September 19, 2014

There is a trend.  We skipped a day ... again.  This is not "end of the world" terrible but it could turn into a nasty habit.

Math
Weak.  We finished the first Key to Measurement booklet and did one lesson in Rod & Staff.

Latin
The new vocabulary was piling up, so we only did two lessons this week (11 & 12) which both covered 2nd declension neuter (um, i).   12yo spent most of the week reviewing vocabulary flash cards and memorizing the table blessing.  Today I had her remove the vocabulary words she knows well.

Grammar
11 Compound Subjects and Predicates
12 Simple and Compound Sentences
13 The Structure of a Paragraph
14 Avoiding Run-on Errors

Spelling
We finished lesson 17!  Spreading the lesson over two weeks works much better than trying to cover it in one week.  We pulled the single letter phonogram cards to cut down on the size of the stack.  I want to her spend more time on the tougher ones (ex: ough has six sounds).

Composition
12yo wrote a thank you note to the director for the summer youth program in our small community.

Literature
She started reading this to me:

And I restarted reading this to her:

Geography

Turkey.  We did the Memoria Press workbook.  While she labeled her map I read Turkey (Blastoff! Readers: Exploring Countries) to her. 

World History

DK's History of the World encyclopedia - reading through Chapter 2 "Early People" (40,000 - 5,000 BC)

American History

MIA

Classical Studies

6 Horatius and Mucius the Left-Handed

We started the Memoria Press guide for "Horatius at the Bridge."

Art

Still waiting for the shipment.

Music

MIA

Christian Studies

7 Jonathan Breaks the Oath; David

Saul is no longer supported by God as King.  The prophet Samuel is sent to Jesse of Bethlehem to find a new king (David).

Science

We did four lessons/activities last week, but we didn't finish the notebook assignment for the last two.  We only got around to doing one this week.  Why do I drag my feet on this stuff?  I'm a better "let's read the book" than a hands-on teacher.

Homemaking

Again, lacking in the "follow through" department.

Core Knowledge

Reading stories: It Could Always Be Worse, Jack and the Beanstalk, Medio Pollito, The Knee-High Man, The Pied Piper of Hamelin

Also reading sayings from What Your Fifth Grader Needs to Know.

14 September 2014

We survived the first full week.

Monday through Wednesday we worked hard.  And then, I started to feel burn out.  Thursday I crashed ... sort of.  We had a couple of phone calls and I gave up and took 12yo shopping for fall/winter clothes.  Friday I got stuck on trying to find something that was missing and wasted a good hour.  Plus, I was trying to wash her new clothes before she left on a trip.  It wasn't as productive as I had hoped but we still had a fairly good day.

Saturday and Sunday 12yo attended a Maker Faire with her dad.

One thing driving our choices this year - Last Kid Homeschooling.  It is my last opportunity to use some of the curriculum on our shelves.

Math
Math fact fluency - continuing with Math Reflex.  We have switched from addition/subtraction facts to working with multiplication/division facts.

Normally we only use Rod & Staff Math.  This year we are combining R&S Math 6, Key to Measurement, and the Great Courses lectures "Mastering the Fundamentals of Mathematics."  We started out working with Key to Measurement.  Honestly, I'm nervous because we are moving through the first booklet so slowly.  The upside is the math has been more hands-on than in the past.

Latin
Latina Christiana I - we've moved quickly through the first 10 lessons since they should have been review.  We tried the DVD's for the first few lessons and they took too long.  We're focusing on learning the new vocabulary and doing the written work in the student book.   Looking forward to Lively Latin Big Book I as soon as possible.

Grammar
Rod & Staff English 6.  Doing both the exercises and the worksheets.  Reading through the writing lessons but using IEW for composition.  Four lessons per week.

Spelling
Picking up where we left off in Logic of English Foundations.  Slowly working through lesson 17 and reviewing the phonograms after a few months off.

Composition
Continuing with Student Writing Intensive A (SWI A).  Really not sure where to go with writing since she is older and increasingly creative.  I really like IEW but I wonder if I should have her in SWI B instead.

Literature
No concrete plan.

Geography
We've been re-reading Geography I (Memoria Press) before we watch CNN Student News.  We are in the Middle East and ready to cover countries we haven't read about before.  Turkey here we come!

World History
I am super pleased that 12yo finally seems ready for K12's The Human Odyssey: Prehistory Through the Middle Ages.  Yes, we are still stuck in ancients.  We are combining HO with World History Detective and DK's History of the World encyclopedia.  Working nicely although WHD is a bit challenging at this point.

American History
I'm looking for a good way to review what we've already covered before we continue in A History of US.  A timeline?

Classical Studies
We've been re-reading stories from Famous Men of Rome when we do Latin. After this week we should be able to return to a once-a-week schedule.  I'm hoping to also start using the Memoria Press study guide for the poem "Horatius at the Bridge."

Art
Home Arts Studio is the plan for the year.  Still waiting for the art supplies to come in.  One item is back ordered.   Until then, we are reading through the art sections in the Core Knowledge series.

Music
Not there yet.

Christian Studies
Another subject that we didn't squeeze in this week.  12yo gets enough religious instruction at church, so this is purely cultural literacy.

Science
Finally working through lessons in Science in the Beginning!  Awesome book.  I'm so pleased with it.  We are doing all three levels of activities since dd is older.  We are currently working on the first day of creation - light.

Homemaking
Home Economics for Homeschoolers - another set of wonderful books that sat on my shelves gathering dust.

Core Knowledge
Reading through What Your First Grader Needs to Know.  Just filling some gaps.

September 5, 2014

Monday and Tuesday 12yo dd had a sleepover at her oldest sister's house.

Wednesday through Friday our schedule was 9am - 3pm.  People, I am whipped by 3pm.

Wednesday was tough.  12yo had a hard time staying awake.  We have always had school on my bed.  I decided it was time to get off the comfy bed.  The past two days we have spent our time going back and forth between the dining room table and the couch.

I made one more change to help her stay awake.  After a subject or two, I sent her on an errand or to do a chore (ex: unload the dishwasher, take the compost outside, water the plants, scoop the poop in the chicken coop, check the mail, etc.).  She has been more alert and easier to get along with during school.

Current Events - CNN Student News
Math - Math Reflex, Key to Measurement book 1
Latin - LCI Review 1, lessons 6 & 7 (first declension, agreement of subject and verb)
Grammar - Rod & Staff English 6 lessons 5-7 (subjects and predicates, sentences and clauses, four types of sentences)
Spelling - seeing what she knows from a "frequently used words" list
Geography - review.  Reread a section on the Middle East.  Put together a puzzle of Africa and the Middle East.
World History - World History Detective #1, K12's The Human Odyssey "Introduction" - telling time.
Classical Studies - Famous Men of Rome - reread "Romulus"  (she is sick of hearing that story.  Lol!)
Christian Studies II - Lesson 6 "Samuel and Saul"
Home Economics for Home Schoolers Level One - Lesson 1 "Nutrition"
Core Knowledge - reading through What Your First Grader Needs to Know.  We've read the fables and are currently reading through the stories.

August 30, 2014

We hit "pause" - too many activities/interruptions to be consistent with school.

The next plan?  Wait and start in-line with public school.  But no, we can't do anything as simple as that. 

12yo made it sound like the park activities were going to slow down this week.  You know me.  BING!  "Let's start school."  So ... we kinda, sorta did.  Things fell apart Thursday and Friday. Big sis and her kids came over for the day on Thursday and then Friday 12yo purposely stayed away from the house because she knew I wanted to do school with her.  Little toot!  That's okay.  At 8:30pm Friday evening I announced that we were doing school.  Lol! Kid, I will get you.  I know where you live. 

Current events - CNN Student News

Latin - Latina Christiana I lessons 3, 4, & 5 (first conjugation and first declension)

Grammar - R&S English 6 lessons 1-4 (complete sentences, subjects, predicates, writing a story about a problem)

Math - started Key to Measurement

We started reading:

August 1, 2014

We didn't do as much school as I would have liked but that isn't something new.

Highlight of the week ... we went to see "Maleficent."  I saw it a week ago and wanted my younger daughters to see it too.  I wanted them to see the same message I did ... a woman doesn't need a man to be complete.  I grew up with the perspective that I somehow wasn't whole without a guy.  Having healthy relationships with the opposite gender is great but don't feel that you are  incomplete without Prince Charming.   Live life!  Don't sit around waiting for him to come knocking on your door.

Latin - 12yo is giving me grief about watching the Latina Christiana I DVDs, so I'm trying to wing it myself.   We made it through only two lessons this week.

Math - On the other hand, she seems to be completely fine with James Sellers, the instructor for The Great Courses' "Mastering the Fundamentals of Mathematics."  We watched the first four lectures: Addition and Subtraction, Multiplication, Long Division, and Introduction to Fractions.

Current events/News - We are trying something new - a subscription to Newsademics.  I like it, but I can tell 12yo isn't thrilled with the length of the articles.  She's going to have to put in a little more effort than sitting back and watching 10 minutes of CNN Student News.

I'm happy we were able to brush the dust off our homeschool brains this week. : )

Three months later ...

Wow!  Where have the past three months gone?

May was the month of the chickens.  I spent a lot of time outside making sure they were okay.  They didn't have a regular coop yet, so we were often outside on "cat" duty.

In June my oldest at home finished her finals and then started an intense summer choir.  Not only were there daily practices (sometimes two/day), we also spent a lot of time running errands to prepare her for a trip to Greece.  I've never been out of the country, so I was pretty stressed about helping her get what she needed for the trip yet not overpacking.

As soon as she left for her trip, I had a couple of weeks to get my youngest two ready for a Pioneer Trek (three days of camping out in the wilderness and reenacting a pioneer trek using handcarts).  Luckily, the dresses, bonnets, and aprons my girls made four years ago fit these two.  We didn't even need to buy new hiking boots.  Everything was handed down.  But ... we did have to do more shopping than I expected.  They needed sunscreen, new socks (cha-ching $$$), new hand sanitizer, and the list went on.

And here I find myself at the end of July.  Though we have one more adventure in August (a family reunion), I feel it is finally safe to start school-lite.  Sunday evening I forewarned 12yo and Monday morning we started Math and Latin.

Latin - reviewing what she learned in Lively Latin by going through the first half of Latina Christiana I.

Math - We are watching lessons from the Great Courses "Mastering the Fundamentals of Mathematics."  Also, she restarted Math Reflex.

I seriously hesitated beginning the school year so soon.  Our summers are such an important time for 12yo to get outside and make social connections in the neighborhood since it rains so much the rest of the year.  But, I was noticing a lot of computer use going on vs. playing with friends.  I figured an hour to an hour-and-a-half would be fine.  We'll see how it goes.

May 19, 2014

Teaching to the test is over.  Summer weather is approaching.  We have chicks.  School?  What's that?

May 3, 2014 - new home.  Five weeks old?

12yo and her Buttercup

Chickens have been a real learning experience.  #1 - they poop a lot.  Lol!

We've learned that they all have distinct personalities.  Just like people, I like some better than others.

We've also learned that chickens are resilient.  This past Wednesday our sweet Sicilian Buttercup was attacked by a cat when we left the chicks outside unattended (bad choice on our part!).  Her neck had some minor wounds.  Her back end however had wounds as large as my thumbnail.  We kept her separate from the flock to avoid cannibalism.  Luckily her wounds are covered by her wings.  Within 24 hours she was back outside free ranging with her flock.  We put her back in the infirmary one more night.

This weekend, 12yo watched and at times assisted her dad in building a coop.

May 12, 2014

Um, should I even post about last week?

Monday we reviewed math.
Tuesday 12yo took a required standardized test.

Then ... we lost all traction.  I didn't think it was possible to do less, but we did ... less.

Testing 2014

In our state homeschoolers are required to test at the end of 3rd, 5th, 8th, and 10th grades.  Because I registered my younger girls when they were seven years old, they are a year older than the other students testing in their grade level.  Today 12yo took the 5th grade test, and if her scores are good enough she won't need to test for another three years.  I'm looking forward to a three year break and more homeschool freedom.

May 2, 2014

Ended school early this week so 12yo could have a sleepover with her oldest sister.  Oldest sister just moved and 12yo wants to help.  Actually, I think she wants to play with the chicks, ducklings, and rabbits.  Lol!

We are reading:

Sayings:
Eat crow.
Eleventh hour.
Every cloud has a silver lining.
Few and far between.
The grass is always greener on the other side of the hill.

Latin - finished lesson 10.  Introduced vocabulary F.
Math 6 - (1-6)  This is a review chapter. Working with trillions, place value, rounding numbers to the nearest 10 million, Roman numerals - greater than 3,000/MMM, column addition, horizontal addition.
English 5 - (58-61) can vs. may, learn vs. teach, chapter review, pronouns, nominative case pronouns, objective case pronouns.
Spelling - most of lesson 16.  phonograms - ed, ew.

World History - SOTW ch. 10 "The Far East: Ancient China," read more about ancient China from world history encyclopedias, SOTW ch. 18 "Life in Early Crete" and ch. 19 "The Early Greeks."
American History - 9) Jamestown Makes It, 10) 1619 a Big Year, 11) Indians versus Colonists, 12) Massacre in Virginia, Poverty in England, R&S 5 chapter 16 Plymouth Colony-the Beginning of Massachusetts.
Classical Studies -
Christian Studies II -
Science 6 - (22-25) the energy chain (law of conservation, law of thermodynamics), harnessing wind, water, and sunlight (wind turbines, dams, and solar cells), harnessing fuel energy (four-cycle gasoline engine), using energy for transportation (automobiles, ships, airplanes).