A Little of What We've Been Up To

Growing Crystals
GeoSculpt

Types of Volcanoes
#22's At Bat...She'll Give the Ball a Whack! If I Were You I'd Scoot My Booty Back!

Waaaaaaaaaaaayyyyy Back!!!

Remembering to Seize the Moment...

Or at least to let Xan seize the moment. Sometimes I forget that it's not about me, that I don't have to be the top of my game, and my son can really do things without me. I used to just let him create on his own, but somehow over time it turned into, "Not right now I'm tired...or busy...or not feeling up to it..." That's not what I aspire to be. That's not the kind of mom I want to be remembered as. So tonight when Xan was watching House Hunters International in Costa Rica, he wanted to paint a picture of an orange house on a beach with a wave. It's late Sunday night, we spent the day out of the house, I'm tired, I have homework to do, and my back hurts. My first response was no, but then I realized that there really wasn't any real reason he couldn't paint. So out came the paints, brushes and canvas board and my boy is having a good time.

Xan's December Report...

Okay it was Christmas so our monthy report isn't terribly exciting.. And it's late, so apologies to all my other monthly reporters for being flakey.

Math:
Saxon Lessons through Lesson 41
Test: #6 16/20 ; #7 15/20
Daily Timed Math Drills: (addition, subtraction, & multiplication) 64-100 problems in fewer than 5m; Daily Word Problems
Life of Fred: Through Chapter 29

Language Arts:
Word Study:
SWO G: 12-14
Writing:
Saxon Writing: Lesson 7-9
Outlining
Summarizing
Descriptive Paragraph- Write a descriptive paragraph about damage caused earthquakes
Grammar:
Saxon Grammar: Lessons 28-33
Literature:
When the Earth Dragon Awakes by Laurence Yep
Reading Comprehension –pg. 52


History:
History Odyssey: Lessons 4

Science:
PH Science Explorer Chapter 1-2
Review Questions for each section and Chapter Review
King fisher Science Encyclopedia: 24-25 choose one section to outline.

Art:
Cartooning
Polymer Clay

P.E.:
60 minutes of outside play 3-4x per week. Activities include bike riding, playing catch, playing fetch with the dog, walking. 2 x baseball rules and fundamentals.

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

I'll Take It Any Way I Can Get It...

I don't know about the rest of the world, but I have a hard time communicating with my teenager. Don't get me wrong, it's not like we don't get along and she's a good kid, but sometimes, okay a lot of times, there is a breakdown in the verbal communication department. And that makes homeschooling her a little difficult. However, there is hope, and I have Facebook to thank for it. I have just spent the last 20 minutes instant messaging my daughter (who is in the next room) about her essay on Huck Finn. Scoff if you want, roll your eyes, stick your tongue out...whatever...It worked. It was a true homeschool moment-there was real learning and understanding going on with those little IM bloops. If you homeschool, you know what I mean and chances are you know that these moments don't always come around as often as we'd like so I'll take it how I can get it, thank you very much.

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...