Anyway, I digress. A few things about my homeschool post(s):
1. I am not going to promise weekly posts about our homeschool, as I tend to forget about this blog and then have to catch up all at once.
2. This is not intended to tell or even suggest to others how to conduct their homeschools! I am most definitely not an expert at teaching!!!
3. As much as anything, this is to help me keep track of what we've done so that later I can remember! And, if I need proof of anything, hopefully I'll have this to fall back on later.
So...all that being said, here goes with information from week 1.
Our first week consisted of a lot of assessing where my kids are academically. I know their strengths and weaknesses well, and I know what their grades from school have been, but grades tell so little about what kids actually KNOW. My daughter received a "multiplication mastery" award at school last year, but I later found out that the facts were virtually untimed, and mastery simply meant that she got "most" of them right. When quizzed on multiplication facts at home, we found out that she was counting up!! She didn't even KNOW her multiplication. :( However, she can do algebra. Absurd. Similar things happened with reading levels and AR. So, we had to start from scratch.
MATH Our math curriculum of choice is Life of Fred (see here) My husband teaches college-level math and computer science at a high school, and he loves how these books make the kids THINK FOR THEMSELVES in a fun way. They are somewhat of a "storybook" format (a silly story at that!), but they introduce and cycle harder concepts in early and often while also teaching basic concepts. There is probably not enough PRACTICE in these books, so we will supplement with some extra activities, but as far as introducing higher thinking, they are great. We have the elementary set and the high school set (for "story time" in my hubby's classes...hahaha) and will definitely purchase the middle set when the time comes.
My hubby left challenge math problems on the board every day this first week, and the kids had to solve them and then explain. My daughter HATES explaining her math answers, but it is SOOOOOO important!!! Here are a few samples:
1. Write as many equations as possible that equal your age in 3 minutes. Then, do the same for Mommy's age. (I can't find this picture, but if I do, I'll post it).
2. How many triangles in this picture? What other shapes do you see? Name them!
3.
4. What are the next 2 numbers in the pattern? Why? Create a sequence for your sibling to solve finish.
1, 12, 3, 10, 5, 8, 7, ______, _________
5. What country is at latitude 2 x K's age + 2 x J's age + 8 and longitude 30 + 30 + 20 + 5+ 5 (or something like that)
To supplement, we've been using xtramath.org to evaluate their skills and also some on khan academy. :)
COMPUTER PROGRAMMING
code.org and khan academy are great resources for this! My son coded with Frozen, Big Hero 6, and "flappy bird," a video game simulation. My daughter is more methodical and spent more time on the Frozen simulation.
TYPING
We are currently using software called "Mickey's Typing Adventure," but we will also use some online typing programs after they use the basics. We alternate typing and programming each day.
SPELLING/VOCABULARY
We are currently using spelling and vocabulary words from what we are currently studying, but we may use other lists later. I made some spelling and vocabulary games, foldables, etc. There are several websites where you can customize lists and create various activities from them. We played Spelling Scrabble with dueling boards and also manipulated playdough letters, etc. (UPDATE: AS OF THE END OF SEPTEMBER, WE ORDERED SPELLING BY SOUND AND STRUCTURE FROM MILESTONE BOOKS (ROD AND STAFF) AND FIX IT GRAMMAR FROM IEW....I will comment on these after we have used them for a while, but so far we love them).
WRITING
We are incorporating writing into our unit studies in other topics for the most part. Each week the kiddos have to write a paragraph about one of our memory verses from family Bible time, specifically about what the verse means to them or why they think God included it in the Bible. We learned this week about the parts of a paragraph (topic sentence, details, concluding sentence), etc. We followed the "hamburger paragraph" format to get started. Each day the kids brainstormed hamburger paragraphs in different categories. My little one will DEFINITELY have to do some handwriting practice, though!!
GEOGRAPHY
This will incorporate a lot. We did map work and latitude/longitude the first week, but we are starting Egypt now. (Latitude and Longitude threw them off a little, so we modeled with playdough and an orange)
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| Longitude goes pole to pole |
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| Equator is imaginary line cutting earth in half |
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| Chopped into lots of latitudes :) |
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| 2 hemispheres |
We will incorporate reading, writing, math (did you know there are hieroglyphs for numbers and you can make math problems out of them!?), art (papier mache globes are hanging from my kitchen chandelier) etc. into this unit. We are planning to cook something from each country we learn about, study various holidays, important people, places of interest, and how that country fits into world history as we go. We are using our subscription to Little Passports (see here) to supplement with fun trinkets and information. As a preview for Egypt, the kids got to make a virtual mummy here (the brains out the nose kinda grossed even my "icky" boy out, but it was funny).
SCIENCE
We are using the Explorer series from Apologetics Press as a springboard for our science work. We talked about the meaning of apologetics, cause and effect (we made fun fizzy "paint" from baking soda, vinegar, and food coloring) , and how design demands a designer to start our unit. When my kids get back from VBS with the in-laws, we are going to dive into space and the universe.
CHARACTER/BIBLE
We do family Bible time every evening, so our school Bible time will incorporate character building as well as some other Bible topics. I got the kids some independent Bible study materials here, and we are also doing a study right now on Obedience from Keepers of the Faith. This involves keeping an "obedience" journal daily (3 or 4 questions) so they can start to reflect on their own obedience. I have 1 who never admits wrong, so that one has struggled with this! The other is quite tender-hearted and has adapted already in a week's time. :)
READING
My kids are both avid readers, and they read well above grade level. So, I am not doing a "formal" reading program, although we are doing some fun things to motivate them to read different genres, etc. They both do some independent Bible reading as well, and we listen to LOTS of audio books on all kinds of subjects. As long as they voraciously consume books, I don't plan to do a formal program with it, but if it changes, I will.
In summary, I am so pleased with how our first week went (even though we had some bumps in the road), and I look forward to learning and growing along with my kiddos as we move forward! I was stunned how much they learned in the first week alone! I am also babysitting a 3 year old, so we'll be throwing in a little preschool as well...I'll keep you posted on that. :)
