Spring Session Plans ALL SET!

Got every little piece tidied up this afternoon and it is like a weight has lifted from my shoulders. As I have said a bazillion times before, although I am willing to switch things up it is SOOOOO nice to just have things set and ready to go.

After some discussion DN has decided to stay on an every other week schedule, which means he will be here for only two or three days every two weeks and will complete the majority of his work at home. I had to switch things up a bit so that this could work, but I think that it will go well as long as he stays on top of things. KM's schedule will basically remain the same as it has, but we are tweaking a few things here and there to hers as well.

Literature -
City of Embers - DN

Animal Farm - DN

Math - 

Manga Joku - Both

Science - 

Biology Coloring Workbook - KM

Janice VanCleave's Bio Labs - Both
Usborne Science Encyclopedia - DN

Health & Phys. Ed. - 
Bowling - KM

Tennis - Both

Ice Skating- KM
Basketball - DN

Heads Up: Real News About Drugs and Your Body - Both
Mind Over Matter - Both


Social Sciences – U.S. History & Geography - 
A History of US Books 1-2 - K

Liberty Kids - K

Story of the US DVD -  - K

U.S. History – Basic Not Boring - K

Hip Hop History - U.S. - D

Westward, Ha-Ha!, 1800-1850 (America's Funny But True History) - D

The Journal of Douglas Allen Deeds: The Donner Party Expedition (My Name is America) - D

The Revolution - D
Journey North - Both
25 Map Crosswords - Both

Elective - Financial Literacy -
Building Your Future - Financial Literacy Curriculum - Both


Foreign Languages - 
Japanese from Zero!  - K

Spanish Grammar Study Cards- D

Spanish Conversation Demystified - D
Spanish (The 100+ Series) - D

Current Events - 
CNN Student News - Both

Friends With Boys - a webcomic by Faith Erin Hicks

Friends With Boys - a webcomic by Faith Erin Hicks:

This was recommended for KM by one my very bestest buds and I have to say she read the whole thing in under an hour!!!! So it must be good! Check out online before it is available in print until March 6th

You Tube Monday - Homeschooling: Announcing the decision

All our finds for the next several weeks will be home ed related - either by home learners or about home education! 

Weekly Update - Two for One

Last week was so hectic that I didn't get a chance to write up our weekly update. Really not a big deal since we sort of had a two for one week around here as well. This week was our local school systems vacation week so DN opted to double up on his work that he is doing here and at his house. He was really productive from the moment that he got here so it worked out well and he got all his work here done and they worked together to get the things they do cooperatively completed as well, so KM had a lighter week as well. This was very fortunate for her as she began her novel study skype class. She is working through Wuthering Heights and is feeling a bit nervous about the workload, but I think she will do just fine.

We have had lots of activities going on over the last two weeks, from free skate to library activities. KM is really enjoying working with the Teen Advisory Group at the library. She also had a great time at the comic workshop with Andy and Veronica Fish this week and the Super Smash Bros. Brawl tournament. KM had lots of fun at youth group where they made really cute headbands. We also took advantage of our INCREDIBLY WARM weather, it was in the 50s most days this week, to get out and do some hiking.

We only have a few more weeks left of our winter session, so I also spent quite a bit of time trying to finalize our lesson plans for spring and I will be sure to post about those soon!


Some pics from the camera over the last two weeks -

KM's valentine's present since she LOVES bacon!

We are learning a lot from our ant hill!

Babies eating are just TOOOO CUTE!!!

SUCH FABULOUS WEATHER FOR A HIKE!!!

KM's character sketch of Young Cathy -

What I am Reading - Fairiemom - February

Planning lessons for spring session so I have been checking references in Homeschooling Your Teenagers -

World Science Day Practice Rescheduled to Open today!

they changed the date to open practice from 2/14 to 2/21- sorry to those who were as frustrated as we were trying to log on this week! 

Practice opens today for World Science day!!! Get on over and get ready for the big day!!! 

You Tube Monday - COOL MORNING 1

All our finds for the next several weeks will be home ed related - either by home learners or about home education!

What I am reading - February - Music Kid

I am starting my skype novel class this week and we are reading Wuthering Heights! 

Valentine's Day By the Numbers

Some interesting facts from History.com - 

For more check out the history of Valentine's Day.

You Tube Monday - Messy Mondays: Seven Lies about Homeschoolers (OFFICIAL VIDEO)

Just discovered these and they are really funny! Take a peek -

Weekly Update - Midpoint of Winter

We are halfway through our winter session and for the most part things are going smoothly for KM. She is really enjoying the choices that she has made in her lessons. Her skype poetry class is finishing up next week and although she is really anxious about her critical analysis essay, she is fully enjoying the class. She is working hard to complete her French by the end of the session, as she would like to move on to Japanese, but wants to finish this book first. She has also started researching cosmetology schools and what it will take to become a cosmetologist. We have started in on the "animal" section in biology and have started our ant observations - check out the page where we are chronicling our discoveries! She is also practicing for the World Education Games and can't wait until the Science practice opens next week.

DN on the other hand - not quite so smooth. He is fully and completely compliant, but I am having a very difficult time getting him to truly understand that learning is part of life. Not something that you just "get done." That is what school is about right - but that is NOT what education is. I am trying to be patient and keep things in perspective as I know that it has only been a few months, but it gets really difficult when I am bending and twisting and feeling like there is no appreciation of the lengths that I am going to. I have to remind myself that hindsight is most effective and the fruits of my labor might just take a bit longer to ripen than I would like.

For a sneak peek of our first day with the ants check out our montage ---

Oh and KM's room makeover is complete ---- 

The green looks a bit more yellow in the pics, but you get the gist of it and KM LOVES IT!!! She was so over all the pink! 

Poem - Untitled

My darling, you have flaws,
You whine when you are sad,
And growl when you are mad,
And your nails are as sharp as claws!


My darling, you're not perfect, 
You posture is poor, 
Your conversations are a bore,
And your smile has the opposite effect. 


But my darling you are sweet,
Ever since we met, 
I will never forget, 
How quickly you swept me off your feet!


Written for poetry by Musickid997 February 3, 2012

Ants Arrived - Let the Adventure Begin!!!

As part of our Biology studies we are going to be observing ants and will be chronically our adventures doing so on a new page located HERE!

Shoutout on CNN Student News

Since they gave us a shoutout - see video at 5:08 - I thought I would give them another feature spot!!!

 

We watch CNN Student News EVERYDAY and love Carl Azuz's puns!

What do you use for current events?

You Tube Monday - Martians Telephone

I spotted this on Stag Beetle Power! and it is one of MY FAVORITES so i thought I would post it too!

Weekly Update - Week of Game Play

DN has become very motivated and is finishing his entire weeks worth of work in just about a day, so he was only here Monday and Tuesday this week and I sent him home with a copy of Lord of the Flies to read and a calendar to keep track of any basketball he plays or other "phys. ed-ish" type activities he is doing as this is something that we feel is really important. He also responsible to do Khan Academy and watch CNN Student News each day while he is home. My hope is that in the free time that he has he will discover something that will spark his interest and he might start to see that learning goes beyond worksheets, report writing, and textbooks.


KM moved along smoothly with her lessons per usual. She has been working on a story that is in journal format and decided to turn it into a fictitious blog, pop on over if you feel like checking it out - HERE. She is planning on adding to it with some of her manga drawings, so it should be pretty interesting! She has two more weeks left in her poetry class she is taking via Skype and is getting a bit anxious about the final assignment which is to write a critical analysis of a poem. Formal writing has never been her strong suit, but it is more about her lack of confidence than her actual writing skills. I am fairly certain that she will do just fine and she is excited that she will be continuing with this group and doing a literature study of Bronte's Wuthering Heights.

Click here to get the answer!

Learning this week centered around a lot of game play. They played a round of Math Jeopardy from What's Your Angle Scholastic Math Games Resource. For health this week we played the Professor Noggin's Human Body game.  I am always shocked by the ones that we get right, as well as the ones that we get wrong.

As part of our U.S. History we have be doing activities from Colonial Days: Discover the Past with Fun Projects, Games, Activities, and Recipes (American Kids in History Series) and this week we played a Native American Stick Toss Game. It had a lot to do with luck, more than anything, as you simply toss the sticks in the air and add up your score based on how the sticks land. The kids seem to enjoy it and the scores went back and forth quite a few times!

KM started practicing for the World Education Games this week! She has participated in some Math events previously but this will be the first time she will be doing the spelling and science competitions so she wants to get as much practice in as possible. There is still plenty of time to register HERE!

KM also had fun with music and dance on the Wii this week! We all LOVE the Wii! It is such a great way to incorporate fun into learning while getting everyone up and moving!

Looking ahead again - College Admission Test Options

We have been discussing possible career options with the teens lately since they are getting older and we need to plan for whether they think they want to go to college or not. KM has always gone back and forth with the idea, but recently has started thinking about Cosmetology schools. DN has no real direction, but has such a distaste for school that I really don't see him going to a full four year college. However I do feel it is important that they have some sort of testing scores in order to safe guard their options if they change there mind and decide that they want to attend a university or college.

Since KM's really concerned with her writing skills and is not even sure that she wants to attend a four year school we have been thinking about skipping the SAT test and having her take the ACT (no writing) test instead. The ACT (no writing) consists of four multiple-choice tests in each main area; English, Math, Reading, and Science. You do have the option of adding a 30 minute writing section, but KM would probably want ACT tutoring before she would even be willing to try that part of it.

If you have any suggestions for test prep resources PLEASE feel free to post them in the comments section!

World Education Games - Full Registration & Practice is open!!!

Here are the dates -
World Spelling Day - 6 March 2012
World Maths Day - 7 March 2012
World Science Day - 8 March 2012


Be sure to register early so that your kids can get in as much practice time as possible!!!
Practice begins today!