We had some good news this week. Rocket Boy was accepted to serve on the Teen Council at our state art museum! We are thrilled for him. He is interested in a career in design (maybe product design, not sure) and this is a great opportunity for him to interact with the art community. Additionally, he went to his first honor society meeting. He has joined one of the local chapters of the Eta Sigma Alpha National Home School Honor Society. The chapter he joined seems to be a great fit - it has a balance of chapter business, service projects and social opportunities. He is looking forward to getting to know some of the other teens.
In other areas, this is what is happening:
Algebra I: This week was the start of Algebra I for the year. Rocket Boy is taking this as an outside class. His teacher is a former home schooled student who went on to obtain a math degree. The class is very small - there are a total of two students. The text is Elementary Algebra by Harold Jacobs. I think that the text is a good fit for him and the first week of homework has gone well.
American History: The big topic of the week was The Enlightenment. Jonathan Edwards' sermon Sinners in the Hand of an Angry God was one of the reading selections. Personally, I found it very interesting that he delivered this sermon in a monotone w/out any animation to his features or body language. The teacher that is leading the discussion group in the co-op has assigned some time line memorization, which I have forgotten all about. Hopefully, we'll get started on that in the coming week.
Architectural Drafting & Design: This class is getting better, although the volume of work is very high. There is much more student interaction than there was at the first of the course and the opportunity to draw is always one that is appreciated!
Language Arts: I did not assign anything in this area. I am in the process of designing a personalized class that will meet his specific needs and be challenging at the same time. I'll write up a contract when I am done with that process so that we both know what needs to be accomplished in order for Rocket Boy to earn the credit.
Science: Moving right along here. I must confess that I really like the fact that he is taking this internet based course. He has managed to keep up with his assignments this week, although it is difficult for him to maintain attention in the long class. Hopefully this will improve with practice. Nutrition was a big topic last week and there is a self guided lab to complete in this area.
Studio Art: Sketchbook Saturday at the museum! This is a 1 1/2 hour class where the students learn the history of and observe a piece of art in the museum and then spend time in the studio practicing the techniques that the artist used. The co-op course that he is taking is, for him, a review of the basics. While this is not a demanding course, it does require some outside work, which we have to get better at working into our schedule.
We'll be doing a few tweaks this week, hoping to smooth things out more, so stay tuned!
Showing posts with label weekly report. Show all posts
Showing posts with label weekly report. Show all posts
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Sunday, September 4, 2011
Weekly Report: Weeks 1 through 3 - School started already??
It's hard to believe that we have finished three weeks of 9th grade. Honestly, it's been very difficult for both mom and student. The workload is pretty intense and has proven to be a challenge to Rocket Boy. It's hard for him to give up his summer free time and even harder to realize that the amount of time he needs to spend on school has increased pretty significantly. It's been hard for me to watch him struggle with the increased demand in both quantity and nature of the work demanded. Additionally, we are using outside resources for some core subjects this year and I am learning how to juggle that as well.
Here's the run down so far:
History: Notgrass American History seems to be a good fit. We are using the history and Bible components, but will pick and choose from the literature assignments. My intent is to have him read most of the books listed and the original documents, but we will have to use another source to teach literary elements, writing, etc.. One of the big advantages of using this program is that our homeschool co-op is holding a class with it, so there is an added benefit of group discussion.
Science: This year Rocket Boy is taking an online class through Landry Academy. The Shepherd Science Biology is the text, with the teacher providing different labs, additional information, tests, etc. Even though the teacher is engaging, it is hard to sit still & maintain attention during class. I am pleased with the content so far and am hopeful that Rocket Boy will begin to enjoy biology. To date, it has been the least favorite of all of the sciences.
Algebra I: This time for sure! You may remember that last year we attempted Algebra I, but ended up using a variety of resources to basically form an additional year of Pre-Algebra. The Horizons Pre-Algebra program that we used in the late winter and spring ended up being a great fit. This year we are using an outside class and Elementary Algebra by Harold Jacobs. Class starts on September 6.
Architectural Drafting and Design I: This is another Landry Academy course. It is very demanding from a volume standpoint and it has been hard for Rocket Boy to keep up. He was pretty discouraged last week, but the teacher gave them an additional week to catch up on bookwork due to the power outages related to Hurricane Irene. This, combined with the content of last week's class and the drawing assignments for this week has been a great encouragement and has rekindled his interest, I think.
Language Arts: I am still floundering around with my plans for the year. I am looking at Smarr's Introduction to Literature and possibly adding IEW onto that. Additionally, Wordly Wise 3000, book 9 and More Reading Comprehension are intended to reinforce some basic language arts skills. I am thinking of weaving in a book that introduces literary terms before we go any further as well. This is the point in literature where Rocket Boy needs to switch from basic reading comprehension to interpreting literature and that will be all new. I'm a little excited about it though, as my high school courses in English were among my favorites.
Fine Art: Rocket Boy is doing How Great Thou Art with the co-op. At his stage, I don't think that this program is credit worthy, as it will not introduce any new art concepts or techniques. It's definitely falls under the fun category.
Extra curricular activities have been slow to come this year. I'm hopeful that he will be able to settle on some things soon. He has been accepted to a local chapter of a homeschool honor society. The one we chose is fairly active, with meetings and socials monthly as well as some service projects. He has filled out an application for the Teen Advisory Council at our art museum. They will send out acceptances by Sept. 16. There are two area drama companies as well as community theater that he may pursue as well as possibly pursing participation on the media team at our church. He's going to try Teen CBS, but it doesn't start until later this month. He's going to visit the first time and then we will see how he likes it.
I am a little concerned that this week school will be disrupted somewhat as we are having some work done on our house - exterior power washing and trim replacement. I am praying it won't be too disruptive, but I know it will be loud for a couple of days.
How is your school year progressing?
Here's the run down so far:
History: Notgrass American History seems to be a good fit. We are using the history and Bible components, but will pick and choose from the literature assignments. My intent is to have him read most of the books listed and the original documents, but we will have to use another source to teach literary elements, writing, etc.. One of the big advantages of using this program is that our homeschool co-op is holding a class with it, so there is an added benefit of group discussion.
Science: This year Rocket Boy is taking an online class through Landry Academy. The Shepherd Science Biology is the text, with the teacher providing different labs, additional information, tests, etc. Even though the teacher is engaging, it is hard to sit still & maintain attention during class. I am pleased with the content so far and am hopeful that Rocket Boy will begin to enjoy biology. To date, it has been the least favorite of all of the sciences.
Algebra I: This time for sure! You may remember that last year we attempted Algebra I, but ended up using a variety of resources to basically form an additional year of Pre-Algebra. The Horizons Pre-Algebra program that we used in the late winter and spring ended up being a great fit. This year we are using an outside class and Elementary Algebra by Harold Jacobs. Class starts on September 6.
Architectural Drafting and Design I: This is another Landry Academy course. It is very demanding from a volume standpoint and it has been hard for Rocket Boy to keep up. He was pretty discouraged last week, but the teacher gave them an additional week to catch up on bookwork due to the power outages related to Hurricane Irene. This, combined with the content of last week's class and the drawing assignments for this week has been a great encouragement and has rekindled his interest, I think.
Language Arts: I am still floundering around with my plans for the year. I am looking at Smarr's Introduction to Literature and possibly adding IEW onto that. Additionally, Wordly Wise 3000, book 9 and More Reading Comprehension are intended to reinforce some basic language arts skills. I am thinking of weaving in a book that introduces literary terms before we go any further as well. This is the point in literature where Rocket Boy needs to switch from basic reading comprehension to interpreting literature and that will be all new. I'm a little excited about it though, as my high school courses in English were among my favorites.
Fine Art: Rocket Boy is doing How Great Thou Art with the co-op. At his stage, I don't think that this program is credit worthy, as it will not introduce any new art concepts or techniques. It's definitely falls under the fun category.
Extra curricular activities have been slow to come this year. I'm hopeful that he will be able to settle on some things soon. He has been accepted to a local chapter of a homeschool honor society. The one we chose is fairly active, with meetings and socials monthly as well as some service projects. He has filled out an application for the Teen Advisory Council at our art museum. They will send out acceptances by Sept. 16. There are two area drama companies as well as community theater that he may pursue as well as possibly pursing participation on the media team at our church. He's going to try Teen CBS, but it doesn't start until later this month. He's going to visit the first time and then we will see how he likes it.
I am a little concerned that this week school will be disrupted somewhat as we are having some work done on our house - exterior power washing and trim replacement. I am praying it won't be too disruptive, but I know it will be loud for a couple of days.
How is your school year progressing?
Friday, January 7, 2011
Weekly Report: Week 18
After a two week Christmas break, we started school on Tuesday of this week. I have tweaked a few things and we are generally off to a good start. Here's the rundown:
Bible: We are continuing to read Practical Happiness. Here are some quotes that resonated:
Logic: As the semester long debate course is over, we are now studying informal logic by using Dr. Christoper Perrin's The Art of Argument. Among many other terms, this week's material has covered the definitions of formal and informal logic as well as the difference between inductive and deductive reasoning. This program appears to be well written and is designed to both appeal to the logic stage student as well as to impart valuable reasoning skills. We are both looking forward to this material.
Fine Arts: A few years ago while I was at a sale, I purchased some art activities that have been sitting on my shelf ever since. This week I pulled out the Cezanne Art Activity Pack. This product is written for much younger students, however, the project is quite detailed and I thought it worthwhile to have Rocket Boy complete the project. I also added in the requirement that he read about Cezanne in The Annotated Mona Lisa and write a one paragraph summary on the artist. He has worked diligently on this project all week. It is due on Monday of next week, giving him time for the final touches.
History: At long last Rocket Boy is able to study the 20th century wars. He began with reading, outlining and time line work. He has two rather involved projects coming up that I think he will enjoy.
Language Arts: Commas, colons & semi-colons were the topic of the week in Analytical Grammar. Having read A Day of Pleasure just before our Christmas break, Rocket Boy is now working on the assignments for this book.
Math: I have made a lot of changes here. I am still going to utilize Math U See, however it does not provide enough practice on the areas we need to review right now. I think it is more important to do the review now than blindly go forward, so I have pulled in some other resources this week. I am not sure if I've ever posted a link to Math Fact Cafe - it's a valuable resource for making free math worksheets. You can custom design them according to your own parameters. Over the weekend I did a lot of planning and made several worksheets to use for speed drills - double digit and triple digit multiplication. In addition to this, we are using Use It! Don't Lose It!, Grade 8. This is a daily math review book that has five problems per day in a variety of areas. I also pulled Life of Fred Fractions off the shelf and Rocket Boy has read and completed bridge problems for the first ten chapters.
Physical Science: Rocket Boy has been learning about the elements & the periodic table this week. He is completing reading in his textbook and answering questions in the workbook. Out of the blue, his dad handed him a copy of The Disappearing Spoon, which traces the discovery of many of the elements of the periodic table. He has declared this book to be a great read-along book for science,which is fantastic!
Just to let you know I am providing product links for your convenience, should you want to explore something I am using in hopes it might help your family. I don't make any money, earn credits or receive any free products.
Bible: We are continuing to read Practical Happiness. Here are some quotes that resonated:
A man cannot successfully lead when he spends more time looking critically upon his followers than happily focusing on the goal ahead.
The goal in life is to delight in God ... In spite of the simplicity and though the whole Bible declares this truth, many folks still run for the wrong end zone. Some well-meaning people live to preach the gospel, others seek to be missionaries; some find their pleasure in giving their money to the poor. All of these things are good, but not the goal. You can do them all and be at odds with God at the same time. On the contrary, the man who delights in God cannot help telling the good news. He will give to the poor, but his delight and affection will be to his God; everything else is a sideline.Our hymn this week was "When We All Get to Heaven." In our study of Proverbs, we learned about the connection between freedom and responsibility and began learning about how attitudes affect actions. Wise Up! continues to be a great study for this age, although I think I am getting more out of it than Rocket Boy is.
Logic: As the semester long debate course is over, we are now studying informal logic by using Dr. Christoper Perrin's The Art of Argument. Among many other terms, this week's material has covered the definitions of formal and informal logic as well as the difference between inductive and deductive reasoning. This program appears to be well written and is designed to both appeal to the logic stage student as well as to impart valuable reasoning skills. We are both looking forward to this material.
Fine Arts: A few years ago while I was at a sale, I purchased some art activities that have been sitting on my shelf ever since. This week I pulled out the Cezanne Art Activity Pack. This product is written for much younger students, however, the project is quite detailed and I thought it worthwhile to have Rocket Boy complete the project. I also added in the requirement that he read about Cezanne in The Annotated Mona Lisa and write a one paragraph summary on the artist. He has worked diligently on this project all week. It is due on Monday of next week, giving him time for the final touches.
History: At long last Rocket Boy is able to study the 20th century wars. He began with reading, outlining and time line work. He has two rather involved projects coming up that I think he will enjoy.
Language Arts: Commas, colons & semi-colons were the topic of the week in Analytical Grammar. Having read A Day of Pleasure just before our Christmas break, Rocket Boy is now working on the assignments for this book.
Math: I have made a lot of changes here. I am still going to utilize Math U See, however it does not provide enough practice on the areas we need to review right now. I think it is more important to do the review now than blindly go forward, so I have pulled in some other resources this week. I am not sure if I've ever posted a link to Math Fact Cafe - it's a valuable resource for making free math worksheets. You can custom design them according to your own parameters. Over the weekend I did a lot of planning and made several worksheets to use for speed drills - double digit and triple digit multiplication. In addition to this, we are using Use It! Don't Lose It!, Grade 8. This is a daily math review book that has five problems per day in a variety of areas. I also pulled Life of Fred Fractions off the shelf and Rocket Boy has read and completed bridge problems for the first ten chapters.
Physical Science: Rocket Boy has been learning about the elements & the periodic table this week. He is completing reading in his textbook and answering questions in the workbook. Out of the blue, his dad handed him a copy of The Disappearing Spoon, which traces the discovery of many of the elements of the periodic table. He has declared this book to be a great read-along book for science,which is fantastic!
Just to let you know I am providing product links for your convenience, should you want to explore something I am using in hopes it might help your family. I don't make any money, earn credits or receive any free products.
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Weekly Report: Week 17
Wow - week 17 - the halfway mark! Time for a well deserved Christmas break! We finished our semester this week by wrapping up some outstanding materials, life lessons and some fun field trips. Here's the summary:
Bible: In Wise Up! We completed lesson 5 on honoring parents.We continued reading Tabitha's Travels for advent. We read devotions on tests, judgments and giving in Practical Happiness. We studied two hymns this week: I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day and Oh Come, Oh Come Immanuel. More about the hymn study in the language arts discussion. More about the providence of God down below as I summarize life lessons.
Language Arts: Rocket Boy finished reading A Day of Pleasure and took a grammar test. We also had a poetry study on Christmas Bells by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. This poem was written during the American Civil War and reflects the author's despair at his own life experiences as well as the ongoing war, culminating in an affirmation of his faith in God. It served as the inspiration of the hymn "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day." I used "The Story Behind 'I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day'". We had family worship together, as Renaissance Man was already home on vacation, using this video from Casting Crowns:
Our field trips prevented us from also reading Oh Captain, My Captain so we will read that one at the beginning of our next term.
Math: Lesson 6 test - check!
History: Rocket Boy continued to read The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. It is our first try at using the ipad to read a school related book, and Angry Birds Holiday proved to be quite the distraction. I will be acquiring a hard copy of this book so that he can finish reading it over Christmas break. Now we know that the ipad and school don't mix yet.
Science: Rocket Boy did very well on his science test. We went to the life & science museum to see the Holiday Springs and Sprockets: Art That Moves exhibit, which was a very interesting exhibit in the tradition of Rube Goldberg. Created and built by Steve Gerberich, the exhibit included a train, a tree and other Christmas related creations. My favorite was the sleigh, complete with reindeer. Here's a video of the train:
After we looked at the exhibit and Rocket Boy took some pictures (Fine Arts - check!), we entered the Contraptions room, where we stayed for the next 2 and 1/2 hours! We were the only ones in there most of the time, so we each had a station to ourselves and built our own contraptions. I am having difficulty getting my iphone to sync, but when I finally succeed, I will come back and add pictures.
Fine Art: We attended the exhibit American Chronicles: The Art of Norman Rockwell. This exhibit traces the art and evolution of Norman Rockwell throughout his career. Over 40 works were displayed, including "Triple Self Portrait;" "The Four Freedoms" "The Problem We All Live With;" "Murder in Mississipi;" "Christmas Eve in Bethlehem" and a complete set of 323 tear sheets from The Saturday Evening Post. The last section of the exhibit outlined the step by step process that Rockwell went through to create "Murder in Mississippi," and included his hand written research notes, photographic models and preliminary sketches. There were about 15 different pieces in that section of the exhibit alone. Rocket Boy was entranced by "Christmas Eve in Bethlehem" and spent almost 2 hours sketching it in his sketch pad.
We all thoroughly enjoyed this experience.
Life lessons: What week wouldn't be complete without these? I usually don't summarize these, but this week was extraordinary. On Wednesay afternoon, Rocket Boy and I left the house to go to the Life and Science Museum. We got in my CRV only to find it wouldn't crank. Apparently it was offended by the seventeen degree weather! As we got out of the car, Rocket Boy remarked that there must be a reason God didn't want us to go to the museum that day. I decided to make good use of my suddenly free afternoon and wrap the Christmas presents that I still hadn't mailed, so I went to the attic to get the wrapping paper. As I turned around to leave the attic, my eyes fell on our hot water heater, and I discovered that there was an inch of water in the drip pan, which is supposed to be totally empty. Here was the reason God didn't want us to go to the museum! The plumber told us that we caught this "just in time" as the drip hose that would have emptied the pan outside was clogged with ice. We narrowly avoided thousands of dollars in water damage to our home. God is good! Just don't ask me why the hot water heater is in the attic. So, the new hot water heater and the new car battery were a small price to pay in comparison to what could have happened, however the vivid reminder of the providence of God is priceless.
What a crazy week. Not only did we need a new hot water heater and a new car battery, but Renaissance Man's car needed some repair work as well. He is eagerly awaiting the arrival of the Volt in our area. FLL practice resumed & the kids processed the regional event and digested the news that there were some judging errors at the regional tournament. They will have to pull out all the stops at state in January! Rocket Boy's lower retainer wire broke on Wednesday and at the orthodontist on Thursday we were pleased to find out he no longer needs to wear it as the space it was holding open has been filled in with a molar. We now have to wait for two more molars to come in, then braces will go back on his lower teeth. He may not need braces on his upper teeth, but we will have to wait and see what his bite looks like when all molars are through. We also ended up taking a snow day on Thursday - it was more like ice pellets, but the public schools were out and once we realized that the roads really were clear, we were off to the orthodontist, post office and other errands. Renaissance Man has caught the family cold, just as Rocket Boy and I were feeling better, but Saturday Rocket Boy complained that his throat hurts and actually went to sleep early, so it seems the cold has come full circle and he is in for a second round.
We are on Christmas break now. We are hoping to make one more field trip next week, though. We had to drop one from our schedule due to the car battery and water heater day. We don't have our Christmas tree up yet - pretty sad, isn't it? Maybe on Sunday!
Bible: In Wise Up! We completed lesson 5 on honoring parents.We continued reading Tabitha's Travels for advent. We read devotions on tests, judgments and giving in Practical Happiness. We studied two hymns this week: I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day and Oh Come, Oh Come Immanuel. More about the hymn study in the language arts discussion. More about the providence of God down below as I summarize life lessons.
Language Arts: Rocket Boy finished reading A Day of Pleasure and took a grammar test. We also had a poetry study on Christmas Bells by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. This poem was written during the American Civil War and reflects the author's despair at his own life experiences as well as the ongoing war, culminating in an affirmation of his faith in God. It served as the inspiration of the hymn "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day." I used "The Story Behind 'I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day'". We had family worship together, as Renaissance Man was already home on vacation, using this video from Casting Crowns:
Our field trips prevented us from also reading Oh Captain, My Captain so we will read that one at the beginning of our next term.
Math: Lesson 6 test - check!
History: Rocket Boy continued to read The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. It is our first try at using the ipad to read a school related book, and Angry Birds Holiday proved to be quite the distraction. I will be acquiring a hard copy of this book so that he can finish reading it over Christmas break. Now we know that the ipad and school don't mix yet.
Science: Rocket Boy did very well on his science test. We went to the life & science museum to see the Holiday Springs and Sprockets: Art That Moves exhibit, which was a very interesting exhibit in the tradition of Rube Goldberg. Created and built by Steve Gerberich, the exhibit included a train, a tree and other Christmas related creations. My favorite was the sleigh, complete with reindeer. Here's a video of the train:
After we looked at the exhibit and Rocket Boy took some pictures (Fine Arts - check!), we entered the Contraptions room, where we stayed for the next 2 and 1/2 hours! We were the only ones in there most of the time, so we each had a station to ourselves and built our own contraptions. I am having difficulty getting my iphone to sync, but when I finally succeed, I will come back and add pictures.
Fine Art: We attended the exhibit American Chronicles: The Art of Norman Rockwell. This exhibit traces the art and evolution of Norman Rockwell throughout his career. Over 40 works were displayed, including "Triple Self Portrait;" "The Four Freedoms" "The Problem We All Live With;" "Murder in Mississipi;" "Christmas Eve in Bethlehem" and a complete set of 323 tear sheets from The Saturday Evening Post. The last section of the exhibit outlined the step by step process that Rockwell went through to create "Murder in Mississippi," and included his hand written research notes, photographic models and preliminary sketches. There were about 15 different pieces in that section of the exhibit alone. Rocket Boy was entranced by "Christmas Eve in Bethlehem" and spent almost 2 hours sketching it in his sketch pad.
We all thoroughly enjoyed this experience.
Life lessons: What week wouldn't be complete without these? I usually don't summarize these, but this week was extraordinary. On Wednesay afternoon, Rocket Boy and I left the house to go to the Life and Science Museum. We got in my CRV only to find it wouldn't crank. Apparently it was offended by the seventeen degree weather! As we got out of the car, Rocket Boy remarked that there must be a reason God didn't want us to go to the museum that day. I decided to make good use of my suddenly free afternoon and wrap the Christmas presents that I still hadn't mailed, so I went to the attic to get the wrapping paper. As I turned around to leave the attic, my eyes fell on our hot water heater, and I discovered that there was an inch of water in the drip pan, which is supposed to be totally empty. Here was the reason God didn't want us to go to the museum! The plumber told us that we caught this "just in time" as the drip hose that would have emptied the pan outside was clogged with ice. We narrowly avoided thousands of dollars in water damage to our home. God is good! Just don't ask me why the hot water heater is in the attic. So, the new hot water heater and the new car battery were a small price to pay in comparison to what could have happened, however the vivid reminder of the providence of God is priceless.
What a crazy week. Not only did we need a new hot water heater and a new car battery, but Renaissance Man's car needed some repair work as well. He is eagerly awaiting the arrival of the Volt in our area. FLL practice resumed & the kids processed the regional event and digested the news that there were some judging errors at the regional tournament. They will have to pull out all the stops at state in January! Rocket Boy's lower retainer wire broke on Wednesday and at the orthodontist on Thursday we were pleased to find out he no longer needs to wear it as the space it was holding open has been filled in with a molar. We now have to wait for two more molars to come in, then braces will go back on his lower teeth. He may not need braces on his upper teeth, but we will have to wait and see what his bite looks like when all molars are through. We also ended up taking a snow day on Thursday - it was more like ice pellets, but the public schools were out and once we realized that the roads really were clear, we were off to the orthodontist, post office and other errands. Renaissance Man has caught the family cold, just as Rocket Boy and I were feeling better, but Saturday Rocket Boy complained that his throat hurts and actually went to sleep early, so it seems the cold has come full circle and he is in for a second round.
We are on Christmas break now. We are hoping to make one more field trip next week, though. We had to drop one from our schedule due to the car battery and water heater day. We don't have our Christmas tree up yet - pretty sad, isn't it? Maybe on Sunday!
Friday, December 10, 2010
Weekly Report: Weeks 15 and 16
We are rounding the corner and Christmas vacation is in sight! Here's what's been going on the past couple of weeks:
Bible: We finished up "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing" before Thanksgiving and have moved on to "Come Thou Long Expected Jesus" for the beginning of the Advent season. We are also continuing to read Practical Happiness and work on the Wise Up! Proverbs Bible study. Although the workbook format is a bit tedious without a group to discuss it with, this Bible study covers some really good material for middle school students, 8th graders in particular. So far we have studied and discussed the meaning of wisdom, the difference between wisdom and foolishness, our home life and honoring our parents. Our next unit will be on freedom and responsibility. For Advent, we have been reading Tabitha's Travels by Arnold Ytreeide. I must say that this book is not as compelling as the earlier books in the series, Jotham's Journey and Bartholomew's Passage. I imagine Rocket Boy will have grown out of this type of material by next year, so I am treasuring this family read-aloud with him.
History Odyssey: Japan, China, Vietnam and Korea have been the topic of studies recently. The passages in Kingfisher World History have been very difficult to outline, so I have changed things around a bit by adding in coordinating passages from The Story of the World, Volume 4 by Susan Wise Bauer. These passages are more organized and easier to outline. We are utilizing the outlines in the accompanying activity book, which are partially complete to refine those outlining skills. He is reading The Adventures of Tom Sawyer right now as well. We are woefully behind where I wanted to be at this time, so I am going to skip large chunks of information to get to the 20th century, a time period that Rocket Boy has wanted to study more in depth for a while now. I think his previous studies in this time period will be enough of a foundation as we head into the high school years and revisit them.
Language Arts: Rocket Boy has completed another poetry unit - this one on imagery. Today he began reading A Day of Pleasure. We are skipping Dickens' A Christmas Carol, as we read that last year. In Analytical Grammar, unit 25 had been completed. I had hoped to finish season 3 before Christmas, but that is not to be. He will have about another month of work in the program when we return after our Christmas Break.
Math: We are creeping along with Algebra I - he has finished unit 6 and will take the test on Monday. This program is not striking me as a complete Algebra program - there certainly is not a lot of practice available for the concepts. Unlike the earlier Math U See books, there are no supplemental worksheets available on the company website. I am thinking of pulling out Life of Fred next week to provide some review and refresher before Christmas. We had a fun math lab yesterday, playing "Sink the Ship" and then working on Logic Links and Noodlers.
Physical Science: We are progressing painfully slow this year with science. The good part of that is that I am able to teach Rocket Boy some study skills as we go. He is doing extremely well understanding the concepts as they are presented, although the vocabulary is challenging. I was very pleased to find a flash card iphone ap and its accompanying online site, Quizlet. This is a fantastic study tool that allows you to use card sets that others have created and build your own card decks as needed. Many science terms are already loaded, it's just a matter of picking the best definition for your purposes as you create your own cards. The user can select the way the cards are presented and the program has the capacity to show cards that you have a harder time with at a more frequent rate than those that you have mastered. It keeps statistics, too! I can see this being a tool that will be used all the way through college. This week we watched the NOVA episode "Absolute Zero," which covered cold and all things related, including states of matter and Boyle's Law.
Speech and Debate: This wonderful yet difficult and demanding course for Rocket Boy has come to a close. The practice tournament is being held tomorrow, however Rocket Boy will not be participating. Let me qualify opening statement, however. My student seemed to enjoy going to the classes and the debate coach is phenomenal, she did a great job covering the information. However, Rocket Boy would definitely say that the class was difficult and demanding, and that he did not enjoy at all. The subject matter and the resolution were difficult to grasp and forming arguments has been a true struggle. I fear I have soured him on participating in this venue by having him participate before he was truly ready. I am hoping that if he takes a year off, he will be interested in participating in the future as his academic skills continue to develop.
First Lego League: After a tough season of practice, Rocket Boy's team participated in the regional qualifier last weekend. I am proud to announce that his team earned first place in the Robot Performance category! They have qualified for the state competition and will participate there in January - miles to go before we sleep. Here is the video the team put together as part of their project:
Well, that's the scoop - how are things in your neck of the woods?
Bible: We finished up "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing" before Thanksgiving and have moved on to "Come Thou Long Expected Jesus" for the beginning of the Advent season. We are also continuing to read Practical Happiness and work on the Wise Up! Proverbs Bible study. Although the workbook format is a bit tedious without a group to discuss it with, this Bible study covers some really good material for middle school students, 8th graders in particular. So far we have studied and discussed the meaning of wisdom, the difference between wisdom and foolishness, our home life and honoring our parents. Our next unit will be on freedom and responsibility. For Advent, we have been reading Tabitha's Travels by Arnold Ytreeide. I must say that this book is not as compelling as the earlier books in the series, Jotham's Journey and Bartholomew's Passage. I imagine Rocket Boy will have grown out of this type of material by next year, so I am treasuring this family read-aloud with him.
History Odyssey: Japan, China, Vietnam and Korea have been the topic of studies recently. The passages in Kingfisher World History have been very difficult to outline, so I have changed things around a bit by adding in coordinating passages from The Story of the World, Volume 4 by Susan Wise Bauer. These passages are more organized and easier to outline. We are utilizing the outlines in the accompanying activity book, which are partially complete to refine those outlining skills. He is reading The Adventures of Tom Sawyer right now as well. We are woefully behind where I wanted to be at this time, so I am going to skip large chunks of information to get to the 20th century, a time period that Rocket Boy has wanted to study more in depth for a while now. I think his previous studies in this time period will be enough of a foundation as we head into the high school years and revisit them.
Language Arts: Rocket Boy has completed another poetry unit - this one on imagery. Today he began reading A Day of Pleasure. We are skipping Dickens' A Christmas Carol, as we read that last year. In Analytical Grammar, unit 25 had been completed. I had hoped to finish season 3 before Christmas, but that is not to be. He will have about another month of work in the program when we return after our Christmas Break.
Math: We are creeping along with Algebra I - he has finished unit 6 and will take the test on Monday. This program is not striking me as a complete Algebra program - there certainly is not a lot of practice available for the concepts. Unlike the earlier Math U See books, there are no supplemental worksheets available on the company website. I am thinking of pulling out Life of Fred next week to provide some review and refresher before Christmas. We had a fun math lab yesterday, playing "Sink the Ship" and then working on Logic Links and Noodlers. Physical Science: We are progressing painfully slow this year with science. The good part of that is that I am able to teach Rocket Boy some study skills as we go. He is doing extremely well understanding the concepts as they are presented, although the vocabulary is challenging. I was very pleased to find a flash card iphone ap and its accompanying online site, Quizlet. This is a fantastic study tool that allows you to use card sets that others have created and build your own card decks as needed. Many science terms are already loaded, it's just a matter of picking the best definition for your purposes as you create your own cards. The user can select the way the cards are presented and the program has the capacity to show cards that you have a harder time with at a more frequent rate than those that you have mastered. It keeps statistics, too! I can see this being a tool that will be used all the way through college. This week we watched the NOVA episode "Absolute Zero," which covered cold and all things related, including states of matter and Boyle's Law.
Speech and Debate: This wonderful yet difficult and demanding course for Rocket Boy has come to a close. The practice tournament is being held tomorrow, however Rocket Boy will not be participating. Let me qualify opening statement, however. My student seemed to enjoy going to the classes and the debate coach is phenomenal, she did a great job covering the information. However, Rocket Boy would definitely say that the class was difficult and demanding, and that he did not enjoy at all. The subject matter and the resolution were difficult to grasp and forming arguments has been a true struggle. I fear I have soured him on participating in this venue by having him participate before he was truly ready. I am hoping that if he takes a year off, he will be interested in participating in the future as his academic skills continue to develop.
First Lego League: After a tough season of practice, Rocket Boy's team participated in the regional qualifier last weekend. I am proud to announce that his team earned first place in the Robot Performance category! They have qualified for the state competition and will participate there in January - miles to go before we sleep. Here is the video the team put together as part of their project:
Well, that's the scoop - how are things in your neck of the woods?
Friday, November 19, 2010
Weekly Report: Week 14
We had a slow week, full of life lessons and not so much academic ones. Here it is:
Bible: We started two new books. Our primary Bible study book is now Wise Up! Wisdom from Proverbs. This is a middle school Bible study from Positive Action. It promises to be an excellent character building study. It is well written and geared towards middle school students, which is fabulous. We have also started reading Practical Happiness by Bob Schultz. I picked that one up at the Generations of Virtue booth at the convention last year. I am hopeful that it will be good throughout.
History: Imperialism and it's effects on Asia and Canada; short summaries on the 1840 Act of Union; the British North American Act; Louis Papineua and William Lyon MacKenzie. Timeline work and map work.
Language Arts: NaNoWriMo is still in progress! Analytical Grammar work on punctuatiing quotations & dialogue.
Algebra I: Reviewed how to graph points on a graph, how to graph lines on a number line.
Speech & Debate: After watching a mock debate tournament that some advanced students conducted, the students learned how judging and scoring is completed during a debate competition.
Art & Civics: The co-op semester is over, so the classes had end of class celebrations. At the end, I can say that Atilier Art might be a match for someone who is unfamiliar with art, but there was no new material in there for Rocket Boy. I don't think the projects he completed were that different from others I have seen coming out of a beginning art class, so I would not be inclined to purchase this expensive video curriculum for a student. His civics class was a success. I like the aspect of class discussion regarding our government, especially when relevant court cases are discussed in conjunction with the amendments, giving the students a real life application & greater understanding of how the amendments protect us as citizens of the USA.
First Lego League: The state tournament is quickly approaching. There is still much more work to be done. Hopefully I will have a team video and web site to post next week.
I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving week!
Bible: We started two new books. Our primary Bible study book is now Wise Up! Wisdom from Proverbs. This is a middle school Bible study from Positive Action. It promises to be an excellent character building study. It is well written and geared towards middle school students, which is fabulous. We have also started reading Practical Happiness by Bob Schultz. I picked that one up at the Generations of Virtue booth at the convention last year. I am hopeful that it will be good throughout.
History: Imperialism and it's effects on Asia and Canada; short summaries on the 1840 Act of Union; the British North American Act; Louis Papineua and William Lyon MacKenzie. Timeline work and map work.
Language Arts: NaNoWriMo is still in progress! Analytical Grammar work on punctuatiing quotations & dialogue.
Algebra I: Reviewed how to graph points on a graph, how to graph lines on a number line.
Speech & Debate: After watching a mock debate tournament that some advanced students conducted, the students learned how judging and scoring is completed during a debate competition.
Art & Civics: The co-op semester is over, so the classes had end of class celebrations. At the end, I can say that Atilier Art might be a match for someone who is unfamiliar with art, but there was no new material in there for Rocket Boy. I don't think the projects he completed were that different from others I have seen coming out of a beginning art class, so I would not be inclined to purchase this expensive video curriculum for a student. His civics class was a success. I like the aspect of class discussion regarding our government, especially when relevant court cases are discussed in conjunction with the amendments, giving the students a real life application & greater understanding of how the amendments protect us as citizens of the USA.
First Lego League: The state tournament is quickly approaching. There is still much more work to be done. Hopefully I will have a team video and web site to post next week.
I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving week!
Friday, November 12, 2010
Weekly Report: Week 13
Bible: We finished the devotion book A Young Person's Guide to Knowing God today. Overall, it was a really good book & I would recommended it to anyone for about grades 5-8. I will decide over the weekend what book to do next - we have a few in line. I am also looking at doing deeper Bible study as well. Our hymn this week was "Count Your Blessings."
History: I set history aside this week to spend some extra time on science. I think the trade off in time will be well worth it. We will pick up some history next week.
Language Arts: Analytical Grammar is going along smoothly - rules for the use of quotation marks were the order of the day. We are both weary of doing grammar. Rocket Boy has a good start on NaNoWriMo - he's a bit over 1/4 of the way to his goal. He spends around 45 minutes each day writing his science fiction novel. It has been a welcome change of pace.
Mathematics: Moving along with Math U See Algebra I. This week Rocket Boy reviewed the distributive property and then what the author called "reverse distributive property." I am not sure why he didn't just call it factoring. Rocket Boy had an easy time with these concepts (they are not new to him) and made an A on his test today - a milestone for this year.
Science: The topic of the current chapter is "Solids, Liquids and Gases." Rocket Boy spent the week reading & answering questions. It's really exciting to see him use scientific terms to define his vocabulary words. He is able to bring it all together and synthesize the information in physical science well. A lab on pressure and volume is up for next week, as is some review work and a test. It promises to be a busy week.
Art: This is the next to last week for the co-op. Overall, I am glad that Rocket Boy was able to get in another art experience, he loves it so. I do long for an advanced art class for him, though. After Christmas I may add Artistic Pursuits back into his schedule. He did the first junior high book in that series last year and enjoyed it.
No tennis this week due to the cooler weather, but we'll need to bundle up soon and get out there! First Lego League was a struggle this week. The team has not made much progress on the board. Only four more scheduled practices before the regional qualifier, so we'll see if they can pull it together.
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Weekly Review - Week 28, 29, 30 (March 8 - March 25)
Bible: We are through chapter 13 of Numbers.
Fine Arts: Rocket Boy is doing the same kinds of things as he was the last time I updated. Guitar lessons and a co-op drama class as well as working on his drawing. He spent a couple of weeks practicing drawing with markers and working on drawing some cars. His skills continue to amaze me - I have problems drawing stick figures! Here is one of the drawings he completed with chalk pastels.
History Odyssey: We have studied the American Revolution, reading a few books and also reading excerpts from Common Sense by Thomas Paine. Of course, map work and timeline work have been completed as well. As soon as spring break is over, we will have to race to the finish line - all the way up to Lewis and Clark before the end of the school year. It's going to be one quick ride through early American history.
Language Arts: Rocket Boy completed reading Johnny Tremain and also continued spelling. The big news is that season two of Analytical Grammar is now complete! Rocket Boy has accomplished so much with this easy to implement curriculum and we are now laying aside grammar until the fall when he will do the third season of Analytical Grammar.
Pre-Algebra: We have completed Keys to Algebra, Book 1 and portions of book 4 - these helped Rocket Boy understand operations on integers a little more clearly. We are now reviewing the same topic in the Chalk Dust textbook and will soon pick up where we left off. Pre-Algebra will continue during the summer months.
Life Science: The study of viruses, bacteria, protists and fungi has been completed and most of the plant study. We will finish with that when we return to spring break and will work through the human body.
That's how things stand - now I'm off to start spring break!
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