Adverbs and Weather

We normally would do Science on Tuesday, but we have other plans for tomorrow, that I will share tomorrow. So today we are doing Science, namely the weather. DJ bombed his assignment last week on layers of the atmosphere, so we will be reviewing that. We are also reviewing grammar, namely adverbs. Every time I think we have it down, it just seems to fade away. At any rate the two videos below can be used in your homeschool lessons as well. I also found a great kids weather website, with games and all kinds of other activities. It has been exceptionally hot and dry here, in northern Florida. It will cool a bit over night. The pool is coming along nicely. I do not like to shovel snow, but 6 inches of algae is not much fun either.

Lesson Plans For 02/28/11:

DJ:
Science: Review layers of the atmosphere from previous week, what causes weather, weather instruments, weather whiz kids website
Head of the Class: 30 minutes
Math: Saxon 54
Language Arts: Adverbs, exclamatory sentences
Spelling: Chapter 19, write each word three times each
Writing: If time permits

Caitlin:
Head of the Class: 30 minutes
Science: Weather, mammals- bats
Math: Subtraction, money
Language Arts: The big idea, suffixes
Phonics: Little e
Word Search
Printing Practice
Calendar work, clock work, sight words, skip counting

Social Saturday: Harlem Globetrotters and National Parks Field Trips

OK, I missed last weeks Social Saturday, so this week I have two to share. They are both next week, so I wanted to be sure anyone interested knew about them. March 1st the National Park Foundation is offering an electronic field trip to both public schools, and home schooled children. This particular field tips focuses on the Gulf Islands National Seashore. You do have to register, and there are two one hour episodes to choose from. They have the other field trips in the archives to watch as well. I love this idea, because my kids love this kind of stuff, and we may never get to actually visit in person. Click the link to register your classroom. It is completely free.

On March 3rd, at 7 PM, the Harlem Globetrotters will be in Gainesville. This is very close to us, and I was looking at getting tickets. However, my family decided another Seaworld trip in March, and Wrestlemania was what they wanted to do. If you would like to take your family to the Globetrotters, there are still seats left. You can click the link to be taken to the site to purchase tickets.

Teaching Kids About First Aid

The video below is quite humorous if you are an adult, but it will be useful for kids who wish to learn basic first aid. Because I am a safety hound, my kids have already begun to learn basic first aid. DJ is almost completed with his Health curriculum for this year, so he will be filling in his Thursdays with Science experiments, and more math. I know don't groan for him, but I want to finish this Saxon math book by the end of the school year, which is June.

Lesson Plans For 02/24/11:

DJ:
Health: Basic first aid
Math: Saxon 54
Spelling Review
Reading Comprehension With Questions
Sign Language
Language Arts: Declarative Sentences
Proofreading
Head of the Class: 30 minutes

Caitlin:
Head of the Class: 30 minutes
Health
Math: Subtraction
Language Arts: Naming words, the big idea, prefixes
Word Search
Phonics: Letter E
Printing Practice
Calendar work, clock work, sight words, skip counting

History of Australia

Today for History class we continue our trip around the world in Australia. If you would like to see our other stops you can visit the archives. Below is a video and a brief history of Australia. The book shown is the book we have been using in our adventures around the world. It gives you lesson ideas for each geographical area.



Lesson Plans For 02/23/11:

DJ:
Social Studies: Australia, Chapter 20 Ancient Times, Map Skills
Math: Saxon 54
Spelling: Review
Sign Language
Head of the Class: 30 minutes

Caitlin:
Social Studies: Australia, family tree lesson
Math: Subtraction
Language Arts: Naming words, the big idea, prefixes
Phonics: Letter D
Clothing: Word Search'
Printing Practice
Clock work, calendar work, sight words, skip counting

Weather and Layers of the Atmosphere

Today is Tuesday, so that means it is Science day. Today we are learning about weather. More specifically the water cycle, what makes the weather, and the layers of the atmosphere. If we get enough sun today we will also be doing a solar oven experiment. If we don't get to it today, we will eventually. It has been rather warm here in sunny Florida, for this time of year. We are beginning the not so fun task of cleaning and preparing the pool. For those of my readers who live where it is still cold, I apologize in advance. There is a lot of chaos going on in the world today, Libya and the middle east, plus a huge earthquake in New Zealand. Remember your life could always be worse than what it is. Have a great day!

Lesson Plans For 02/22/11:

DJ:
Science: As above
Math: Saxon 54
Language Arts: Interrogative sentences
Spelling: Review
Sign Language
Head of the Class: 30 minutes

Caitlin:
Science: Animal classification, weather, dinosaur lapbook
Math: Subtraction
Language Arts: Naming words, the big idea, prefixes
Printing Practice
Zoo Animals: Word search
Phonics: Letter C
Calendar work, clock work, sight words, skip counting

Happy President's Day

Happy President's Day. View the video below to learn some facts about the presidents that maybe you didn't know. There were quite a few that I didn't know.

All The Presidents In One Place

How many of them do you know? Watch the video and see. Happy President's Day.

Photo Friday

On the day before Christmas Eve, 2010, we stopped by my mom's house before going out to look at Christmas lights. My mother does not get in many pictures, but she did agree to this one. My husband took the picture. My mom is 64, and I am unsure of how many more pictures she will agree to. If anyone would like to join me on Photo Friday, feel free. There are no rules, just share a fun photo each Friday. Have an awesome Friday, everyone. I signed up to work night shift tonight, an extra night for me. So if you see me on Facebook and I am grumpy, pay me no mind.

Let The Harrassment Begin

I have been watching and reading a lot of education shenanigans lately. Schools are losing funding, and they are starting to panic. First let me say I have never been bothered by my local school board. However, I have been reading articles from IL and FL about parents being harassed by the local school district. One particular district in South Florida is telling parents all kinds of things that are not true. Like they have to show grades, and they need to keep their portfolio to go over with other teachers to see if anything needs to be added. If you live in FL, and homeschool, these are not requirements by the education laws. In FL you must meet 3 requirements: keep a log of daily activities, document a reading list, and have samples of work. You must also be evaluated each year by a certified teacher, or other means allowed under the statute, and keep your portfolio for two years. This is your burden under the homeschool laws. School districts do not have the power to add requirements to this. They can not tell you that you have to grade papers, teach this, or not teach that. They can request in writing, with 15 days notice, to see your log of activities, reading list, and samples of work done. They can not keep it to so called go over with other teachers, and they can not tell you that you did not teach something you were supposed to. If they have your evaluation I see no reason for them to even request this, other than to try and intimidate and harass you. You do not ever have to let them enter your home, and you can show the info to them in a public place, if you so desired. Even then if they find you are missing one of the three requirements you have one year to remediate and fix the issue. I would recommend someone accompanying you, and keeping good records should this ever happen to you.

Florida is a state with high unemployment and with seasonal and migrating workers, school districts gain and lose students each year. Right here where I live, unemployment is 10.2%, and our new governor wants to cut school spending by 10%. The education system in FL, is already not one of the greatest, so losing funding is not a great thing. Our very small school district reported that admissions were down like 6%, that is a lot for a very small school. Schools are going to start feeling the pinch, but they need to come up with better ways to meet their budgets than harassing homeschoolers into putting their kids back into the public school system. If you are having issues in your school district you can contact HSLDA, even if you are not a member you can report issues to them. You can also become a member, it is not expensive and they will help you with legal issues that arise. You can also contact The Home Education Foundation which will get you to Brenda Dickinson, a homeschool lobbyist in Florida who helped write our state's homeschool laws.
HEF
PO BOX 12563
Tallahassee
Florida
32317-2563
850-877-3494

Macmillan/ McGraw Hill Free Online Science Resourse

Here is a free homeschool resource that you can use. We currently use this website for 5th grade Science review and testing. You can use it as you see fit for Science or other lessons in other grades. It will give you the lesson and then a quiz after. I write down the chapter and lesson and then record the test score in our learning journal. This is sufficient record keeping. I have used this website all this year and will use it next year as well for Caitlin in second grade. You do not have to homeschool your children to use any of the resources I list. You can simply want to supplement their education or review with them. This is also great for summer time if you are worried about them forgetting what they have learned.

Lesson Plans For 02/16/2011:

DJ:
Head of the Class: 30 minutes
Social Studies: Chapter 19 Ancient Times
Map Skills
Math: Saxon 54
Language Arts: Declarative Sentences
Sign Language
Spelling: Chapter 17

Caitlin:
Head of the Class: 30 minutes
Social Studies: Community Helpers art lesson
Valentines Day: Word Search
Printing Practice
Math: Subtraction, before and after numbers
Language Arts: Endings, words that go together, asking sentences
Calendar work, clock work, skip counting, sight words

Field Trip To Hart Springs

Today would be a scheduled play date for us, with our play group. But since some members were still unable to attend, we took a field trip to Hart Springs. DJ took some wonderful pictures of his own, and will share them on his blog on his Friday blog post. The picture with the two of them is actually looking up the Suwannee River, which feeds into Hart Springs. We saw a lot of fish and squirrels, and a few birds, but no turtles or manatees. This particular spring is considered a hot spring with a water temp of 72 degrees all year. The very first picture was actually taken by DJ and shows one part of the Spring where the actual water that feeds the spring comes in. Hart Springs also has underwater caves that you can dive in. You must be a certified diver, and be accompanied by a certified diver familiar with cave diving. It is a quite lovely park and I would recommend anyone visit it if given the chance. You can rent cabins, plus camping and RV campgrounds. Prior to leaving for the springs we did our lessons on Head of the Class. Tomorrow will resume regular lessons and classes.

Happy Valentines Day and No School Today

Happy Valentines Day to everyone. We have no school today, because when I did our school calendar I somehow thought today was President's Day, which is actually next Monday. Oh well. We went out for dinner on Friday because everyone has plans this evening. The kids and I have a 4H meeting, and dad has a volunteer fireman's meeting. So we already celebrated Valentines Day. Lots of love and hugs to everyone.

Share Comments & Graphics - Flowers Layouts - Photobucket

Hart Springs Gilchrist County

For this weeks Social Saturday I am sharing another one of the beautiful local springs with my readers. Hart Springs is located in Gilchrist County Florida, and boasts camping, swimming, fishing, nature trails or just plain relaxing. You do have to swim at your own risk, and fee is 4 dollars for youth and adults, under 5 free. We have only been to this particular springs once, and I can tell you the water is shockingly clear and beautiful. In the Spring the springs are full of fish that come into breed and lie their eggs. It is stunningly beautiful. We are planning a trip this next coming week, as the weather is supposed to be warm. DJ hopes to get some awesome fish pictures. I noticed on their website that they accept volunteer work. I have been trying to find something appropriate for kids of my age to volunteer at, so I will be inquiring about this. If you live in the Gilchrist County area and are in need of a playgroup or homeschool group, please consider joining our small group. If you are interested you can check out or group homepage at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/nfloridaplaygroup/ We are always welcoming new members.

Diffusing Potentially Violent Situations: Teach Kids How to Deal with Bullies

This is a guest post. Show some love to Kitty, for her awesome article.

Bullying has received much airplay in the media lately, and it has become a growing concern
now that more and more children are using technologies like cell phones and the Internet. Some
studies have suggested that bullying is more rampant now than ever before, especially in light of
several teen suicides resulting from excessive bullying. The truth, however, is there are now
more opportunities and venues to bully given the rising use of communication technology.
Despite the media attention, however, bullies have existed for centuries. It's not a very new
phenomenon. While some schools are responding to bullying very strictly, completely banning
bullying with threats of first-time offense expulsion, an article in the Huffington Post suggests
that children should learn how to deal with bullies.
For one, most bullies are the object of bullying themselves. Children are not naturally mean.
Whether taking their aggression out because of problems in the home, or being harassed by other
students, bullies project their own fears through aggressive and abusive tactics. Children who are
being bullied should, first and foremost, understand that this behavior, no matter how mean,
results from the bully's inherent insecurities. When a child who is being bullied realizes this, she
will be a little bit bolder in her desire to negotiate and diffuse a potentially violent situation.
For elementary-aged kids, the most important thing to remember is that bullies crave reaction. So
teach your kids not to react to bullies, whether it's by fighting back, crying, or getting flustered or
angry. While this is probably easier said than done, it will be much easier if you impress upon
your child a bully's relative harmlessness. Most don't resort to violence immediately, and a
potentially violent situation can be diffused by using words, calmly and carefully. Explain to
your child that words, if used intelligently, can be more powerful forces for change than acts of
violence.
Of course, if your child feels that she is actually in danger, and her attempts to negotiate with the
bully are in vain, she should report to you or another adult like a teacher or principal. However,
even though getting one bully to stop may work in the short-term, it's best to equip your child
with skills so as not to become a target of repeated bullying. Communicate with your children
often so that they will open up to you if they are being harrassed by bullies. Coach your child,
instilling her with self-confidence so that she won't be fazed when the next bully comes around.
By-line:
Kitty Holman, regularly writes on the topics of nursing colleges. She welcomes your comments
at her email Id: kitty.holman20@gmail.com.

Fresher, Younger Looking Skin With Instantpeel

I am 42 years old, and obviously not going to get any younger. While I do not consider myself vain, I do like to take care of my skin. It is very important to me to have nice looking skin on my face, and everywhere else too. I was excited when I was offered the opportunity to try Instantpeel.

Istantpeel is a natural facial treatment, to peel away dead dry skin, leaving fresh new skin behind. I have used this twice already and can say two things.

1- It is super easy to use. You can use it right in the shower. So while you are washing and shaving your face is getting ready to apply Instantpeel. You see you steam your face for five minutes before applying the peel. This soften and moistens your skin preparing it for the peel. Then you squeeze a small amount of Instantpeel onto your fingers and massage into the area you wish to treat. You will actually feel the peeling process taking place. Keep massaging, back and forth, until you feel no more skin peeling off. Then be sure to rinse completely. You can treat more than one area of the body each time. Do not use Instantpeel on dry skin, it must be applied to steamed moist skin. Instantpeel only removes dead skin, and does not target fresh healthy skin.

2- My face feels soft, smooth and wonderful after I use it. It did not irritate my skin, leave it red, or have any other ill effects. According the package the ingredients are: protein and enzyme extracts, calcium carbonate, purified water, citric acid, mint extract, methylparaben, and propylparaben. If you would like to try Instantpeel, it is simple just click the link to go their website to purchase.

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commissions 16 CFR, Part 255 Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising. Tomoson Product review & giveaway Disclosure.

Deforestation of the Rainforest, Community Maps

Today for Social Studies we pick back up on our studies of Brazil, with a lesson on deforestation. Please watch the videos to see how fast the rainforest will disappear if we continue on the path we are on. Our lesson includes a worksheet that will figure out how much rainforest is disappearing each and every day. Caitlin will also be doing Community maps, and I found the printable at Edhelper. Some of these are free, and some are not, so you will have to check to see which ones are if you wish to use it.



Lesson Plans For 02/09/11:

DJ:
Social Studies: Chapter 18: Ancient Times, Rainforest deforestation
Math: Saxon 54
Spelling: Chapter 16 three times each
Language Arts: Verbs, proofreading
Writing
Sign Language
Head of the Class: 30 minutes

Caitlin:
Social Studies, Rainforest deforestation
Printing Practice
Math: Subtraction
Language Arts: Vowel digraphs, words that go together, telling sentences
Head of the Class: 30 minutes
Phonics: Letter B
Clock work, calendar work, skip counting, sight words

Animal and Plant Adaptation

Today is Science, and today the kids are studying plant and animal adaptations. Enjoy the two educational videos below. Habitats is something you learn in every elementary grade, right up to fifth grade. It is stressed a lot. Because coloring consumes so much of first grade, Caitlin is surrounded by coloring assignments today.

Lesson Plans For 02/08/11:

DJ:
Science: Adaptation, Bouncing Back reading with questions
Math: Saxon 54
Sign Language
Spelling: Chapter 16 write each word three times each
Language Arts: Nouns
Head of the Class: 30 minutes

Caitlin:
Science: Tadpole life cycle, dinosaur coloring, winter coloring page, owl coloring page, family tree
Printing Practice
Language Arts: Long oo, predict outcomes ws, odd word out ws
Math: Subtraction
Spelling: Numbers word search
Phonics: WS letter a
Clock work, calendar work, sight words, skip counting
Head of the Class: 30 minutes

Head Of the Class, and Elementary Advantage

I want to share a couple of things with my readers today. I blogged a couple weeks back about wanting to get away from traditional textbook teaching to more hands on, and online teaching. I am unsure how I found Head of the Class, but I am so glad I did. It is completely free online, with some printable worksheets. They just released fifth grade, and are planning on releasing sixth through eighth all in 2011. I am not sure if they will do high school or not. Anyways I set it up on Saturday, and it was a bit confusing at first. But today Caitlin flew threw her lessons with no problems, once we understood how the system works. Their customer service was very fast when I sent them a question I had, and as I stated it is free. They keep records of all lessons completed and you can then keep them for your evaluation. You could always just have your evaluator log onto the site to see completed activities. Caitlin's was smooth, DJ tries his after lunch, so we will see how fifth grade goes. They also have certificates of achievements you can print. Each grade is set to be 180 days, so if you start midway through the school year, like I did, you either have to do more lessons each day, or go longer into your school year to complete it. This will be supplemental for us, until I am certain of the completeness of the lessons. So far I love it!

The other thing I wanted to mention is Elementary Advantage. I bought this two years ago, and the kids used it briefly at the end of last year. They like it, and can move through it easily. I do not care for the Science section as it freezes all the time, and does not appear to work correctly most of the time. It is affordable however, and all the other parts are good. Caitlin and DJ will be doing online and computer software activities mostly on Monday and Friday, plus if time permits on the other days.

Lesson Plans For 02/07/11:

Chutes and Ladders board game
DJ blog post Fishy Monday: Bicolor parrot fish
Advantage Elementary computer software
Head of the Class first and fifth grade lessons
Discovery Atlas Uncovering Earth: Great Rift Valley, only DJ watched this 43 minutes long

The Green Kingdom

I love to share books, that we love. The Green Kingdom, by Childcraft, is actually a book from a set of childrens dictionaries. We particularly like this book, because it is everything we have been learning about. I read a few pages of this everyday, to Caitlin and DJ. Reading to them improves their listening skills, plus they can hear about the things they have been learning without trying to comprehend while they read it themselves. We do have the whole set, but at this time The Green Kingdom is our favorite. Happy Superbowl Sunday. If you would like to make predictions who will win, please feel free to leave a comment. I am unsure of who will win, but I think it will come down to a field goal as the last play.

Social Saturday My First Barefoot Books Online Event Proceeds To Aid Hunger

Some of you who read this blog may have noticed that I am an Ambassador for Barefoot Books. It has been about a year now, and I thought I would have an online event to help aid world hunger.

Here are the details. From now until March 31, 2011, 10% of my commissions earned will be donated to The Hunger Site. That means you buy books from my store, Barefoot Books pays me a commission, and I donate 10% of those commissions to The Hunger Site. So if I make 100 dollars, I will donate 10 dollars to The Hunger Site, etc. There is no purchase limit. If you buy one book at five dollars, I will donate 10% of that commission price. Since all the books are shipped from the Wisconsin warehouse, and my Barefoot Books Store is actually owned by Barefoot Books, you can rest assured that I personally do not have any access to your personal info, and it is safe to use. Barefoot Books accepts the following credit cards, American Express, Mastercard and Visa. They ship to the following areas the continental U.S., Alaska, Hawaii, Armed Forces addresses, American Samoa, Federated States of Micronesia, Guam, Marshall Islands, North Mariana Islands, Palau, U.S. Virgin Islands, Canada, and Puerto Rico. Please note there is a fee of $9.99 for shipments to Canada in addition to the standard shipping rates.

Barefoot Books offers not just books, but music, gift sets, puppets, dress up, and tons of other great items. My children personally own and love these books. The books range in age from infancy to 12 years of age. Last year DJ read the Book of Knights, and loved it. Caitlin's personal favorite so far was the Tanzania book. She even learned to count in Swahili. Your child, grandchild, niece, nephew or any child in your life will be honored to own these books. You can be an ambassador for reading, and help poverty in world countries. Won't you join me?

So join me in my first online event, visit my Barefoot Books Store, purchase an item and help me donate to the Hunger Site. You must click the link provided to assure you are purchasing from my Barefoot Books store. At the end of the event I will share the amount to be donated and the receipt to show I donated it.

Photo Fun Friday: Playful Planet Yoga DVD For Kids

This week I get to share Playful Planet Yoga DVD, for kids ages 3-8. While DJ is a little bit older than 8, he still had a good time doing this with his sister. We have done Yoga in the past, and they remember it is not as easy as it looks. Playful Planet Yoga DVD's actually put your child in the story being told. Caitlin and DJ did the save the whale story today. It was about 20 minutes long, and just enough to get their blood flowing, for the beginning of their school day. Next time they will do Condor Trek. While I can do the Yoga with them, I had to take the pictures for this post LOL! I will be doing it with them the next time. So I guess I am way over the 8 yr old limit, stated on the package. As an extra bonus all the packaging the DVD comes in is 100% recyclable. If you would like to purchase the Playful Planet Kids Yoga DVD, simply click the link. It is only $14.99 which is comparable to any kids exercise video. This would make a great gift for Valentines Day, or Easter Baskets.























I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commissions 16 CFR, Part 255 Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising. Tomoson Product review & giveaway Disclosure.

Fun Educational Kids Videos: Addition and Adverbs

I have probably mentioned before that teaching and grading language arts, is one of my least favorites. It is boring to learn, teach, and grade. So I am always happy when I find fun videos or resources that help me, and my children. For some reason DJ especially dislikes adverbs. So I keep repeating lessons, until he has it down. I found this interesting video below. Caitlin has just switched to subtraction, but the addition videos will help her to not forget what she already learned. Or so I hope.

Lesson Plans For 02/03/11:

DJ:
Health: The kidneys
Spelling: Chapter 15
Math: Saxon 54
Language Arts: Adverbs, articles
Reading Comprehension With WS
Sign Language

Caitlin:
Health: Body parts, family tree
Printing Practice
Seasons Lapbook: Winter snowman activities
Number Identification
Language Arts: Opposites, vowel digraphs, phonics
Dragon Coloring Picture
Find Words in a Group and Color
Words That Together: WS
Clock work, calendar work, sight words, skip counting

Chinese New Year

Today is Social Studies, and we are diverting from Brazil to travel to China for Chinese New Year. Tomorrow is Chinese New Year, and this year is the year of the rabbit. Caitlin was very excited about that. Her rabbit is honored LOL! Chinese New Year is for new beginnings. They clean their whole houses, buy fancy new outfits, and everything gets painted red. Red and Dragons are symbols of good luck in the Chinese culture. Both DJ and Caitlin have reading comprehension stories and questions, about Chinese New Year. DJ remembered quite a bit from last year which of course made me happy. There are also some puzzles, and word finds just for fun. If any of my readers, that celebrate Chinese New Years, would like to share with my readers I would be most appreciative. By the way I got my Chinese New Years worksheets and lessons from Edhelper. For only 20 dollars a year you get access to hundreds of lessons and printables. So far I am very pleased with my 20 dollars spent. For some great books on Chinese New Year, and Chinese culture please visit Melissas Barefoot Blog.

Lesson Plans For 02/02/11:

DJ:
Social Studies: Chinese New Year, Chapter 17 Ancient Times, Map skills
Math: Saxon 54
Language Arts: Adverbs
Sign Language
Proofreading: Worksheet
Writing: Writing a friendly letter

Caitlin: Social Studies: Chinese New Year
Reading: Mighty Book Jr online reading 20 minutes
Language Arts: Vowel digraphs, rhyming words
Math: Subtraction
Animal Book: Leopard coloring page
Printing Practice
Word Find: Find words and color
Seasons: Winter coloring page
Clock work, calendar work, skip counting, sight words

Fanning Springs Field Trip

Today we took a trip to one of the hundreds of fresh springs, that Florida has. The Springs are not only a natural resource and habitat for the state of Florida, but also a major tourist attraction. Today we went to Fanning Springs for Science class. We are learning about plants, habitats, and natural resources. What better way to learn than hands on. DJ took some awesome photos which he will be sharing on his blog, Friday, for his writing assignment about Fanning Springs. I would love to visit more of the local springs before the weather gets to warm and the critters come out. There are so many fun ways to teach Science, that have nothing to do with books and tests. I wish I could find one for grammar and language arts. If anyone knows of any, I would love to hear them. Tomorrow we are back to our more traditional methods of learning.