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!

Weekly Wrap-up: Summer Week 3 - And They're Off

I'm home alone. Mostly. Cati and Sam are being spoiled spending time with Nannie and Grandpa Lobster, so it's been just Tom, Jake and I. Tom works days; Jake is at school. It's been quiet...and easy-peasy keeping up with the dirty dishes and laundry. But truth be told I'm a little bored at times...

Tom and I bought a small boat for fishing. It's a bit rough looking, but it works for us and we've already grown fond of The Boat. (And maybe we can remove the peeling paint and shine up that aluminum...) We went fishing on Sunday and Tuesday, and had a blast...even though we only caught lily pads and unfortunately what looked like the evasive plant Milfoil. I did get 2 really good nibbles from White Perch, but didn't hook them enough to get them into The Boat. (We just do catch-and release anyway.) With so many lakes, ponds and streams around, I'm sure we'll have lots of memories using The Boat.

I finally got a replacement for my laptop that went kaput in February. It was never the same after water was spilled on it...Now I can get down to business of setting up summer studies for when the kids return, AND our studies for next year since most of our school will require a computer. As with every year, next year will look different than any other year. How's your planning going?

Some FREE educational links that I've found along the way:

• Essential Skills Advantage (Language Arts K-6)
• Grade Spelling (Spelling Lists, Games and Tests 1-SATs)
• Cool Math 4 Kids (Math Games Preschool+)
• Biology 4 Kids (or Chemistry, Physics and Astronomy) (Lessons, Questions and Quizzes 6-8)
• Have Fun with History (US, Videos K+)
• Discovery K12 (All Subjects Preschool-12)

I spent a lovely morning at the library after getting groceries. I brought along a Hot Cocoa and picked out a new book, spending time on the covered porch to enjoy the views of the lake and "people watch". The little town is hopping with visitors this time of year, but my cozy reading spot is perfect for some relaxation.

So, how will I spend Summer Week 4?

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

"When one teaches, two learn." - Robert Heinlein

Weekly Wrap-up: Week 21 - Looking Ahead

WOULDN'T YOU KNOW IT

I know this will come as a shock, but we got more snow. I can see SPRING peeking around the corner though...The sun is brighter when it's shining. The sky is bluer. The clouds are wispier and whiter. The chickens are starting to lay eggs again. (I just wish they wouldn't freeze before we collect them.) And we don't have to turn on the livingroom lights until 5:15pm. Less than a month until it's spring! Perhaps we'll see ground again by mid-April! One can hope...

Photo Source

WHILE THE KIDS WERE AWAY

Over the weekend, the kids visited their father and then spent time with their grandparents, going to a hockey game and celebrating birthdays. THIS Mom spent time relaxing and enjoying time with her husband-to-be! Thomas made chili one night and another we had Chinese and DQ, and shopped for wedding bands. Excitement! Only 10 more weeks! We should probably start planning and preparing, don't you think?

BACK IN THE GROOVE
It's never easy to get back to THE USUAL after a break, but I was determined to get 5 full days of school in this week. Did we do it? We did! But there were grumbles...

Sam began double digit multiplication. Piece of cake! He's still learning the multiplication facts, sometimes using his grid, but he's getting there. Playing the Grid Game while van schooling during band practice has definitely helped there. What's throwing him for a loop still are missing addends and factors. It's a good thing Saxon spirals!

But because Saxon spirals sometimes the constant review isn't needed. Cati knows her Algebra, so I agreed to let her take the tests until she scored below 85%, skipping those unneeded lessons. Why waste time on problems she understands? She was able to move ahead 20 lessons this week by passing the tests.

And because she's also working through Saxon Grammar and Writing with the same spiraling approach, she decided to see of she come jump ahead in lessons by completing tests as well. She moved ahead 15 lessons this week.

JAZZY!
Cati had a Jazz Band Festival Thursday. It would have been cool if Sam and I could have watched her play...To my surprise, the school decided to CHARGE for non-band members to attend. $10 for Sam and I to watch Cati play 2 songs was more than I wanted to pay. I'm sure she did awesome though!

LOOKING AHEAD
I've started to think about homeschooling next year, planning curriculum, juggling life. Both the kids and I hope that our path continues to be a homeschooling one. 

I have almost completely planned out Cati's curriculum. Since I've saved texts and supplies from Jake's homeschooling, I don't even need to purchase anything new for her. She will have a combined 8th/9th grade year, and I will begin to issue high school credits to her. 

Sam? He's all set with American History (which I'm excited to return to) and Math (as I'm not straying from Saxon). But Language Arts? Science? Nah. Any suggestions on a Science program (grades 5-8) that won't drive a mom crazy with gathering experiment supplies? or break the bank?

As always, special thanks to the these bloggers:

Don't forget to read my other blog posts this week:

Follow Friday Four Fill-in Fun: Week 201

Six Word Saturday: Spring Ahead
Tuesday Coffee Chat: Love is in the Air
Wednesday Hodgepodge: Speeches, Songs and Solving

Happy Homeschooling!

Weekly Wrap-up: It's arrived!

EVERYDAY LIFE

Spring arrived this week! Ah-maz-ing! With warmer days, the snow melted fast creating a new 'pond' right where our driveway used to be...and I found out that Sam's rubber boots no longer fit by the dripping wet, winter boots lined up in the foyer. (What 9-year-old can resist a big ol' puddle to wade in.) But I'll take it! There's nothing quite like opening windows, even briefly, to let fresh air flow through the house after being shut up for months.

Even 'the girls' got to stretch those wings. Olive and Opal, the ducks, went swimming in the frigid brook, and Ony, Speckles, Musty, Sassy, Lil' Rhodie, Rhodie, Ava, Nutmeg, Butterfly, and Amber found the only patch of visible brown grass to scratch up. They rewarded us with finally laying eggs again.

But oh my! the road is a muddy mess. I'm going to need an alignment!

Total Bag Count: 14

MENU
✿ Hamburgers & Pasta and Veggie Salad ✿
✿ Scrambled Eggs, Hickory Smoked Bacon, Fresh Pineapple & Biscuits ✿
✿ Spaghetti with Ground Chicken Meat Sauce & Steamed Green Beans✿
✿ Marinated Beef Strips with Broccoli & Baked Fries ✿
✿ Boston Cream Pie Ice Box Cake ✿

SCHOOL SNIPPETS
Sam does "van school" while Cati is at Jazz and Concert Band and her clarinet lessons. I keep most of his work in a binder, slipping Easy Grammar inside and his current reading book. (I keep pencils and a hand sharpener in the van.) Do you ever do school-on-the-road?

Cati wrote Name Poems and Word Patterns poems this week. She's getting close to finishing up her study of basic 'formula' poetry. (I'd share the unit with you, but it's something I have from my student teaching in 1998 and it was OLD then.) She's also only 12 lessons away from finishing up Saxon 76.

In U.S. History we watched NROC on WWI and Woodrow Wilson, and FDR and The New Deal. We skipped art study this week and spent more time outside...and began to 'spring clean'.

At STEM school, Jake switched his Physics research topic from 4D to antimatter, continued to build a steam-powered power plant, focusing on the turbines, commuted projectiles for Math to get a ball into a basket without practicing, and "learned the things he hasn't" in Astronomy. (I'm not sure what that means!)

BOOKS
Mom- Seeing A Large Cat by Elizabeth Peters
Cati - The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien
Sam - Invisible Stanley by Jeff Brown 

PEOPLE & PLACES
✿ Jazz and Concert Band & Clarinet Lesson (Cati) ✿
✿ Cub Scouts (Sam & Jake) ✿
✿ Wayback Wednesday at Movie Theatre: Back to the Future (All) ✿
✿ Boy Scout Camping (Jake) ✿

FAVORITES

I got a chuckle out of this Lego Pain Scale from Facebook. Those of you with Lego enthusiatists will understand all too well.

ON THE 'NET

How to Have a Perfectly Clean House
50 Best Unschooling/Self-directed Learning Posts in 2013

As always, special thanks to these weekly wrap-ups:

Weekly Wrap-up: Dreaming of Spring

EVERYDAY LIFE

But I'm ready to start planning our garden and buying our seeds. I've been pondering creating another raised bed from concrete blocks. The kids have BIG gardening ambitions, but the 24x16 garden last year was a flop when we got busy with summer; we could only keep up with the 12x6 raised bed. Square Foot Gardening is much more reasonable (and enjoyable) for us.

Photo Credit

I've been knitting up dish cloths all week. They're quick, useful things! (Find instructions here.) I love the earthy colors I chose to knit them up in. I'm still pondering what to create next, but I might try a reusable mesh bag for groceries or library trips or the lake this summer. It requires CROCHETING and I haven't attempted that. You Tube!

Total Bag Count: 6

I'm about 14 bags behind on the Declutter Challenge. In my defense, I did start a year ago throwing out and donating unused items, and it's really just too cold to tackle the garage which REALLY needs a purge-and-organize.

Photo Credit

MENU
✿ Scrambled Eggs with Broccoli and Jack Cheese & Blueberry Pancakes with Maple Syrup ✿
✿ Beef Au Jus Sandwiches on Homemade Herbed Bread & Steamed Carrots and Peaches ✿
✿ Cheese Pizza & Fresh Strawberries ✿
✿ Chicken Cordon Bleu & Herbed Biscuits and Peas ✿

SCHOOL SNIPPETS
Sam has discovered that reading isn't so bad! He's rereading the Flat Stanley series, but I'm just pleased as punch that he seems to be ENJOYING it! He's moving along in Horizons Math 2, working on his understanding of place value, time and regrouping.  We started body systems in Life Science this week.

Cati is reluctantly continuing her Daily Grams. She's finding the whole thing monotonous and boring so I'm tempted to drop it, but she doesn't want to BEGIN anything else. It's too early in the year to discontinue a whole subject! She's already completed her year of Life Science and is almost there with Saxon Math 76. 

They watched vidoes on the 1870-1900s in American History, learning about economic changes and social upheaval during the 'Gilded Age' and Teddy Rooveselt, and solved some mysteries in Art Fraud Detective: Spot the Difference, Solve the Crime!, studying paintings by Pieter de Hooch, Hendrick ter Brugghen and Marinus van Reymerswaele.

In STEM school, Jake printed out his finished 3D plans for a steam-powered 'power plant' (to run a Lego train set), solved quadratic equations, learned quantum physics, and continued his (mostly) winning streak in Chess.

BOOKS
Mom - The Aviator's Wife by Melanie Benjamin & Seeing a Large Cat by Elizabeth Peters
Cati - The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien
Sam - Flat Stanley & Invisible Stanley by Jeff Brown

PEOPLE & PLACES
✿ Concert Band & Clarinet Lesson (Cati) ✿ 
✿ Boy, Girl & Cub Scouts (All) ✿  
✿  Garage & Dunkin Donuts ✿ 

FAVORITES
I have this big, old TV in my bedroom. Would you believe that with the proper connections the XBOX will connect to it and play my "Big Bang Theory" DVDs? The kiddos aren't thrilled with my 'borrowing' the XBOX though.

Photo Credit

As always, special thanks to these weekly wrap-ups: