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

Intellego Unit Studies - Product Review

Unit studies and downloadable curriculum are all over the place these days, but Intellego Unit Studies are not designed like any other product I have seen around the webisphere! Created by a home educator for home educators these PDF formatted units contain interactive internet links for ease of access. Instead of trying to reinvent the wheel this publisher has used what is readily available on-line to create customizable, easily adaptable, engaging guides that have something for every type of learner. Other unit guides that I have seen simply have text that is read to or by the child with some worksheets here and there, but these guides include a plethora of internet links that lead the learner to text, video, games, projects and worksheets. The links that are kept up to date using Intellego's database to ensure that the links are current and working.


Each unit has a standard layout which includes clearly outlined objectives, KWL charts, material lists, content specific info and extension activities. Before you begin you are presented with a clearly outlined list of what your child will be learning about during this unit. This can be a great tool to take to the library with you if you would like supplement with living books or plan field trips. The KWL charts are great tools to help organize and focus learning, before starting each unit the child lists the things they already KNOW about a topic, then move on to what they WANT to know and at the end of the unit they recap the things that they have LEARNED. The units include materials lists in two areas, a master list at the beginning of the unit and then a specific list for each chapter and lesson, which is a great way to ensure you haven't missed anything - nothing is worse than getting an experiment underway only to find out that you don't have everything you need!!! The content specific information in each area is broken down into bite-size sections to clearly cover all areas of a topic with an array of multi-media resources.  The key to any great unit study program is the ability to create continuity in cross-curricular skills and Intellego has done so by including extension activities that help solidify the information the learner has gained by showing how it can be used in the real world.


Of course no product is going to be a perfect fit for every family and there were a few drawbacks to this one, which included some dialogue being presented to the teacher and the inconsistency in the resources. For me having the units written to the teacher rather than to the student is a bit of an issue as I have a child who is a very independent learner. Of the three that I reviewed both of the ones that were for grades 6-8 were written this way KM found it a bit difficult, but not impossible, to follow along and this was more of an issue when she got to an external website that was directed to a teacher rather a student. The Health Unit was written directly to the student, but some of the resources were still written directly to the teacher and expected to be used by a class of students rather than a single learner The variance in resources was also a problem when some of the links had higher expectations of prior knowledge in both the middle grades and high school levels.

Overall I am very impressed with the format of these units. As someone who NEVER used a curriculum the way that is was meant to be used, Intellego has cut down my search time and gather a myriad of sources for me all in one clearly laid out unit. I look forward to using more in the future.







~~~Disclaimer: I was given these materials to review, but was not compensated in any other way for this review. I clearly stated to the publisher prior to downloading items that complimentary receipt did not guarantee a favorable review. 

Immense Praise for Joy Hakim’s A History of US

I have previously reviewed Joy Hakim's Story of Science series and since I was so enamored by her writing, I bit the bullet and bought the 11 volume set A History of US for KM to use for her U.S. History studies. AM I EVER GLAD I DID!!! I had planned on glossing over the content so that I could figure out when I would need to order additional reading material and movies from our local library to supplement and ended up not being able to put the book down! I am no history buff, but this book captured my attention and I literally couldn't put it down.

I love that she points out what our family calls "duh" moments, things that when you are reading you think why doesn't every textbook take this approach. "When Leaders say something is all right, most people agree, without thinking for themselves." p.113

Hakim has a way of writing that just captivates and inspires you to want to keep reading. The story unfolds as if you are in a time machine looking down on what is going on. Her writing flows in an engaging and thought provoking way, as she constantly asks you to analyze and question what is being said in a conversational manner. She manages to cover even some of the more gruesome facts without getting graphic, which makes this a perfect multi-age resource.

Hakim challenges the reader to question history and emphasizes that "No one knows what happened in the past - at least we don't know the whole story"..."You gather pieces of information and try to discover how they fit." p. 9 

When I was in school I was never taught about anything before the Jamestown Settlement. Sure we were taught about Christopher Columbus sailing across the ocean blue in 1492, but they never mentioned all that went on from one point to the next, it was basically as if they left out the 16th century all together! In Hakim's text she is truly telling the story of US, beyond the United States, in direct relation to how the Americas were formed. Begining back with Beringia she has the audacity to discuss how there are actually no "NATIVE" Americans as we all came from somewhere else. She delves into the formation of settlements in the Central American islands, the Spanish conquests of Mexico and also defends the Indians, repeatedly making note of the "arrogant European" behaviors.

My favorite quote has to be - Looking back, today, it seems as if people and nations were acting just like silly little kids. Each one saying "My religion is better than yours." p. 139

I have only read the first volume, but I have already absorbed more information from this book than I did in my entire college semester of U.S. History. I highly recommend this series as a first rate, informative, intelligent text that will surely make a history lover out of the most resistant person.

I will be getting Volume 2 off the shelf as soon as I finish typing this!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~UPDATE --- We are nearly done with Book 5 at this point. KM and I are still totally engaged in this series. I love how every angle and point of view is touched on, so that you can get a feel for what life was really like for not just the rich, but the poor and the inbetweeners as well!!!

You Tube Monday - The Agricultural Revolution: Crash Course World History #1

Love, love, LOVE this series!!!!

You Tube Monday - Epic time-lapse map of Europe

You Tube Monday - Horrible Histories - Animated Series

After last weeks post, I got lots of questions about the animated version, but all I could find online was this intro and one clip. You can however purchase the DVD set on Amazon  and not only is it worth the money, you can usually resell it and get your money back when you are done.

You Tube Monday - HORRIBLE HISTORIES - The 4 Georges: 'Born 2 Rule'

We have loved all the horrible history books and KM really enjoyed the cartoon version, but we were floored to find this BBC skit version. I don't like that it is all out of order and random, but when you are looking for a specif topic these are great little tidbits.

Yout Tube Monday - An Interesting Interpreation for World History

DISCLOSURE --- THIS VIDEO IS RATED MATURE!!! There are some swears an inappropriate content for younger children.

Hetalia was recommend to KM by a friend since she is so into anime. As it was rated MA, I decided to watch it with her. I have to say it was rather interesting, it got more than a little BIZARRE about 10 episodes in, but it does give an intriguing perspective of the world's historical events in the last century. The inappropriate language could easily have been left out and this would be the only real downfall I have seen so far. Take a peek -

U.S. History Lesson Plans - Screenshots

As I have gotten a number of emails after posting the resources that we have used for our U.S. History study from people asking about how we implemented it I figured the easy thing to do would be to take screenshots from the Homeschool Tracker program to show exactly what we are doing and here they are --

Just a few notes --- We have all reading and worksheets assignment due on Wed, but we tend to spread them out over the course of the week which allows for extra flexibility in our schedule. Some experiments, activities and movies are listed on Mondays so that KM and DN could work on or watch them together, as they are both following the same time line, but DN is not using the Story of US textbooks at all. We take a two week book break in March - starting this next week - but KM decided that she wanted to keep watching Liberty Kids during this time and so that is why there is two weeks of just the show listed. The "Book 2 Part 3" references are based on the break down used in the Assessment Book and has worked really well for us. I will be adding additional historical movies and documentaries on things like Lewis and Clark, Westward expansion etc. as they come along in the Story of US series. I had been trying to read ahead, but just have not had time to do that so I get a general idea and plug in something ahead, but for the most part we read a section together and then once I know what it is fully covering I will look up on netflix or in our library for corresponding and relevant materials. Hope that makes sense. I am more than happy to answer any questions anyone has, but it is really helpful to others if you leave them in the comments section!

U.S. History Resources - PART 1

So I have been asked by several people to put together the list of resources that we have been using for our U.S. History course. I am splitting this topic up over 2 years because I really felt like it would be far too rushed if we did it in one. I have all our Part 1 resources complete and this period goes from pre-history to 1850 and the main spine that we revolve all other materials around is A History of US: 11-Volume Set. Many of the following resources will be used during both years of our study. I would also like to mention that though I have teenagers, they are at very different levels and have had varied exposure to the topics so there is a wide selection of content and approaches covered here. I will also be periodically adding to this listing and will repost accordingly but the entire list will also be located - HERE.

Television and Video Resources -
NOVA: America's Stone Age Explorers
National Geographic: The Great Inca Rebellion
Christopher Columbus Interactive DVD
Disney History Connections: Colonial America
National Geographic - The New World: Nightmare in Jamestown
NOVA: Pocahontas Revealed
Saints and Strangers
Yours and Mine: The Lesson of 1623
Salem Witch Trials (History Channel)
The History of Warfare: French & Indian War
America: The Story of Us
The Liberty Kids
The History Channel Presents The Revolution
Johnny Tremain
The Crucible
George Washington Interactive DVD
The Louisiana Purchase (History Channel)

Non-Fiction Reading Resources -
The Discovery of the Americas: From Prehistory Through the Age of Columbus (The American Story)
Who Are You Calling A Woolly Mammoth (America's Funny But True History)
Awesome Ancient Ancestors!: Mound Builders, Maya, and More (America's Horrible Histories)
Cranky Colonials: Pilgrims, Puritans, Even Pirates! (America's Horrible Histories)
Revolting Revolutionaries, 1750s-1790s (America's Funny But True History No. 5)
Westward, Ha-Ha!, 1800-1850 (America's Funny But True History)
You Wouldn't Want to Sail With Christopher Columbus!: Uncharted Waters You'd Rather Not Cross
You Wouldn't Want to Travel with Captain Cook!: A Voyage You'd Rather Not Make
You Wouldn't Want to Explore With Sir Francis Drake!: A Pirate You'd Rather Not Know
You Wouldn't Want to Be Sick in the 16th Century!: Diseases You'd Rather Not Catch
You Wouldn't Want to Sail on the Mayflower!: A Trip That Took Entirely Too Long
You Wouldn't Want to Be an American Colonist!: A Settlement You'd Rather Not Start
You Wouldn't Want to Be a Salem Witch!: Bizarre Accusations You'd Rather Not Face
You Wouldn't Want to Be at the Boston Tea Party!: Wharf Water Tea, You'd Rather Not Drink

Historical Fiction Reading Resources -
Mary, Bloody Mary
Beware, Princess Elizabeth
Doomed Queen Anne
A Journey to the New World: The Diary of Remember Patience Whipple, Mayflower, 1620 (Dear America Series)
Witch Child
My Name Is America: The Journal Of Jasper Jonathan Pierce, A Pilgrim Boy
The Journal of Douglas Allen Deeds: The Donner Party Expedition (My Name is America)
The Secret of Sarah Revere

Supplemental Text, Workbook, Worksheets, Etc.
A History of US: Assessment Book: Books 1-10
Explorers Thematic Unit
Cartoon History of the United States (Cartoon History of the Modern World)
Colonial Days: Discover the Past with Fun Projects, Games, Activities, and Recipes (American Kids in History Series)
U.S. History: Inventive Exercises to Sharpen Skills and Raise Achievement (Basic, Not Boring)
Hip-Hop U.S. History: The New and Innovative Approach to Learning American History (Flocabulary Study Guides)
25 Map Crosswords: Ready-to-Go Reproducible Maps With Crossword Puzzles to Teach Key Geography Skills and Build Content-Area Vocabulary (Teaching Resources)
The American Revolution (History Comes Alive)
U.S. Government & Presidents: Know-the-Facts Review Game: 100 Must-Know Facts in a Q&A Game Format to Help Kids Really Remember Standards-Based Social Studies Information
Pioneers (History Comes Alive)