Xan's November Report

This is so much easier to do in monthly format...


Math-
Saxon Lessons through Lesson 31
Test: #4 17/20 ; #5 16/20
Daily Timed Math Drills: (addition, subtraction, & multiplication) 64-100 problems in fewer than 5m & Daily Word Problems
Life of Fred: Through Chapter 20 + Bridge 1 & 2

Language Arts-
Word Study:
SWO G: 9-11
Writing:
Saxon Writing: Lesson 5-6
Outlining
Summarizing
Expository Essay
Expository Paragraph- The Divine Right of Kings
Descriptive Paragraph- Write a descriptive paragraph about the layers of the earth.
Creative Writing: Journal Prompt from Prentice Hall pg. 9: Imagine you are on an a Journey to the Center of the Earth: Write a Journal Entry describing your trip so far.
Grammar:
Saxon Grammar: Lessons 21-27
Literature:
Journey to the Center of the Earth: Author Background, Characterization, Summarizing Reading


Latin-
Latin for Children: Chapters 9-12;

History-
History Odyssey: Lessons 1-4

Science-
Astronomy: Completed Lapbook
History of the Earth: Fossil Timeline
Prentice Hall Focus on Earth Science Chapter 1: Answered Review Questions & Vocabulary
Discovery Streaming: Continents Adrift; Our Changing Earth; World’s Best: Nature’s Fury
Kingfisher Science Encyclopedia: pgs 1, 8-9 & 16-17 choose one section to outline. Copy the pie graph of the Earth’s components and compounds on pg. 8 in KF.
Made fossils with Plaster of Paris
Lego Mindstorms: Weekly Class

Art-
Weekly Waldorf watercolor class-discussed color and tied projects into Science & Social Studies: Forests,Caves & Advent.

P.E.-
60 minutes of outside play 2-4x per week. Activities include bike riding, playing catch, playing fetch with the dog, walking. 2 x baseball rules and fundementals.

Life Skills-
Cooking: Cooked dinner several nights with Dad and continued yard care.

Pictures to follow in a few days...

Yearly Writing Sample

Below is Xan's yearly writing sample-sorry it's not formatted correctly, I still haven't figured out how to do this on blogger... He is required (not that it's a bad thing) to produce an essay once a year in response to a prompt. This year his prompt was to think of something science related and explain the steps involved.

Lego Mindstorms: Building a Robot of Your Very Own

Are you a kid and ever wanted to make a robot? Well, Lego Mindstorms is a set of special legos that can help you make your robot building fantasies come to life. By making a robot frame, programming a robot “brain”, and testing the creation to see if it works properly, you can make a little robot that can serve you. These steps in building your creation require patience, listening to instructions (if you’re taking a class), and asking for help occasionally. The instructions are simple yet tricky to do.

First, you must think of your robots frame. After you think of the frame, get your pieces together and build the frame. Then make a few more bodies and see which body works better than the other. If you see one of the frames working better than all of them, then that’s your Lego structure.
After the frame is constructed, get a few power packs and connect them to your computer. If you only have one USB port, connect them one at a time. Then you have to program what you want your robot to do, such as turning on the T.V. Next download the instructions to your power packs. Wait for it to load then disconnect the USB port from your packs from your computer. Put the power pack on the frame.
Finally connect the power pack to the frame, and it’s time test out your robot. Testing your robot for faults is important because checking for errors will prevent you from having a robot that doesn’t work. If it does not work, you must find your mistakes and fix them. If it works, you have done science by building a technological wonder.
You have used Lego Mindstorms for the first time by building, programming, and testing a robot of your very own. Now, it is time to have fun with the creation. Show your friends and family what it does and how you made it so they can get Mindstorms and build their own robot.

We Need More People Like This In the World...

I say people, not just teacher's because this kind of out of the box and creative thinking is so desperately needed everywhere, not just in schools.

Weekly Wrap Up -

We still haven't "Officially" started school yet. We are still easing into things, and although this week was pretty much a wash since I worked triple what I usually do, it wasn't completely un-productive just low-key...

Xan-
Started reading Call of the Wild and using this http://www.teachercreated.com/products/a-guide-for-using-the-call-of-the-wild-in-the-classroom-0446 study guide. I don't usually use a lot of study guides for literature, but this is a fun one with lots of interesting things for him to do independently while I am at work. I still have him do a written narration and picture for each chapter, and as we get back into things I am having to remind him, "It's just like when we do Writing With Ease- Three or four sentences of what the chapter was about." He's getting it though.

Continued on in Life of Fred. I really like this book, and Xan does too. I am not comfortable making it a complete curriculum, but it's a great intro into the school year and we can use it on our "relaxed" day, when school starts.

Began a little Space unit study. The science book I chose for this year didn't include Space so I am supplementing it with an old Prentice Hall book I found at the used book store and a Thames & Kosmos Exploring Space kit.

I will be using a lot of textbooks this year as an experiment. In my heart and mind I want to be a Classical WalMasonSorri homeschooler, but I am not sure the whole books approach works for my kids. Or, at least works for my kids with me as the teacher, if that makes sense. I am still using whole, living books with the texts as spines so I am hoping the combination will work for all of us.

That's about it for Xan. Next week I'll fold in some writing and have him begin reading Story of the World V3.

Leena-

My social butterfly is still continuing on in The Lively Art of Writing and How to Study in College. Both of these will lay the foundation for the upcoming year. The hardest part has been for me to keep up with the reading. It's a good thing I used Lively Art for myself so I've got notes all over my copy that I use to discuss with her. She also started Vocabu-lit K and likes that there are only 10 words to work with a week.

She's had softball practice twice this week and an asthma attack to boot. It hit 109 degrees here and the air quality was AWFUL. I think the coaches were hoping it would be cooler since it was late in the evening, but it wasn't. That's the way it is here...

Next week, I think I will have her start reading Feed and start the SAT prep book to sharpen up her math skills.

And that's all she wrote...

Gearing Up...

I'm not making the attempt to just jump back into school this year. I am using the next few weeks as kind of a "test run" as the kids call it. This week we go back to early wake up calls, no t.v., computer, video games or phones during the day, early bed times...you know, all the stuff that sucks the fun right out of summer. It's a good thing too, as one of us did have a little meltdown and required an hour hike to put things in perspective. The kids have started slowly easing back into using their brains-Xan has started Life of Fred Fractions, which he is loving, and he's done some reading and Dover coloring books. Leena has started The Lively Art of Writing and How to Study for College. Things are looking good and moving in the right direction.

Putting Things In Perpsective...

The Joys of Summer...

Playing games with friends, hanging out, and eating watermelon in the front yard. Good times....Good times...

A Little of What I've Been Up To...

So here is a sample of what I've been doing. I've decided to use a textbook for Xan's science this year, and because I can never be happy with "what is", I have to make into what I "see". What I saw for science this year was inspired by the Oak Meadow's High School syllabus': comprehension questions, labs, and activities. So, I made my own using the Prentice Hall Focus On Earth Science text. There are only 21 chapters so I plan on spending about 2 weeks per chapter. I also do not expect to complete everything on the list. It took about 5 days to complete the whole book and I still need to go through and add some writing assignments, art projects and current event assignments. Overall I'm really excited about it though, and I've saved myself so much time when school starts. Maybe this year, we'll actually get to science.

Plate Tectonics Study Guide

Planning, Planning, & More Planning...

That is all...

Wordless Wednesday

It's That Time of Year Again...

Planning for next year & trying to maintain that fine balance of finishing up the current school year with being excited for next.

With Leena coming back home in January, I find myself having to plan for a junior next year. That means Honors English III, Honors U.S. History, Chemistry, Advanced Digital Photography, Spanish, & Algebra II. It's enough to drive me to drink...Honey, can I get that Kahlua & Cream now please? Thanks. Back to planning.

I chose to give her English & History courses Honors classification because based on what I saw her doing last year at public school, what she's been doing at home is definitely honors calibur. If she does the work, she deserves to get the credit for it. Right?

In Memory...

Marjorie Lee Miller (Spees)

May 28, 1933- March 11, 2010

My Nonny.

I love you so much and I miss you terribly. Give 'em Hell!

Finally, I'm Up to It...

I haven't posted in forever, too much stuff going on and no heart. But there are some things I'd like to share and I should start blogging again. However, I just couldn't do it with out another memorium. Another grandparent has left us and my heart has been so heavy with this loss. It wasn't unexpected, but still sad. I'm hoping that things are finally settling down after so many changes and I'll be posting more.