yes, we are still here :)

I haven't been posting simply because we've been too busy actually schooling and living. But we are definitely still on track. We had a great Halloween and Thanksgiving and are now closing in on Christmas.  I'm trying to incorporate the holidays even if we don't do a full unit study on them.  So we learned about the history of Hannukah and lit a menorah on Monday. Yesterday we watched a PBS documentary on the childhood of Jesus. Today we will watch the History Channel special "Christmas Unwrapped" and continue to read aloud from Dickens.

We have added in The Story of the World,, both the book and the activity guide, which corresponds to the The Kingfisher History Encyclopedia perfectly.  I read aloud the chapter in Story of the World, then Michale reads the corresponding pages in the Kingfisher book independently. We do the map work and the tests as well.  He really likes it and it adds a bit of context to the reading we were already doing.

I also purchased Typing Instructor For Kids Platinum (Windows/Mac), as it was on sale and I had a gift certificate to Amazon. Michael has done very well with the free program we were using so I felt justified upgrading.  Today he actually did more lessons than assigned, so I think that was the right decision!

Our other big change is in writing. Rather than plugging along we are backtracking a bit, to pick up some of the foundational skills that the public schools just didn't cover. The Complete Writer: Writing with Ease: Instructor Text (The Complete Writer) is our guide in this. On the advice of more experienced schoolers we are working our way through levels 2-4 at an accelerated pace. The objective is to use dictation and narration to build up the mental skills one  needs to write well.  An excellent lecture on the reasoning behind this is found here: http://www.welltrainedmind.com/store/elementary-grades-mp3.html. It is WELL worth the 3 dollar price tag.  If you have young children I can't recommended it highly enough!

I know it probably seems like we have made a lot of detours and course corrections in our homeschooling journey this year. My thought is that one of the benefits of homeschooling is being able to tailor the education to the child's needs. This first year is all about determining those needs and finding the programs that best serve them.  So far I've been very happy with all the curriculum choices we have made, some have just been a better fit than others. Some educational testing that Michael had done last week may give me even more insight regarding his strengths and weaknesses, and help me to help him even more.

On a totally different note I realized one of the benefits of homeschooling this week.  We've all been pretty sick, and not up to doing "regular" schoolwork. However, rather than waste the time entirely we've watched several documentaries each day, and read aloud, and read independently.  I feel that we've covered our Science, Social Studies, and Religion objectives for the week while getting to stay curled up on the couch under blankets!

Fun lessons ahead!

      

We are getting ready to start a 3 week unit study on Halloween/Day of the Dead/All Saints Day/Autumn.  This is our first holiday unit and I'm REALLY excited!  I think this is a great opportunity to make school fun while taking the time to enjoy the holiday as a family.  I thought I would share some of our plans for anyone wanting to adapt them for themselves.

Literature:
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman.  There are lesson plans for 
this book on various websites.  So far I like the ones here.        
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving. This will most likely be a read aloud selection due to the difficult and arcane language. (I saw a picture book version of this at Barnes and Noble for those with younger students.)

Writing:
Writing epitaphs for various famous or fictional characters for gravestones to decorate the yard.

Art
Various Halloween decorations.
Making leaf rubbings.
Making headstone rubbings.

Music:
Listening to Danse Macabre and discussing the ideas presented in it.

Science:
Reading about bats and spiders.
Researching why leaves change color in the fall.
Doing experiments regarding fall leaves.

History/Social Studies
Watching the Haunted History of Halloween
Reading about the Day of the Dead and making food crafts.
Reading about the Celts and Druids
Reading about harvest festivals and attending a local one.
 
We will continue with our regular grammar, math, spanish, typing, and writing assignments during this time, as appropriate. (adding in fun things like Halloween Mad Libs for fun when we can.)

If anyone has any other ideas to share feel free to post them!

another change...

The The Usborne Encyclopedia of the Ancient World is a great book for the history of Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece, and Rome. But it unfortunately doesn't have any information on the ancient megaliths in England or the Celts. In fact the only reference is one sentence about the Druids making human sacrifices.  Not exactly a great introduction. So to fill things out I purchased The Kingfisher History Encyclopedia, which covers more cultures but in a different format. Instead of focusing on one culture at a time like the Usborne book it is strictly chronological. So one page will cover the megaliths of England then the next page will discuss the ancient peoples of the Indus Valley, and then move on to the Hittite empire.  Many people use it exactly as is, and I REALLY do love the chronological approach. I'm not willing to give up the unit studies completely though, so I think we will use both books and pull what we need from them.

This week Michael was begging for Science.  This from the kid that said he hated science in school!!  If nothing else this subject has made homeschooling worthwhile. He chose a water filtration experiment that involved making a multi stage filter.  He leaned about physical and chemical filters and about drinking water safety.  He even helped clean up the mess!

Then on Thursday he chose to go to the Science Center instead of our weekly Rollerskating activity.  He got to see what he would weigh on various planets and I got to explain the relationship of gravity, mass, and weight.  He also used a green screen to create a televised weather forecast and used a real telegraph machine to send a message in Morse code.

My biggest fear this year was math, as Michael was NOT ready for a 5th grade curriculum.  I knew I wanted to spend time making sure he really understood the basics but I also wanted to catch him up.  I am happy to say that we are definitely on track and should be able to finish out very respectably by the end of the year. His other big delay was in Grammar, which apparantly is not taught in public school anymore.  Neither my son nor his friend from the same school knew what an adjective or verb were!!!! Kid Libs (Mad Libs) to the rescue!!!!  Michael loves them and in less than 48 hours had leaned the basic parts of speech.  Now we are baby stepping our way though Growing with Grammar 5 and he is doing great!

Making a change!

We're almost 5 weeks into school now and I'm starting to see what works for us and what doesn't. I love our unit study approach and Rosetta Stone. I've switched to a website called quizlet for vocabulary, instead of writing them on index cards. I'm using more typing games and less tutorials.  And I've decided not to buy the next unit of Tapestry of Grace. 


I want to be clear, it's a great program. If I was teaching Highschool I'd probably love it. But right now it feels a bit too scheduled and confining for me. This is Michael's last year of elementary school and I want to keep things fun.  I don't think we need all the worksheets and scheduled discussions just now. And I hate rushing him through the reading.  So we are going to work our way through The Usborne Encyclopedia of the Ancient World: Internet Linked (History Encyclopedias) instead. We will still add in additional books from the library, but I will pick ones that look interesting and let him read at his own pace.  We will still do map work and time line entries of course. I will probably keep using Map Aids and Writing Aids. Both have worked really well.  I am really having him focus on prewriting skills right now, as well as paragraph construction.  I think spending more time on this will lead to an easier time teaching the actual writing later on.  


I'm nervous about venturing off the beaten path, but excited too!

catching up

We've all had the nasty upper respiratory virus that is going around.  Between the Labor Day holiday, being sick, and Michael going to his gifted enrichment program at the public school once a week we haven't gotten a ton done. We have kept up on the history readings, and done math and vocabulary.  Spanish, Typing, and Ettiquitte have been sporadic, but i figure those are things he wouldn't be getting at all in public school so anything accomplished is better than nothing.

brushing salt off of the mummified apple

For science this week we finished the mummified apple project and watched a History documentary on Egyptian influences on modern medicine.

I got to impress him with my roller skating skills on Thursday; he didn't think I'd even be able to stand on them! He has a friend there that he skates with, and its great exercise for both of us. He starts up a PE group tomorrow as well.  Add in time playing with friends and swimming in the pool (not to mention climbing on the furniture) and I think we have PE more than covered :)


For our religious studies I ordered a new Bible curriculum..  I've been lax in his religious education over while he was in public school and we really need something to get him up to speed. Tapestry of Grace does include Bible readings but we need more than that. I  think this one will help us really dig deep and apply what we read. The priest at our former church  was nice enough to offer to send some materials that she uses to teach fifth graders, a bonus I wasn't expecting. Now it will be a matter of making the time to get it all done!

a mummified apple a day...

 Actually, it takes seven days to mummify an apple.At least that is what the directions say - we are still waiting to take the final measurements. Michael really enjoyed weighing the apples, creating the various salt mixtures, and recording the data.  Now I have 8 cups lined up on my counter and I'm praying that the control apple slice doesn't attract flies.  I guess that is the price we pay for good science :)

We also took a trip to the local Science Center where Michael got to feel a hurricane simulation and redirect streams of water with plastic dams.  I think the highlight though was holding fossilized dinosaur poo


Our other studies are going well.  I have switched the vocabulary assignment from paper based to computer based. Quizlet is a website that creates virtual flashcards, games, and tests based on the information you enter. The best part is that others have already entered in the Tapestry of Grace vocabulary lists, so it was no work for me at all!

Tomorrow he goes to the gifted program at the local elementary school. He's excited to see his friends but a bit bummed about going to bed and getting up earlier.  I think it will be a refreshing change of pace for him once a week.

Busy Week

This week has been non stop!  On top of our normal studies Michael pulled all of the old plants out of the garden and prepared the ground for new ones. He helped choose some vegetables to grow and planted them.  He's also watering them everyday and will be doing most or all of the weeding.  We both felt that getting outside and getting some fresh air first thing in the morning helps the day off to a better start. He certainly seemed able to sit still more easily afterwards.

This week also was our first time schooling outside of the house.  Ean had some conference calls to make from home, so we went to Starbucks to do our school work and have some breakfast.  This seemed like a great plan but there were horseflies of some sort flying around the seating area, so we left as soon as he was done with Math. I ended 
up reading his music book to him in the parking lot of the pool supply store while the baby napped in her car seat. Each section of the book has a corresponding track on the CD that comes with it, so we listen to those as well. Michael also got to watch the employee do various tests for ph, chlorine, and buffering capacities on the water sample before we left the pool store.  Then it was back home to finish up our school work.

Also this week were two skating events for homeschoolers.  Yesterday was ice skating on a very nice rink.  Michael had a great time despite not knowing how to ice skate. I was amazed at how polite the children were. They made eye contatct, smiled, and generally were just wonderful.  Very refreshing.  Today was roller skating at a brand new facility and Michael was more in his element.  He made friends with two boys around his age and they spent the whole time racing each other.  Michael had finished all his written work earlier, and got quite a lot of reading done in the car going to and from the skating rink.  We also collected ALL of the library books from the far corners of the house and returned them. We had 29 items checked out!!

The only thing that didn't go well this week was art. Michael enjoyed learning about the art of Egypt, and did well explaining it to me.  He did not enjoy making his own art though, so I will need to get more creative in that area.  I think clay or other more physical mediums make work best.  Otherwise the week has been a great success so far.