Today At Our Homeschool, A Learning Log

Monday, July 30th, 2007

2007-07-30T15:49:00.000-07:00

Busy day today.

We discussed light and lighthouses for Konos. We did our Bible: Psalm 119:105, Language Arts: types of sentences: imperative and simple sentences and Literature: read Keep the Lights Burning, Abbie and analyzed with discussion questions.

After Konos both kids took a spelling test and did their math.

That's it in a nutshell.

July 26th

2007-07-26T19:08:00.000-07:00

Today we got back to our lessons. We are still learning about light and authority in Konos. We studied the light bulb and Thomas Edison's part in creating a new longer lasting filament. The Princess drew a diagram of a light bulb and it's parts while the Prince helped look up vocabulary words in the dictionary. Both kids practiced drilling math facts and the Princess worked on review work. The kids have really lost aptitude in math and hopefully patience and lots of drill will bring them back up to speed. The Princess and I went to the library in search of new books and videos. This evening, I gave spelling tests and we took a Konos field trip. We drove downtown to see what kinds of lights we could identify and then went to Home Depot for further "study". Today was definitely more productive than yesterday.

July 25th

2007-07-26T19:07:00.001-07:00

Today we got home from the sleepover and suffering from lack of sleep, didn't really do much. The kids built a fort in the schoolroom so at least creativity was nurtured. The Princess also tried a new recipe for "easy play dough" which didn't turn out very well. Hopefully tomorrow will be more productive.

July 24th

2007-07-26T19:05:00.000-07:00

Today we have a sleepover with scouts. It's a once a year event and so there is little time for schoolwork. We did math and spelling before leaving since those are the subjects we are behind in.

Back to School and Blogging About It

2007-07-23T13:11:00.000-07:00

We are finally back to school and I am finally recording it again. We ended school last year on April 23rd, the day the Princess broke her ankle. Today is July 23rd, so that means we took a 3 month "summer" vacation, which was really half spring - half summer, but same-difference, right? So here's what we've done today:

Konos In A Box: Obedience: Light and Authority
Bible / Language Arts / Literature

Spelling Power tests to determine current spelling level for both kids. The Princess taking anoher placement test tomorrow to determine exact grade level. Although her reading level is very high, her spelling skills are lacking. She's about two grades behind. Since the Prince just started spelling (according to Spelling Power recommendations), he will start at the beginning of the word lists.

Math U See review work (There was some trouble here that Dad will take care of when he gets home.)

We also read Proverbs 1. Our pastor recommended that we read one chapter a day in Proverbs and pick a verse that speaks to us to work on. The Princess picked verse 8 and the Prince picked verse 9.

I'd go into more detail, but I'm just trying to get back into the swing of things and I really don't think that I should over do it by being an over acheiver just yet.

I pray that I am able to make simple yet effective habits for our school year and not overwhelm myself with other "stuff" that is empty and fruitless.

September 15-16

2006-10-02T09:11:00.000-07:00

Not a regular school day, but an educational trip non-the-less. We visited the beach with my parents since Hubby was out of town on business and it was my birthday. The kids decided to collect tiny mollusks and see how they worked in a clear bottle. It was very interesting to watch them. We also collected a tiny man-o-war in a bottle and watched it for a while. The kids have a better understanding of how long the tentacles can actually go and why these creatures are so dangerous. The kids also had two firsts even though they have been visiting the coast since infancy: first walk on a jetty and first ferry ride.

September 4-8

2006-10-02T08:51:00.000-07:00

Yes, we did school on Labor Day. Since the kids don't take normal holidays, we decided to have school. Besides, Labor Day is a holiday for the blue collar American worker. My children are not blue collar American workers. This week we studied Parliamentary Procedure. The Princess also finished her badge requirements to begin working on her Girl Scout Bronze Award. The kids were off school Friday to prepare for a visit to their grandparents for the next week. Part of that included cleaning their room so I don't have to look at it all week.

August 28-September 1

2006-10-02T08:40:00.000-07:00

I am now working from home so, I also started keeping assignment sheets on August 29th. This is a check off list I give the kids while I work from home. I check their progress throughout the day and there is space for evaluations at the end of the day. Anything left undone can be added to the next day's progress list. Our unit theme this week was the Constitional Convention. Lots of this was over the Prince's head and some was even too much for the Princess, but I think the children really learned about the hard work that was put into forming our country. The check list itself was also a learning tool. The kids are learning to be responsible and self-motivated while I am busy with work. They also have to learn to be respectful so that I can have a peaceful work environment. It was a rough week with me working and trying to make sure something got accomplished. It didn't go the way I planned, but it wasn't a complete loss. This week was a learning week for things other than just academics. It was definately character building.

August 21-25

2006-08-28T19:12:00.000-07:00

Last week was a blur. The kids did math & the Princess did her spelling and grammar. We learned about Ben Franklin. The kids also watched The Revolution on the History Channel with Hubby. We did stamp prints with potato stamps and discussed the processes that Ben Franklin would have used to print a newspaper. Not as much accomplished as I would have liked, but they didn't just do busy work either.

August 14-18

2006-08-16T22:01:00.000-07:00

Verse for the week is I Tim. 2:1-2

Monday - First day back to "school". Studied George Washington. Learned about his "George-isms", dressed up like George Washington. The Princess is quite resourceful with costumes on the fly. Looked up vocabulary for week together and discussed.

Tuesday - The Princess did spelling. Both did math. The Prince did his first reading lesson from Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons, which is way behind his level but we are starting from the beginning. The kids also researched a little more about George Washington.

Wednesday - Princess: Spelling, Prince: Reading Lesson 2 & Math, Princess read Thomas Jefferson biography to Prince. Discussed as family decisions that Washington made and wisdom of each. Dramatized parts of George Washington's life.

Thursday - Princess: Spelling, Prince: Math & biography of Thomas Jefferson on tape. Discussed Thomas Jefferson, worked on activities for our end of unit lapbook, discussed architecture of Monticello. Learned that Thomas Jefferson & John Adams died the same day on July 4th, 50 years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Thomas Jefferson also died with a large amount of debt forcing his family to eventually sell Monticello.

Friday - Princess: Math, Prince: Math. Met with friends for lunch and "P.E." on the playscape.

August 1-13

2006-08-16T21:56:00.000-07:00

The kids left to visit grandparents on the first. They didn't return until the 7th. We mostly lollygagged around the house and it was good for us to experience boredom. We were so looking forward to learning something. We went iceskating with our scout group and the kids took "woodshop" at the Lowe's Kids' Workshop day on the 12th. They also "helped" dad to build washer boxes and did their usual household duties.

Week of July 31-Aug 1

2006-08-05T21:21:00.000-07:00

The kids were completely out of school last week as they went to visit grandparents.

Yearly Planning - Weekly Schedule

2006-07-26T12:50:00.000-07:00

Tentative Weekly Schedule
Monday ~ All Day Konos
Tuesday ~ Math/LA/Konos/Family Reading/Scouts
Wednesday ~ Math/LA/Konos/Family Reading
Thursday ~ Math/LA/Konos/Family Reading
Friday ~ Math/LA/Konos/Field Trip Friday

Yearly Planning - Daily Schedule

2006-07-26T12:33:00.000-07:00

As you can tell from my previous post, I am planning the upcoming school year. There will be several posts on this subject.

Tentative Daily Schedule
7:30 AM routine/Mom cook breakfast
7:45 Dad leaves for work
8:00 Breakfast & Clean Up
8:30 AM Chores
9:00 Family Prayer/Bible/Handwriting (While Mom reads devotional story.)
9:30 Mom w/ Prince - Phonics & Reading / Princess - Math U See
10:00 Mom w/ Princess - Spelling & Grammar / Prince - Math U See
10:30 Mom checks progress while kids take break
11:00 Konos Activities
12:00 Lunch & Clean Up
12:30 Family Reading on Konos topic (kids may fold laundry do light chores)
1:00 PM Chores
1:30 Mom look over kids' work/Kids work on finishing projects
2:30 Kids' Free Time (Mom's time to work on projects/chores/etc...)
5:30 Clean Up/Dinner Prep
6 ish Dad Arrives Home
6:30 Dinner w/Family
7:30 Dad Time
8:30 Kids' Evening Routine
9:00 Kids' Lights Out

Week of July 24-28

2006-07-25T15:00:00.000-07:00

Sunday and Monday ~ Clean, rearrange, organize kids' bedroom. This included sorting through all the extra toys the kids keep in the garage in storage totes for lack of space. I'm trying to teach them not to pack rat everything and think of things more logically.

We have officially declared that school is over until August 21st. That will be our first school day of the new school year. We could wait until September, but there's so much I want to do next year. I did plan our Konos units for the year. Here's the schedule:

08/21 - 09/15: Wisdom ~ Government & U.S. Constitution
09/25 - 10/20: Orderliness ~ Plant Classification / Rock Classification / Animal Classification
10/30 - 11/22: Attentiveness ~ Indians
12/04 - 12/22: Love/Generosity ~ Christmas
01/02 - 02/02: Honor ~ Countries-Cultures-Kindness-Etiquette (Japan) / Cathedral & Church Architecture
02/12 - 04/06: Wisdom ~ Presidents & Electoral Process
04/16 - 05/11: Patience ~ Plant Growth-Gardening / Grain-Bread-Yeast
05/21 thru summer: Courage ~ American War for Independence

We plan to take one week off between units and to cover the units rather quickly (in the recommended time) so that I can cover the most material before the Princess is ready for the high school curriculum. I have 4 years, but there's so much I want to do. Each volume takes 2 years in the recommended time and we have 2 volumes we haven't really covered yet. I may be pushing it, but we'll see.

* This post was edited on July 26th. I'm still planning. he he

Week of July 17-21

2006-07-21T06:32:00.000-07:00

Okay, I admit that this week we didn't do anything educational. Princess was visiting a cousin, so the Prince and I kinda vegged for the week. Today, however, we are going to tour a radio station for a behind the scenes look.
We're back from all we had to do today. The radio station tour was very informative and the kids even cut an announcement demo. We learned how radio feeds are received and transmitted. How each station of a network goes to commercial at the same time. How announcements are put on disk to be played at the appropriate time. Prince and a friend got to send out the annoying FCC emergency broadcast system test.

Week of July 10 - 14

2006-07-12T10:09:00.000-07:00

This week is a lesson in patience as we try to get laundry done and unpack while keeping an eagle eye on the two year old nephew I've brought home for the week. More updates soon.

Week of July 1-9

2006-07-12T08:53:00.000-07:00

This past week was our annual family reunion in East Texas. We did not do formal curriculum while on vacation, but did learn quite a lot.

We attended my kids first professional baseball game.

The princess and I saw a large snapping turtle while on a walk with some other family members. A cousin explained to the Princess how to tell it is a snapping turtle. She also concluded that turtles can't be all that slow because it crossed the road in less than 5 minutes.

We dissected (kind of) mussels the kids found in the lake as the water was very low this year. We discovered that the inside shell does not stay pretty when exposed to the elements. Only freshly opened mussels had pretty inside shells.

For a little art experience, we painted the shells with acrylic paint. I explained to the kids why we used acrylic paint and not watercolors (weatherproofing).

At the annual fireworks display that our family puts on, we were reminded that fireworks contain sulfur by the smell of rotten eggs from some of them. They also create a soot that lands on everything. We were also reminded how dangerous they can be by the hole found in dad's shorts when he was done shooting them off.

Even modern children can survive outside with no AC for a whole week in July. We stayed in a tent, used an outhouse and outdoor shower. Movies were set up in the garage, but the kids did not go indoors all week.

It is important to stake down all ropes for the fly of the tent (ours got rained in because of this).

Even shaving cream for sensitive skin doesn't taste good and can burn the eyes.

Dissolve powdered laundry detergent in the washer before adding clothes. Dad learned this when he went to wash the bedding after the rain.

One week with all the cousins is about all my kids can take.

The Princess got a lesson on how septic systems work.

Always wear proper footwear. Foot injuries among family members included: wasp stings, splinters, stubbed toes, bee sting, mild cuts and scrapes from objects found in water.

Glow in the dark jewelry is great for keeping track of children.

Friday 06-30-06

2006-06-30T09:12:00.000-07:00

Tonight we leave for our yearly trek to east Texas and the family reunion. In preparation for this, it will be a short school day. The kids are helping to fold laundry, do chores and pack. We will be gone for 9 days.

What we've done:
a. Devotional - Genesis 12:1-4
b. Handwriting (Bible verse)
c. Math-U-See

What we accomplished:
a. obeying God
b. practice cursive for the Princess, improving formation of letters for the Prince
c. addition facts for the Prince, multiplication of 3 digit numbers for the Princess

This is in addition to normal household chores which teach responsibility and work ethic.

Thursday 06-29-06

2006-06-29T10:53:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we went to Fiesta Texas and the princess is on physical activity restriction (for chest pain) so today we are taking it easy.

What We Did
a. Watched episode of the History Channel's Revolution, about the American Revolution, discussed.
b. Tried to learn to play Redemption, a biblical card game, decided it was too involved.
c. Played Clue Mystery
d. Made forts out of blankets, pillows, etc... in the kids' bedroom.
e. Drew rough drafts of floorplans for dream bedrooms. The Princess has done a final copy on graph paper.

Skills Used / What We Learned
a. history - Revolutionary War and sacrifices made for our freedom
b. reasoning - to get out when your in over your head
c. reasoning, practical living - cooperation, strategy & using clues
d. creative expression, practical living, reasoning - cooperation
e. creative expression, arts & crafts, reasoning, applied math - drafting, fitting things to scale, prioritizing