Weekly Wrap-up: Week 26 - 28 - The End is in Sight

It's been difficult  for me to keep up with blogging. With the warmer weather and the school year wrapping up, our focus hasn't been on school. We have lots of plans this summer, so I'm not sure how much blogging I'll be able to accomplish. Sometimes it's important to experience life rather than record it. But I'll certainly be around here and there, and definitely in the fall when another new year begins.

CORE CURRICULUM
Cate
My Life in a Post (blog)
Needful Things (King), Everblade (Messenger)
Khan Academy: Pre-Algebra (94%)
CNN Student News

Sam
MobyMax: Language, Reading, Reading Comprehension, Math Fluency
Wattpad: Capitals, Punctuation, Showing Spoken Words
Cursive Copywork: 
Eragon (Paolini)
Saxon 65: Test 7 (87.5%), Lesson 40 (Fractions), Lesson 41 (Fractions Using Number Lines), Lesson 42 (Comparing Fractions), Lesson 43 (Mixed Numbers), Lesson 44 (Adding and Subtracting Fractions), Lesson 45 (Short Division), Test 8 (905), Lesson 46 (Fractions), Lesson 47 (Divison with Remainders/Mixed Numbers), Lesson 48 (Metric Scale), Lesson 49 (Inch), Lesson 50 (Fraction Pictures), Test 9 (87.5%), Lesson 51 (Compass), Lesson 52 (Mixed Measures), Lesson 53 (Expanded Notation), Lesson 54 (Informational Problems), Lesson 55 (Word Problems), Test 10 ( %)
CNN Student News

ASTRONOMY
Sam finished on Lesson 13: Stars and Galaxies in Apologia Astronomy. He recorded information summaries and biographies on lined paper rather than printed notebooking pages. (I'm out of printer ink...) He's learned about: constellations, asterisms, star systems, black holes, supernovas and nebulae, variable stars, categorizing stars through temperature, size and brightness, light years, 4 types of galaxies, and God's design for the heavens. He completed a project making an astrometer and a constellation viewer. 

Then he finished his final lesson in Apologia Astronomy, Lesson 14 Space Travel where he learned about the "Space Race" between the US and Russia, Sputnik, the International Space Station, and built is own model of a space station from recycled materials.

Science? Complete!

GENERAL SCIENCE
Cate finished up Module 14: The Human Circulatory System with a 100% on her exam, and Module 15: The Lymphatic System with a 93.3%. She only has 1 more module to complete as well as a few previous experiments.

US HISTORY and GEOGRAPHY
I read aloud chapters 10-30 to Sam from A History of US: Making Thirteen Colonies 1600-1740 (Hakim). Our reading covered the creation of government in America with the House of Burgesses, King James of England, the Pilgrims and Puritans and Church of England, Henry Hudson and New York, Peter Stuyvesant and the Dutch in New York, the Duke of York James and New Jersey, Oliver Cromwell and King Charles I, William Penn and Pennsylvania, Ben Franklin, 

DAYS COMPLETED: CATE - 169 | SAM - 157

As always, special thanks to these bloggers for their weekly wrap-up blog hops. 

Have a WONDERFUL week! Happy homeschooling!

Journal Jottings of a Maine Mama: March 14, 2016

CLOCK READS
2:22pm

WEATHER IN MY NECK OF THE WOODS

Overcast, high 30s.

OUTSIDE MY WINDOW and IN THE GARDEN
Piles of dirty, dingy snow have dwindled in the warmer temperatures. Scattered twigs, pine cones and leaves dot patches of brown grass. A trail of frozen mud marks the walk to the coop. The swollen brook rushes by behind the chicken run.

WHAT I'M DOING RIGHT NOW and AROUND THE HOUSE
I'm resting. I was quite ill yesterday, vomiting. :sigh: I don't usually get more than a slight cold, but this belly bug hit Cate first, then Jake, and settled on me this weekend. Thankfully my wonderful husband willingly took over household tasks and caring for the kids while I spent the day in bed. But it's Monday and there's things to do...

TODAY'S TO DO

• Laundry
• Dishes
• Jazz Band Practice
• Homeschool
• Vacuum
• Salvation Army Donation Drop-off
• Bake Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
• Work on Camping Blog (LINK)

DINNER MENU
Chop Suey and Peas

WHAT'S ON TV
I catch most of my favorite shows, "The Amazing Race", "The Big Bang Theory", "Survivor", and "The Voice" on Hulu and CBS sometime during the week after the newest episodes air. Tonight? I'll be watching "The Amazing Race" and "The Big Bang Theory" from last Friday.

FROM THE CRAFT BASKET

I haven't been sharing updates on my daughter's temperature blanket. It's done in Red Heart Super Saver yarn in red, orange, yellow, spring green, green, blue, navy, and purple with a FPO SC. I started with a chain of 250 using a 3.5mm hook. It's interesting "reading" the blanket for weather! It's definitely obvious that spring has sprung!

Purples are temperatures under 20 degrees, navy 20s, blue 30s, green 40s, bright green 50s, and yellow (up top) 60s.

I'm sharing my crocheting creations over at Lucy Blossom Crafts (Mondays), Frontier Dreams (Tuesdays), Small Things (Wednesdays), Oombawka Design (Wednesdays), and Lunamon Design (Wednesdays).

PAGE TURNER

A BLESSING
Our camper is finally home! We bought it February 13th, but it's been at the RV Center for repairs. It was finished over a week ago, but we weren't able to arrange a time to fit everyone's schedules to have a "run through" of all the systems with the RV tech until this weekend. It's been such a blessing to have the provisions to purchase the campervan and have everything repaired! I've started a blog for our camping and fishing adventures if you'd like to see what we're up too (LINK).

DEVOTIONAL and INSPIRATION

But my God shall supply all of your need according to his riches in glory by Jesus Christ. (Philippians 4:19)

I'm linking up to The Simple Woman's Daybook and Happy Homemaker are Mondays.

Weekly Wrap-up: Week 20 - The One Before Winter Break...Maybe

We rediscovered Rummikub this past week. Cate joined Tom and I for some games filled with laughter and "mock" boasting. We'll have to try another game this week as I did not win most of the games. :: wink :: We did have a 4th player join us for a few minutes...

CORE WORK

CATI

• English Grammar 101: Section 7 - Conjunctions and Interjections (85%), Section 8 - Verbals and Phrases
• My Life in a Post: blog
• Vocab Test: List 4 (92%), List 5 (100%), List 6
• Laddie (Stratton Potter)
• Khan Academy: Pre-Algebra (87% Completed)
• CNN Student News

SAM

• English Grammar 101: Lesson 1 - Lesson 2 - Common and Proper Nouns (87%)
• Writing: 5 Paragraph Essay - Finished Rough Draft and Started Editing
• Cursive Copywork:
• The Tale of Despereaux (DiCamillo)
• Saxon 65 - Lesson 15 (Multiplication Table), Test 2 (85%), Lesson 16 (Types of Lines), Lesson 17 (Multiplication By One Digit), Lesson 18 (Double Digit Multiplication)
• CNN Student News

ASTRONOMY

It was all about Jupiter this week as we studied Lesson 9 in Apologia. (Only 5 more lessons to go!)

• Notebook Page/Project Page
• Spacecraft Galileo
• Project: Make a Hurricane Tube
• Project: Rockets Away 

GENERAL SCIENCE

Cati finished Module 8: Uniformitarianism and Castastrophism with a 100% on her exam.

• Vocab: Index Fossils, Geological Column, Evolution
• Experiment: Simulation of Using Index Fossils

U.S. HISTORY and GEOGRAPHY

Sam and I read History of Us: The First Americans Prehistory-1600 (Hakim) this week, chapters 20-21, and finished watching the Magellan documentaries on You Tube.

• "Ferdinand Magellan Voyages of Discovery - Circumnavigation Part 3/4 (BBC)"
• "Ferdinand Magellan Voyages of Discovery - Circumnavigation Part 4/4 (BBC)"
• Amerigo Vespucci
• Martin Waldseemuller - First Map with America
• Roman Catholicism and Protestantism in Europe

MUSIC HISTORY, GEOGRAPHY and CULTURES

Cati studies Music History with Easy Peasy Homeschool, and continued on with Year 3 Geography and Cultures. Since the lessons are quick, she completes one week per day, sometimes more. This week she completed weeks 20-22.

• Percussion Instruments
• Identifying Orchestra Instruments
• Jazz and Concert Band Practice

She went to Jazz and Concert band practices this week, preparing for the Jazz competition coming up in a few weeks.

DAYS COMPLETED: CATE - 118 | SAM - 113

As always, special thanks to these bloggers for their weekly homeschool blog link-ups. Click the buttons to see what other homeschoolers are doing!

Happy Homeschooling!

Journal Jottings of a Maine Mama: February 8, 2016

CLOCK READS
1:17pm

WEATHER IN MY NECK OF THE WOODS
Another snowstorm is blowing in this afternoon. It's overcast and 20 degrees. And a 3rd storm in less than a week is following tomorrow. Here comes the white stuff!

OUTSIDE MY WINDOW and IN THE GARDEN

WHAT I'M DOING RIGHT NOW and AROUND THE HOUSE
I'm able to take a breather finally. It's been a whirlwind morning with getting husband off to work and son off to school, taking care of the flock, dogs and cat, starting homeschool, making an important phone call, running to jazz band for daughter and the groceries store for grub while juggling getting son from public transportation as school closed early (even though we haven't seen a flake of snow yet). :: sigh :: I need to make another call, bake 2 chocolate chip banana breads, finish homeschool, check the flock, vacuum, and finally make dinner before calling it quits for the day.

TO DO
☐ Fix Leaks (that Never Got Fixed in January)
☐ Declutter and Organize Utility Room
☐ Clothing, Linens and Blankets Purge
☐ Bring Donates to Salvation Army

DINNER
Soft Shell Beef Tacos with Diced Tomatoes, Shredded Lettuce, Chunky Salsa, Mexican Shredded Cheeses, Sliced Black Olives, and Sour Cream

WHAT'S ON TV
Who has time?

FROM THE CRAFT BASKET

I started a 2nd temperature blanket just over a week ago. I'm excited as this blanket will represent the high temperatures during our first year married. A special homemade momento on our first anniversary! 

I'm creating this one in the trinity stitch. I love this stitch! (I would recommend it for a SOLID color blanket though.) It's going to make a thick, cozy queen-sized afghan.

I've made quite a bit of progress already. I finished up May 2015 and June is almost complete. I figured out that I will complete 91,250 stitches (without a border) by the time I have 365 rows completed. Phew!

I'm sharing my crocheting creations over at Lucy Blossom Crafts (Mondays), Frontier Dreams (Tuesdays), Small Things (Wednesdays), Oombawka Design (Wednesdays), and Lunamon Design (Wednesdays).

PAGE TURNER
This month I will be doing a LOVE STUDY from Time Warp Wife. I'm excited about learning and applying the 4 types of love - storge, philia, eros, and agape - through bible scripture, on-line discussion, a study guide, and Four Loves by C.S. Lewis. I'll be jotting down prayers and reflections in the SWEET "Quiet Your Heart" journal. (For info on this study, click here.It's not too late to join in!)

A BLESSING

DEVOTIONAL and INSPIRATION

And let the PEACE of GOD rule in your hearts...(Colossians 3:15)

I'm linking up to The Simple Woman's Daybook, Darling Downs Diaries, and Happy Homemaker are Mondays.

Weekly Wrap-up: Week 19 - The One with a Sick Bug and Snow Returns

Poor Cate started the week with ill with fever, in bed. She's a trooper though. She was determined to get in at least a half day of school on Monday and Tuesday. (Her goal is to finish up her year by mid-April.) Fortunately, whatever Cate, Jake and I had, it skipped over Sam. For now. 

And then the snow arrived. The predicted few inches are off by quite a bit. It continues to snow heavily this afternoon. A perfect day for PJs, movies, baking, reading, and shoveling.

CORE WORK

CATI

• English Grammar 101: Section 7 - Conjunctions and Interjections
• My Life in a Post: blog
• Vocab Test: List 3 (90%), List 4 (60%)
• Laddie (Stratton Potter)
• Khan Academy: Pre-Algebra (86% Completed)
• CNN Student News

SAM

• English Grammar 101: Lesson 1 - Nouns (88%)
• Writing: 5 Paragraph Essay - Opening and 2nd Paragraph
• The Tale of Despereaux (DiCamillo)
• Saxon 65 - Lesson 11 (Multiple Step Addition Word Problems), Lesson 12 (Number Lines/Tally Marks), Lesson 13 (Multiplying Repeated Addition), Lesson 14 (Missing Numbers in Subtraction)
• CNN Student News

ASTRONOMY

It was all about Jupiter this week as we studied Lesson 9 in Apologia. (Only 5 more lessons to go!)

• Notebook Page/Project Page
• Facts about Jupiter
• "Jupiter: Crash Course Astronomy #16"
• "Jupiter's Moons: Crash Course Astronomy #17"
• Jupiter's Structure, Moons, Rotation, Revolution, and Orbit

GENERAL SCIENCE

Cati started Module 8: Uniformitarianism and Castastrophism, a continued look into these two concepts from last module.

• Vocab: Index Fossils, Geological Column, Evolution
• Experiment: Simulation of Using Index Fossils

U.S. HISTORY and GEOGRAPHY

Sam and I didn't read History of Us: The First Americans Prehistory-1600 (Hakim) this week, but instead watched some documentaries on You Tube to reinforce last week's chapters.

• "Christopher Columbus (A&E)"
• "Ferdinand Magellan Voyages of Discovery - Circumnavigation Part 1/4 (BBC)"
• "Ferdinand Magellan Voyages of Discovery - Circumnavigation Part 2/4 (BBC)"

MUSIC HISTORY, GEOGRAPHY and CULTURES

Cati studies Music History with Easy Peasy Homeschool, and continued on with Year 3 Geography and Cultures. Since the lessons are quick, she completes one week per day, sometimes more. This week she completed weeks 13-19.

• Brass and Percussion Instruments
• Concert Band Practice

She went to Concert band practice this week, preparing for the Jazz competition coming up in a few weeks.

DAYS COMPLETED: CATE - 115 | SAM - 110

As always, special thanks to these bloggers for their weekly homeschool blog link-ups. Click the buttons to see what other homeschoolers are doing!

Happy Homeschooling!

Weekly Wrap-up: Week 18 - The One with Pet Pics (Because I Forgot Homeschool Ones)

Oops! I didn't take a single photo of homeschool this week, so how about some pet pics instead?

CORE WORK

CATI

• English Grammar 101: Section 6 - Prepositions (99%), Section 7 - Conjunctions and Interjections
• Writing - Started a Blog (Visit her here)
• Vocab Test List 2 (95%), List 3 (85%)
• Laddie (Stratton Potter)
• Khan Academy Pre-Algebra - 85% Completed

SAM

• Grammar and Writing Handbook: Unit 2 - Commas, Unit 3 - Verbs 
• Grammar Smart Junior: Nouns,  Pronouns
• English Grammar 101: Lesson 1 - Nouns (58%)
• Writing - Descriptive Writing 5 Essay Paragraph
• Grammar Ninja - Level 2 
• Rascal (North)
• Saxon 65 - Lesson 8 (Subtraction Facts), Lesson 9 (Subtraction Algorithm), Lesson 10 (Missing Addends), Test 1 (100%)

More changes for Sam and his curriculum. Math is moving ahead again with the change from Khan to Saxon, but we needed a change in Grammar as well. So, he started English Grammar 101 (online). He also started learning to write a 5 paragraph essay since he's finding "perfect paragraphs" boring. 

ASTRONOMY

Sam finished Lesson 8: Rocks, studying meteors and asteroids and creating a model of the solar system.

• Notebook Page/Project Page
• Asteroid Belt
• Solar System Model

GENERAL SCIENCE

Cati finished Module 7: The Fossil Record this week with a 90% on her exam.

• How Fossils are Formed
• Features of Fossil Records
• Petrifaction 
• Carbonate Residues and Impressions

U.S. HISTORY and GEOGRAPHY

I read aloud to Sam from History of Us: The First Americans Prehistory-1600 (Hakim). We covered chapters 16-19.

• Christopher Columbus
• Beginning of American Slavery
• Navigation
• Latitude and Longitude
• Taino
• Cartography
• Abraham Zacuto and Astronomical Charts
• Giovanni Caboto
• Vasco Nunez de Balboa
• Ferdinand Magellan 

MUSIC HISTORY, GEOGRAPHY and CULTURES

Cati studies Music History with Easy Peasy Homeschool, and continued on with Year 3 Geography and Cultures. Since the lessons are quick, she completes one week per day, sometimes more. This week she completed weeks 9-12.

• Woodwind and Brass Instruments

ENRICHMENT

Cati

• Jazz and Concert Band
• CNN Student News
• Walked miles

Sam

• CNN Student News

DAYS COMPLETED: CATE - 114 | SAM - 108

As always, special thanks to these bloggers for their weekly homeschool blog link-ups. Click the buttons to see what other homeschoolers are doing!

Happy Homeschooling!