Goss Homeschool Academy

 One of my projects in the future is to put together a chart of folk songs that can be searched according to time and historical events. I love planning out our own studies for the year. My children have benefited from our singing schedule! In fact, we were out painting pottery the other day and they both started singing "Oh you can't scare me, I'm stickin' to the Union, I'm stickin' to the Union..." and I had to chuckle under my breath that these wonderful folk songs are taking a place in their memory and can be a source of joy for them during quiet tasks like painting! In my public domain rambles on Archive (dot) org, I stumbled across a reference for "American Almanac" which is a series of records made for children to listen each month of the year! I've embedded each video for you to enjoy! We may listen to some during handicraft time or other down time and enjoy the stories and songs! January   February   March April   May   June   July  ...

This year, I decided to look through historical folk songs to help coincide with our history topics for the year. There are too many to choose from when looking at 1800-1900 just like there are too many books and resources to choose from in order to spread a feast! We'll be happy with what we are able to cover! The hymns are mostly from last year's Ambleside Online list. I found the YouTube channel "folksandhymns" late in the year and want to utilize her beautiful recordings in our school year this year! I hope she continues to publish this year! We may stay a year behind just to take advantage of her wonderful recordings! If you'd like a print out of all the lyrics, click here! August The E-RI-E (Erie Canal 1800s) Come, Ye Disconsolate September The Oregon Trail (1830s) When We All Get to Heaven October El-a-noy (1841 folk song about moving westward from the Wabash to Illinois) Banks of the Sacramento (Gold rush around 1850) A Mighty Fortress ...

Community dancing is such a wonderful activity for all ages!  I have seen the question pop up in many homeschool groups about suggestions for resources to teach folk dances so I want to share some of my favorites from teaching music and dance to elementary students in public school and our homeschool groups!  If you have the opportunity to find a group already in place to attend and learn dances and observe how they teach you will have a better understanding of how to approach this in a group setting!  You may feel like at the beginning like you are herding a bunch of cats but that's ok!!!  Practice and consistency will improve the process! Cited Material First, I want to just say how blessed I am that I have been fortunate to have training under the most talented folk dance and movement specialists.  I feel like my education and experience has been in the "golden" age through first hand workshops by the following professionals.   New ...

I didn't think it would happen this year, but the desire to get away with my kids was too strong and we made it happen!  I originally wanted to do something like Memphis or Saint Louis with the kids since we finished reading about the Mississippi river this year (Minn of the Mississippi) but it just didn't work out.  Then, a few weeks ago we were listening to our folk song CD and they asked to put Cumberland Gap on repeat.  That got my wheels turning and I asked "Would you like to go to the Cumberland Gap?" They both got so excited and I was able to find a great little cabin about 40 miles away from Cumberland Gap for our adventure! When checking out the area for things to do, I realized that one of our routes would take us by Big South Fork National Park!  We got off the exit to Standing Stone monument and took some pictures and learned about this interesting monolith! Standing Stone View this post on Instagram ...