20 Best Tips

Sixth Grade Year in Review – Homeschool Curriculum Choices

Jul202015
July 20, 2015 by Leave a Comment

6th grade homeschool year in review



McKenna’s sixth grade year was one of great growth for her, both academically and otherwise. Many of her subject areas were independent, so learning to manage her time wisely was important (she is doing well in that area).  You can see all of the homeschool curriculum choices for the 2014-15 here, but below you’ll get a good look at what we used for McKenna’s sixth grade year and what we will be (or won’t be) using again next year.

Science

Rainbow Science 7th Grade

McKenna was a bit mixed on science this year. There were things she loved (the hands-on days) rather than the reading and blah, blah, blah (her words).  Her typical schedule was supposed to be 2 lessons and 1 lab each week, but somehow she managed to get herself on a daily schedule, resulting in her finishing up the program rather early. That may also explain her feeling like it was too much. Next year she will be following the right schedule and finishing the second year of the program.

History

The plan: Mystery of History 4 combined with Story of the World 4; Liberty Kids dvd series

homeschool history time together

Although the lessons were longer in MOH 4, the kids loved this year because we were able to add in so many REAL videos from recent events and see pictures of things as they happened.  McKenna used the coloring pages some to keep her occupied, but her best learning came when she would make cartoon strips of the history lesson as we went along (in part thanks to Grapevine Bible). She would draw stick figure scenes from key points in the lesson and then re-tell us all the lesson when we were done. Hugely effective for her!

Spelling

The plan: All About Spelling Level 5-6

We are in level 6 now, and lessons this year were fairly laid back. The initial plan was one lesson a week, but it became more of an as we need it.

Grammar

The plan: Growing with Grammar 7 and Daily Grams Grade 7

image

This program is a great fit for McKenna, although I may not always be crazy about going through all the paperwork each week. The above picture is from one lesson I came across.  The assignment in grammar was to write five sentences – and she didn’t do it, claiming it “Takes forever.” Granted, it was the last time she did that, but still. (grins)

Vocabulary

The plan: Dynamic Literacy Word Build Elements

This year we switched to the online version of WordBuild and while price-wise it worked out well (and I appreciated the fact that the lessons were graded for me online and I could access the grade book at any time to see progress). McKenna prefers the old pencil/paper route though (after I asked her partway through the year). For her the pressure of having something timed made it harder for her to focus in on the assignment. Typically each lesson takes a max of 15 minutes.

Writing

McKenna’s writing has grown immensely in this last year. I am so completely in love with the WriteShop programs and know that she is getting a solid foundation in all she is doing. Her papers have a different twist than Laurianna’s and it is fun seeing her personality come through in the things that she chooses to write about. Looking forward to using the 2nd year of this program next year with her.

Reading

The plan: books to go along with history text as well as suggestions from Reading Roadmaps possibly some lapbooks to go along as well. See our full 6th grade reading list here.

IMG_5629

With the exception of three books on the additional list that I put together for her, McKenna finished all of her required reading for the year and found a few new books to love. She wasn’t super thrilled with Little Women, but muddled through that one. Usually she and I sat down weekly to talk about the books she was reading (plot, characters, questions on story progression, etc…). We didn’t get around to doing any lapbooks, but based on our discussions, I was ok with that. Overall, a great year and I loved the book suggestions from Reading Roadmaps.

Math

The plan: Teaching Textbooks 7

Obviously not McKenna, but taking pictures of math is so boring otherwise, right? Olaf was a frequent guest in the school room, so it seems appropriate. McKenna finished up Math 7 this year and will be moving on to Pre-Algebra this next year.

Bible

The plan: Picture Smart Bible – wrapping up our Old Testament Studies and 90 Devotions for Kids – morning devotions; also Apologia’s Who Am I? and notebooking journal (6th grade); Who Is My Neighbor? and journal (when finished with previous book/journal)

IMG_5634

We did work through most of Picture Smart Bible and at the end of the year switched over to Grapevine to work on a unit on the book of Ruth. All of the kids were in agreement that they want to do more Grapevine next year again. It’s not that we don’t like Picture Smart Bible, but Grapevine is just a better fit overall, and if the kids enjoy it, I’m all game!

The key part of McKenna’s day was the Apologia series. She finished up the remaining two books in the set this year. This is one of her favorite subjects overall. When we would get together for our weekly meetings we would talk about her lessons and what she was learning (although she is one to typically share every day what she is reading – grins).

In November and December we took a break from our regular lessons to focus on Unwrapping the Greatest Gift. We loved the Advent study from Ann Voskamp.

Art

McKenna wasn’t as keen on doing art with Zachary this year, so the bulk of her art time was completed during her co-op time and classes.

Co-op

PE, art, mini-society, LEGO Story Starters

homeschool mini society project-1

We participated in two different co-ops this year, and McKenna especially loved the one that included a mini-society class. She and a friend developed their own business plan, products, and sales strategy. This was actually a great class for her because there are a few things that you can’t learn until you actually are in action. Something could also be said for not believing what your mom is trying to explain to you, but that’s a story for another day.
McKenna and her business partner created pet rocks, t-shirt bracelets, and bookmarks. Hours and hours were spent painting, twisting, and folding to get it all done. The two girls had a blast together and it was a wonderful experience to discover what works with marketing a product, how much time to budget for projects, and what products are worth the time/effort and have the best cost/effort ratio.

the SEX talk with Passport to Purity

This was also the year that we had a sex and dating talk with McKenna. I recently shared a post on the resources we used. Let me say this – if you have been dreading it or are scared to death – DO NOT BE!! I promise, it can be a wonderful time together and there are some great helps out there to walk you through the panic!
I’ll be sharing our year end review of 8th grade soon, so be sure to check back! Click the images below to see our 2nd Grade Year in Review and 4th Grade Year in Review.

2nd Grade Homeschool Year in Review 4th Grade Homeschool Year in Review

 

 

New to Homeschooling?

If you are new to homeschooling and aren’t sure where to begin in choosing homeschool curriculum, please don’t let this post overwhelm you! Here are a few posts that you might find helpful as you discover what is best for your family. Be sure to check out the entire Homeschool Basics series for answers to more frequently asked homeschool questions.

Homeschool Teaching Styles and Philosphies.png Identifying Children's Learning Styles copy How to Choose Homeschool Curriculum

Additional Resources: Unfamiliar with some of the curriculum choices above? Follow the links below to learn more about the companies and resources:

Curriculum Choices from Years Past…

If you’d like to see what curriculum we’ve used in years past, click on one of the posts below. Grade levels taught each year are listed with the posts.

{ Leave a Comment }
Filed Under: 6th Grade, Curriculum Choices, Homeschool Classroom, Weekly Wrap Up Leave a Comment

When It’s Time to Have the S-E-X Talk

Jul162015
July 16, 2015 by 13 Comments

the SEX talk with Passport to Purity

Yes, I did just type THOSE letters. Take a deep breath and keep reading. I promise, it’s all good!

It wasn’t long ago that I was almost sick to my stomach anticipating a weekend away with my oldest and THE BIG CONVERSATION (yep, the sex talk) that we were going to have. We both returned from that weekend having grown closer, questions answered, and an open door for future questions and talks. In short, I was so relieved.

That said, my anticipation of taking McKenna (our now 12 year old) out for the night with just me to have the same talk – well, it was MUCH different. I was actually excited because I had one talk under my belt and a love for a program that made the entire adventure fun.

Before I go much further, I will say that McKenna is an entirely different girl than her older sister. Where one is more reserved and self-reflecting, the other is energetic and burns with the passion of a thousand suns (emotionally and otherwise). Dresses vs. sports jerseys. Quite frequently – polar opposites.

McKenna though was very excited to have a night away with me in a hotel, so we started planning a few things to do just as girl time for the two of us, but very different from the weekend I spent with her sister. Truthfully, this was the most stretching time for me just figuring out what in the world we could do that wasn’t girly (no nails painted), but would be fun and memorable.

And we had the BEST time together. Really, this weekend opened up some great communication that has been trickling (and pouring) in over the past several months, something that the two of us have struggled with.

Several years ago we ordered Passport2Purity put together by Dennis and Barbara Rainey from Family Life Ministries. {It’s here that I will insert a note to say that if you are stressed about talking with your kids and not sure how to approach it with your kids, order it NOW to use together}.

Passport2Purity

The Passport2Purity Weekend Retreat Kit is hands-down a fabulous resource for parents to use and covers SO much more than just the basics. During the weekend we talked about friendships, peer pressure, sex, setting boundaries, keeping pure, and dating. While several of the topics having fully come into play yet, our time together gave us the opportunity to talk about things before they were issues and lay some guidelines in place.

Having the sex talk passort to purity

The entire weekend was laid out for us through the parent’s manual that comes in the kit and we listened to audio teachings from the Rainey’s, pausing the cds occasionally to answer questions together and have more heart-to-heart conversations. (Oh you all, this was the BEST PART EVER). .

Passport to Purity journal

McKenna had a blast using her journal {included in the kit} for her to take notes in as well. Prior to the weekend, Rick and I each took time to write her a letter that she read before our weekend away. But she wrote, doodled, wrote some more and has the journal to keep as a reminder of the weekend. It was so wonderful to see her thoughts in place too – people in her life that she considers influential (and yes, she had her sister in there too).

journaling passport to purity

Because she isn’t a girly girl (she is very much against anything that typically involved nail polish), we decided to head to a local pottery place, chose a mug, and worked together on something for her to remember the weekend by. Can you guess what she is making?

minion mug

The end product turned out so cute!!  She loves getting coffee on Sunday mornings, so for her, this was a HUGE treat! Besides that, the mug makes us smile every time we see it or she uses it. LOVE it.

We wrapped up our trip to a local antique mall where she chose a tea cup to use in our sit-downs in the upcoming years. The tea cup is something she can pull out if she ever wants to talk to me about anything, we’ll brew a pot of something, and together we will sit down together to talk. The tea cup also was to represent how delicate her purity is and how gently we need to care for it. She was thrilled to have a special cup for her {it took us nearly an hour to find the perfect one!}.

Over the last several months since our night away, the communication has definitely improved between us and opened up some good (and hard) conversations about things that are happening around us. I am SO thankful because it has given both of us a jumping off point into an otherwise uncomfortable topic.

 

Did you take a special weekend or time to talk with your child about sex and dating? Was there something memorable that you did together to remember the time together?

Note: This post was in no way solicited by Family Life – it’s just simply one mom and dad’s thankfulness for a fabulous resource for families to use! I love that we just need to order an additional journal for each child to use it again.

{ Leave a Comment }
Filed Under: 6th Grade, Mom Helps, Parenting 13 Comments

What We’ve Been Up to in Our Homeschool Time – a Sum-up of the Last Five or So Weeks

May182015
May 18, 2015 by 2 Comments

The last time I shared about our homeschool goings-on was quite a bit ago. March to be precise. It was just before life got crazy with travel and doctor’s visits. And then it started to feel like I was so behind and there was so much to share – which is true on both accounts.

But, it is always so much fun to see what others have been up to, so this is the abbreviated version of what we’ve been learning about in the last six or seven weeks. There are a few subjects that we still have to wrap-up for the year, and we likely won’t finish on schedule, and that’s ok. Really ok. (I need to keep reminding myself of that).

 IMG_3381

We did finish up Nancy Larson Science 2 with the boys and they both had so much fun with dissecting owl pellets. The last unit is all about birds, so it was a fun way to round out the unit. I ended up buying a more owl pellets online because they wanted to do more! Kaleb was a bit grossed out at first, but he was the one that ended up pulling apart the most!

 IMG_3386

For the last eight weeks of school the kids asked if we could work on a Grapevine Bible study together. While we’ve enjoyed Picture Smart Bible, they told me they prefer Grapevine – so we made a quick and easy switch. They all love drawing their figures and illustrating their stories, so we are working on the book of Ruth together.

 IMG_3416

For me that meant some new teacher supplies – a lovely rainbow collection of dry erase markers. Can someone please explain how all the colors you need seem to dry out the fastest? I’m rather happy with the new collection. (grins)

IMG_3429

We had been using graph paper for Kaleb’s math, but truthfully – for a 2nd grader, it was a bit much (and more expensive). A reader suggested turning a sheet of lined paper sideways and lining up columns for him to work on his math problems that way. SO much easier for him!

Laurianna has been working hard on several projects for her physical science credit. Her most recent one was building a solar-powered fan. She was really frustrated because it didn’t work for quite some time, and we couldn’t figure out why, and then one day it suddenly started working. Yay!!

IMG_3423

This entire high school thing is really sinking in now that we are wrapping up our first year – yikes! When helping out at a homeschool convention, I picked up a microscope for next year’s biology lab. Like a real heavy-duty for REAL microscope. I know it’s not a huge thing, but it somehow just makes it even more real.

IMG_3391

While this picture is a little cheesy, my thought is if you take pictures using your mom’s phone, it becomes her property to do whatsoever she desires with it. A few weeks ago I took our high school lit co-op class to see Much Ado About Nothing at a nearby Shakespeare center. SO MUCH FUN. Not only with the kids, but just in remembering part of what I loved about being an English major. Our class had been studying The Tempest, so it wasn’t the same play – but still worth every minute there. The theatre was packed and our small group of six had nearly front row seats – and two on the stage so the kids had to participate a few times. We are definitely doing it again next year!

IMG_3387

With the weather turning beautiful, we’ve been spending time outside on the front porch or our back deck. The birds have been out in full swing and it has been so much fun to look for the different species. We’ve been using our Bird Nature Study Printables to count how many have been at the feeder and using our iBird Pro app to imitate their calls. McKenna and Zachary spent about 45 minutes outside one morning and managed to have a piliated woodpecker get close to the house. It really has been a blast!

IMG_3431

One of the things I’ve had the hardest time keeping up with this year is the grading of papers. The typical day to day isn’t too bad, but having papers from lit class in co-op is a little more challenging. It’s one thing to grade your own child’s paper, but quite another sometimes to grade papers for other kids. Over the last year it has been so encouraging to see how each of the kids has grown in their writing abilities – and it can sometimes be hard to give constructive criticism. As hard as it is to give it, the kids have been so gracious in how they receive it too, working even harder. Love that.

IMG_3453

Since the boys have finished their day-to-day science lessons, they are all about finding nature around the house and enjoying that. They unearthed a red salamander one morning and have been checking often to see if it is still hanging around in the same spot.

IMG_3454

We are *almost* at the end of our history lessons with Mystery of History 4. We had to put a hold on them when life got crazy, but all of the kids have been engrossed in the modern history we are learning (Kennedy, Nixon/Watergate, Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks to name a few). There are only six more lessons to wrap it up and we will get around to it – eventually!

IMG_3455

There have been a LOT of audio books lately. A lot. As we travel back and forth to appointments, there is usually one on in the car. One series that we have really been enjoying lately is from Lemony Snickets – A Series of Unfortunate Events. It’s one we had put off for a bit (I wouldn’t recommend it for kids under 8 years old), but the humor in it has the kids and I cracking up all the time. I’ll be sharing more about the books soon, but we are almost finished listening to the fourth book right now and have the fifth and sixth waiting!

hydroponics system

Another project Laurianna and I will be sharing with you soon is her hydroponics system. In North Star Geography she has been learning about farming and one of their assignments was to build a hydroponics system and see how their plant grew. She did a bit of research and found something she thought would work and has been having a lot of fun working on it the past two or so weeks.

IMG_3551

As for day to day life, we’ve made it through the hardest part with my parent’s surgery and things should be slowing down here. This week is TESTING – yippy, Skippy. One of the kids has whizzed through her testing already, so the focus this week (after dealing with two follow up doctor visits for a concussion and my mom’s surgery) is getting it all DONE and in the mail. My stress relief has been walking and exercising lately – and making my health a priority. We live on an amazingly beautiful road that just needs to be admired. One of my goals this year is to run a 5K (and to make sure I do it, I volunteered to teach a co-op class!!). I’m either crazy or – well, let’s not go there, shall we?

That’s the overall sum-up. I know when it gets close to the end of the year we are all just ready to be finished and over with it all, and trust me, I am as well! With all the chaos the last bit, my plans have gone out the window and we’ve had to move to a day-to-day, sometimes hour-by-hour plan and that has been really hard for me. If you’ve been around here long enough, you know that I’m a girl who likes to have a plan in place. In all of that though I have to say – God has been amazingly good. We have been surrounded by friends and family that have been walking beside us and helping out in tangible and non-tangible ways. So thankful for all of them and their support!

What have YOU been up to these last few weeks during your homeschool time?

{ Leave a Comment }
Filed Under: 2nd grade, 4th Grade, 6th Grade, 8th Grade, 9th Grade, Weekly Wrap Up 2 Comments

A Little More Than Halfway Done – 19 Week Homeschool Update

Jan202015
January 20, 2015 by 3 Comments

Somehow getting over the halfway mark seems to make a mental difference – do you know what I mean? We ended in December on week 17, and I have to tell you it may have made me a little wiggy. Somehow Christmas seems like it should be the mid-point, but really – that extra long break for us at Christmas was fabulous, so I’ll just let it go (and now I’m humming that song, thank you very much).

Getting back into the swing of things was admittedly a little rougher (because really, truly – I rather enjoyed having a whole bunch of lazy days, but routine is nice too). Having done absolutely nothing over Christmas break turned out to be a very good thing for all of us. But everyone managed to pull back together with a day or two and we’re all good now and it’s back to the typical attitudes (Truth = my kids aren’t always keen on all we do! Shocker, I’m sure).

History Time Together

homeschool history time together

In our history time, we’ve been learning about a wide span of things in the mid 1800’s thanks to Mystery of History 4: the French rule of Mexico, emperor Meiji of Japan, the Dominion of Canada, Abraham Lincoln, and the Civil War. While we’ve literally been hopping all over the place, it’s been fun to see how things tie in together historically too. I tell you – there is so much that I either don’t remember or never learned. Homeschooling is truly such a great learning time for me as well (either that, or I appreciate some things much more now that I’m older – let’s just go with that).

We typically use the coloring sheets that go along with Mystery of History, the kids often start stick-figuring what we are talking about (there may be many Civil War battle scenes lately) or take notes on what we’re learning. Stick figures are always popular.

The Fun of Science (9th Grade)

Exploration Education physical science

Laurianna is continuing Exploration Education physical science with our small co-op (there are only 4 kids), and they are having a lot of fun with the hands-on projects to go along with the weekly lessons. Over the period of a few weeks they work on different labs/projects (so far they have framed and wired a miniature house, made a glider, a steamboat, a racecar), and they are currently building a working scale.

During the week she study the lessons and work on experiments independently, and once a week the group works on additional experiments and reviews the learning material together. Our co-op time is usually about an hour and a half or so – just enough to squeeze in a little more.

Reading Time

true adventure of homer p. figg

We haven’t been dedicated in sitting down to read, but we’re currently in the middle of The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg. The story takes place during the Civil War (and I think it’s hilarious). While it’s below the reading level of the older two, it still has been fun to listen to together.

read aloud time

Sitting still during reading time can be a bit tough, so the kids will color, draw, or build when I am reading. The boys have spent quite a bit of time building with their new Simple and Compound Machines K’Nex set they received for Christmas. 

On the reading front, Zachary recently discovered the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books and has been reading and re-reading them. I cannot tell you how much this makes my heart happy. He has gone from ZERO interest in reading to scouring the library shelves for something new to read in just a few short months.

Art Time (9th Grade and 2nd Grade)

homeschool January 2015-34

Kaleb is rather happy to be working on art projects again (we love Home Art Studio). Just before we started back with school, I rearranged the wall above his desk and took some of his artwork from the fall down. He loves to display it when he’s done and usually works on at least one project a week, so it can get a little crazy above his desk. With the above project he worked on color mixing and using oil pastels as well as drawing his own fish.

homeschool January 2015-36

Last semester Laurianna’s art time at co-op was spent working on a marionette. She sketched out her project, cut dowel rods, and molded and painted the body parts for her puppet. Her marionette was based on the story of Esther and she chose the king. Her teacher helped with sewing the clothing after the fabric was chosen, and she is SO excited about her creation.

The Puppy

homeschool January 2015-19

The biggest change in our house has come in the form of a little puppy, Addie. We’ve been talking about getting a dog for well over a year and finally brought home a little one. Needless to say, the kids are thrilled and (mostly) pitching in to help with all the fun stuff that goes along with having a puppy.

homeschooling with the puppy

Addie has been joining us in the schoolroom during the day, and most often we’ll find her trying to chew on our chair bottoms or curled up in our bean bag chair (much like I would like to do). Of course the kids say that she ‘helps them study’ – ha! Not so sure I believe that, but it has been rather fun.

 

Well, that’s a quick look at the last two weeks for us – what have you been up to with your kids?

 

Mary_CollageFriday weekly wrap up

Linking up this week with Collage Friday and Weekly Wrap-up!

{ Leave a Comment }
Filed Under: 2nd grade, 4th Grade, 6th Grade, 8th Grade, 9th Grade, Collage Friday, Weekly Wrap Up 3 Comments

Our Mid-Year Homeschool Review

Dec102014
December 10, 2014 by 9 Comments

Technically we’re one week shy of being halfway through our school year, but we’re ready to take an extended three week break for Christmas. In years past we’ve taken the week of Christmas and a bit after and truthfully – well, everything just feels rushed and crazy-like. So this year, we planned in a much needed break that will coincide with a nice trip to the grandparents.

Anyway, here’s a little peek at what we’ve been up to the last few weeks, thoughts on how our school year has been going so far, especially with the new curriculum pieces we added in. We had a laptop crash and the new laptop already had a minor mishap (how in the world??), but everything is finally re-installed on the new computer and up and running. You can view our full 2014-15 curriculum list here.

I’d love to hear what you all have been up to as well, so please leave a comment and share your thoughts on your year as well!

History

Now that our brand-spankin’-new textbook for Mystery of History 4 has arrived, we’re feeling all official. Truthfully, I’m feeling so very overwhelmed in some ways because there is SO much to learn and it is hard to touch on just a small fraction of history. We do look in-depth at things, but switching into the modern era there is an overwhelming amount of information to intake.

Maybe that’s just me. (grins)

We’ve covered the thirteen colonies, many of the early American leaders, the French and Indian War, Catherine the Great, the American Revolution, the French Revolution, Napoleon Bonaparte, the War of 1812, the Trail of Tears, Karl Marx, famous abolitionists, Florence Nightingale, Charles Darwin, and are just about ready to talk about the Civil War.

History is flying by! We are loving the lessons and occasionally adding in some dvd clips from either Liberty Kids or Drive Thru History just for variation. We haven’t had as much time to add in a lot of read-alouds from the time period (with swim team this fall), but hopefully that will be back on track in the upcoming months.

Bible

We’ve taken a little break from Picture Smart Bible in November and December to focus on Unwrapping the Greatest Gift and work on another family devotional from Focus on the Family. We are really loving the Advent study from Ann Voskamp – those coloring pages just seal the deal. The kids love them.

Laurianna is almost done with the What on Earth Can I Do? in the What We Believe series, and McKenna is working on Who is My Neighbor?

Math

Do you all have visitors in your homeschool room? Please say yes. Olaf made a special appearance and was apparently helping McKenna with her math. Really, more like distracting everyone and causing unending giggles.

One kiddo is learning multiplication (his 1,’s, 5’s, and 10’s), another is starting with long division, and Laurianna is making my brain hurt with algebra equations. It’s a good hurt and my brain is happy to solve things that can actually be solved.

Reading

image

My momma’s heart is so very happy in this area with all of our kids. Kaleb’s reading is growing with leaps and bounds. He is working on All About Reading 2 and we’ve gotten into a great daily groove with lessons and review.

The other day someone asked Zachary what his favorite subject was – and the boy said READING. You all, I wanted to cry happy tears right then and there. Knowing what a struggle it’s been for him (believing he can’t vs. his capability), that is such an amazing thing to hear – and the biggest thing has been the first book he finished this year as a part of his language program. Since then, Zachary has finished four books on his 4th grade reading list (yay!!). In addition, Zachary is about halfway through All About Reading 4, and he is so excited about that!

McKenna has finished seven of the books on her reading list and Laurianna is almost halfway through hers as well. Unfortunately (well, not really), both of these girls are voracious readers and get sidetracked easily after a trip to the library.

Language

This year one of the things I was most nervous about was switching the boys to Learning Language Arts Through Literature. While we aren’t using everything in the lessons (spelling and some reading are separate), both boys are really liking the change. The biggest thing for Zachary is the tie-in with what he is reading (more of the book study approach), but he is also learning about research papers, and more this year.

McKenna has loved the switch to Growing with Grammar and also the online WordBuild vocabulary. She discovered a love for diagramming – takes after her mom in that!

Science

Snap circuits

The boys are a little more than halfway through Nancy Larson Science 2. Although Zachary worked on this level a few years ago, he asked to do it with Kaleb this year and has been a great help to Kaleb. They both are having fun with the hands-on aspects (we’re learning about levers and simple machines right now) and tying in some fun LEGO projects. On the side, Zachary is working with Snap Circuits and K’Nex projects – we try to find a project that goes along with our lessons that week.

McKenna isn’t as crazy about her science program as Laurianna was a few years ago, but it’s a change from what she has used in the past. She is finally getting settled with it, but part of the problem has been moving to a more independent program. While Laurianna enjoyed that aspect, it’s a little harder for McKenna.

Laurianna does much of her science work independently during the week, but once a week gets together with a small group of kids to go over additional experiments. She is loving her physical science! So far they’ve built a glider, a boat, and are working on framing a miniature house complete with electricity. So much fun!

Art

Home Art Studio artwork

While Zachary and McKenna do an art project every now and then – they enjoy them, but don’t live for them, Kaleb is the exact opposite. The boy would work on an art project every.single.day if he could.

Seriously.

When the rest of his schoolwork is done, he grabs his art DVD, all the supplies I’ve pulled out, and runs downstairs to work on a project. The wall above his desk is crazy full of fun paintings, drawings, and more.

The Rest of the High School Stuff

North Star Geography Experiments

Really, there are so many other subjects! A few of Laurianna’s high school credits I touched on briefly above (math and science), but a few don’t fully ‘fit’ into any of the above areas.

Greek Myths (1/2 credit) – This was the one class she was so very excited to take this year, maybe partly due to Percy Jackson – who knows. Unfortunately, while she enjoys the main text, she isn’t super thrilled with the class overall. It isn’t quite what she expected, which has made the last few weeks of the class hard. She’ll be finishing it up in just a few days, and it’s one that she’ll be happy to say goodbye to. On the bright side, it’s been a great lesson in perseverance even when things are going the way you expected.

North Star Geography (1 credit) – Laurianna didn’t expect to enjoy this quite as much as she has been. Overall, it is her favorite subject and the one she looks forward to each day. I’m beyond thrilled with the teacher’s plans, the grading spreadsheet (that does all the work for me), and the many, many helps that come along with the course. BEST class for both of us this year!

Spanish – We had a minor snafu with our program when our laptop died. We went from two inputs to only one headphone jack and someone (ahem), kept forgetting to purchase a splitter. Thankfully, Laurianna was already ahead in her lessons, so she’ll be back on track after the start of the year. (phew)

Intro to Literature – While the class has been challenging (in a good way) for Laurianna, I’m so very thankful for the years that she used WriteShop Junior. Her writing is so much stronger because of it, which has been helpful this year in her lit class. I’ve been reading the books along with the kids and grading papers galore. My one complaint about the program is the lack of grading rubrics/standards. While they have one generic one they use as an example, I’ve had to pull together my own grading sheets (but that’s just me being picky). Writing is a tough area to grade, because so much can be subjective.

 

Phew – that’s a big, long sum-up of our year so far and what we think of our curriculum (we’re happy with it all!!).

How are YOU doing?

{ Leave a Comment }
Filed Under: 4th Grade, 6th Grade, 8th Grade, 9th Grade, Curriculum Choices, Weekly Wrap Up 9 Comments

In Which We Finish 13 Weeks of Homeschooling

Nov172014
November 17, 2014 by 5 Comments

Rather than taking our typical break after each six week block, the kids (and dad and mom) decided to push through the next few weeks and take a full week off at Thanksgiving, and then a little more than three weeks off at Christmas. Somehow December manages to always get crazy fast, so we’re hoping this will make it easier (and fun!).

Ready to see a few things that we’ve been up to? Apparently I wasn’t super ambitious with the camera – but it’s been a GREAT two weeks and we’ve gotten so much accomplished (I love that feeling!).

Learning about Wheels and Axles

simple machines nancy larson

The boys are working together on Nancy Larson Science 2. The most recent unit has been on force, friction, and work. One lesson in our unit was about wheels and axles, so we pulled out our Lego Education Simple Machines set and put together cars to show how they move down an inclined plane. While many of our science lessons are already hands-on, adding LEGOs definitely made it even more fun! 

Parallel Learning

boys at the table homeschooling

One of the things that I love about the above picture – two boys working on completely different projects (reading vs. LEGOs), pjs vs. fully dressed (ignore the crazy hair) – it’s just a snapshot of what our days looks like. Granted, it isn’t always quite this peaceful (or cooperative), but that’s another part of our days, right?

A few of you have asked what books are sitting on the table next to Zachary. While I was cleaning off our shelves and pulling out things for my nephew, I found some old Scholastic Early Readers and had Kaleb go through them that morning. He was having an “I can’t read” day, and it was so encouraging to him to FLY through almost the entire box of books in no time flat (encouraging for both him as well as me!). He was all smiles when he finished reading them, realizing what he COULD do.

Incidentally, the above picture shows Zachary working on his third book this year (yay!!) from his fourth grade reading list, and he just finished it up this week!

The Boy Who Chews…

History time

History is going great as well, although we are a bit behind on our history timeline – oops. Kaleb (sorry for the bad picture!) and the other kids have been using Chewigem pendants and tags the last week and a half. Honestly, I am really thankful for them, because Kaleb is a huge chewer and constantly has things in his mouth (typically Lego pieces) and that makes me super nervous. The Chewigem dog tags have kept toys and unsafe things out of his mouth and helped with a lot of the fidgeting in the other kids. 

Learning How Business Works

homeschool mini society project-1

The 6th through 8th graders in our high school co-op are working on mini society projects. Essentially, the kids set up their own businesses, create their own society with jobs, currency, etc… and find out what makes money work – a little crash lesson in life.

McKenna is working with another girl in her class and they have been busy making as much as they can with as little cash expense as possible. They have created rock monsters (made with googley eyes and cheap paint), t-shirt bracelets (using old t-shirts), and monster bookmarks that sit on the corner of book pages. It’s been a great experience to discover what works with marketing a product, how much time to budget for projects, and what products are worth the time/effort and have the best cost/effort ratio.

Listening to Books

Audiobooks for Families to enjoy

Last week I shared some of the recent audiobooks we’ve listened to as a family. Richard Peck has been a favorite author in recent weeks, but we’re headed back to the library this week to see what else we can find!

 

Time Away with (One of) My Girls

image

I’ll be sharing more soon, but this past weekend McKenna and I had a weekend away to have our talk on friendships, peer pressure, dating, and the S.E.X. word. Oh my goodness. It was such a completely different weekend than my weekend with Laurianna, but it was so absolutely wonderful. We did things that spoke to her heart, including spending time working on a special mug at a local pottery place. She has big plans for the finished mug, including toting it to church for Sunday morning coffee – love it!

 

On the Mom Front

The kids haven’t been the only ones busy around the house. I’m slowly working on my November book list (shockingly, I got distracted with two other books, but have finished two of the books in my pile, Start: Punch Fear in the Face and A Lady at Willowgrove Hall. I’m almost finished with Parenting with Love and Logic and Six Ways to Keep the Good in Your Boy – again, so helpful if I focus on ONE book at a time!

image

I’ve been working hard on my November goals too. Our living room is currently a work in progress, but it’s getting there! We’ve emptied out our entertainment center, moved our tv, primed the mantle, and we’re now prepping for full painting and bookcases on either side of the fireplace. Painting over the wood is killing me a bit, but I think the end result will be beautiful, so trying not to panic! (fyi – I hate, hate, hate decorating).

 

What have you been up to with your kids?

Mary_CollageFriday weekly wrap up

Linking up this week with Collage Friday and Weekly Wrap-up!

{ Leave a Comment }
Filed Under: 4th Grade, 6th Grade, 8th Grade, 9th Grade, Collage Friday, Weekly Wrap Up 5 Comments