autumn Festival celebrates the Harvest Full Moon.)