Weekly Report: Week 4

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!

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:

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.

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?

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!

Weekly Report: Week 13

This week has been a really odd one - Renaissance Man has been on an international trip, so we've had regular video calls through Skype at various times of the day, which sometimes served as a delay to the start of our school day (his night is our morning, you see). Other late starts were due to our oversleeping & the fact that I had a few days where I was not feeling well at all. Looking back, things did get done, so here we go with the wrap up:

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.

Weekly Report Week 9-12

It's been a busy few weeks here! We have had gorgeous weather and Rocket Boy has enjoyed biking and many neighborhood nerf wars. Fall is settling in though, and I think we will be settling in with it. Read on for an update on our home school adventures.

Bible: We completed reading the David Livingstone biography. Our hymns have been "He Leadeth Me" followed by "This is My Father's World." I am going to switch hymns a little more frequently during November so that we can get some good Thanksgiving themed hymns sung. We are continuing with A Young Person's Guide to Knowing God. This week we talked about God's provision and protection.


Middle School Essentials: We've dipped our toes back into this arena in order to strengthen Rocket Boy's outlining skills. By this I mean outlining as a way to take notes from a non-fiction source. We are using Study Skills Strategies: Outlining to work on this. 

Art: Rocket Boy is continuing in his Atilier Art course through our co-op. Quite honestly, I would have liked to see him in a class that challenged him more, or at least allowed him to show off his talent. He has not yet covered any new ideas. This is how things often go with co-op classes. They can vary in quality and rigor depending on what the teacher wants the class to be like.

History: India & Ireland are on the map! Rocket Boy has been reading about British Imperialism.  In addition to his reading in the Kingfisher History Encyclopedia, Rocket Boy read The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling and completed a one page paper on the Irish Potato Famine.

Language Arts:  We are staying the course with Analytical Grammar. Up to this point, comma rules have been the topic of conversation in our home. He is currently working on Lesson 23 and most likely won't get finished with season three before Christmas, but hopefully will soon after. Rocket Boy completed reading Treasure Island and studied setting with Lightening Literature. He is putting his knowledge to work as he participates in the Young Writer's Program for National Novel Writer's Month. As he progresses through the month, he will be using their free workbook for middle school students. The workbook is an excellent resource for anyone who wants to encourage creative writing or teach about analyzing literature. It covers character development with some very practical exercises, plot development, conflict and conflict resolution. It is a great way to cover these concepts. There are separate workbooks for elementary students, middle school students and high school students. Each Young Writer sets their own goals, so he has a very personalized program to work with this month.

Math: We are slowly moving through Algebra I from Math U See. Slowly is the key word here. Most likely we will not finish this program. I am considering counting this as a pre-algebra year and then using Harold Jacobs' Algebra next year.  I think it's emphasis on application problems might be something that will help Rocket Boy along. This is an area where I have found Math U See lacking. I am having to continuously remind myself that math is not a race. It's more important that he learn the concepts well than it is that he complete a program according to a pre-determined schedule.

Science: An amazing thing happened in science. We had a lab go flawlessly! Rocket Boy successfully separated the copper from a copper sulfate solution using a battery, alligator clips, an index card and two paper clips. The experiment went very quickly & we had great results.

The Set Up - Copper Sulfate Solution.

You can see the copper plating on the left paper clip. 

Here's the copper that was left in the bottom of the glass.

After a one week break, tennis clinics are ongoing, although the kids won't be practicing as often in the colder weather. Speech and Debate is also ongoing. Rocket Boy enjoys this class and is finding the material very challenging. His teacher did say that you have to participate over a year or two before you truly start understanding the process. He is beginning to form his arguments now, although a lot of work remains to be done before the practice tournament in December. First Lego League seems to be going well - the team has  a solid research presentation brewing and is working diligently on the robot challenges. The countdown is on, however, as the regional qualifying tournament is scheduled for December 4. That tournament will determine whether or not the team moves on to the state championship in January. The Boy Scouts had their Council Camporee in October as well. They celebrated the 100th anniversary of the BSA. Rocket Boy worked on his woodworking merit badge all weekend.

I finally downloaded pictures from my phone, so here are some pictures from the scieNCe Festival that I blogged about for week 6.

L to R: UNC-CH Chancellor with Jamie and Adam from Mythbusters.

Rocket Boy holding the strand of DNA that he extracted from a strawberry.

A close up of the DNA - how cool is this?

Weekly Report : Week 8

This week we were in some kind of time warp - it was a long week that flew by! Unfortunately, I didn't take a single picture this week. I am charging by camera battery, so hopefully things will get better! Here's the run down:


Bible: We are continuing to read through A Young Person's Guide to Knowing God. I am pleased with this little book. Each day we read the scripture verse(s) then a related devotion. The questions at the end of the devotion prompt us to think about and pray about various aspects of our lives. Our hymn this week was continued from last week: Battle Hymn of the Republic. The verse of the week was Ephesians 2:8-9:

For by grace you have been saved through faith and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not as the result of works, that no man should boast. 

History Odyssey: We transitioned from Africa to India (The British Raj) this week. We are continuing to read a biography of David Livingstone as we are reading that together and only cover one chapter per day. Rocket Boy is reading Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book. Queen Victoria and the British Empire have been duly summarized and are on the time line as well. Rocket Boy continued his notes on Imperialism by adding information on the British colonization of India. 

Language Arts: Rocket Boy took another grammar test and is reading Treasure Island for Lightening Literature.  All is going well on this front. I have yet to start a reading time with a book box as I intended to do at the beginning of the school year. I just renewed the books from the library and hope to remember to start this soon. 

Math: Rocket Boy is well underway with Math U See. He is still reviewing previously covered material,so we don't have a good feel for the manipulative portion yet. 

Physical Science: Started on chapter 2, Introduction to Matter. I still haven't ordered the remainder of the lab supplies. 

Speech & Debate: Class is continuing, exposing Rocket Boy to many new ideas. This week the topic was philosophies. Very deep, hard things to think about and remember. I wish I could take this class as well.

Civics: His co-op class, You Decide, is at the halfway point in the semester. So far the class has covered the 1st, 4th, 5th, 6th and 8th amendments. His instructor provided a great link this week - icivics. It looks promising.

Tennis: The weather was much better this week with beautiful sunny skies and a cooler temperature than in past weeks. Rocket Boy is now playing matches and is continuing to have fun, which is why he is there!

I am hoping to have time to get caught up on book reviews this weekend - I am way behind!

Weekly Report: Week 7

After the excitement of last week, it was hard to settle in this week. Here's a brief overview of what we did:

Bible: Continued in the same devotional book. The verse of the week was 2 Corinthians 5:17:

Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature, the old things passed away; behold new things have come. NASB

History: Summarized the effects of European imperialism on the African continent. We are also reading David Livingstone: Africa's Trailblazer.   We need to pick up the pace if we are going to cover everything that I want to in history this year. 

Language Arts: Finished the lessons from unit 19 of Analytical Grammar - the test will be on Monday. In literature, Rocket Boy completed his work on "A Crazy Tale" and started working on Treasure Island.  Lightening Literature seems to be working well so far. 

Algebra I:  Slowly working our way through lesson one. So far, so good. Just for fun we added in Patty Paper Geometry for math lab today. Rocket Boy and I spent around 90 minutes folding patty paper to reinforce geometry concepts. This book is a great supplement, we are looking forward to doing more.

This is the last Patty Paper Geometry activity that Rocket Boy completed today. 

Physical Science: Rocket Boy did a great job on his chapter test! For a science discovery lab he spent four hours programming with Processing, an open source computer language. He wrote a program that was included in the book Making Things Talk: Practical Methods for Connecting Physical Objects. Renaissance Man ordered an Arduino micro controller today so that Rocket Boy can start building some of the projects he has been salivating over in his favorite magazine, Make.

As always, Rocket Boy participated in tennis, scouts, debate, co-op and First Lego League. It was a full week, it just doesn't look like a whole lot when I write it down. Maybe I'm just not as wordy today as I usually am - probably a relief to those of you who are reading! 

Have a great weekend!

Weekly Report: Week 6

Our week flew by! Rocket Boy is working very efficiently on his assignments, although he does not yet see a need to spend additional time studying. I think a couple of tests might change his mind about that - we'll see! Eighth grade is a transition year with a marked increase in the content of his materials, yet he is still young enough to still want to play around some. It is so hard to give up that free time! Time and maturity will help, I hope.


 We began and ended our week with  scieNCe Festival events.

The North Carolina Science Festival is a multi-day celebration showcasing science and technology. The Festival will highlight the educational, cultural and financial impact of science in our state. Through hands-on activities, science talks, lab tours, nature experiences, exhibits and performances, the Festival will engage a wide range of public audiences while inspiring the next generation of scientists.

On Sunday we attended "An Afternoon with Adam and Jamie." This was a program where Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman of Mythbusters fame discussed their experiences while filming their TV show. In addition to the panel style discussion, led by the UNC Chancellor, they took questions from the audience. Adam and Jamie concluded the 1 1/2 hour discussion in true Mythbuster style with videos of explosions!

Today, Friday, we went with a group of students from the FLL team to Biotechnology Days at the sciworks museum in Winston-Salem. Among other things, the kids learned about careers in biotech, extracted DNA from strawberries and learned about the different classes of medical instruments. We spent time at all of the stations and then an extended time with the medical instrument manufacturer and an animation studio who were sharing demo space. Why was an animation studio at a biotechnology fair? In addition to video and gaming animations, this particular studio produces animations for the medical instrument manufacturer that show the physicians and hospitals how their instruments work. These animations make it look as if you're aboard the Magic School Bus with Ms. Frizzle! We took a very realistic trip down the esophagus of a cancer patient to insert a stint to allow the patient to continue to eat food. Wow! These animators have various art degrees and then have learned the anatomy and physiology they need to know on the go. So, if your students are crazy about designing video games or can't stop drawing, here's a brand new career path - medical animator!

On Saturday, participation in the scieNCe festival continues as Rocket Boy's FLL team is exhibits last year's robot design & conduct robot runs at the NC Science Challenge, an all day event at UNC, Chapel Hill.

So, what did we do the rest of the week? Here's the rundown:

Bible: We continued reading Young Person's Guide to Knowing God.  We have a new hymn this week, There Is a Balm In Gilead. This hymn was not familiar to anyone in our family, so I had to search the internet to listen to it. I'm still not sure we have the timing correct! We have one more week to try it out. We started a missionary biography, David Livingstone Africa's Trailblazer. This book caught Rocket Boy's attention for it's treatment of the intersection of faith and science and how we can use science as a tool to minister to those who need Christ. It also fit in nicely with our recent concentration on the African continent. Our verse this week was 1 Peter 2:24:

and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness for by His wounds, you were healed. 

David Livingstone, MD - from google images.

 History: Rocket Boy read, answered questions about and discussed "The White Man's Burden" and "The Black Man's Burden." It was a fairly light history week. 

Language Arts: Rocket Boy finished Unit 18 on comma usage this week and then started on the next unit. Although he did a wonderful job on the lesson pages, he did not do well on the test and had a lot of corrections to do. He finished his work on A Crazy Tale. This proved to be a learning week for him in how to work with the Lightning Literature materials and meet mom's standards of thorough, accurate work. I hope his skills in this area will improve in coming months. 

Math: The fractions review is complete! Due to our field trip today, we did not start Math U See, so we will get started with that on Monday.

Science: Rocket Boy finished up his work on chapter one, which is an introduction to physical science and began his version of studying for the test. Test day will be Tuesday, so we'll see how that goes. 

Speech & Debate:  Rocket Boy was called upon to do an impromptu speech on towels and blankets. His teacher is great at coming up with these topics so that everyone can get their feet wet and know what to expect in the various categories. The class then went on to introduce debate styles. 

Tennis: The first week of the intermediate group went well. The change in the time of day didn't impact our schedule much, so I am hopeful that this will work out. 

Fine Arts: Painting effects in Atilier Art. Still nothing new, but he is enjoying himself. 

Government: His class "You Decide" covered the fifth amendment. This amendment covers a variety of things, including double jeopardy and due process. He says this class is only "sort of" interesting." That's downgraded from "cool" at the start of the semester.

I am thinking about starting with The Elegant Essay next week or vocabulary. I wasn't going to do these until after Christmas, but our schedule is flowing well and Rocket Boy is finishing earlier in the day than I expected, so it might be time to add something in. Next week won't prove to be nearly as interesting, field trip wise, but everyone has to work sometime!

Weekly Report: Week 5

Here we are again! Early this morning (or late last night, depending on how you think of it) I posted some reviews on study skills books. Scan down if you'd like to see them.

This week has been the smoothest week so far this school year. Maybe we are getting into our groove! Here's the lowdown:

Bible: Our verse this week was John 11:25-26 - I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me shall live, even though he dies; whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this? Our hymn remained the same "Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus." We spent time with our devotion book, reinforcing our belief in substitutionary atonement - that Jesus' death paid the penalty for our sins.

Art:: At co-op, Rocket Boy worked on an ocean scape. Although he is having fun, so far he hasn't expanded his art repertoire.

History: lots of reading this week and a three paragraph summary on the Suez Canal - boy was that one a long time coming! Next week will read about David Livingstone, so that should be interesting.

Suez Canal - from Google Images. 

Language Arts: Rocket Boy is off to a great start in season three of Analytical Grammar. Lightening Literature is also going well, he is almost finished with the first chapter on G.K. Chesterson's A Crazy Tale. Rocket Boy thinks Chesterson had an interesting sense of humor.

Algebra I: Still working on review. Maybe next week we will get to delve in to Math U See.

Physical Science: Still working on the first chapter, an introduction to the subject. I need to finish ordering my lab supplies now that I have a place to  put them. 

Government:  Rocket Boy's co-op class looked at the 4th amendment and then some Supreme Court cases that cited it. He is independent with this class, so I don't assign any work - it's all up to the co-op teacher. Feels good!

Speech & Debate:  This class had a break this week, so nothing to report here. I did have one idea for a platform speech for him, but we'll see what he comes up with on his own.

In the extra curricular arena, FLL practice has gone pretty good, the team is making some mock ups of robot bases and attachments to see if their ideas will work. Tennis started this week - Rocket Boy went to the beginner group  again. During the course of the lesson, his pro decided to move him up to the intermediate group! This practice will be earlier in the day. I hope our schedule works out  and the new time doesn't cause too disruption to our school day.

Weekly Report: Week 4

It's hard to believe it's already the fourth week of school. It is our first week of going "full speed ahead" on eighth grade studies. Due to Labor Day, we had a four day week. Here's what is going on so far:

Bible: We are continuing The Young Person's Guide to Knowing God, reading one devotional each day. We have a new hymn for this week and next week: Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus. Our verse this week is 1 John 3:16:  We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us, and we ought to lay down our live for the brethren. We also read Dangerous Journey this week - a retelling of  Pilgrim's Progress.

Art: Rocket Boy continues his co-op Atilier Art class. This week they worked on sketching.

History: The focus on the week was the Boer Wars, which were precursors to the practice of Apartheid in South Africa. Reading, writing a summary, time line and map work were the order of the day.

Language Arts: Rocket Boy read "If" by Rudyard Kipling and placed a copy of it in his History Odyssey binder. We started the 8th grade Lightening Literature program this week. The first work is "A Crazy Tale," a short story by G.K. Chesterson. This appears to be a meaty course, introducing many things to which Rocket Boy has not yet been exposed.

Math: I took the plunge and ordered Math U See last week. Will it work? We'll see! After he completed the placement test this week, I decided to have Rocket Boy do a quick review on adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing decimals. I know he doesn't need another full year of these concepts, but wanted to make sure that he had a refresher of sorts before he begins Algebra I. Toward that end, I have selected some pages in various Key to Fractions booklets. He is doing very well on this review.

I spent the afternoon of Labor Day making sure I understand how the Math U See program works. I must say, the manipulatives are challenging me a bit - I am not a visual person, but Rocket Boy is, so I think these will be a great help to him. It's good to get out of my comfort zone every now and then, so I am going to do my best to adapt.

Public Speaking: This was week three for the speech & debate class. They covered impromptu  speeches. In this category, the speaker is given a topic and then has a short time to come up with  a speech on that topic. I think the thinking time is around two minutes. He has homework to do in that this week, but is sure that he doesn't want to compete in this category. It does sound as if he is interested in competing with a platform speech as well as debate. Perhaps he will pick up a humorous interp. piece as well. There is no class next week, so it will be a bit of a break before the debate instruction starts hard and heavy.

Physical Science: Now underway, Science Explorer's Physical Science. Pretty tame assignments this week - reading and questions. He is doing a great job on this!

Rocket Boy went on a bicycle ride with his Boy Scout troop this past Sunday afternoon and had a ball. Every year Rocket Boy tries something a little different that requires us to get more supplies. This time is was a pack that attaches to his bike and a spare tube, tool set and hand pump to go in it. We also sprung for the camel back hydration system, which he said was fantastic.

Yesterday at FLL, they worked on strategies for the robot runs and on constructing the robot base. With two new team members this year, this team of six is having to learn to work together all over again. Tomorrow they will begin their work on the research project.

Next week we will be adding Monday tennis, so the busy schedule picks up even more.

As I mentioned before, we had a lot of work done on our house this summer. This included interior paint and new flooring throughout the house. Downstairs we replaced carpet and vinyl  with hardwood flooring & had the existing hardwood flooring in the dining room and foyer refinished. Upstairs we had the old carpet replaced with new carpet. It was quite an adventure. Between the paint and flooring, we had to pack our house up. We decided to de-clutter while we were at it, and the result is fabulous. We have a few more loose ends to tie up, but I think as soon as we tie those up, we'll find more! Here are some pictures of our dining room/school room. I took them with my phone at dusk, so they aren't the greatest pictures, but I hope they give you a glimpse into our setting.

This is looking  from the living room into the dining room/school room.

Here is my wonderful bookcase. See the wonderful empty shelves? Room to grow! The canvas boxes on the bottom shelves hold (l to r) games, science supplies, extra school supplies and art supplies. On the next shelf up, you can see our brand new Math U See program. If you look close, you will see TWTM beside our DVD basket! Above that, on the left I have some books for our book basket this year. My own supplies are in the plastic drawers and the box beside it is for completed school work that needs to be checked.

This is Rocket Boy's desk. It used to be in his bedroom, where it collected junk. We brought it downstairs to replace a folding table that had his computer on it. The shelves hold his school books. On the top left shelf  are the books he will read as part of his history, science and literature. The bottom left shelf holds his textbooks for science and math as well as the over-sized Atlas and Kingfisher History. His clipboard rests here when not in use. That is where his assignment sheets are kept and he checks them off as the day and week progress. The top right shelf holds his reference materials and the shelf underneath holds his binders. There are a lot of binders this year - last year he had two, and the years before that only one. It's amazing how course work can change from one year to the next. 

This is the view from the dining room into the living room. My computer comes downstairs with me when I have lesson planning to do. In the living room you can see the comfy couch where we read and the fireplace where we warm our tootsies during the winter. 

Here you can see the nifty window panels. They operate on a multi-track system. They are lined and block a great deal of light, heat and/or cold. They replace some old, faded, flimsy vertical blinds. 

Here is what it looks like when the window panels are open. Between the window panels, the lighter color of paint and the reflections from the wood floors, we have a lot more natural light than previously. We are very excited about how things have turned out and are looking forward to a great school year.

Weekly Report: Week 3

This was our busiest week yet, school wise. The work on the house is complete and we are mostly unpacked. This week for school, we ran Bible, History and Art. Bible and History are much the same as they were last week, but Art was very different. This week Rocket Boy participated in a Mark Kistler drawing camp. He spent two hours every day drawing with Mark. We have long been a fan of his after stumbling across his book several years ago, then finding some old videos on YouTube. Rocket Boy enjoys drawing so much, that when the opportunity came to take class in person with Mark, Rocket Boy jumped at the chance. He had a great time. One day while he was in class, Rocket Boy drew this on his folder:

For some reason, it uploaded sideways. I can't figure out why.

The next day, Mark Kistler noticed the drawing on his folder and used it as the basis for a lesson! Here's Mark's version:

Here is Mark and the picture he drew using Rocket Boy's concept!

 We are so excited for Rocket Boy and proud of his creativity!

In the extracurricular arena, the First Lego League season has started. This year there are six boys on the team - four have returned and two are new to FLL. The Body Forward Challenge was released on Thursday and already the team has made progress with both their field strategy and their research project. We are looking forward to the fun (and work) of the season!

This upcoming week we will be working on a much fuller schedule - hopefully we will be at full speed by the end of the week!

Weekly Report: Week 2

Here we are, having completed the second week of the school year! This week we added history to our schedule. We are really enjoying History Odyssey Modern Times. The first set of assignments is an overview of world geography, which will help Rocket Boy get his bearings after a summer away. Using the book Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne, he has not only read the story but researched areas in which the main character, Phileas Fogg, stopped on his journey. He completed several travel journal entries on these locations. Next week he will conclude his reading of this classic book.

Wednesday found us in Speech & Debate class again where the session described interpretive pieces. Rocket Boy will do a short interp next week, as will all of the other students.

On Thursday, our homeschool co-op started. This semester the classes on tap for Rocket Boy are Atilier Art and You Decide, a fun course that will review court cases and the decisions that came out of them. I am teaching Middle School Essentials, a course that will emphasize organizational, time management and study skills, with a few life skills thrown in. The design for this course has been in my head for a few years and I am pleased to be able to let it out!

I really love Chalk Dust Algebra. Unfortunately, it does not appear to be a good fit for Rocket Boy, so we will be finding something else to use in it's place. The top contender at this time is Math U See. Although it is certainly his weakest area, he is more than competent in math, so I am hopeful the right fit for a math program will help him gain confidence.

Work continues on our house, but is beginning to wind down. This week we began re-shelving our 2,000+ books and we are continuing to find more stuff to put in our yard sale. The loft bed arrived, so we will be working on getting Rocket Boy's room "tricked out" this weekend! I'll post pictures when we have the house in order.

Is there anything that you have found in your school plans that is not working out as you had hoped?

Weekly Report: Week 1

Due to ongoing work on our house, we had a soft start to our school year. We had a painting crew in here at the beginning of the week, so I decided we would kick of the school year by having Rocket Boy complete some outstanding merit badges. He worked on Fingerprinting, Space Exploration and Cinematography.

It would be difficult to decide which he had more fun with.  As part of the requirements for the Space Exploration merit badge, he had to design a base on another planet, so he designed a colony on Jupiter. He has detailed drawings of the base as well as a great write up on how they would get all of the supplies needed for life. He spent far more time researching and writing this than I expected. For Cinematography, he had to write and film a video. The complete process was required to be documented, so he has story boards, scripts and a great stop motion lego film. Again, a lot of thinking, planning and writing went into this process. His diligence was amazing! Fingerprinting was the badge with the least number of requirements to finish, so it was mainly a matter of paperwork.

On Wednesday, he had his first class for Speech and Debate. It will be a semester long class and then in the spring they will start competing in qualifying tournaments. I am uncertain what categories he is leaning towards, competition wise, but the experience should be a fun one!

Although we are not entirely finished with the house (we have a handyman coming next week and books still to move), we will start our more traditional schedule next week, while still trying to leave some time to eek out more summer fun.

Weekly Review - Weeks 32 - 38 (April 12 - May 27)

School's out for summer! We are very excited and very much in need of a break. Our last several weeks of school had a lot of scheduling changes and difficulties. We have reached the end of the year, having had many successes and shed many a tear! So here's what happened when I wasn't posting:

Bible - we completed reading Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges and Ruth. 

Middle School Essentials - We finished reading What's Right for Me? and Rocket Boy read Chapter 6 of Total Health: Talking About Life's Changes and made use of some of the pages in the workbook. We took one morning to concentrate on cleaning and organizational skills. After a few review lessons from Spectrum Test Prep, Grade 7, he completed the Iowa Test of Basic Skills.

Fine Arts - Rocket Boy finished up the year with his weekly guitar lessons. He is taking the summer off. His acting class finished with a performance at our co-op Family Night. 

Early Modern History - This was a race to the finish line. We covered a lot of ground. In addition to learning about Napoleon, Rocket Boy read  The Way to Wealth by Benjamin Franklin and The Two Grenadiers. He wrote several summaries, including summaries on Nat Turner, William Wilberforce, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Napoleon Bonaparte, Captain James Cook and Davy Crockett. He completed a world time line of slavery from the 1600's through the 1888 abolishment of slavery in Brazil. He did a lot of map work and completed information sheets on the War of 1812, The Mexican American War and the Trail of Tears. To wrap up the year, he selected several events that he determined to be important, condensing them in a chart format and then summarizing five of them in paragraph form. History Odyssey has been a good fit and we will continue with this program next year.

Language Arts: Spelling - Rocket Boy completed the  Apples 2 spelling book. I expect this to be the last spelling program that we use.
Language Arts: Composition - He completed a 5 paragraph essay on the second amendment to The Constitution of the United States. He chose which amendment to write about and detailed the possible  consequences of not having this amendment. Personally, I was hoping he'd pick free speech, but with his current interest in the military, I am not at all surprised that he chose the right to bear arms.

Language Arts: Literature - In keeping with our goal of introducing original documents and first-hand accounts, Rocket Boy read  Davy Crockett: His Own Story by David Crockett. After a lesson on point of view, he read The Captain's Dog. It is the story of Lewis and Clark told from the perspective of the dog. Yes, the dog.

Pre-Algebra - in math, we made it all the way through multiplying binomials. We will have to continue math through the summer, so we will have a "Math Clinic" every day.  Hopefully, this will keep math fresh for next year.





Science - We had an off topic field trip, attending Nanodays at a nearby state university. Rocket Boy thoroughly enjoyed the nitrogen ice cream and breaking the rubber tube. He also learned about ongoing research into nanotechnology safety concerns. As far as Life Science goes, we finished up the introduction to genetics and human body systems and called it a year. Again, the Science Explorer curriculum is a good fit and we will continue to use it next year, moving on to Physical Science.

And so, the school year 2009-2010 has closed. I am much more tired than I usually am, but this has been a highly unusual year. Which brings me to....

Getting A Head Start on 2010-2011C

So far I have written the vocabulary lesson plans for the entire year. We will be using a combination of three books: Vocabulary from the Classical Roots, Book A, Prefixes and Suffixes from the Learning Works and Greek and Latin Roots, also from The Learning Works.

I have  written the lesson plans for Season Three of Analytical Grammar and have figured out that I am going to teach comma usage in lists slightly differently than the book does, but consistent with common usage. This is not a big deal to change.

I have also written lesson plans for the first two chapters of Physical Science. I will probably write two more chapters before the start of the school year.

No wonder I'm tired!

Weekly Review - Week 31 (April 5-April 9, 2010)

It's been a quiet week in the southeast. The pollen accumulated, our family sneezed and took decongestants. Puffs of yellow arose where ever we stepped and we left footprints on the driveway, there was so much pollen. Not nearly as much fun as leaving footprints in the sand. The cats were not allowed on the balcony this week - we didn't want them to turn yellow from the pollen and track it inside. It rained last night, washing the worst of it away. The blooms are falling off of the trees, revealing the leaves - out for their summer show. The crepe myrtles are starting to leaf out, and I've discovered that one of the roses on my garden arch is dead. With our studies, we entered the final stretch this week - the time between spring break and the end of the school year. Looking back it seems like Rocket Boy has accomplished many things, but looking ahead it seems we must rush to finish all that needs to be done before summer comes.

Bible- This week we continued to read in Numbers. We will finish this up and start Deuteronomy next week.

Middle School Essentials - We started a new book this week - another one from Boys Town. This one is What's Right For Me? Making Good Choices in Relationships. Some of the material is prep material for Rocket Boy, but it is never too soon to talk about healthy relational boundaries. Additional topics of conversation this week were harmful or violent relationships, jealousy and envy, teasing and bullies. A lot of good stuff here. We will continue with this book next week as well.

Fine Arts - The last assignment in Artistic Pursuits has been given. We will see what the results are when it is due next week. Guitar and acting class continue, of course.

History Odyssey - Rocket Boy read two first hand accounts of the Boston Massacre, a misnamed event if ever there was one. The few deaths and injuries there were hardly constitute a massacre, but nonetheless, that is how the papers of the time described it, so the title stands. As I am typing, he is completing an analysis of what he thinks are the top ten events that led up to the American Revolutionary War.

Language Arts - Work on spelling continues, nothing unusual here. No writing assignment right now either.

Math - we have moved back to Chalk Dust now and things are going much more smoothly! I am excited that progress is finally being made in pre-algebra.

Life Science - The book work is complete on plants and Rocket Boy will be dissecting a flower later this afternoon. I'll be glad to move along - sometimes it seems the simpler (at least to me) subjects are the ones that take a long time.

There are seven more weeks in our scheduled school year and miles to go before we sleep!

Weekly Review - Week 31 (March 29 - April 2, 2010)

This week was Spring Break! We really needed this one, too. Of course, we always need a break this time of year. Our weather was gorgeous and we had a staycation instead of traveling. One of my goals for the week was to fix our drippy kitchen faucet. The drip had progressed from an occasional drip to a regular, frequent rhythm over the past months. Renaissance Man takes a hands off approach to plumbing repair and was all for calling a plumber. I remember watching my dad do stuff like this around the house and the business he owned, so I decided to give it a try. I logically decided is was a gasket issue. Of course, I had no clear memories of my father doing this, so the exact step by step process was fuzzy, to say the least. So, I headed off to our local Lowes Home Improvement. Now, people who aren't from around here may wonder why I specify Lowes Home Improvement and don't just say Lowes. It's simple, in our area we have a chain of grocery stores called Lowes and they get the short name. So, once at the store, I made a beeline for a plumbing department too seek out a wise, gray haired man to help me. Lowes Home Improvement usually does a great job at hiring knowledgeable gray headed men to help people like me. Well, I didn't need the gray haired man because the faucet manufacturer had a wonderful display with a cutaway of my faucet and a troubleshooting guide! So, I simply had to find my problem, follow the arrow to the part numbers and get the parts. I studied the cutaway for a few minutes so that I would know what to expect when I opened it up. In all, it was a very simple job to do. I was right about the gasket, but found it needed two gaskets and two springs. The guide also said that if that didn't work, there was a ball that would need to be replaced. I decided then and there that I would replace the ball 'cause I didn't want to have to open the faucet up twice.  When I got home, I opened my faucet with a wrench and dismantled it. Sure enough - the springs had sprung and the gaskets were disintegrating. I easily replaced the springs, gaskets and the ball and in less than 15 minutes had a drip free faucet! I am so happy! I spent $15 on parts and absolutely nothing on labor! I think a plumber would have been at least $75 for that job! 

Here is a picture of the sprung springs and worn out gaskets.

These are my dirty thumbs - I had washed them once before I thought to take a picture, so they aren't so dirty, but you get the idea.

On Tuesday, Rocket Boy had a tooth come out. So, what does this homeschool family do? We attempted to type the blood! Unfortunately, we were unsuccessful at collecting enough blood, so the test was a bit of a bomb. Here's a picture anyway.

Thursday and Friday we all worked on getting ready for this months Scouting for Food run. We stapled notes on paper bags and ran out of staples during the process. Renaissance Man went off to get staples and came back with 5,000 staples! We will not run out of staples for a very, very long time!  Friday, Rocket Boy's First Lego League worked a shift at the First Lego League booth at the regional FIRST competition. The robot ran better at the exhibition that it did at the state tournament in February! Sometimes things just work out that way! On Saturday morning, Renaissance Man  and Rocket Boy got up and joined other scouts from the troop and distributed the paper bags to a nearby neighborhood. The scouts will return in two weeks to pick up the bags - hopefully filled with food to donate to a local crisis ministry.

Next week we will be back to the regularly scheduled program!

Weekly Review - Week 28, 29, 30 (March 8 - March 25)

It has been fairly quiet here - not many outside activities going on right now - and that's a good thing! We've been plugging through school and are so glad we are on spring break this coming week. Take a look at the update:

Bible: We are through chapter 13 of Numbers.

Middle School Essentials: This is a homemade course that rotates on and off of our schedule. Over the past few weeks, we have read an excellent book published by Boys Town Press titled A Good Friend, How to Make One, How to Be One.  This book covers some basic friendship skills, including: Conversation Building Blocks, Do's and Don'ts and Shyness. This book is extremely well written and is not preachy or pretentious at all. Reading this resulted in starting some great conversations about friendship. We have also started  reading through Total Health: Talking About Life's Changes. This is a wonderful, Christ centered health textbook that covers not only care of our physical bodies, but mental and spiritual health as well. The exercises provided in the student workbook are very thought provoking - no fill in the blank questions here! We will cover some of this book over the next several weeks and will continue it next year.

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!