Free Cultural Events! - Who can beat that!

This week we were oh so fortunate to be able to attend two fabulous cultural arts events for FREE!!! The first was a presentation of the Cape Cod Symphony Orchestra's Symphony of Nature. KM attend a free presentation on the 9th at the Cape Cod Conservatory that highlighted many works that were inspired by nature and went into discussions on the pieces that were presented. We were so fortunate to have gotten to participate in that class, but then to be able to follow it with an incredible trip to see the CCSO performance just made it even better!

Then on Wednesday we attended the dress rehearsal of the BLO's upcoming premiere of The Inspector. They have a great program were they allow high schoolers the opportunity to attend the dress rehearsals for free! This was our second experience attending and we hope to be able to go to many more! I suspect that the run will be a GREAT success as the kids in our group all loved it! These are the types of things that we love to do and would never be able to afford without programs like this - I mean the opera would have cost us nearly $200 for the two of us to attend! 

You Tube Monday - Holiday Edition - Snow Miser Song

This is one of my favorite Christmas movie songs. I can't stop myself from bopping whenever I hear it! babum bum bum badum, babum bum bum badum....

You Tube Monday - Fun Science: Sound

Trimming the Tree and Jamming out -

In addition to tree trimming the day after Thanksgiving it has become a tradition in our home to have guitar hero jam sessions -

It is rather hysterical and everyone gets in the mix - luckily, I am the only one who thinks of grabbing the camera!!!! 

For more hysterical guitar hero moments be sure to check GCKstudents You Tube Channel - Bunniestar97

You Tube Monday - Randomness (Part 2)

KM and her friends - including CJ in this one - have been busily making videos this week and since I nearly forgot about You Tube Monday I thought I would share some of her latest posts -






You can also check out her channel to see all her videos - HERE!

You Tube Monday - Sesame Street: G

Two of our favorite things - Sesame Street and GLEE!!!

All alone with little G!

For the very first time EVER I had my niece GC - the younger 1/2 of the Little - all to myself! SC was off on a field trip with the day care and MC wanted to take the Itty Bitties in to have a trial run before she heads back to work this weekend.

It was so much fun to play with her uninterrupted and you could tell how much she was enjoying playing with things without having them ripped out of her hands because it was time to share. She got dress up, we made some scrambled eggs, played outside and then she got the music box ALL to herself! So much fun!

Fabulous Concert - Greyson Chance and Miranda Cosgrove

Drumming Circle

Since the twins have come along I have been trying to help out by taking the Littles to programs at our local library - one of their favorite places to visit. Today they had a Drumming Circle that featured different types of drumming from around the world. Otha Day was the incredible drummer that presented this program and he was fabulous with the kids.

YouTube Monday - Bruno Mars - "The Lazy Song" (Studio Session) LIVE!!!!

Thought this was rather appropriate given the day......ENJOY!

"

You Tube Monday - Selena Gomez & The Scene - Who Says

You Tube Monday - How to play BLACK STAR by Avril Lavigne (keyboard) - EASY

Finishing up Winter Session and Prepping for Spring!!!

This is our last week of our winter session and KM has continued to do really well and is truly enjoying her topics of study. As always we have tweaked and evolved things throughout the session and will continue to do so as we set forth our plans for next session. I have most of the outline planned and over the next week will be fine tuning things.

First and foremost we have both decided after a long discussion, that we need to slow down a bit. We went FULL THROTTLE through the winter and managed to not get any winter duldrums or cabin fever, however we are EXHAUSTED! I have made a last minute decision to go back to our 3 stay day routine and with all that is coming up I am feeling a NEED to really stick to it.

There are some big jobs around the house that need to be taken care of and we are hoping to address a few this weekend ~ including taking down the snow damaged pool ~ while we are all around. The spring brings different chores and household responsibilities that need to be addressed and with CJ starting a full 6 week course to get his advanced licenses, KM and I are going to have to step up and take on some of the things that we would normally leave for him to do.

As for our lesson plans we will be continuing with a majority of the programs from the fall and winter we have been doing, but have decided to tweak a few areas including -

• Science - After some dissection of the Spectrum Science Workbook we both felt like the last few chapters were so disconnected in their content that it was too chopped up and KM didn't really want to finish it. On top of this KM has been very Science focused over the last two years, doing multiple programs at a time, so we decided to back off a bit. She will finish up the next few issues of Scholastic's Science World and will be doing the Environmental Study - see below - that she had planned on doing over the summer during the spring instead. I think this will tie in nicely to our gardening and landscaping plans as well.
• Math - She will be completing the Straight Forward Math Series Algebra Book 2 this week and will begin Book 3 after the break. She is moving very smoothly through this series and really seems to be retaining the information well. 
• Social Science - 
• History - KM has completed Volume 3 of Story of the World and has just begun Volume 4. It seems to be just as intriguing to her although the style is a bit different in this volume than in the ones before. She has been a bit stumped on the outlining portion, but I think with continued practice this will improve. As she is moving through this program at a more advanced rate and completing two to three chapters a week, I will not be requiring that she complete all the outlines and we will be  doing far less of the activities as well. I have, however, chosen to incorporate more of the Brain Pop! videos into the the history areas to hopefully bring a bit more life into it. 
• Current Events - This is an area that we have been a bit lacking in lately and CJ feels we should put a bit more energy into. KM does read Youngzine each week, but I stumbled across the CNN Student News and I think this will be a great resource! 
• Art - I went back and forth in this area recently. We tried a Great Course series from the library, but it was more than a bit DRY! KM is always working on different projects and crafts, but she also likes well done documentaries and shows having to do with art. So after some poking around online, I landed on Netflix and found this rather intriguing looking PBS series called Art 21 which we can stream live through the ROKU and/or the Wii onto the big screen! There are also free downloadable educator's guides to give some extra insight and ideas on how to use the program in an educational setting! We are both looking forward to utilizing this resource.
• Environmental Study - We had planned on working through this unit study over the summer, but as I mentioned earlier our plans changed a bit! We will be reading the Cartoon Guide to the Environment and going through the Our Fragile Environment Unit on BrainPop. We will also be watching documentaries that will correlate with each weeks topics. 
• Music - This is another area that we tend to focus a lot on around here. KM is more than halfway through the Annenberg Media course Exploring the World of Music and is thoroughly enjoying it. She will continue with and hopes to complete Piano Adventures Lesson Book, Level 2A by the end of this next session. She has been doing incredibly well considering she is self teaching and neither CJ nor I have any instrumental talent! She also continues to utilize the Wii with Guitar Hero 5 and Band Hero, as well as a multitude of Sing It games that she has acquired. There has been talk of wanting to take drum lessons next year, but she is wavering as to whether she wants a traditional drum kit or an electronic one. 
• Literature - KM has picked two pieces to focus on this session Old Yeller and Wright 3. For Old Yeller we will take advantage of this online resource, as well as doing a movie comparison. For Wright 3 we will be using this guide put out by Library Sparks. 
• P.E. - Ice skating was fabulous over the winter and KM really took to it! For the spring the kids will be finishing up their bowling league and we will go back to Basketball and Tennis as the weather permits. When the weather is against us we will be using the Wii Sports Resort and Just Dance to get our sweat on! We have also decided to start incorporating more family fitness activities like hiking, bike riding and roller blading on the weekends when DN is here. These are things that we used to do regularly when KM was little, but have just moved away from over the last few years. 

Will you be changing things up for the spring? What kinds of fun activities does your family have planned?

I will be updating the Current Curriculum & Schedule page soon!

Hansel & Gretel - Opera

What do these things have in common? - Sewing, Quadratic Equations, Ice Skating, Opera, Shopping & Science

They all fit into the week of a home educating family! 

This was the last week for ice skating at our local DCR rinks and though KM will be missing this time each week, she is going to be quite surprised when she finds out what will be going into this time slot - can't disclose this info yet!

For our weekly project I thought KM would enjoy making an owl messenger bag. This simple project kit was a great way for her to build confidence on the machine, follow cutting instructions and have a super cute outcome!

On the more academic front we started a new chapter in Algebra and she is charging through quadratic equations! We finished up the Spectrum Science Grade 8 workbook and she did an excellent job on the Final Test. To celebrate her wonderful achievements we went out to breakfast and did a little spring shopping. I somehow ended up wandering into the infants department where I just couldn't help myself when I saw these SUPER cute tees for the "littles-2-b"! 

Tomorrow we will be heading to the much anticipated Hansel & Gretel performance by the Boston Lyric Opera. This has become an annual tradition and we always LOVE the show! 

What sorts of oddities fit into your week?

Rather Unique Experiences - PART 1

KM was rather excited when she learned that she would be able to be part of a live webcast event with one of her FAVORITE artists - 

Although this is something that is open to all classrooms across the country and worldwide, you have to wonder how many teachers actually have the time to allow their students to enjoy a presentation like this.

We used SnapIt! to grab some great pics of the program!

Replays of this program will be available HERE.

For more information about other scholastic programs check out - 

 

This is a week of unique experiences...check back tomorrow to see what else we have been up to!

Summer Curriculum Picks - Starting 8th Grade

I believe I have most of KM's 8th grade curriculum choices laid out. I have decided however to list them each session, as I had done a while back, because we do change our minds quite frequently and I want to be sure to leave lots of space for changes and new interests that are developed along the way.

We school year round in 10 week sessions so we begin our "grade" year in the summer. KM will be an 8th grader started July 5th and will be studying the following topics -

English Language Arts - there will be a very strong focus on writing over the summer utilizing our free Mondays to boast ELA up to two days a week.

Math - KM will be finishing up Algebra, utilizing the free Ko's Journey subscription we received and working on word problems -

Science is always a huge area of study for KM so we are not slowing down, but charging ahead into the time line approach -

History will also be continuing on a steady pace and we hope to have Volume 2 completed by the end of the summer -

Music will be continuing with piano, voice and some extras -

We will also be doing some electives in Financial Literacy using Brain Pop and finishing up our Ocean Study using lots of movies on Netflix. Our physical education will center around swimming and bowling - Kids Bowl Free. We will be using some free resources for Art from the National Gallery of Art.

Since I had posted about thinking outside the box KM thought it would be fun to post some of her top Wii and DS game picks that she finds very educational...

Slowing it down through Level 2A -

KM began Level 2A in her Piano Adventures a few weeks ago and was having a bit of difficulty getting into the groove with this level. ~~~ Just a reminder, she is teaching herself how to play and there is no one here that knows how to play, so although she refuses to take lessons with someone, she does get a bit frustrated at times. ~~~ We discussed and she decided that she was going to work through this level at a much slower pace than she did with the previous levels. So she takes her time and does one unit in the lesson book - taking as long as she needs to master the tunes - then moves onto the same unit in the Tech & Artistry and Performance books again at whatever pace fits. Here is a sample of her level 2A skills -

Getting ready...

for the opera! Our local support group had an incredible event this week. The kids who will be attending a BLO production of Barber of Seville in a few months, got the incredible opportunity to have a preview showing with two fantastic performers! Here is a video clip of some of the spectacular show ~ check your volume and be careful if you have headphones on as it is quite loud at some points ~

Blogger is not allowing me to post the other clips right now, but I will keep trying and post later if it allows me!

Winter Session 7th Grade Curriculum Picks

As we are drawing our fall session to a close over the next week, I figured it was time to look ahead and finalize the choices we have made for the upcoming Winter Session! Since we are always changing things around here, this is of course a rough guess of what we will be doing. Most of our picks for the fall session worked out rather well, but there are some areas that we needed to tweak a bit. Here is our "intended" outline -

ELA -
We have swapped out our ELA system SEVERAL times in the past two years, but I do think that we have finally made a bit of progress in this area. KM worked through Levels 3 & 4 of Writing Strands rather quickly and decided to work through a few workbooks for latter half of this past session and the next.

• She has been working through 5-Minute Daily Practice Grammar, she tends to do all 5 lessons for the week at once on Monday, but she is getting them all correct, so I guess I can't really complain can I.
• Quick Practice Writing Skills is a bit more of a challenge for her - well it varies day to day. There are some things that she just needs a slight reminder on and others that have never been covered, so when we come to an area that needs to be covered completely we stop and cover it. It seems to be working and she is far less weary of asking for help.
• For writing itself we have gone back to the 3 minute non-stop writing and are using 350 Fabulous Writing Prompts. Some of the prompts are not so fabulous in my opinion, but we just skip those ones and take those days to go back over and review or edit her previous days writings.
• We will also begin working through the Grammar and then Writing on BrainPop.
• For literature we will be using Teacher Created Resources for Tuck Everlasting and The Island of the Blue Dolphin. As well as a Scholastic Book Guide for Around the World in Eighty Days which will coincide with our Geography. KM of course will also be continuing her free time reading - not that I have to worry about that.

Math -

• We will be finishing up The Complete Book of Algebra and Geometry this next session so that she can feel confident when she goes back to the Teaching Textbook for Algebra in the Spring.
• I also thought that it would be fun and interesting to take a look at Women Mathematicians during this session. This book features 15 women and we will spread them out covering one or two a week for the 10 week session.
  

Science -

• We have decided to put off Story of Science again as KM wanted to slow down a bit on her Physics so that she could really investigate each area more closely. So for the next session she will continue with her Physics Workshop Kit from Thames & Kosmos. She will also continue to supplement with Brain Pop.
• We are also going to revisit Chemistry. She had done a bit of it last year at our co-op, but I think we will try to dive a bit deeper this time around. I have gotten a light textbook - Chemistry of Matter - from Paperback Swap and she has agreed to try it. I have the Periodic Table from Basher Science Books - WHICH SHE LOVES! - as a stand by in case the text flops. I have a lot of projects and kitchen chemistry things to add in as well as BrainPop - AGAIN!
  

Social Sciences -

• For history we will be working on Ancient Rome and finishing up volume one of Story of the World. This will also conclude our Giant Lapbook! I will be sure to post all the info on that when it is complete! This will be our final history pocket as well. KM is very happy that we will also be continuing with the Horrible Histories series, which despite mixed reviews from others, has been going over very well with her! We started out with the books, then I purchased the animated series on Ebay and now have been using the resources for the CBBC series.
• We will be finishing up Rand McNally's Intermediate Geography as well as doing a cultural study of each area as it is covered in the book. I am using several other resources for this including Global Trek, Hands-On Heritage series and Art Projects from Around the World.
  

Health -
KM really likes the Learn to Be Healthy site - though some of the content is a bit below her level, most of it seems to be sinking in and she is moving right along through it. They do have a high school level, but I don't think she is ready for that set just yet. She is also working through the Health topics on Brain Pop.


Electives -

• Staying with our strong Science focus - per KM's request - she will be studying weather and meteorology this session. I will be listing our resources for this in a separate post.
• For her foreign language she is going to be doing Spanish. We were lucky enough to get a FANTASTIC deal on Tell Me More by Auralog through the Homeschool Buyers Co-op last summer and she is REALLY enjoying the program. The voice recognition software is great and the homeschool edition has worksheets that you can print off to supplement with. I will be supplementing with two workbooks - Let's Learn Spanish Grades 7 & 8. I also picked up to sticker books that I thought KM & SC could do together. This would help reinforce the basics for KM and would introduce SC to a bit of Spanish as well.
• Music Alive! is still a big hit and we will continue with this through the next session. We also will be taking a look at some opera pieces from Opera for Everyone and will be going to the Boston Lyric Opera's presentation of Barber of Seville.
  
• Piano Adventures is working incredibly! She will be starting on Level 2 and I am amazed and awestruck by how well she is playing with no outside instruction. There was talk of an interest in Flute, but I am not too sure how serious that was...
• She will be continuing with Drama at our co-op and they will be working on another Shakespearean play with music and dancing, but the title has not been disclosed yet!
• We will be continuing to work through the Meet The Masters for our art practical and theory section. She will also continue on her cross stitch work and may start some sewing as she interested in working on her costume for the play this spring.
  

Again I can't stress enough how much of a guideline this is and it is in NO WAY set in stone. I am very open to changing things that are not working and try to make sure that KM feels that she can be honest with me about how she feels something is going.