FREE Election 2012 Resources from iCivics - Repost

As the election grows closer I wanted to repost this information in case anyone missed it the first time through -

Election 2012! | iCivics:


Teachers, register for a free account and choose from a variety of specially-designed materials including games, lesson plans, and more to bring this year's election into your classroom!

The primaries, the conventions, the campaign trail... November 6th, 2012 is growing ever closer so iCivics has put together special election-focused curriculum packages to bring the presidential election into your classroom. Choose from a three or five day approach, or even run your own mock election using iCivics' proven lesson plans and games. We've also put together a selection of one-day activities and additional resources for you and your students.

Three Day Election Curriculum
Day One: The Electoral Process
Take a peek into the electoral process- from party primaries to the general election. Students will learn the distinctions between the popular vote and the Electoral College, and exercise their critical reasoning skills to analyze the differences between the presidential and congressional elections. Students will also contrast the various nomination processes and learn about the role of party conventions in American politics.

Day Two: Candidate Evaluation
Students evaluate hypothetical candidates by establishing and applying their own criteria for selecting public officials. Through a variety of activities, students assess candidates based on their qualifications, experience, campaign speeches and campaign materials. Students track campaign promises, explore voting records and evaluate the legitimacy of information resources. The role of the media, fundraising and opinion polls in the electoral process are also discussed.
Day Three: Win the White House (game)
In Win the White House, you get to manage your very own presidential campaign by strategically raising funds, polling voters, launching media campaigns, and making personal appearances. Keep a close eye on the map as you battle over electoral votes and popular support. 



Five Day Election Curriculum

Day One: The Electoral Process
Take a peek into the electoral process- from party primaries to the general election. Students will learn the distinctions between the popular vote and the Electoral College, and exercise their critical reasoning skills to analyze the differences between the presidential and congressional elections. Students will also contrast the various nomination processes and learn about the role of party conventions in American politics.
Day Two: Candidate Evaluation
Students evaluate hypothetical candidates by establishing and applying their own criteria for selecting public officials. Through a variety of activities, students assess candidates based on their qualifications, experience, campaign speeches and campaign materials. Students track campaign promises, explore voting records and evaluate the legitimacy of information resources. The role of the media, fundraising and opinion polls in the electoral process are also discussed.
Days Three and Four: One Big Party
After taking a broad picture look at the different hats parties wear, students take a quick look at the impact of political party systems. On day two, guide students through the impact of the two major political parties in the United States. From examining the political spectrum to analyzing their own stances on several current issues, students will walk away understanding the complexity of the two-party system. 
Day 5: Win the White House (game)
 In Win the White House, you get to manage your very own presidential campaign by strategically raising funds, polling voters, launching media campaigns, and making personal appearances. Keep a close eye on the map as you battle over electoral votes and popular support. 


Mock Election (Three Days)
Overview
Day 1: Party Formation and Nominations
Assign students to a party and hold a primary election.
Day 2: Campaigning
Students create campaign materials for their party and nominee.
Day 3: Rules, Election and Reflection
Students create election rules, review ballot options, vote, and reflect on the election process.



One Day Activities
Voting Rights 
Explore the evolution of voting rights in the Unites States through an interactive PowerPoint presentation highlighting landmark changes. Following the presentation and class discussion, students apply the new knowledge of voting legislation to individual scenarios through a class activity. 
Cast Your Vote (game)
What issues do you want to ask candidates about? In Cast Your Vote, choose the questions in a debate, rate responses, and vote for the candidate of your choice.

Additional Resources
Election Glossary
A glossary of election-related terms ranging from acceptance speech to voting age.
Election Resources
Resources including nonpartisan candidate evaluation and information, the presidential debate calendar, and a compendium of political advertisements from the 1950s onward.

'via Blog this'

2012-2013 Education Plan COMPLETED!!!

We are on our summer/fall book break and I have taken some time to get things reorganized before starting our fall session. I think that I have arrived at the point where we have made the final decisions for the majority of KM's lessons for the next three sessions. AS ALWAYS nothing is set in stone, but each year I feel more comfortable and end up changing less things throughout. I take a lot of time researching and organizing in the beginning to help us feel comfortable and to allow our year to flow.

I will also continue to update the Home Education Through High School Resources page so be sure to check it out!!!

KM's Education Outline

Summer '12 – Spring '13 Sessions 

ELA - Literature & Writing

Classic Fiction including - Little Women, Frankenstein, Yearling, Ethan Frome, Wrinkle in Time, Animal Farm, & Adventures of Huck Finn ~ additionally we will be watching various cinematic versions of each of these when applicable. 
Glencoe Literature Guides

Steck-Vaughn G: Language Arts, Writing
Reading Section from - Steck-Vaughn Complete GED Preparation 

Math

^{Hands on Banking For Teens - Summer Only 
Applying Algebra - Fall - Spring}

Science

Chem Prep Unit 1 of GPB Chemistry Video Resources - Summer Only

Chemistry (Science) 

Various Chemistry related videos which will be listed - HERE 

Social Sciences – U.S. History, Current Events & Geography

A History of US Books 5-9

Story of the US DVD

U.S. History – Basic Not Boring

CNN Student News

Election Study - iCivics Resources

Will of the people - Virtual Field Trip

Health & P.E.

What Do You Stand For? For Teens: A Guide to Building Character 
Bowling
Tennis
Ice Skating

ExerBeat

Electives

Milady's Standard Cosmetology with Theory Workbook & Practical    Workbook

Youth Group

Volunteer Work

Chess Club 
Teen Advisory Group 
Shakespeare Theatre Group

Japanese from Zero!
Japanese 1 - GPB Resources 

Essentially this would be KM's 10th grade year if she were in traditional school.  KM's lighter Summer Schedule - 

and her Fall - Spring Schedule

Election 2012! | iCivics - FREE Resources

Election 2012! | iCivics:


Teachers, register for a free account and choose from a variety of specially-designed materials including games, lesson plans, and more to bring this year's election into your classroom!

The primaries, the conventions, the campaign trail... November 6th, 2012 is growing ever closer so iCivics has put together special election-focused curriculum packages to bring the presidential election into your classroom. Choose from a three or five day approach, or even run your own mock election using iCivics' proven lesson plans and games. We've also put together a selection of one-day activities and additional resources for you and your students.

Three Day Election Curriculum
Day One: The Electoral Process
Take a peek into the electoral process- from party primaries to the general election. Students will learn the distinctions between the popular vote and the Electoral College, and exercise their critical reasoning skills to analyze the differences between the presidential and congressional elections. Students will also contrast the various nomination processes and learn about the role of party conventions in American politics.

Day Two: Candidate Evaluation
Students evaluate hypothetical candidates by establishing and applying their own criteria for selecting public officials. Through a variety of activities, students assess candidates based on their qualifications, experience, campaign speeches and campaign materials. Students track campaign promises, explore voting records and evaluate the legitimacy of information resources. The role of the media, fundraising and opinion polls in the electoral process are also discussed.
Day Three: Win the White House (game)
In Win the White House, you get to manage your very own presidential campaign by strategically raising funds, polling voters, launching media campaigns, and making personal appearances. Keep a close eye on the map as you battle over electoral votes and popular support. 



Five Day Election Curriculum

Day One: The Electoral Process
Take a peek into the electoral process- from party primaries to the general election. Students will learn the distinctions between the popular vote and the Electoral College, and exercise their critical reasoning skills to analyze the differences between the presidential and congressional elections. Students will also contrast the various nomination processes and learn about the role of party conventions in American politics.
Day Two: Candidate Evaluation
Students evaluate hypothetical candidates by establishing and applying their own criteria for selecting public officials. Through a variety of activities, students assess candidates based on their qualifications, experience, campaign speeches and campaign materials. Students track campaign promises, explore voting records and evaluate the legitimacy of information resources. The role of the media, fundraising and opinion polls in the electoral process are also discussed.
Days Three and Four: One Big Party
After taking a broad picture look at the different hats parties wear, students take a quick look at the impact of political party systems. On day two, guide students through the impact of the two major political parties in the United States. From examining the political spectrum to analyzing their own stances on several current issues, students will walk away understanding the complexity of the two-party system. 
Day 5: Win the White House (game)
 In Win the White House, you get to manage your very own presidential campaign by strategically raising funds, polling voters, launching media campaigns, and making personal appearances. Keep a close eye on the map as you battle over electoral votes and popular support. 


Mock Election (Three Days)
Overview
Day 1: Party Formation and Nominations
Assign students to a party and hold a primary election.
Day 2: Campaigning
Students create campaign materials for their party and nominee.
Day 3: Rules, Election and Reflection
Students create election rules, review ballot options, vote, and reflect on the election process.



One Day Activities
Voting Rights 
Explore the evolution of voting rights in the Unites States through an interactive PowerPoint presentation highlighting landmark changes. Following the presentation and class discussion, students apply the new knowledge of voting legislation to individual scenarios through a class activity. 
Cast Your Vote (game)
What issues do you want to ask candidates about? In Cast Your Vote, choose the questions in a debate, rate responses, and vote for the candidate of your choice.

Additional Resources
Election Glossary
A glossary of election-related terms ranging from acceptance speech to voting age.
Election Resources
Resources including nonpartisan candidate evaluation and information, the presidential debate calendar, and a compendium of political advertisements from the 1950s onward.

'via Blog this'

Repost - Science Projects That Really Work!

Janice VanCleave’s Presents Science Projects that Really WORK!!! – Official UM Review

Science was always my worry area. I didn't enjoy it in school and feared havingto take the responsibility of ensuring that my VERY science minded daughter was going to get all that she wanted out of our science education at home. I bought all sorts of kits and checked out every project book I could find at the library until I came across Janice VanCleave. If you have never heard of her, then you have never read some of the most concisely written science experiment books I have ever encountered and you and your kids are truly missing out!

Although I have enjoyed each of her books that I have read The Science For Every Kid series is a favorite in our household. In this series she covers everything fromChemistry to Food and Nutrition to Geometry, cohesively covering topics so that the kids can clearly grasp the material. This series could easily be used as a spine to jump off from, as a full science curriculum or a supplement for labs and projects. For example in Food and Nutrition for Every Kid VanCleave has each chapter set up as follows:

• What You Need to Know - here terms are explained and background information is given
  
• Exercises - the learner is presented with questions to be answered or situations that need to be resolved utilizing the information they read in the previous section.
• Activity - a project to allow the application of the skills in a real world situation.
• Solutions to Exercises - she not only gives the answers but lays out step-by-step instructions for solving each exercise.

With over 50 best-selling science experiment books that span an audience from toddler to mature adolescents, this is one author you will want to remember. Not only have I never had a single failed experiment from her books, she gives explanations that make sense. Though we have come across a few materials that we had to do a bit of digging around for the majority of materials you will need can be found in your home or in a quick trip to the local grocery or hardware store, making it convenient on a rainy day or spur of the moment. I can't say enough about these fabulous resources.

To see some more of our successful science experiments from Biology for Every Kid check out my blogposts - HERE and HERE.

You can learn more about Janice VanCleave as well as take a look through the plethora of tips, ideas and projects at her site - JVC's Science Fair Projects.

Introduction to Essentials of Cell Biology | Learn Science at Scitable

Stumbled across this great FREE Resource Introduction to Essentials of Cell Biology and just had to pass it on!

Synopsis ~ What do an amoeba and an elephant have in common? If liver cells have the same DNA as brain cells, why are they different? What goes wrong during cancer? The answers to these questions depend on the properties of cells, the fundamental units of life. Essentials of Cell Biology introduces readers to the core concepts of cell biology. This course can provide an introduction to cell biology for beginning students of all ages or be a springboard to more specialized topics for advanced students. The course begins with a discussion of the fundamental properties of cells: the origin of the cell, how cells are organized, how they reproduce, and how they use energy. Other units in the course expand these topics and provide insight into the processes that regulate cell function and generate the amazing variety of cell types seen in living organisms. Topics include the decoding process that produces distinct sets of proteins in different cell types, the cellular structures responsible for cell function, the signals that cells use to communicate with one another, and the intricate controls on cell division. At the end of each unit in this eBook there is the option to test your knowledge with twenty multiple-choice questions.


Scitables also has other FREE resources available and some very interesting Knowledge Projects ~ The Knowledge Project is an effort to work with the science academic community to build a reliable, openly accessible library of educational science content for college and high school students. Each article is written by experts in their field. The Knowledge Project is a living effort; articles will be updated over time in response to new developments in the field and specific suggestions by users.

Summer Session - Another example of why we do lessons year round!

Monday was the perfect example of why we do lessons year round. KM's alarm went off at 9 and she came bouncing out of her room and was dancing through the kitchen. When I asked why she was so happy she said "I get to start my cosmetology book today!" Now we have had this book for months and she could have begun it at anytime, but today is the first day of our summer session which is when she decided to have the cosmetology added on to her schedule. She is really driven by her schedule, it keeps her motivated and focused. Without it she tends to just motor along with no real direction and SHE notices that she doesn't seem to be herself.

She had a little over 4 weeks off from book work, but by the beginning of the third week she was really getting bored, losing focus and started asking about doing different sports - volleyball at the high school, taking gymnastics, maybe trying a dance class, but when I said most of those things start in the fall she said well I won't have TIME for that then! Each and every time we take a break longer than a week or two she gets like this EVEN when we have things planned most days. I see a very REAL difference in her personality, demeanor, and attitude. Don't get me wrong she has days where she enjoys doing nothing - like when we spent Sunday watching almost the entire first season of Gossip Girl on Netflix -, but if it goes on for more than a day or two she is just off.

Today was a great start she went and completed her volunteer hours in the morning, we had lunch after I picked her up and she was off and running with the Hands-On Banking for Teens, her cosmetology program and she began her history assignment for the week. Summer lessons are much more laid back, but she knows that it allows us to have greater flexibility in our schedule throughout the rest of the year. I am think of switching it up a bit more and cutting back the two lengthier breaks - Sept and June - and adding those extra weeks throughout the year so that we don't get this funk again. 

Recognizing What is Really Important - Thinking about your child's future

Should have known then
 she would want to go
into cosmetology!

There is no time like the present to think about what your child wants in the future. If you have been a reader of my blog for more than a week I am sure that you have seen more than one post about changes that we have made - in curricula, scheduling, hair colors you name it! We are all about changes, going with the flow, following interests and dropping things that just don't work, but I also really REALLY like a plan so that I have a constant direction.

When a parent is looking ahead at their child's home education path they need to have an end goal in mind in order to help their child achieve their goals - be it college, trade school, internships, job skills, entrepreneurship or whatever else they can think of. In order to focus on what is important to the child you need to be aware of their likes and dislikes and allow them to have some say in what they are doing. You also need to be observant of your child and by recognizing their strengths and weaknesses you can often discover at a young age which path might be a good fit for them and help to lead them in the right direction. I am not saying that you can determine at the age of 5 whether a child will be a doctor or a runway model or a gas attendant, but if you pay attention you will be able to acknowledge that your math hating 14 year old will probably never be an engineer.



I hear so many parents complaining about fighting with a child to get work completed, especially when the kids enter the teenage years. The cries of "when am I ever going to use this?" bring frustration and resistance into a relationship at such a critical stage which requires nurturing and continuity. Listen to your child and really think about whether they are likely to "use this" or are you just following someone else's pre-designed plan. More than 90% of people never use the advanced high school math that they were forced to learn in the "real world". That is JUST math. How many adults know how to diagram a sentence, know all of the functions of the organs, can recite the periodic table of elements, can name all 50 states - you homeschool mom's don't count, since you probably learned it while TEACHING it to your kids!!!


I am not discounting any of these as important or not, just using it to point out that different people have different skill sets and different kids have different interests. Families have things that are important to them and parents have some things that they are not willing to bend on for various reasons. You should expose your kids to EVERYTHING, introduce and encourage exploration, but if no spark is lit then what is the point in forcing drudgery and disdain for the topic. This "one path fits all" approach that many homeschoolers start out with really is not much better than school. Not all children are going to head off to college and they shouldn't! We need people who work at the grocery store, at the gas station,on the theater stage,and  to invent the next must have gadget, just as much as we need doctors and engineers. There is no less value in any particular path and all are necessary for our society to function.


So when planning ahead really take into consideration your families fundamental requirements and your child's interests and goals. Don't just follow the status quo, but challenge it and challenge yourself to truly meet the needs of your child!

Frog Hatchery Project COMPLETE!!!

Here is the complete outline of our 3 month journey hatching frogs! 




As part of our continued biology study work we are now HATCHING Frog Embryos. We ordered a kit from Home Science Tools and we have been very happy with it so far. The kit arrived in about 10 days and then the frog embryos arrived about 2 weeks after we sent the order in for them. Now we are just waiting and keeping our fingers crossed that some of the will hatch. Our embryos are going to be leopard frogs and we are looking forward to this new adventure!!!

Here are some resources and websites we are using - 

• The Frogs and Toads of North America: A Comprehensive Guide to Their Identification,Behavior, and Calls
• Uncover a Frog (Uncover Books)
• The Amphibian Class (Family Trees)
• Frogs 
• Exploraturium - Frogs
• KidZone - Frogs
• Alternative to Frog Dissection
• Frogs are Green - listing of more alternatives to dissection

Observations and photos - 

3/21/12 - THEY ARRIVED!!!

3/23/12 - Four of the six embryos started to hatch and wiggle there ways out of their sac. The fifth is looking like it is starting to unfurl, but the sixth has showed no sign of change.

3/25/12 - The four tadpoles started swimming around a bit today. They remain at the bottom and near the sacks, but they are definitely swimming. We will have to feed them in a day or two. The fifth and sixth have had no change so it does not look as though they are going to make it.

3/26/12 - As most of them are swimming around it was time to feed the tadpoles the powder mixture today and discovered that the 5th is squirming around a bit. The 6th embryo's outer sac is separating, but the black speck still has no change.

3/28/12 - Tadpoles are doing well. The five that hatched are swimming and we have decided to remove the unhatched tadpole when the first water change today.
Here is a picture of our malformed little guy and one of the correctly formed for comparison, as well as our unhatched embryo -

4/1/12 - The froglets are still doing well. The five are all looking really healthy and the one we were concerned about has caught up with the others and its tail has straightened out.  

4/4/12 - Three of the froglets are bigger almost twice as big as the other two.

4/10/12 - They are zipping along. 

4/11/12 - Today we poured the froglets and 1/2 of the water into a bowl in order to empty the rest of the water out of the tank to clean out the rest of the debris and waste. 

4/14/12 - watching for limbs but nothing yet - 

5/11/12 - haven't updated in a while as they really haven't had much of a change other than there size lately. The largest is now about 3 inches and little one is only 1.5 inches, so there is quite a size difference. Since we will have to eventually create a terrarium for the critters we decided to upgrade to a 10 gallon tank today, but only put about 3.5 gallons of water in it. This gives them plenty of space to swim around and grow but will not become overwhelming to change the water. It should also be ample space so that the littlest will not get eaten or taken over by the larger.

5/13/12 - So we have determined that the problem with our littlest froglet - Ozzi - is that it's organs are not centered within the body. In the picture below you can see the red mass of organs is shifted to the left side of it's body.

I am not really sure what the outcome will be, but we are keeping a close eye on this little one.

5/16/12 - Legs have sprouted

5/31/12 - I awoke this morning to discover two things - one sad, one happy. Little Ozzy did not make it, this morning he was found on the bottom of the tank, barely moving and I felt it was time to end his suffering. He will be missed. Charlie, on the other hand has sprouted his front legs, so we have added the floating piece of wood to the tank. I think he will need to be moved to another tank soon. The second largest - still unnamed at this point - definitely has his hind legs sprouting and the twins are holding stable.

The second largest - still unnamed at this point - definitely has his hind legs sprouting and the twins are holding stable. This continues to be one of the most educational and interesting projects yet. I must do in all home ed households!

6/3/12 -Charlie was found upon the piece of wood this morning.

 So KM went out and gathered some greens and dirt from the yard to create a terrarium for our little friend.

We used the smaller tank for now and once the next froggy finishes morphing we will have to swap things around again, but for now we hope Charlie will be happy. 

6/19/12 - 

Charlie in his terrarium.

 Not too much has changed over the last few weeks. Charlie is doing great in his new habitat and seems to really like the pinhead crickets from our local pet store, but is not so crazy about the meal worms. Bertie seems to be on the cusp of metamorphism and should have his front legs at anytime now. Number 3 is doing well, he is substantially smaller than Bertie which is difficult to tell because of the angle of the shot below. 3 does have rear legs coming in, so it appears he is just morphing at an even slower rate. Number 4 is still tiny and although he has stopped floating upside down - possibly caused from a bacterial infection - he doesn't seem to be growing very much.   
Once Bertie has his front legs and perches on the piece of wood we will be turning the 10 gallon tank into a terrarium for the two frogs and will move 3 & 4 into the two smaller tanks. The one drawback to the kit that we got was that didn't realize at the time that we would need to upgrade the facilities to be able to keep the frog's long term. If I had known that at the time, I may have just gotten the eggs and food and not the whole kit, as the tank is not even big enough to keep one frog for more than a month or two.

Number 3 above & Bertie below

Number 4

6/20 - Number 4 took a turn for the worse. He suddenly was not moving very much and then I noticed Number 3 was poking at him a lot and he wasn't swimming away, so I felt that it was time to take him out of the tank. When CJ got home, later that day, I mentioned we should probably think about switch the tanks because Bert looked like his middle was getting a bit more defined and I needed CJ to help me so we should really probably do it over the next few days while he was home. So we went that night to get the glass and aquarium sealant to make the tank into a terrarium. 


6/21 -  CJ was looking at Bert and noticing the changes in his mouth. He went to the store to pick up a few things and when he came back Bert's front legs had sprouted out. I moved Bert and Frank - previously known as Number 3 - into the smaller tanks to get the 10 gallon prepped. I put the piece of wood into the container that Bert was in so that he could get up and rest when he was ready.

Bert relaxing!!!

6/22 - TO MY SHOCK Bert was on the wood!!! Charlie had swam around for 3 or 4 days before he got up on the wood, but Bert was ready to go. However our tank was not ready yet as the sealant takes 48 hours to fully dry.

6/23 - I noticed that Bert's tail was swiftly resorbing and he would need to eat soon, so I decided to make a temporary home for him and Charlie in the tote that we use when KM catches snakes in the backyard ----

6/24 - I tested the seal and there is a slight leak on one side so I am going to have to pick up some more sealant, but luckily Bert and Charlie seem to be liking their temporary home ---

6/26/12 - The terrarium is holding water with no problem and Charlie and Bertie are LOVING IT!!! Charlie likes to perch on the rock and grab any crickets that happen to pass by - there is quite a belly on that one! Bertie can often be found burrowed in a corner or under the fern. Unfortunately Frank didn't make the transition, I am not sure if the water ratio was not accurate or if we should have waited until his front legs emerged to make  the switch, but sadly he was found floating the next morning.

Well our frog hatchery project is complete. We started out with six eggs and ended up with two healthy frogs. This has been one of the most incredible projects we have ever done. There really is no better way to understand natural selection, evolution, life cycle and responsibility than to just DO IT!!! You can read it in a book over and over, but until you see it and experience it first hand you don't really get it!