Every year, I like to interview the kids about their interests/goals. Here is our most recent interview results:
A:
Math - begin 6th gr math. We have Horizons 6 ready to go!
Writing - no specific writing goals
Reading - devote some school time to reading from a booklist. She selected these books to start: Lord of the Rings (finish), Two Towers, Return of the King. She'd also like to re-read Heidi, because it's terribly boring but leaves you with a warm and fuzzy feeling:) The Girl Who Could Fly is also on the list (Z loves this book and is begging A to read it).
Science - she would like to watch video experiments and then do the experiments, like when we did Sonlight Science.
History - doesn't really like history at all, but if she had to chose, she'd learn more about Michigan history.
Art/Music - would like to do more crafts; scrapbooking, crocheting. Music - doesn't like piano lessons, but would like to take voice lessons.
Z:
Math - 4th gr math (also on the shelf, ready to go!)
Writing - Likes writing 1 page, writing 2 pages gives her a headache.
Reading - prefers to read 1 chapter per day, would like to read the Cooper family series (its a kids series by the same author of This Present Darkness)
Science - would like to focus on Life science and taking care of living things (plants, animals)
History - would like to study Greece (Greece history, Geography, language, food, etc.) She'd like to study the greek language. She'd also like to study other geographical locations with a focus on cooking new recipes from around the world.
Art/Music - piano (would like to develop this talent more), would like to learn how to draw and paint, would also like to do more crafts (any crafts, nothing specific).
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Week break between weeks 24 and 25
Just a quick update: our week break was filled with sickness, all 5 of us. It has been pretty miserable. I brought us all in to the doctor on Friday, and some of us had positive strep tests. Does that mean the others did not have strep? I don't know. I guess those rapid office tests are about 70% accurate, so there is always the possibility of false negatives. I had one of the worst sore throats ever. Georgie tested positive, but hadn't complained about her throat at all, even when asked. No one else really suffered the sore throat, or if they did, it was mild to moderate, and lasted a short time. That's just how tricky strep throat really is: you can't tell by looking at it and pain level isn't always an indication, either. We all had fevers, headaches, body aches, stuffy/runny noses. We had coughs and chest congestion. It was just all around miserable. Today was a terrible day for me - lots of napping. I'm starting to crawl out of my cave now. I hope I can stay out of that cave. I've seen my family turn corners several times this week, only to regress again.
We're all on antibiotics now.
We're all on antibiotics now.
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Weekly Review, Week 24, 2011-2012
This was our last week before our 1 week break.
The kids spent over a week working on their Valentine's boxes for our homeschool group party. I think I'll count that as "Art" for the year! It was a massive undertaking with paint everywhere. I didn't get a photo before the boxes were destroyed, so I had to cobble them together and will offer a description of the finished product:
We had MI History on Tuesday, AWANA on Wednesday, and our homeschool Valentine's bowling party on Friday.
A:
In Math, she did lessons 141 Standard Measure, 142 Standard Weight, 143 Standard Liquid Measure, 144 Standard Temperature, and 145 Metric System. I think she did 1 day of Challenging Word Problems. She did day 85 & 86 in Spelling. She worked on Codecademy. And she finished reading Abraham Lincoln (ch. 32 Exploring American History).
Z:
In Math, she can now do simple long division problems (no remainder) without my help. She did lessons 128 - 131 and included the test that comes after lesson 130. She did 1 day of spelling (day 74). She did Codecademy and piano. She finished ch 32 on Abraham Lincoln. She completed 3 sections in AWANA.
The kids spent over a week working on their Valentine's boxes for our homeschool group party. I think I'll count that as "Art" for the year! It was a massive undertaking with paint everywhere. I didn't get a photo before the boxes were destroyed, so I had to cobble them together and will offer a description of the finished product:
 |
| A's box was a stack of classic literature. The Bible is open with a red bookmark. She has mostly classic lit books, but included a few homeschool books, too, like The Well Trained Mind:) |
 |
| Z's box has obviously been destroyed so she could get the goodies within. In it's glory days, it was a replicate of Calvary, with three crosses. The cross in front had a white cloth draped over it. We tried to talk her into putting John 3:16 on there, to tie a "love" theme with Valentine's Day, but she was just done making it at that point. |
A:
In Math, she did lessons 141 Standard Measure, 142 Standard Weight, 143 Standard Liquid Measure, 144 Standard Temperature, and 145 Metric System. I think she did 1 day of Challenging Word Problems. She did day 85 & 86 in Spelling. She worked on Codecademy. And she finished reading Abraham Lincoln (ch. 32 Exploring American History).
Z:
In Math, she can now do simple long division problems (no remainder) without my help. She did lessons 128 - 131 and included the test that comes after lesson 130. She did 1 day of spelling (day 74). She did Codecademy and piano. She finished ch 32 on Abraham Lincoln. She completed 3 sections in AWANA.
Saturday, February 4, 2012
Weekly Review, Week 23, 2011-2012
Insane week. Would not want to repeat it.
Monday: uneventful. Tuesday: called in for jury duty, helluva day, massive headache, MI History right afterwords. Glad it's over. Wednesday: AWANA - A finished her book woohoo! Thursday: make-up dr appt day for the appt I had to cancel on Tuesday. Friday: Co-op. In between times, we finished dh's 2nd novel, got the cover art made, and the novel published. Phew! I'm really happy with the results!
This week didn't leave me much time for planning or teaching. Luckily, dh makes an amazing homeschool dad, and kept the earth revolving. Here's what we accomplished:
A:
Finished 10 sections, completing her AWANA book for the year, and for the rest of her life. Grade 6 is the last year that our church runs the official program, although students can choose to go further with self-study. She really didn't want to do the AWANA program, so we said she didn't have to go beyond 6th gr. Guess I'll need to come up with another Bible program for her next year. I'm very proud of her for working so hard, even though it wasn't something she wanted to do.
In Math, she did lesson 137 Percent as Fraction, 138 Fraction as Percent, 139 Finding Percent of a Number, and 140 Problem Solving with Percent. She also did Challenging Word Problems, although she's taken to it independently, and I should check in and see how she is solving them.
In Spelling, she completed days 83-85 (I think). In History, she read ch 31 Capt Sutter, and part of 32 Abraham Lincoln (very long chapter). She also completed Week 4 of MI History. She continued J-K encyclopedia and Codecademy, although some days she skipped because she's ahead of me and needs help.
Z:
She passed 4 sections in AWANA and has 14 sections left total for the end of the year.
In Math, she completed lessons 124, 125, 126, and 127. I did not give her any Singapore to work on. She learned the steps for long division with problems such as 54/3 (goes in evenly without a remainder, but she needs to divide the first number, subtract, bring down, etc.) She also practiced more reducing fractions. Those two topics are just "hand holding" topics that take awhile to get, but she's off to a great start!
In Spelling, she did days 72 & 73. She read ch 31 Capt Sutter, and the beginnings of ch 32 Abraham Lincoln for History. She also did Week 4 of MI History. She continued H encyclopedia, and is working through "Heart", complete with gross pictures. She did Codecademy.
Our weekend was fantastic though -
The older girls had a 5 hour practice for the church musical. The little one spent a few hours with Grandpa and Grandma. I went to lunch with dh. Fun was had by all.
Monday: uneventful. Tuesday: called in for jury duty, helluva day, massive headache, MI History right afterwords. Glad it's over. Wednesday: AWANA - A finished her book woohoo! Thursday: make-up dr appt day for the appt I had to cancel on Tuesday. Friday: Co-op. In between times, we finished dh's 2nd novel, got the cover art made, and the novel published. Phew! I'm really happy with the results!
This week didn't leave me much time for planning or teaching. Luckily, dh makes an amazing homeschool dad, and kept the earth revolving. Here's what we accomplished:
A:
Finished 10 sections, completing her AWANA book for the year, and for the rest of her life. Grade 6 is the last year that our church runs the official program, although students can choose to go further with self-study. She really didn't want to do the AWANA program, so we said she didn't have to go beyond 6th gr. Guess I'll need to come up with another Bible program for her next year. I'm very proud of her for working so hard, even though it wasn't something she wanted to do.
In Math, she did lesson 137 Percent as Fraction, 138 Fraction as Percent, 139 Finding Percent of a Number, and 140 Problem Solving with Percent. She also did Challenging Word Problems, although she's taken to it independently, and I should check in and see how she is solving them.
In Spelling, she completed days 83-85 (I think). In History, she read ch 31 Capt Sutter, and part of 32 Abraham Lincoln (very long chapter). She also completed Week 4 of MI History. She continued J-K encyclopedia and Codecademy, although some days she skipped because she's ahead of me and needs help.
Z:
She passed 4 sections in AWANA and has 14 sections left total for the end of the year.
In Math, she completed lessons 124, 125, 126, and 127. I did not give her any Singapore to work on. She learned the steps for long division with problems such as 54/3 (goes in evenly without a remainder, but she needs to divide the first number, subtract, bring down, etc.) She also practiced more reducing fractions. Those two topics are just "hand holding" topics that take awhile to get, but she's off to a great start!
In Spelling, she did days 72 & 73. She read ch 31 Capt Sutter, and the beginnings of ch 32 Abraham Lincoln for History. She also did Week 4 of MI History. She continued H encyclopedia, and is working through "Heart", complete with gross pictures. She did Codecademy.
Our weekend was fantastic though -
The older girls had a 5 hour practice for the church musical. The little one spent a few hours with Grandpa and Grandma. I went to lunch with dh. Fun was had by all.
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