Week 34

Grade 1

I did reading lesson.  I used a little book.  I read Pig Wig and Cat.  I figured out what a question mark is.  You put a three on a six.  Then put another three on it.  Then you write a three on the line.  Then a two, then a 6, and a 1.  I watched Bill Nye the Science Guy.  He says everybody needs water.  He make a cloud from water and matches.  Then put the little pump on it for a lid.  Then it pumping a little bit and he count to three.  Then he take lid off and it make a giant cloud.  I have a new PE class.  I have a new teacher.  His name is Matt.  I miss my other teacher, kind of.  I have the same teacher as Porter.  I play crab soccer just like Porter did.  

Grade 4

We are studying Ecosystems, Habitats, Cycles and whatever else we encounter in this lesson.  He played a food chain vocabularly game.  He read about Food cycles.  

...and in his own words

I read James and the Giant Peach.  James crawled into the Giant Peach and found a whole bunch of giant bugs.  Then they slept inside the peach.  The bugs started gnawing on the stem of the peach tree that was holding the peach.  Then they went rolling.  In Math, I'm still regrouping and multiplying.  It's getting easier.  I did three pages of Italics and they are all cursive writing.  They were just letters.  We watched Bill Nye the Science Guy, The Water Cycle.  He made a cloud with a jar. He put water in it.  He put a pressurizer tube on the jar.  Then he pressurized it.  And, it didn't work. So, he lit matches and put them in there for dust.  Then he tried it again.  He counted to three and it made a cloud.  In PE class, I did a whole bunch of warm-ups and then we played crab soccer.  My dad and me looked out at the rotting log.  We lifted part of it up and found a snake skin.  We found this little duck fuzz at the pond.  We, also, are hatching chickens with our Grandma.  We put chicken eggs in an incubator.  

Grade 7

Well in reading I read to chapter 19 in Oliver Twist where Fagin and Bill Sikes were planning on how to break into a house and Bill Sikes needed a small boy and Fagin suggested Oliver.

In math I used the multiplicative inverse to solve for the unknown and I guess its sorta like algebra or pre-algebra and I also am going to try out teaching textbooks but since I have to do this report I will tell you about it next week.

In jump in I did skill 5 which was about the introduction of my opinion paper and I did 2 pages of italics.

In science I watched bill nye which porter pretty much did my report on it for me:D

In P.E. we did a TON of warm ups then we played crab soccer which left my wrists pretty sore(if you want to know what crab soccer is you have to crab walk and play soccer).

week 29

This week was a bit laid back.  We had to get back into a new schedule.  After a few weeks off, we are back at the YMCA for a new session.  We are really enjoying our classes.  Our YMCA is wonderful.  Everyone is very kind and the environment is so nice. It's a nice place to hang out between classes.  The rest of our year should be a lot of fun. We got in new curriculum and supplies from Waldorfsupplies.com, Delta Education, and Rainbow Resource.  We are going to start having chalkboard drawings (I'm a bit nervous since I'm not very artistic), a new writing curriculum for the Prophet, Hooked on Phonics for our youngest boy, and three Science in a Nutshell kits from Delta.  I've been looking for science projects or kits that actually include everything.  The Nutshell kits look awesome.  They have enough stuff for three children and they include everything.  They even come in a great storage box.  They contain and activity guide and a journal for the kids.  I'll definitely do review posts about this.  

E-Grade 1

I did Explode the Code.  I write the letter i.  I colored matching words.  I write the letter a.  I read fan, mat, gas, cap, tag, and nap.  

On the Banks of Plum Creek.  Grasshoppers ate all the fruit, plums, corn, grass.  They ate all Pa's wheat.  

We read about Johnny Appleseed.  I did a map of where he went.  I made some cards.  I have to put them in order.  It's how an apple tree grows. First has a seed.  Then a sprout. Then a seedling.  Then a tree. Then blossoms.  Then Apples!

P-Grade 4

I'm in lesson 23 in math.  I'm still working on multiplying.  One of the chyrsislis looks like it's going to crack open soon. In PE, we played elimination.  Elimination is where there's four goals, four teams, and one soccer ball.  If the ball gets in a goal it looses a point.  It was really fun.  We went swimming last night as a family.   I did a spelling Test.  

G-Grade 7

In spelling last time i missed alot of words in group 32 so i had to redo it.
In History i read a book called johnny appleseed the story of a legend and did a outline on story of the world about the Maori people of new zealand.

In math i did 2 pages of lesson 22.

In italics i did 2 pages.

The Prophet Week 28 Grade 7

DSC08435
Originally uploaded by OakBlossoms

For Science, I dissected owl pellets and pick out bones from it. It was disgusting. It was dirty and nasty and I had to wear gloves. I found a mole in there and a whole bunch of fur. We measured them. Mine was the smallest of them all.

I did lesson 21 in Math. It was about adding mixed numbers. It was easy for the main subject. Subtraction mixed numbers in Lesson 20 was easier than adding mixed numbers. I had problems in my systematic reviews.

In homeschool PE I got a new class. It wasn't as fun as my last class. There was a lot of little kids in the class. We played hockey.

I did six pages of Italics cursive. My handwriting is getting better.

I read a chapter of Story of the World. I read about the Industrial Revolution and the Luddites.

Week 27

This is week 27 for us.  Doing this weekly reports was a bit painful at the beginning of the year.  It's sometimes still painful for the youngest boy.  But, our oldest-The Prophet-pointed out that we had done a lot this year and it was nice to see how far we had come this year.

The Prophet-Grade 7

In history I outlined pages 340-341 which was about the factory workers of the industrial revolution and pages 350-351 which was about how the U.S.A. expanded In the 1800s and the pages were in the usborne internet linked encyclopedia of world history, I also colored the haiti flag, read chapter 30 which was about the haiti revolution and did map work in story of the world.

In math I did lesson 19 which was reducing mixed numbers.

In Italics I did pages 49,50,51.

In spelling I did spelling tests 32 and 35.

In science we read about the comparison between blood In living beings and sap in trees and plants In a book (I forgot its name) and I did picture of the comparison.

The Peacemaker-Grade 4

In Story of the World, I colored the Haitian Flag.  The African slaves rebelled.  The Africans called it Haiti.  

In Math, I did lessons 21 and 22.  

The owl babies are big and fluffy.  There is one more egg left.   

We got Painted Lady Butterfly larvae.  They are already growing.  They are making some silky stuff.  

I am on chapter four of Superfudge.  Fudge is Peter's little annoying brother.  

The Warrior-Grade 1

We learned about our eyes.  They can't move in different directions.  They can't move this way and that way.  Our pupil is dark and it turns bigger so you can see better in the dark.  Then it's in the sun.  It turns small.  

I added tens.  It's hard!

We got caterpillars.  They will turn into cocoons and then turn into butterflies.  

History Summary

G's History Summary
Originally uploaded by OakBlossoms

Here is the summary our oldest does for History each week (ala TWTM for Grammer Stage). I didn't do this when he was younger. He was never reading for this much handwriting till this year. But, he is doing so much better now. He used to fight writing so much. I admit I just gave up. I tried every few months. Now he is Grade 7 and has no problem getting it done. Happy Dance!!!!




No really he might actually enjoy History!

The Prophet Grade 7

I cannot believe he is going to be in Grade 7 this year. He has been doing so well this year. I'm very proud of the changes he has made. We are trying to follow The Well Trained Mind approach. But, he hasn't quite made it to Logic stage in many areas. Alas, Susan Wise Bauer does talk about this which is a confirmation of how I have felt all along. Some children won't make it past logic stage. But, they will still get an excellent education. I believe they can still be ready for college if they desire that path. There is nothing wrong with starting college and having to do Pre-Algebra or Algebra. Sure it's nice to skip ahead or not have to even take Math classes. Oh, wait I'm getting ahead of myself. Grade 7 it is.

History

He will be working through Story of the World 3 (1600-1850). He will do written narrations, mapwork, and notebook pages for each chapter.

He may do outlining of some topics from Usborne Encyclopedia.

He will keep track of important dates and people in his Timeline.

Supplemental library materials (i.e. books and DVDs) will be available. He will keep track of books read through our family journal, Goodreads, and/or Bookadventure.org.

Science

Real Science 4 Kids Biology 1

Language Arts

I like the methods outlined in The Well Trained Mind, but they seem to work at a slower Charlotte Mason approach with my boys. I'm using the the scope and sequence at Ambleside Online for most of our Language Arts planning. As budget permits, I will add in suggestions from The Well Trained Mind, although at lower grade levels.
Writing
We are going to try Writing Strands 3, again. I've whittled down and re-worded the assignments. He should be able to start Writing Strands 4 by October.
Literature

He will read from a reading list, as well as books of his own choosing. I've gathered up books from various sources online. I'll have a few shelves set up from those sources, as well as suggestions from The Story of the World Activity Guide.

Grammar Winston Grammar

Spelling Spelling Power

Math Math U See Epsilon & Zeta

Optional Resources
Field Trips
YMCA
Critical thinking press Mind Benders: Warm Ups A1, A2, A3, A4
Typing Program

2009-2010 Printables, Plans, and Goals TAKE 1

I'm going to start making strange posts to keep track of stuff I would like to plan for the upcoming year. I would like to print off what I need before the actual year, if not just 6 weeks at a time.

I'm going to get more notebooking going this year, too. We end up with scattered papers a lot and no real method to organize them.

I'm posting plans for each child, as well. I'll update them as we go along this summer according to budget restraints mostly.

We are on the waiting list for a virtual academy. So, that will really change how I plan for the year. The VA would allow us to purchase more curriculum especially workbooks that would make things easier to open and go. It would, also, give us the allowance to do some fun stuff like field trips and the YMCA. I will need to keep better track of what we are actually doing including insuring that goal hours are met.

Planning & Goals

I'm going to give the children a 6 week planner sheet at the beginning of the Term/quarter. That way they can do a check off each day. I'm going to use the form from Ambleside Classical. It's on the right hand column of the page and is for Openoffice. It's easy to use it for my own subjects/curriculum. I think I will use the boxes in the right hand corner for keeping track of books read, character traits, or inspirational quotes. If we join the VA, I will include a spot to keep track of hours. They are going to get it printed on their favorite color. The Prophet is red, The Peacemaker is Green, and The Warrior is blue.

Character and Habit Training

I can't believe I'm even considering it. But, we started discussing a chart of character qualities that I printed up. I'm not sharing it because I don't entirely agree with some of the families methods. The boys have responded really well. We did get some character lessons in when we used KONOS, but we haven't used that in the last few years. It's nice to have the chart because I don't think I could come up with a list like that on my own.

These free cards might be helpful. I can print them up and insert what they need to work on. But, I wouldn't have them earn anything for them. I can't keep up with reward systems.

History

I'm pretty certain we will use at least Story of the world 3 for the upcoming year. I've never had much luck using the Activity Guides. It seems to slow us down and I end up feeling guilty for not doing activities. Activities that my children never seem to enjoy.


I'm trying to decide if I want to do a History Notebook as described in The Well Trained Mind. My oldest is not fully at the Logic Stage yet and I think it would be to confusing to keep track of.

I have a good size set of History Scribe pages. I plan on printing those out to go along with some of the chapters. If I run out, I think I will utilize the Free History printables here. I like the looks of either the second one down on the left or the top middle one with the timeline. I would like to use google images and pull up images to use for notebooking, as well. I might throw in a few packs of "real" notebooking paper to liven things up a bit.

I've been wanting to start a Book of Centuries for years. But, we start and stop and loose the pages. I like the look of this one. I should probably put it on some nicer paper to make it more durable.

There was a lot of talk on the Well Trained Mind Forums about creating History notebooks. I'm not interested in binding anything. But, I would like to have everything prepared for the 6 week period. Anything that helps with keeping me from having to recall all the steps I want to take. I'm getting way to distracted with having all these kids and now there is going to be a baby. I know Peace Hill Press offers the notebooking pages from SOTW already printed up. We tried those with SOTW 1 and they didn't go over well. But, it's one of those things that I might consider if we join the virtual academy.

I love using these Story of the World planning sheets. I use them more as a log of what we read or notebooked during the week. I don't like planning supplemental materials. We never have the budget for extras. So, we depend on the library. I never know if we will enjoy something from the library or if it will even arrive around the time of study. It, also, lines up the 42 chapters into a "real" school year. I've been using the one for SOTW 2 and it's keeping me on track and giving me some focus.

Science

I would like to do some sort of Life Science with the boys. We did a little introduction a few years back. But, they were really young then. It really depends on my budget constraints. I have Apologia General Science and I might start doing that with my oldest. I can stretch it out over two years.

Read Alouds

I might do notebooks for some of these. Here and Here are some samples. A narration per chapter.

This Country of Ours

Language Arts

Here is the scope and sequence at Ambleside Online.

We use Italics for Handwriting.

We started some copywork this year. I will continue with that for a bit in the summer and pick it up again during the school year. It made a huge difference in handwriting. I like the Italics because the boys are doing better with it. But, there isn't much practice in the workbooks.

I would like to start some studied dictation, as well. I think I might try with the oldest and see how it goes. I think it could do a lot to help with his writing skills.

Grammar

I plan to start with First Language Lessons 1 for The Warrior. He needs to be reading well before we start. I'm looking at Rod and Staff or First Language Lessons 3 or 4, for the older two. Neither have done any formal grammar yet.