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!

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: Week 16 - Celebrating the 100th

We're celebrating our 100th day of homeschooling today! Cate actually reached 100 days on Monday, but Friday just seemed like a better day to celebrate when Sam reached it too. (And by Friday we all like a slower, simpler day of homeschool.) At this pace our year could wrap up by mid-April!

CORE WORK

CATI

• English Grammar 101: Section 5 Modifiers - Adjectives and Adverbs
• Writing - How to Stay Motivated and Focused 5 Paragraph Essay
• Vocab Test List 14 (92%) -15 (96%)
• The Swiss Family Robinson (Wyss), Laddie (Straton Potter)
• Khan Academy Pre-Algebra - 80% Completed

SAM

• Grammar and Writing Handbook: Unit 2 - Possessive Nouns
• Writing - My Favorite Outdoor Places Perfect Paragraph
• Grammar Ninja - Level 2
• Cursive Copywork - Ephesians 4:32
• The Borrowers (Norton), Rascal (North)
• Khan Academy Math 4 - 45% Completed
• Saxon 65 - Lesson 1 (Number Sequencing), Lesson 2 (Odds/Evens), Lesson 3 (Place Value with Money)

Sometimes changes must be made. Sam hasn't moved forward on Khan Academy, reviewing the same concepts without mastery, in 6 weeks. Even a 2 week break did not "reset" his learning. "Blocks" happen for everyone, but especially for kids with unique learning challenges. For now, he will continue on with Saxon 65, watching DIVE lessons and completing daily problem sets.

We also read some math literature on angles and cones.

VAN SCHOOL
Several times a week, Sam and I do some of his studies in the van while waiting for Cati at band practice. It's not an optimal time to focus, but a perfect time for read alouds and review.

With Sam's learning challenges, he often has trouble recalling basic information that we've reviewed over and over for many years. This can be frustrating for both of us, yet necessary to learn and understand. This week I pulled out his month flashcards as he wasn't able to tell me the 12 months, in or out of order.

• Month Flashcards
• Grammar and Writing - Commas Review
• Rascal
• History of Us - Woodland Indians, Treaty of Peace

ASTRONOMY

Sam finished up Mars with making a salt dough model of Olympus Mons, and creating a volcanic eruption with baking soda, vinegar and food coloring. Then we started Chapter 8: Rocks.

• Chemical Reaction to Model Volcanic Eruption
• Introduction to the Solar System: Crash Course Astronomy #9
• Meteors: Crash Course Astronomy #23
• Asteroids: Crash Course Astronomy #20

GENERAL SCIENCE

Cati finished Module 6: Foundations of Geology in Apologia General Science this week, learning about rocks and minerals, sedimentation, and physical weathering. Unfortunately, due to it being winter, some of her experiments will be postponed until the spring when we can obtain dirt from outside. She received a 100% on her exam.

U.S. HISTORY and GEOGRAPHY
I read aloud to Sam from History of Us: The First Americans Prehistory-1600 (Hakim). We covered chapters 10-12.

• The Black Legend, Native Americans, and Spaniards: Crash Course US History #1
• Mound Builders (Adenas)
• Algonquian and Iroquois
• 6 Nations Treaty of Peace

And he continued to review US geography with Sheppardsoftware. 50 out of 50 states consistently placed correctly at Level 3!

MUSIC HISTORY, GEOGRAPHY and CULTURES
Cati finished early American music history with Easy Peasy Homeschool, and that started Geography and Cultures. Since the lessons are quick, she completes one week per day, sometimes more. This week she completed weeks 35-36 and 1-3.

• Composed Original Music with Beatlab
• Reviewed Instruments of an Orchestra
• Violin, Viola and Cello

ENRICHMENT

Cati

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

Sam

• Cub  Scouts
• CNN Student News

DAYS COMPLETED: CATE - 103 | SAM - 100

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 15 - Back to Basics

So, where were we? Ah, yes, week 15.  Almost a half year completed. A tad more really since we did summer studies. We will celebrate our 100th day next week! But what happened this week?

CORE WORK

CATI

• English Grammar 101: Section 5 Modifiers - Adjectives and Adverbs, Quiz 95%
• Writing - How to Wake up with Energy 5 Paragraph Essay
• Vocab Test List 12-14
• The Swiss Family Robinson (Wyss)
• Khan Academy Pre-Algebra - 78% Completed

SAM

• Grammar and Writing Handbook: Unit 2 - Possessive Nouns
• Writing - New Year's Perfect Paragraph
• Grammar Ninja - Level 2
• Cursive Copywork - 1 Corinthians 13:13
• The Borrowers (Norton)
• Khan Academy Math 4 - 46% Completed

Waiting in the van for Cate to finish band practice is a perfect time for Sam to do copywork, grammar, reading, Mad Libs, A History of US, and this week some literature-based math. I read aloud Fun with Roman Numerals (Adler) and we played Roman Numerals War.

ASTRONOMY
Mars was our focus this week in Apologia Astronomy. Sam completed his notebooking page while I read aloud from the text, and he built models of the Sojourner rover and Olympus Mons.

• Notebooking and Project Pages
• Mars' Atmosphere, Environment, Gravity, Moons, and Orbit
• "Mars: Crash Course Astronomy #15"
• Balloon Rover
• Salt Dough Volcano Model

GENERAL SCIENCE
Cati started Module 6: Foundations of Geology in Apologia General Science this week. She conducted an experiments on the difference between rocks and minerals, separation of sedimentation, and physical weathering.

• Vocabulary: Catastrophism, Mineral, Uniformitarianism, Weathering, Humus
• Soil, Rocks and Minerals
• Types of Rock
• Mineral Classification

U.S. HISTORY
I read aloud to Sam from History of Us: The First Americans Prehistory-1600 (Hakim). We covered chapters 5-9.

• Anasazi
• Inuit
• Northwest Native Americans
• Potlaches
• 15th Century Land and Animals
• Plains Indians

Sam also played U.S. Geography: Level 3 Expert on Sheppardsoftware, scoring 48 out of 50 states.

MUSIC HISTORY
Cati is studying early American music history with Easy Peasy Homeschool. Since the lessons are quick, she completes one week per day, sometimes more. This week she completed weeks 27-34.

• Slave Spirituals
• Songs of the Confederacy
• Mendelssohn
• Strauss
• Major and Minor Scales, Notes, Steps and Accidentals
• Composed Music with Beatlab

ENRICHMENT

Cati

• Jazz and Concert Band
• CNN Student News
• Baked Blueberry Oatmeal Cookies, Homemade Cheese Pizza, Spaghetti
• Planned and Shopped for Meals with a Budget 

Sam

• CNN Student News
• Cooked Egg, Sausage and Cheese Breakfast Sandwiches, Homemade Meatballs with Cheesy Centers
• Planned and Shopped for Meals with a Budget

DAYS COMPLETED: CATE - 99 | SAM - 94

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: Weeks 13-14 - The One Before Vacation Commences

We're more than half way through our year! How exciting is that? And just in time to take 2 weeks off for Christmas celebrations and ringing in a new year. We'll see you in 2016!

CORE WORK

Cate received a 97% on her Section 4: Sentence Parts with English Grammar 101, and will start Section 5: Modifiers - Adjectives and Adverbs. She started list 12 of her vocab building. Her began writing a creative story based on a show that she enjoys.  She read The Hobbit.

She's completed 75% of pre-algebra on Khan Academy. 

Sam worked in his Grammar and Writing Handbook, reviewing plural nouns, and researched, wrote and edited his "perfect paragraph" on his favorite video game "Minecraft" and Christmas. He finished up his Handwriting Without Tears Cursive  and began writing his "perfect paragraphs" in cursive. He continued to review Grammar with Grammar Ninja, but I've decided to stop formal spelling instruction at this time. Instead, he will look up misspelled words on my Android Merriam-Webster app and correct them. (It has voice recognition to make it a little easier.) He read Holes.

He's completed 47% of math 4 on Khan Academy.

Both kiddos have stalled out in Math, so we're spending a bit more time on it these days, reviewing concepts with videos and practice problems with hopes of moving forward.

SCIENCE SNIPPETS

Sam and I finished up Earth in Apologia Astronomy, and moved onto the Moon. We've been looking forward to studying the moon since starting Earth. Why? We got to model moon phases with Oreos!

• Layers of the Earth
• Made a Compass: "How Does a Compass Work", "How Compass Works - Magnetism Lesson for Kids", and "Origins of Earth's Magnetic Field" 
• Weather: Weather Chart and Tornado in A Jar
• Where the Word Lunar Comes From, Natural and Man-made Satellites, Sun's Reflection off the Moon
• Moon Phases: "The Moon", Rocket Moon Phase Game, Moon Phase Order Game, Oreo Cookie Phases Activity and Phases of the Moon Printable
• "From the Earth to the Moon" video

Cate finished Mod 5 on History of Life, Archaeology, Geology and Paleontology in Apologia General Science which was just reading and answering questions. She received a 100% on her final test.

CRAFTY CATE

Cate was not thwarted by my lack of being able to teach her to crochet; she taught herself! Being left-handed (or maybe it's just my spatial skills?), my work tends to be backwards and/or inside out when following patterns. Somehow it works for me, but doesn't work when teaching someone else. She figured out how the chain and do a half double crochet in the front post by trial-and-error. She made her first afghan.

HISTORY

Sam wrapped up "America: Story of Us" videos. It's our 2nd or 3rd time through the videos, and we've loved them each and every time.  We started reading aloud A History of US (Hakim).

Cate finished Ancient Music on Easy Peasy and is about three-quarters through Early American (week 26). She's been studying types of instruments, Native American music, classical music by Bach, Handel, Beethoven, Brahms, Haydn, Mozart, and Vivaldi, reading music (which she's already a pro at), Benjamin Franklin's armonica, and Pioneer and Revolutionary War music.

DAYS COMPLETED: CATE - 92 | SAM - 90

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

Happy Homeschooling!

Weekly Wrap-up: Week 10 - The One with Wonderful Weather and Making Rain

Have you noticed a "shortage" of Cate on blog posts? She's become an independent learner, using our resources to master information while managing her own time. She gets up "before the birds", delves into her studies, finishing most of them before Sam and I even begin his learning. I'm proud of her focus and determination this year.

CORE WORK

Cate continued to work on verbs (section 3) with English Grammar 101.  She's on list 8 of her vocab building. Her focus for essay writing this week was on unique words, further building her vocabulary. She's reading Little Women (Alcott).

She's completed 70% of pre-algebra on Khan Academy.

Sam worked on in his Grammar and Writing Handbook, and finished his "perfect paragraph" on Galileo for Astronomy.  He continues to review Grammar with Grammar Ninja, and Spelling with Grade Spelling. He's now on List 6 on Spelling. The process of writing out flashcards and studying them helped him pass List 5 finally. He's reading Diary of a Wimpy: The Last Straw (Kinney).

He's completed 47% of math 4 on Khan Academy.

SCIENCE SNIPPETS
Sam and I moved onto Earth in Apologia. With everything that a study on Earth can encompass, we're going to be "camped out" here a while. We covered pages 52-55 in our text.

• Mass/Matter and Gravity: "Crash Course Astronomy #7 - The Gravity of the Situation" 
• Rotation vs. Revolve
• Weather vs. Climate
• The Water Cycle: "Crash Course Kids : Weather vs. Climate", "Crash Course Kids: The Great Aqua Adventure", and "Crash Course Kids: Seasons in the Sun"
• Making it Rain Experiment (Note: We used plastic wrap, not a plate, for quicker results.)
• Water Cycle Review Worksheet

HAPPY TRAILS
How could we not go for another walk in the woods when it was sunny and low 60s? This time we searched out fungi and observed the brook's water current by watching leaves swirl around, and Sam decided to try balancing on downed trees while walking across them.

PLACE THE STATE COMPETITION
Have you been over to Sheppard Software? Sam's been playing the states game to learn US geography. He's made it to level 3 (expert) and issued a challenge to me to beat his scores. You're on, son! I'm just barely scoring better than he does. Cate decided to take on the challenge this week too. A little friendly competition adds some fun and purpose to learning!

DAYS COMPLETED: CATE - 74 | SAM - 72

Next week we're on vacation! Cate and Sam will be visiting Nannie and Grandpa Lobster, their aunts and uncles, and cousins Noodle and Nugget while I do a few things around the house and crochet for hours. See you in a couple of weeks!

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

Happy Homeschooling!