Gearing up for Boy's Club

I'm just finishing up the final plans for this year's Great American's Boy's Club It will be lots of fun. Each month we read a Childhood of Famous American's book, discuss it, do notebook pages and a couple of activites. This year I have 13 boys- including my own Bug and Doodle. I'm looking forward to our activities. Here are the plans-

September-- Milton Hershey, Young Chocolatier by M. M. Eboch, Make Ice cream http://home.att.net/~teaching/science/icecream.pdf and ?? Chocolate Math, Get to know you games

October-- John Glenn, Young Astronaut by Michael Burgan, Make Alka-seltzer rockets http://mpassero.tripod.com/rocket/seltzer/seltzer.htm and Launch rockets

November--Robert E. Lee, Young Confederate by Helen Albee Monsell -- Make Rubber Band Guns- http://www.runnerduck.com/toy_gun.htm Leapfrog or fly kites


Jaunary--Mark Twan, Young Writer by Miriam E. Mason - make Paddle boats out of Altoids canshttp://www.instructables.com/id/Rubber_Band_Powered_Altoids_Boat/ and ??

February--George Washington, Young Leader by Agusta Stevenson ? Suggestions welcome-- I'm having a hard time with ideas for Washington

March-- John F. Kennedy, America’s Youngest President by Post Frisbee --St Patricks Day activities- Green- shamrock craft? ? Sugestions welcome!

April--Jim Thorpe Olympic Champion by Guernsey Van Riper, Jr. --Olympic events: Standing long jump, Discus (Frisbee) throw, Shot Put (softball) throw and Medals Ceremony

May- Celebration of Great Men -- Pizza Party- Eat Pizza and do oral Presentations

I'm disappointed- I'd planned on doing the book on Dr. Suess for one of our books. But after pre-reading it (and I'm glad I did) I decided against it- so we'll just take Dec. off. Why did I decide not to do dr. Suess? For starters- his family owned a brewery at the time of Prohibition- it talked all about how alcohol wasn't bad, and the prohibitionists were crazy. Then as I continued reading- Dr. Suess's wife comitted suicide. And while I feel bad for what he and his wife must have gone through- suicide and alcohol were not topics I wanted to discuss with 7-12 year old boys.

Benjamin Franklin Boys Club

Once again it was Boys Club day at our home- (For more info on our Homeschool Boys club- Here) We had a great time- Our book for this month was Benjamin Franklin: Young Printer I just LOVE the Childhood of Famous Americans series. They are easy reads- but they are interesting Biographies. Maybe I'm the only one- but biographies sometimes are dry and boring- to many dates and places, and not enough "story" to them. These books are all story. It's exciting to read about important people's childhood. First we discussed the book- the favorite parts, the type of person Benjamin Franklin was, how his family life was etc. Then we had a short presentation from one of the boys in the club. (Each boy has a turn to do a presentation on something they are interested in- gives them a chance to do a little public speaking) We did our Notebook pages- VERY simple- if you are interested in them- drop me a comment- and I can email them to you- they have a pic of Benjamin Franklin, lines to write what you admire about Franklin, and what inspires you. The 2nd page has a place to draw a picture of your favorite part of the story and lines to write about it. The last page simply has a timeline of Benjamin Franklin's life- and I included a few quotes from him.

To go along with Benjamin Franklin we made Tetrahedron kites (ok- so maybe Benjamin Franklin's kite wasn't a Tetrahedron- but he did fly a kite- there's the tie-in). Here is a link to patterns and instructions to make the kites- The kites were a little tricky- but they were a definate hit! I think everyone enjoyed making them- and flying them was even better! Here's a few pics of the kites flying. Bug Flying his kite-

Abraham Lincoln Boys Club

We had a fun Boy's club this week-(More on our Boy's Club Here!) Our book for the month was Abraham Lincoln- from the Childhood of Famous American's series. First we discussed the book, the boys' favorite part in the story- and what sort of man Abraham Lincoln was- honest, kind, concerned about others. Then we made pretzel log cabins- they turned out WAY cute! (I was looking for another use for popsycle sticks- but found these instead)

Then we played a game with pennies- since Abraham Lincoln is on the penny- I had a bowlful of loose change- and threw in some dry beans for variety. Then we blindfolded 1 boy- and had them stir through the bowl. The object was to find as many pennies as they could in 30 seconds. But if they pulled out quarters, nickels or dimes- it subtracted from their total. So if they found 5 pennies and 2 quarters- they got 3 points- 5-2=3. I think they all had fun. The we did our notebook pages- some simple pages- the first one they write what about Abraham Lincoln inspires them, and what qualities they admire. The 2nd page- they draw a picture of their favorite part of the story- and the last page is just a timeline of his life.

Next month is George Washington Carver- so we're playing some games with peanuts, and planting seeds- maybe we'll plant peanuts- lol.

I think our Boy's Club is a hit. I'm tossing around the idea of doing something with Chronicles of Narnia for next year's club. Any ideas to go along with that?

Boys Club for Next Year

We have such a WONDERFUL homeschool group. There are field trips, co-ops, art classes, girls clubs, PE class, park days, and my little contribution- the "Great American Boys Club" :) I've been working hard to get it all planned out for next year. I am looking forward to it. Here are the plans for the year:
Had to do it as a jpeg in order to keep my nice neat columns- blogger didn't like them

;)If anyone has any bright ideas of activities that would be fun to go along with our club- I'm open to suggestions- ESPECIALLY on those places I have blanks....Abraham Lincoln ideas anyone?

Doesn't look like Blogger likes my jpeg either :p Ok- here's just the list and my activity ideas

Lou Gehrig- One of Baseball’s Greatest by Guernsey Van Riper, Jr.
September

Bean Shooters
Baseball Game

Paul Revere, Boston Patriot by Augusta Stevenson
October
Tin can lanterns
Revere’s ride” obstacle course

Henry Ford, Young Man with Ideas by Hazel B. Aird
November
Use assembly line
Cost? Model cars

Teddy Roosevelt, Young Rough Rider by Edd Winfield Parks
December
asthma- lunch capacity experiment
play capture the fort? (winter)

Walt Disney, Young Movie Maker by Marie Hammontree
January
flip book
_____???

Abraham Lincoln, The Great Emancipator by Augusta Stevenson
February

_____??

_____??


The Story of George Washington Carver by Eva Moore
***NOT a Childhood of Famous Americans title- a Scholastic Biography
Peanut game
Plants, gardening

Benjamin Franklin, Young Printer by Augusta Stevenson
April
fly kites
?small cost for string and materials to make them?
-, make candles, printing press?

May
Pizza Party
Presentations on a Great Man by each boy
Eat Pizza