Bullet Journaling

Bullet journaling keeps coming up in my parent book club (current book: Hunt, Gather, Parent: What Ancient Cultures Can Teach Us About the Lost Art of Raising Happy, Helpful Little Humans by Michaeleen Doucleff), so I finally thought I'd look into it.

I basically spend ALL my time working -- and it drives my kids crazy! -- whether it's lesson planning for multiple main lesson blocks at a time, documenting all of my lessons taught, doing consulting phone or Zoom calls with homeschooling families, writing new pages for the website, creating new Ruzuku courses for different grade levels, or actually teaching children (which I do from 9 am to 3 pm, Monday through Thursday).

I do NOT do much self care. And I am NOT good at following through with personal goals such as exercising, sleeping enough, eating healthy food, spending relaxing time outdoors, and reading for fun. Or even showering every day! Adding something into my day like meditating feels completely out of the question. I'm exhausted all the time and I am ready for a change. I excel professionally. I struggle personally.

So, what is bullet journaling all about and can it help me?

Planner vs Bullet Journal: Which One Is the Right Choice for You?
blog post that clarified for me what bullet journaling is and what it is not

straight from the horse's mouth!
this introductory video is from Ryder Carroll, creation of the Bullet Journal

my first bullet journal, arrived yesterday

"My Ultimate Bullet Journal and How It Changed My Life"
by Stuart Carter
NOT classic bullet journaling but a lot of inspirational ideas for collections, and I especially love his goal tracker system (19:39)

Goodbye 2018, Hello 2019 (5:00)

Goals: Work, Rest, Play (6:46)

Level 10 Life (8:20)
1 - Family and Friends
2 - Personal Development
3 - Spirituality
4 - Finances
5 - Career
6 - Marriage / Relationships
7 - Fun in Life
8 - Giving / Contribution
9 - Surroudings
10 - Health and Fitness

I Am Grateful (9:41)

Take a Moment: Affirmations, Quotes, Dream, Memories (10:05)

Daily Routines: Good Morning, Good Night (10:53)

10 New Activities Bucket List (11:45)

The Books of 2019 (12:15)

The Movies of 2019 (12:43)

The Music of 2019 (13:00)

Workouts (13:18)

The Principles of Optimum Life Health (14:32)
Water
Nutrition
Air
Exercise
Sunshine
Rest
Meditation
Temperance
Hygiene
Values
State - the core essence of who you are without fear (17:17)
Trust / Faith

My Year: 2019, A Year I Won't Forget (26:08)

To Do List (30:06)

Before You Start This... Have You Done This? (30:15)

Travel Packing (30:26)
Weekend
Long Trips

PayPal Bottle (30:40)

Can Bullet Journaling Save You?
The New Yorker - Sep 7, 2019
for one more little burst of inspiration!

I'd love to hear from anyone who is already bullet journaling! What resources helped you when you were setting it up? And how is it going? Just having a book that is for me and about me -- and isn't my teacher planbook -- feels incredibly liberating and powerful. I'm excited!

This post contains affiliate links to materials I truly use for homeschooling. Qualifying purchases provide me with revenue. Thank you for your support!

Favorite Resources for Creative Writing

In Waldorf, seventh graders do a block on Creative Writing which is called "Wonder, Wish, and Surprise." The very BEST book for this block is Dorit Winter's and it happens to be available FREE online as a PDF at the Online Waldorf Library.

The Art and Science of Teaching Composition
by Dorit Winter

Note: In making that link I found another writing book by her -- Fire the Imagination, Write On! -- which is also available at OWL for free. Can't wait to download it and read it!

Fire the Imagination, Write On!
by Dorit Winter

I have some other books I really like for Creative Writing as well. They are:

Hooray for Diffendoofer Day!
by Dr. Seuss, Jack Prelutsky, and Lane Smith

Writing Magic: Creating Stories that Fly
by Gail Carson Levine

How to Make a Zero Backwards: An Activity Book for the Imagination
by Richard Kehl

My webpage for this block contains the notes from the first time I taught it (in October 2017). Now it is October 2021 and I'm teaching it for the second time. I'll keep my notes here instead. I think it's hard when there are two sets of notes on one page. Also, last time I combined Creative Writing with the Imaginary Island Project but I'm taking a different tack this year. We ended up spending so much time creating our imaginary islands that we never did much creative writing about the events that took place on them.

Wednesday, Oct 13

pass out new creative writing journals (inexpensive 100 page spiral bound notebooks with lined paper and yellow covers)

decorate front cover of creative writing journals in a unique way

read Hooray for Diffendoofer Day!, look at Dr. Seuss's handwritten brainstorm notes, talk about the writing process

read chapter 1 of Writing Magic and do the writing exercise

Monday, Oct 18

play Grammar Sense Game: Set 1

read chapter 2 of Writing Magic and do the writing exercise

Tuesday, Oct 19

do "natural object" activity from The Art and Science of Teaching Composition, page 24 (we used different kinds of acorn caps)

Wednesday, Oct 20

send home a mystery nature object in a blank box, work on precision of description, The Art and Science of Teaching Composition, page 24

this is a really beautiful old turtle shell

Thursday, Oct 21

focus on descriptive language and focus on one attribute at a time; brainstorm images for shape, size, color, texture of ribs, pattern of shell (what else does it look like? what else does it remind you of?)


The Private Eye: Looking/Thinking by Analogy - A Guide to Developing the Interdisciplinary Mind
by Kerry Ruef

Monday, Oct 25

I'm working with a student who has a lot of anxiety around being creative, and a fear of being wrong, so we are going to spend the next few weeks just focusing on relaxing and having fun with it!

Flowers from Their Names
activity from How to Make a Zero Backwards

Tuesday, Oct 26

Mixed-Up Animals
activity from How to Make a Zero Backwards

Wednesday, Oct 27

Sky, Handle, Shoe
activity from How to Make a Zero Backwards

Thursday, Oct 28

An Eye Chart
activity from How to Make a Zero Backwards

Monday, Nov 1

Magic Names
activity from How to Make a Zero Backwards

Tuesday, Nov 2

A Visit to a Strange Land
activity from How to Make a Zero Backwards

read chapter 3 of Writing Magic and do the writing exercise

Wednesday, Nov 3

Basic Ideas (with a friend)
activity from How to Make a Zero Backwards

Thursday, Nov 4

Bottom and Top (with a friend)
activity from How to Make a Zero Backwards

I am still meeting a lot of resistance to the Creative Writing block so we are going to take a different approach. Open-ended work is a struggle for some children! I'm going to make it an optional ongoing thread in Language Arts, during independent work time, and keep How to Make a Zero Backwards and Writing Magic and the creative writing journal in a little pile inside his desk for the rest of the year. We are going to shift into doing Greek Mythology with the younger students in November, and then writing a script and putting on a class play of our favorite myth in December. He can be co-director of the play. This will still allow for plenty of creativity, but with the support of an existing legend. Hopefully, without the pressure of a "block," creative writing will become something he wants to put in his plan when it's time to choose a Language Arts work!

This post contains affiliate links to materials I truly use for homeschooling. Qualifying purchases provide me with revenue. Thank you for your support!

Building and Buildings

COVID has lots of ripple effects in unexpected parts of your life.

One of them, I think, is that I'm much more open to doing a topic based on a child's request than I ever was before. It is a bit hard to say to a child, you don't get any control over your own life at all. There have been so many restrictions placed on childhood these past few years, from a lack of playdates and family vacations, to masking and weekly testing. And I know they are carrying a lot of worries around with them. I always felt like the loving adult chooses the topics in response to a child's inner needs. Maybe one of the child's inner needs right now is to have something go their way for once!

So in addition to topics like Horses!, Amazing Animal Facts, Jokes for Reluctant Readers, Dragons & Grammar, and Foods of the World, I am making up a list for "Building and Buildings." I have a student who really wants to learn about famous buildings from all around the world. Meanwhile, I think she should be doing a block on Math. So, we can take our Linear Measurement activities in that direction!

Note: this is deliberately buildings that are not houses, since Wonderful Houses Around the World is its own topic in the Waldorf 3rd grade year.

I always begin my brainstorm for any topic with a list of the books I already have on my shelf that I think might work. It is NOT meant to come across as a to-buy list for anyone else! It's just part of my process, and you should feel free to look around your home or your library to see what would be interesting. If you find a great title, let me know and I'll add it to the list!

After my initial brainstorm I'll go back and put these structures in chronological order. Note to self: find a story for the Trojan Horse!

Pharaoh's Boat
by David Weitzman
2581 BCE - Ancient Egypt
Oct 14 & 15

String, Straightedge & Shadow: The Story of Geometry
by Julia Diggins
Ancient Egypt
chpater 5 "The Rope-Stretchers"

Oct 15
make a rope with 12 evenly spaced knots
read pp.36-41

Oct 18
make a model of an Ancient Egyptian level
(sheets of paper, tape, scissors, string, binder clip for the weight)
read pp.42-43

Oct 19
read pp.44-46

Pyramid
by David Macaulay
2470 BCE - Ancient Egypt
Oct 19 & 21

Pyramids vs Tombs: Which Did King Tut Choose?

House
by Albert Lorenz
1250 BCE - Trojan Horse - Siege of Troy
Oct 22

chapters 10 "Fairy-Tale Gods" and 11 "A Fairy-Tale War"
from A Child's History of the World by V.M. Hillyer (1951)

An Undone Fairy Tale
by Ian Lendler
riff on the Trojan Horse
Nov 29

Knights and Armor
by A.G. Smith
Roman Legionary, AD 100
Roman Auxiliary Infantryman, AD 100
Oct 25

City: A Story of Roman Planning and Construction
by David Macaulay
26 BCE - Ancient Rome
Oct 25, 26, 27

What Did People Do Before Toilet Paper?

Study: Archimedes Set Roman Ships Afire with Cannons

Naval Battles in the Colosseum

chapter 2, "Fidenae Stadium Collapses," from The Book of Massively Epic Engineering Disasters by Sean Connolly would work well here too

Mistakes That Worked: 40 Familiar Inventions & How They Came to Be
by Charlotte Foltz Jones
Leaning Tower of Pisa
begun 1173 and completed 1372
Oct 29

Tower of Pisa Historical Facts

Stabilizing the Leaning Tower of Pisa

chapter 3, "The Leaning Tower of Pisa," from The Book of Massively Epic Engineering Disasters by Sean Connolly would work well here too

Mathematicians Are People, Too: Stories from the Lives of Great Mathematicians, Vol. 2
by Luetta and Wilbert Reimer
Leonard of Pisa / Fibonacci (1180-1250)
Oct 29

Mathematicians Are People, Too: Stories from the Lives of Great Mathematicians, Vol. 1
by Luetta and Wilbert Reimer
Galileo Galilei (1564-1642)
we didn't read this but it also relates to the Leaning Tower of Pisa

Built to Last: Castle, Cathedral, Mosque
by David Macaulay
1223 Cathedral
Nov 1, 2, 5

Mauna Kea Adz Quarry

look up pictures of gargoyles

true or false: < gargoyle > is related to < gargle >

Rose Windows and How to Make Them
by Helga Meyerbröker
Nov 22

chapter 4, "The Collapsing Cathedral," from The Book of Massively Epic Engineering Disasters by Sean Connolly would work well here too

1283 Castle
Nov 8, 9, 11, 12

Knights and Armor
by A.G. Smith
Teutonic Knight, 1240
Hochmeister of the Teutonic Order, 1250
Knight of the Order of St. Jon of Jerusalem, 1250
Nov 12

This Is the Way We Wash-a-Day
by Mary Theines-Schunemann
"Kitchen Cries" track 35
Nov 12

A Medieval Feast
by Aliki
1400
Nov 12

Turnspit Dogs: The Rise And Fall Of The Vernepator Cur

Pippo the Fool
by Tracey Fern
Filippo Brunelleschi (1377-1446)
Nov 15

experiment 31, "Why a Dome?," from The Book of Massively Epic Engineering Disasters by Sean Connolly would work well here too

Leonardo and the Flying Boy
by Laurence Anholt
Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)
Nov 15

Tick Tock Banneker's Clock
by Shana Keller
Benjamin Banneker (1731-1806)
Nov 19

make a drawing on 1 cm graph paper, then enlarge it using 1 in graph paper

Ice! The Amazing History of the Ice Business
by Laurence Pringle
1800s
Nov 16 & 18

look up whether there was an ice industry in Hawaii

Shave Ice in Hawaii
by Mariko Merritt

Samuel Morse, That's Who! The Story of the Telegaph and Morse Code
by Tracy Nelson Maurer
Dec 3

Going Up! Elisha Otis's Trip to the Top
by Monica Kulling
1853 - New York World's Fair
Nov 29

The Secret Subway
by Shana Corey
1867
Nov 30

Locomotive
by Brian Floca
1869
Dec 2 & 3

All Aboard! Elijah McCoy's Steam Engine
by Monica Kulling
1872

John Henry
retold by Julius Lester

Secret Engineer: How Emily Roebling Built the Brooklyn Bridge
by Rachel Dougherty
Brooklyn Bridge
begun 1869 and completed 1883
Dec 6

make a scale drawing on graph paper of the base of the caisson (30 squares x 40 squares = 1200 squares, each square represents 14 square feet), measure your own height and add yourself to the drawing (1/3 square high)

Twenty-One Elephants and Still Standing
by April Jones Prince
Brooklyn Bridge
May 1884
Dec 7

Emma's Poem: The Voice of the Statue of Liberty
by Linda Glaser
written in 1883 and added to statue in 1903
Dec 7

A Race Around the World: The True Story of Nellie Bly and Elizabeth Bisland
by Caroline Starr Rose
1889
Dec 9

Mr. Ferris and His Wheel
by Kathryn Gibbs Davis
1893 - Chicago World's Fair
Dec 9

The Firehouse Light
by Janet Nolan
1901
Dec 10

visit the Centennial Light Bulb webcam

Queen of the Falls
by Chris Van Allsburg
October 24, 1901 - Niagara Falls
Dec 10

Mother Jones and Her Army of Mill Children
by Jonah Winter
1903
Dec 13

Otis and Will Discover the Deep: The Record-Setting Dive of the Bathysphere by Barb Rosenstock
June 6, 1930
Dec 13

The Big Book of the Blue
by Yuval Zommer
"How Deep?" pages 54-55
Dec 13

The Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Gray Bridge
by Hildegarde Swift
Jeffrey's Hook Lighthouse
George Washington Bridge
begun 1927 and completed 1931

"Smelly" Kelly and His Super Senses: How James Kelly's Nose Saved the New York City Subway
by Beth Anderson
Dec 14

Toilet: How It Works
by David Macaulay
Dec 14

Underground
by David Macaulay

Crossing on Time: Steam Engines, Fast Ships, and a Journey to the New World
by David Macaulay
1950 - SS United States

Rain School
by James Rumford
Dec 16

The World Is Not a Rectangle: A Portrait of Architect Zaha Hadid
Jeanette Winter
(1950-2016)
Dec 16

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind
by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer
(1987- )

Bridges and Tunnels: Investigate Feats of Engineering with 25 Projects
by Donna Latham

Architecture for Kids: Skill-Building Activities for Future Architects
by Mark & Siena Moreno

This post contains affiliate links to materials I truly use for homeschooling. Qualifying purchases provide me with revenue. Thank you for your support!