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

Vi Hart: Math Doodling

I LOVE LOVE LOVE THIS SITE!!!!!  ----- Vi Hart: Math Doodling:
Here is a taste of the great videos that can be found there -

Acing Math - One Deck at a Time - FREE Ebook

Acing Math - One Deck at a Time is a collection of math games ranging from Kindergarten to the upper elementary grades, using only an ordinary deck of playing cards.  There are games covering addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, fractions, percents, decimals, patterns, positive and negative integers, as well as many others. This is produced by the Positive Engagement Project and is only one of MANY free resources available on their site. 

Family Math Nights

Math nights can be a great fun way to interactive and apply math concepts to help solidify usage. We have done them at home, done them at the library, had co-op nights around them and the families have always had a fantastic time! This site - Math Night - was featured in the Clickschooling Newsletter this week and reminded me that we haven't had one in a really long time!
Some of my favorite modules are -

   

and some of my favorite resources include - 

From a reader -  

Kate Nonesuch said...

You may be interested in my free family math resource, funded by the Office of Literacy and Essential Skills, HRSDC.
Family Math Fun!
A manual for educators and parents who want to promote math thinking in kids of all ages.
• Things to do in the kitchen and on a walk, rhymes, games, and things to make, all to promote math thinking and learning.
• Math for the whole person: spirit, heart, body and mind are all connected in the activities in this book. When these are in balance, math becomes part of our whole lives, not a beast or a barrier.
• Patterns, recipes, and hand-outs all included (109 pages). •

Download it free at http://www.nald.ca/library/learning/familymath/cover.htm

World Education Games Are This Week!!!

Here are the event 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 some  practice time in!!!

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

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!

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!

Weekly Update - Busy Busy

We had a busy one this week! I picked CJ and DN up on Sunday and we went full throttle from the get go! KM and I had started prepping her room for the big remodel to start on Monday and CJ took some time to prep the walls. He got both coats on the green walls completed and KM is super excited to get the purple walls done in a few weeks. Since CJ is only home two days each week he has to work in stages on this project and will be taking a week off in between so that we can do something else.

While CJ was painting on Monday KM, DN and I got down to work getting lessons done. For part of our history unit on colonial days we made bread and butter - both from scratch - and I didn't even let the kids use the KitchenAid - KM thought this was a bit drastic and DN was shocked that it took us nearly 5 hours to get a loaf of bread. KM brought up the fact that if we had been making it back then it would have taken even longer because the wheat would have had to been ground, the milk gathered and separated from the cows, etc. So even though we were doing it the "old fashioned" way we were still taking advantage of modern conveniences to do so - GREAT POINT!!! We finished prepping and getting ready for the Journey North Mystery Class which will begin next Monday and played Shopping Spree from the What's Your Angle Scholastic Math Games Resource. We also finished up a game of Trivial Pursuit Junior from the night before.

Tuesday the kids got some lessons done in the morning and then we headed to ice skating before we had to bring CJ back to work. I was really glad that we all had a chance to get back on the ice, especially with CJ with us. When we got back KM had just enough time to finish up her poetry for her skype class on Wed, before we had to get her to her friends for youth group. DN and I replaced a blown taillight on my car and had had a follow up conversation in regards to his interest in the armed forces, as he had not read either of the books that he had chosen from the library while he was at home. He disclosed that he feels as though the only reason he had any interest in the military was to impress his brothers and that it really isn't something he is interested in, so we are back at square one with no interest in anything. Not really sure where to go with this beyond keeping up with the core subjects to see if something inspires or intrigues him.

DN worked on some Manga High challenges, while KM finished some history Wednesday morning before her Poetry class and then we headed off to host a teen bowling event. The kids had a great time bowling and though it was a smaller group - 9 kids - it was totally worth it for me to set it up! After dinner I brought DN to swap back and ran some errands while KM finished up her lessons for the day.

KM and I went to see Joyful Noise Thursday. KM really enjoyed it and I was surprised at well it was done. There were a few bits that I just didn't get, but all and all it was worth the matinee. When we came home KM enjoyed her new walls while finishing up some biology.
Friday is going to be a nice quiet down day, exactly what I need to end this whirlwind of a week.

Pre-registration is open for The World Education Games

Pre-registration is now open!!! Get ready to challenge yourself and others around the world!

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

Practice begins Feb 1 so be sure to register to get as much warm up time in as possible!

The Four Nations Maths Challenge - Register Today!!!

The Four Nations Maths Challenge

Another chance to get in some practice before World Education Games in March!!!!

American Math Challenge - Day 2 - Morning Results

Last Day of American Math Challenge --- Live Mathletics

Stretch those fingers and get those minds ready for some fast paced math fun!!!
Be sure to let us know how your kids have done in this fun and exciting competition!!!

American Math Challenge - Update 8pm - 1st Day

I think unless she has a huge surge of energy after x-factor she is done for the day! Here are her results ---

She did a great job, given this is her first try!!! Congrats to all who made it through the first day and best of luck in the speed rounds tomorrow!!! 

American Math Challenge Update - 5p - 1st day

I have a feeling she will be doing a bit more, but as of right now here are her 1st day stats ----