About 2 weeks ago, I began using http://www.myfittnesspal.com/ to help me track my calorie, fat, protein and carb intake. Also, I use this website to track the amount of calories I burn when I exercise.
First, I set up my profile account by entering my age, height, current weight and how many pounds I want to loose. The website has a feature that calculates what a healthy, yet minimum, calorie, fat, protein and carb intake for each day would be for a person of my age and height. Each day I plug in what I'm eating and any exercising I do.
It calculates the nutritional info (calories, fat, etc...) that I've had for the day and also how much more I can have for the day OR if I've exceeded what I'm allowed in order to loose weight.
Once I plug in the exercising for the day, it then tells me how many calories I burned that day. If I have not exceeded my calorie intake for the day, I can have those extra calories that I "earned" through exercising that day.
I had been trying to loose weight, but have had SO much trouble loosing more than 4-6lbs. over the past *decade*. My best friend and hubby began using the My Fittness Pal website and encouraged me to give it a try after I had a VERY discouraging 2 week start to my new diet and exercising plan.
I was keeping a loose track of calories in my head while I was dieting, but my dh thought I might be eating to many carbs. My Fittness Pal helped me see that this WAS the case! Once I was able to monitor my carbs, I begn dropping lbs. like crazy!
It's been 3 weeks and 5 days since I first started my dieting and exercising program. I've lost a total of 9.5 lbs.!!!!! I can't remember the last time I lost more than 6lbs.
Yesterday, I decided to set up an account for my 11th grade son. We set his profile information (had to fudge on his age...the website technically allows only 18 and older:) I helped him plug in everything he ate yesterday and the exercising he did. He was floored at the amount of calories and carbs in some things, like the sweet tea he loves and the big ole bowl of sugar free applesauce he has EVERY SINGLE day of his life (3 CUPS!!!).
He goes to a PE class 2 times a week for 2 hours each day. Those classes get in some vigorous exercises for him. On the other 3 days of the week and also one weekend day, I've been requiring him to take a 30 minute BRISK walk. Well, his idea of brisk is really pretty slow (his pace at EVERYTHING in life is wayyyyy slower than everybody else's pace:).
I used the following website to help him see how many more calories he'd burn if he picked up his walking pace just a teeny-tiny bit! He got it! Finally.
http://www.sparkpeople.com/resource/calories_burned_list.asp
One of the big things I am learning (and my son will also) from using My Fittness Pal, is what a real "serving" looks like for many foods. We are measuring everything (or as much as possible) for a while until we get to the point where we think we can "eyeball" a *real* ONE serving of all the regular foods we eat.
Most of what we have to eat for meals and snacks at our house are good, healthy choices. We are now seeing that it's not so much the foods we are eating that's causing us to gain weight or not be able to loose. It's actually the AMOUNT of these healthy choices and lack of truly *vigorous* exercising.
If you or your teen happen to have a smart phone, My Fittness Pal has a *free* downloadable app! This has been a great help to my hubby, who travels and has to eat out a LOT and my best friend who works full time and eats on the go for dinner more often than I do.
My son and I do not have smart phones, so we just use the website.
One other thing I've been doing (and will have my son do also) that has helped me, is to plan ahead for what I'm going to eat for the day. Most nights before going to bed, I go ahead and plug in my breakfast and midmorning and mid-afternoon snack (fruit) for the next day, which is easy since I eat the same exact thing every day (and so does my ds).
Then, I think about what I want to make for dinner the next night. I do this *before* choosing my lunch foods (I have about 4 different lunch options that I usually choose from...kinda have always done this). If I decide on a dinner that is higher in carbs (like gluten free spaghetti with meat sauce), I choose one of my "regular" lunches that is lower in carbs.
Usually, the night before I have already plugged in what I *plan* to eat the next day. I also go ahead and plug in the exercising I *plan* to do. If any of this changes the next day, I just go in an make the changes.
If you or your student likes to have a "to do" list and is *motivated* by checking things off the to do list, then this system I'm using to plan ahead might be a big motivator. I like checking things off my planned to do list, so this suits me well:)
I'm seeing (and think my son will also) that I need to PLAN for my diet and exercising or else it just doesn't get done *properly*. Kinda reminds me of homeschooling and housework!
Saturday, October 8, 2011
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
School Year Update
We are almost two-thirds of the way through our first 12 week term. Of course, I've had to do some tweaking here and there just like all the school years past.
Here's the tweaks I've made for Zach my 11th grader...
-dropped Age of Revolution by Churchill
-substituting The Struggle for Sea Power by Synge
-Miracle at Philadelphia dropped
-Gulliver's Travels on hold until next term
-added The Invisible Man
-added Dating With Integrety
-dropped German Demystified
-dropped IEW's The Elegant Essay
-substituted Jensen's Format Writing, The Book on Writing: The Ultimate Guide to Writing Well and creative writing prompts from Jump In
-Shadow of the Almighty put on hold until later in the school year (or maybe even next summer's reading list)
And his homeschool PE class has also started back up again. We didn't think the gym that offered this last year was going to offer it again. We are both SO pleased the gym decided to offer this again. It pushes him to exercise vigorously on a regular basis.
Now for my 8th grade Jake's tweaks...
-dropped IEW's All Things Fun and Fascinating (keeping this on hold until either later in the school year or maybe next year)
-replaced the above mentioned IEW program with writing from KWOs (no IEW dress-ups) using simple paragraphs found at the IEW yahoo group files *and* dictation
-Just *today* ordered First Language Lessons level 3 and Writing With Ease level 3...will replace the above mentioned mom-created grammar and writing lessons
-dropped Draw Squad (wayyyyy tooo easy for him)
-added Artistic Pursuits (but still looking...he doesn't really like Artistic Pursuits...he's asked for a "live" person to teach him art...looking for someone affordable:)
Jake has been running with a local small private classical Christian school's cross country team again this year. Their regular season ends tomorrow (regional and state championships next month if we qualify). He will be playing basketball again this year with the same school. Practices for basketball began a couple of weeks ago.
Between school, the boy's outside activities *and* mom trying to exercise herself a LOT each day, we are staying very busy. Not too busy. Just busy enough to take our minds off the fact that my dh is having to travel an extreme amount for the past 3 months for weeks at a time.
Here's the tweaks I've made for Zach my 11th grader...
-dropped Age of Revolution by Churchill
-substituting The Struggle for Sea Power by Synge
-Miracle at Philadelphia dropped
-Gulliver's Travels on hold until next term
-added The Invisible Man
-added Dating With Integrety
-dropped German Demystified
-dropped IEW's The Elegant Essay
-substituted Jensen's Format Writing, The Book on Writing: The Ultimate Guide to Writing Well and creative writing prompts from Jump In
-Shadow of the Almighty put on hold until later in the school year (or maybe even next summer's reading list)
And his homeschool PE class has also started back up again. We didn't think the gym that offered this last year was going to offer it again. We are both SO pleased the gym decided to offer this again. It pushes him to exercise vigorously on a regular basis.
Now for my 8th grade Jake's tweaks...
-dropped IEW's All Things Fun and Fascinating (keeping this on hold until either later in the school year or maybe next year)
-replaced the above mentioned IEW program with writing from KWOs (no IEW dress-ups) using simple paragraphs found at the IEW yahoo group files *and* dictation
-Just *today* ordered First Language Lessons level 3 and Writing With Ease level 3...will replace the above mentioned mom-created grammar and writing lessons
-dropped Draw Squad (wayyyyy tooo easy for him)
-added Artistic Pursuits (but still looking...he doesn't really like Artistic Pursuits...he's asked for a "live" person to teach him art...looking for someone affordable:)
Jake has been running with a local small private classical Christian school's cross country team again this year. Their regular season ends tomorrow (regional and state championships next month if we qualify). He will be playing basketball again this year with the same school. Practices for basketball began a couple of weeks ago.
Between school, the boy's outside activities *and* mom trying to exercise herself a LOT each day, we are staying very busy. Not too busy. Just busy enough to take our minds off the fact that my dh is having to travel an extreme amount for the past 3 months for weeks at a time.
Monday, August 29, 2011
Writing
IEW's The Elegant Essay is a wonderful program, but was not a good fit for Zach after all. He *hates* writing programs that break the writing process down into tiny little steps. This type of program is extremely helpful for many students, but is like a straight-jacket for other students.
After he talked to me about writing again, I took a longer look at the writing books that AO suggests for Years 9-11. Since Ambleside Online is working incredibly well for him in all other areas, I've decided to fully follow their writing recommendations.
I immediately pulled Writer's Inc., which is recommended for Year 9 *lite*, off our bookshelf. I also ordered The Book on Writing: the Ultimate Guide to Writing Well by Paula LaRocque, which is recommended in Year 10. Since I had Writer's Inc, I scheduled a few select readings while waiting on the book by LaRocque to arrive.
While on the topic of writing, I have to share how much progress Jake has made with writing just over the past few weeks while using IEW's All Things Fun and Fascinating. I tried the IEW method last year with him, but he didn't get past simply writing from a key word outline with no "dress-ups". When a student is ready to learn a new concept or skill, it takes so little time (usually:) for them to get it and get going. That's exactly what is happening with Jake and the IEW writing this year. Whoohoo!!:)
After he talked to me about writing again, I took a longer look at the writing books that AO suggests for Years 9-11. Since Ambleside Online is working incredibly well for him in all other areas, I've decided to fully follow their writing recommendations.
I immediately pulled Writer's Inc., which is recommended for Year 9 *lite*, off our bookshelf. I also ordered The Book on Writing: the Ultimate Guide to Writing Well by Paula LaRocque, which is recommended in Year 10. Since I had Writer's Inc, I scheduled a few select readings while waiting on the book by LaRocque to arrive.
While on the topic of writing, I have to share how much progress Jake has made with writing just over the past few weeks while using IEW's All Things Fun and Fascinating. I tried the IEW method last year with him, but he didn't get past simply writing from a key word outline with no "dress-ups". When a student is ready to learn a new concept or skill, it takes so little time (usually:) for them to get it and get going. That's exactly what is happening with Jake and the IEW writing this year. Whoohoo!!:)
Friday, August 19, 2011
Whew...
We just ended our 2nd week of school. It was our first *full* week. We started a little slow, got into a good pace mid-week and ended on high note! Well....we did have a VERY slow start to the morning this morning, but when we all got to work we fell back into the groove nicely.
I've only had to change a couple of things so far this year. Usually I know within the first few weeks if something is probably not going to work out well. We might continue one with the program or book in question for a few weeks, just to make sure, but I usually have it pegged those first few weeks.
Zach, my 11th grader, LOVES the Uncle Eric series of books. He's reading his 3rd book from the series. It's the only Uncle Eric book I have schedule for the year. Early in the week, he asked me how many books are in the series and what their titles were. Once he got all the info on the entire series, he asked to read them all.
I'm taking the How to Win Friends and Influence People off the list for right now. It may end up on the list again later in the year, but for right now I'm going to replace that with more reading from the Uncle Eric series.
Another book I replaced was Six Easy Pieces, which is a good introduction to Physics. He just needs more math under his belt before tackling this one. I can hold off on that one until next year. Science Matters is the replacment at least for right now.
Jake, my 8th grader, is doing very well with everything I had planned for him. The only complaint was about Draw Squad. I had a feeling it would be too easy for him. I just ordered Artistic Pursuits Jr. High book one for him tonight. Maybe it will be just the right amount of new material for him.
I've only had to change a couple of things so far this year. Usually I know within the first few weeks if something is probably not going to work out well. We might continue one with the program or book in question for a few weeks, just to make sure, but I usually have it pegged those first few weeks.
Zach, my 11th grader, LOVES the Uncle Eric series of books. He's reading his 3rd book from the series. It's the only Uncle Eric book I have schedule for the year. Early in the week, he asked me how many books are in the series and what their titles were. Once he got all the info on the entire series, he asked to read them all.
I'm taking the How to Win Friends and Influence People off the list for right now. It may end up on the list again later in the year, but for right now I'm going to replace that with more reading from the Uncle Eric series.
Another book I replaced was Six Easy Pieces, which is a good introduction to Physics. He just needs more math under his belt before tackling this one. I can hold off on that one until next year. Science Matters is the replacment at least for right now.
Jake, my 8th grader, is doing very well with everything I had planned for him. The only complaint was about Draw Squad. I had a feeling it would be too easy for him. I just ordered Artistic Pursuits Jr. High book one for him tonight. Maybe it will be just the right amount of new material for him.
Friday, August 12, 2011
Weekly Report...Week 1
The big assignment for me, the homeschoolin' momma:), is to blog about our week at the end of each week. I think having this will bring joy to me after our homeschooling years are complete and will keep me accountable while in the middle of this journey. Hopefully, it will also be a blessing to some reader who's homeschooling middle and highschoolers:)
For this first weekly report, I'll keep it simple and just report what we did. Other weeks, you might get some stories about adventures we have.
Being the first week of the new school year, I scheduled a light load. Monday and Tuesday were very light. I added a bit more for the rest of the week. Next week is a full load week from the get-go!
11th grader:
-Math: Key to Fractions (about 5 1/2 hours total for the week...He works for 45 min., stops to check the work then makes corrections).
-Bible:
* Exodus Intro-ch. 3
*Shadow of the Almight ch. 1
*Mere Christianity part 1, ch. 1
-History:
*History of the Am. People about 5 pages
*Witch Hunt: The Mysteries of the Salem Witch Trials: ch. 1
*Age of Revolution: about 8 pages (read 2x a week)
*John Adams biography 4 or 5 pages
-Literature:
*Count of Monte Cristo ch. 1-3 (read 3x a week)
*Scarlet Letter ch. 1 & 2
*Gulliver's Travels part 1, ch. 1
-Driver's Ed: TN Driver's Handbook ch. 1 & 2 (read and oral quizing)
-Government:
*Are You a Liberal, Conservative or Confused? ch. 1 & 2
*Miracle at Philadelphia 10 pages spread over 2 days
-Science:
*Short History of Nearly Everything 10 pages spread over 2 days
*Evolution: The Grand Experiment ch. 1
-Writing:
*Essay about experience working with Urban Ministries
*Free writing for 2 days
-PE: went to the gym 2x, worked out at home 1x
***He's 17 1/2yo and his maturity is showing this year so far:)
8th grader:
-Math: Worked about 3 1/2-4 hours total for the week.
-Bible:
*One Year Bible for Kids 4 days of readings
*But Don't All Religions Lead to God ch. 1
-History/Biography:
*George Washington's World about 15 pages of reading spread over 5 days
*Abigail Adams bio one chapter spread over 2 days
*Trial & Triumph read 1 chapter
-Literature:
*Kidnapped 2 chapters (read 2x a week)
*Age of Fable: one chapter
-Science:
*Food and Nutrition for Every Kid ch. 1-3 and SL activity pages
-Guitar: practiced daily
-PE: XC practice 3x (2 hours each)
***He'll be 14yo in a few weeks. 'Nuf said!LOL;)
For this first weekly report, I'll keep it simple and just report what we did. Other weeks, you might get some stories about adventures we have.
Being the first week of the new school year, I scheduled a light load. Monday and Tuesday were very light. I added a bit more for the rest of the week. Next week is a full load week from the get-go!
11th grader:
-Math: Key to Fractions (about 5 1/2 hours total for the week...He works for 45 min., stops to check the work then makes corrections).
-Bible:
* Exodus Intro-ch. 3
*Shadow of the Almight ch. 1
*Mere Christianity part 1, ch. 1
-History:
*History of the Am. People about 5 pages
*Witch Hunt: The Mysteries of the Salem Witch Trials: ch. 1
*Age of Revolution: about 8 pages (read 2x a week)
*John Adams biography 4 or 5 pages
-Literature:
*Count of Monte Cristo ch. 1-3 (read 3x a week)
*Scarlet Letter ch. 1 & 2
*Gulliver's Travels part 1, ch. 1
-Driver's Ed: TN Driver's Handbook ch. 1 & 2 (read and oral quizing)
-Government:
*Are You a Liberal, Conservative or Confused? ch. 1 & 2
*Miracle at Philadelphia 10 pages spread over 2 days
-Science:
*Short History of Nearly Everything 10 pages spread over 2 days
*Evolution: The Grand Experiment ch. 1
-Writing:
*Essay about experience working with Urban Ministries
*Free writing for 2 days
-PE: went to the gym 2x, worked out at home 1x
***He's 17 1/2yo and his maturity is showing this year so far:)
8th grader:
-Math: Worked about 3 1/2-4 hours total for the week.
-Bible:
*One Year Bible for Kids 4 days of readings
*But Don't All Religions Lead to God ch. 1
-History/Biography:
*George Washington's World about 15 pages of reading spread over 5 days
*Abigail Adams bio one chapter spread over 2 days
*Trial & Triumph read 1 chapter
-Literature:
*Kidnapped 2 chapters (read 2x a week)
*Age of Fable: one chapter
-Science:
*Food and Nutrition for Every Kid ch. 1-3 and SL activity pages
-Guitar: practiced daily
-PE: XC practice 3x (2 hours each)
***He'll be 14yo in a few weeks. 'Nuf said!LOL;)
Sunday, August 7, 2011
2011-12 Plans
Two more years. Five more years. These are the years I have left to be the main educator in my sons' lives. Wow. How time has flown.
Zach is now an 11th grader and Jake is an 8th grader. I'm lovin' every minute of these ages and grades. Reading and discussing books with them is my favorite part of homeschooling!
I've been busy making plans for their first 12 week term. They have been doing some math and literature reading for the past two weeks. Monday, August 8th, we will add in history. Wednesday, we'll add in more classes. By the following week, I hope to have most classes up and going. Easing into the year slowly keeps us all from feeling so overwhelmed.
Zach will be using Ambleside Online's House of Education Year 9 *lite* with some substitutions here and there. Term 2 of AO's Year 4 is where Jake left off at the end of this past school year, so he'll start there.
Here's a sample of their Term 1 (12 weeks) daily schedule, which, of course, will be tweaked and tweaked when we get up and running!:)
Zach's line up...
Daily:
-Key to Algebra
Mon:
-ESV Study Bible (Exodus)
-History of the American People
-Draw Squad
-World's Greatest Composers (listen to 1 piece)
-German Demystified
-Count of Monte Cristo
-Driver's Ed.
-Fallacy Detective
-Short History of Nearly Everything
-Getting Started with Latin (book and website)
-Elegant Essay
Tues.
-ESV Study Bible (Exodus)
-Witch Hunt: The Salem Witch Trials
-Poets Corner (book and audio cd)
-German Demystified
-Scarlet Letter
-Driver's Ed.
-Are You a Liberal Conservative or Confused?
-Seven Pillars of Health
-Getting Started with Latin
-Elegant Essay
Wed.
-Shadow of the Almighty (Jim Elliot biography)
-Age of Revolution
-Draw Squad
-The World's Great Composers cd
-Count of Monte Cristo
-Driver's Ed. Online
-How to Win Friends and Influence People
-Short History of Nearly Everything
-Getting Started with Latin
Thurs.
-ESV Study Bible (Exodus)
-John Adams biography
-Poets Corner
-German Demystified
-Annotated Mona Lisa or The Gift of Music (alternate weeks)
-Gulliver's Travels
-Miracle at Philadelphia
-Evolution: The Grand Experiment
-Getting Started with Latin
-Elegant Essay
Fri.
-Mere Christianity
-Age of Revolution
-Count of Monte Cristo
-Driver's Ed.
-Six Easy Pieces (Physics Intro)
-Friday Free Write
-Driving practice: Every Saturday and Sunday for this first term.
-PE: Gym
-Cooking Skills: Learn to cook an entire meal (simple meal) from start to finish each month.
Jake's line up...
Daily:
-Math (lots of review and cementing some "holes" this first 12 week term)
-George Washington's World
-Megawords
-SL Science G
Mon-Thurs.
-The Child's Story Bible by Catherine Vos
-IEW's All Things Fun and Fascinating
Mon.
-Kidnapped
-Draw Squad
-World's Greatest Composers cd (listen to 1 piece)
Tues.
-Abigail Adams biography
-Usborne Book of Art
Wed.
-Robinson Crusoe
-Draw Squad
-World's Greatest Composers cd
Thurs.
-Tales from Shakespeare
-The Complete Book of Marvels: The Occident by Richard Halliburton
Fri.
-"But Don't All Religions Lead to God?" (bible)
-This Country of Ours or Trial and Triumph
-Friday Free Write
PE:
-Fall: Cross Country (while training for 1/2 marathon that's in October).
-Winter: Basketball
-Spring: 5K season (with dad)
It sure looks good on paper! We'll see how it all goes TOMORROW!:)
Zach is now an 11th grader and Jake is an 8th grader. I'm lovin' every minute of these ages and grades. Reading and discussing books with them is my favorite part of homeschooling!
I've been busy making plans for their first 12 week term. They have been doing some math and literature reading for the past two weeks. Monday, August 8th, we will add in history. Wednesday, we'll add in more classes. By the following week, I hope to have most classes up and going. Easing into the year slowly keeps us all from feeling so overwhelmed.
Zach will be using Ambleside Online's House of Education Year 9 *lite* with some substitutions here and there. Term 2 of AO's Year 4 is where Jake left off at the end of this past school year, so he'll start there.
Here's a sample of their Term 1 (12 weeks) daily schedule, which, of course, will be tweaked and tweaked when we get up and running!:)
Zach's line up...
Daily:
-Key to Algebra
Mon:
-ESV Study Bible (Exodus)
-History of the American People
-Draw Squad
-World's Greatest Composers (listen to 1 piece)
-German Demystified
-Count of Monte Cristo
-Driver's Ed.
-Fallacy Detective
-Short History of Nearly Everything
-Getting Started with Latin (book and website)
-Elegant Essay
Tues.
-ESV Study Bible (Exodus)
-Witch Hunt: The Salem Witch Trials
-Poets Corner (book and audio cd)
-German Demystified
-Scarlet Letter
-Driver's Ed.
-Are You a Liberal Conservative or Confused?
-Seven Pillars of Health
-Getting Started with Latin
-Elegant Essay
Wed.
-Shadow of the Almighty (Jim Elliot biography)
-Age of Revolution
-Draw Squad
-The World's Great Composers cd
-Count of Monte Cristo
-Driver's Ed. Online
-How to Win Friends and Influence People
-Short History of Nearly Everything
-Getting Started with Latin
Thurs.
-ESV Study Bible (Exodus)
-John Adams biography
-Poets Corner
-German Demystified
-Annotated Mona Lisa or The Gift of Music (alternate weeks)
-Gulliver's Travels
-Miracle at Philadelphia
-Evolution: The Grand Experiment
-Getting Started with Latin
-Elegant Essay
Fri.
-Mere Christianity
-Age of Revolution
-Count of Monte Cristo
-Driver's Ed.
-Six Easy Pieces (Physics Intro)
-Friday Free Write
-Driving practice: Every Saturday and Sunday for this first term.
-PE: Gym
-Cooking Skills: Learn to cook an entire meal (simple meal) from start to finish each month.
Jake's line up...
Daily:
-Math (lots of review and cementing some "holes" this first 12 week term)
-George Washington's World
-Megawords
-SL Science G
Mon-Thurs.
-The Child's Story Bible by Catherine Vos
-IEW's All Things Fun and Fascinating
Mon.
-Kidnapped
-Draw Squad
-World's Greatest Composers cd (listen to 1 piece)
Tues.
-Abigail Adams biography
-Usborne Book of Art
Wed.
-Robinson Crusoe
-Draw Squad
-World's Greatest Composers cd
Thurs.
-Tales from Shakespeare
-The Complete Book of Marvels: The Occident by Richard Halliburton
Fri.
-"But Don't All Religions Lead to God?" (bible)
-This Country of Ours or Trial and Triumph
-Friday Free Write
PE:
-Fall: Cross Country (while training for 1/2 marathon that's in October).
-Winter: Basketball
-Spring: 5K season (with dad)
It sure looks good on paper! We'll see how it all goes TOMORROW!:)
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Ambleside Online Year 4
As Jake was finishing some of the books he started the year with, I began to think about "what's next" for him. I have to say that I like having a change of materials the last 1/3 of the year. Since starting these new books, I've noticed a renewed excitement for learning in Jake also.
He finished Story of the World II in February. I had planned SOTW III next for him, but kept being pulled toward American History instead of world history. The History of US by Joy Hakim came off my shelf first for him to try, since Zach had enjoyed reading most of this series when he was 14/15yo.
Studying indept American history was what Jake wanted, but his enthusiasm was quickly lost shortly after beginning HofUS book 1. He wasn't complaining about the book, but I was hoping the excitement he had for learning more about American history would continue, but instead it seemed to fizzle rapidly.
Since Zach has been using Ambleside Online's House of Education year 11 lite this year with great success, I began to read over the lower AO years. After much research and reading at the AO site, I decided to have him try AO year 4.
Over the past couple of weeks, he's been slowly adding the AO year 4 books to his daily schedule. Honestly, this child has NEVER been this excited to do his schoolwork until now! I'm hoping his excitement continues. Even better than his excitement for learning again is the fact that he IS *learning* SO much! His detailed narrations have been amazing, although best of all, there is excitement in his voice when he narrates. Written narrations have also improved over the past two weeks.
He's doing a slightly modified Year 4 Term 1 for our last 12 weeks of school. I've modified it so he can read everything himself, which is what he prefers. Listed below is what he's reading...
-History: This Country of Ours (TCOO)
-History Tales and/or Bio: Poor Richard & Trial and Triumph
-Geography: Minn of the Mississippi
-Litertature: D'Aulaire's Greek Myths, Amos Fortune Free Man and The Incredible Journey
(This is where most of the modifying is coming into play. He is just NOT ready *at all* for the regular year 4 literature selections, so instead I choose one book from the regular list, one book from the free reading list-which is always a list of easier to read books compared to the regular literature selections-and then D'Aulaire's Greek Myths instead of Age of Fable).
-Science: It Couldn't Just Happen
I honestly cannot tell you which of these books he enjoys the most. This is my struggling reader who is enjoying his readings!
He is reading TCOO, D'Aulaire's Greek Myths & It Couldn't Just Happen daily, but the rest of the books are read 2-3 times per week. Trial and Triumph is read only one time a week in place of bible reading (The One Year Bible for Kids) for that day since T&T is a church history book.
In addtion to these readings, he does a written narration in one subject reading daily and oral narration for the other subject readings. Then he alternates doing Megawords 3 times a week with an online English program the other 2 days. Oh, and of course there's daily math lessons. ALEKS Online is the math he's been using for the past almost 3 months.
He finished Story of the World II in February. I had planned SOTW III next for him, but kept being pulled toward American History instead of world history. The History of US by Joy Hakim came off my shelf first for him to try, since Zach had enjoyed reading most of this series when he was 14/15yo.
Studying indept American history was what Jake wanted, but his enthusiasm was quickly lost shortly after beginning HofUS book 1. He wasn't complaining about the book, but I was hoping the excitement he had for learning more about American history would continue, but instead it seemed to fizzle rapidly.
Since Zach has been using Ambleside Online's House of Education year 11 lite this year with great success, I began to read over the lower AO years. After much research and reading at the AO site, I decided to have him try AO year 4.
Over the past couple of weeks, he's been slowly adding the AO year 4 books to his daily schedule. Honestly, this child has NEVER been this excited to do his schoolwork until now! I'm hoping his excitement continues. Even better than his excitement for learning again is the fact that he IS *learning* SO much! His detailed narrations have been amazing, although best of all, there is excitement in his voice when he narrates. Written narrations have also improved over the past two weeks.
He's doing a slightly modified Year 4 Term 1 for our last 12 weeks of school. I've modified it so he can read everything himself, which is what he prefers. Listed below is what he's reading...
-History: This Country of Ours (TCOO)
-History Tales and/or Bio: Poor Richard & Trial and Triumph
-Geography: Minn of the Mississippi
-Litertature: D'Aulaire's Greek Myths, Amos Fortune Free Man and The Incredible Journey
(This is where most of the modifying is coming into play. He is just NOT ready *at all* for the regular year 4 literature selections, so instead I choose one book from the regular list, one book from the free reading list-which is always a list of easier to read books compared to the regular literature selections-and then D'Aulaire's Greek Myths instead of Age of Fable).
-Science: It Couldn't Just Happen
I honestly cannot tell you which of these books he enjoys the most. This is my struggling reader who is enjoying his readings!
He is reading TCOO, D'Aulaire's Greek Myths & It Couldn't Just Happen daily, but the rest of the books are read 2-3 times per week. Trial and Triumph is read only one time a week in place of bible reading (The One Year Bible for Kids) for that day since T&T is a church history book.
In addtion to these readings, he does a written narration in one subject reading daily and oral narration for the other subject readings. Then he alternates doing Megawords 3 times a week with an online English program the other 2 days. Oh, and of course there's daily math lessons. ALEKS Online is the math he's been using for the past almost 3 months.
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
A Day in the Life...Highschool
I've been pleasantly surprised at how much I'm enjoying having a highschooler who is still homeschooling. If you notice, I did not say a highschooler that *I* am homeschooling. Honestly, he's self-educating. During the summer, we discussed what time period he would like to study this year, then I had him read samples of a few of the books from AO's House of Education year 11 (lite) to make sure these would be enjoyable reads for the most part for him.
Tuesday and Thursday are the craziest days of the week for him, but also the most enjoyable. He participates in two of his favorite activities, which is the homeschool PE class at a local gym and volunteering with an urban ministry afterschool tutoring at our church.
Here's how his day looked yesterday...(The times are estimates, since I do not watch the clock for him, although I do give him verbal reminders to "stay on task")...
-Wakes around 7:30 or 8:00. Has some sweet tea to get himself awake, gets on the computer for a bit, eats something, then starts math about an hour after waking.
-Works on math for 45 min., then checks his work and makes corrections. He writes his math score (before corrections) on his school checklist so I can see it at a glance. Total time on math is from 1 to 1 1/2 hours at the most.
-Brain break...checks fb or watches some video on youtube just for a few minutes.
-He always reads his bible after math and a brain break. Usually he takes a shower after bible reading.
-Once he's out of the shower, he will read something on his weekly checklist (broken down into daily assignments...I use a planner page from Donna Young's website). I *think* most days he reads his history/gov/econ. reading assignment at this time.
-Now it's lunch time. He *always* makes his own lunch and usually *finally* makes his bed ('cuz I tell him too!:) while his lunch is heating. (I have a "thing" about unmade beds. He's a neat and tidy guy, but could care less about a made bed!:)
-On Tuesday and Thursday we have to leave the house by 12:45 to be at the homeschool PE classes at 1pm. The PE class is from 1-3pm.
-He then has about 50 minutes until he needs to be at the church for his volunteering responsibilites with the afterschool tutoring. He and I get a drink at Sonic and wait there. I always have him choose a school book to bring and read during that time. Also, during this time while we are waiting at Sonic, I ask him to update me on what he's been reading and learning, which always leads to a great conversation.
-I drop him at church a bit before 4pm and then one of the tutors drops him home for us a little after 6pm. He then has dinner and rests for a bit (usually doing something on the computer or playing a video game with his brother).
-By 8pm I ask him if he's finished his school work for the day knowing he hasn't, but this gets him to thinking again about what he needs to do.
-Lately, he's going to bed around midnight. Between 8pm and midnight, he gets his school work done (reading literture and science...no writing assignment on Tuesday and Thursday), talks to us (me, dad and brother...my boys are TALKATIVE at night) does some chores (folding his clean clothes, scooping the kitty litter, etc...), works-out with a punching bag that's in his room, gets a shower and watches some tv.
He has more school work on Monday, Wednesday and Friday (writing, geography, studying for driver's permit) since he doesn't have the PE classes or volunteering. The chore list is also a bit longer on those three days. The PE classes are not all year long. He has a *full* day of school on Tuesday and Thursday when the PE classes are not in session.
Tuesday and Thursday are the craziest days of the week for him, but also the most enjoyable. He participates in two of his favorite activities, which is the homeschool PE class at a local gym and volunteering with an urban ministry afterschool tutoring at our church.
Here's how his day looked yesterday...(The times are estimates, since I do not watch the clock for him, although I do give him verbal reminders to "stay on task")...
-Wakes around 7:30 or 8:00. Has some sweet tea to get himself awake, gets on the computer for a bit, eats something, then starts math about an hour after waking.
-Works on math for 45 min., then checks his work and makes corrections. He writes his math score (before corrections) on his school checklist so I can see it at a glance. Total time on math is from 1 to 1 1/2 hours at the most.
-Brain break...checks fb or watches some video on youtube just for a few minutes.
-He always reads his bible after math and a brain break. Usually he takes a shower after bible reading.
-Once he's out of the shower, he will read something on his weekly checklist (broken down into daily assignments...I use a planner page from Donna Young's website). I *think* most days he reads his history/gov/econ. reading assignment at this time.
-Now it's lunch time. He *always* makes his own lunch and usually *finally* makes his bed ('cuz I tell him too!:) while his lunch is heating. (I have a "thing" about unmade beds. He's a neat and tidy guy, but could care less about a made bed!:)
-On Tuesday and Thursday we have to leave the house by 12:45 to be at the homeschool PE classes at 1pm. The PE class is from 1-3pm.
-He then has about 50 minutes until he needs to be at the church for his volunteering responsibilites with the afterschool tutoring. He and I get a drink at Sonic and wait there. I always have him choose a school book to bring and read during that time. Also, during this time while we are waiting at Sonic, I ask him to update me on what he's been reading and learning, which always leads to a great conversation.
-I drop him at church a bit before 4pm and then one of the tutors drops him home for us a little after 6pm. He then has dinner and rests for a bit (usually doing something on the computer or playing a video game with his brother).
-By 8pm I ask him if he's finished his school work for the day knowing he hasn't, but this gets him to thinking again about what he needs to do.
-Lately, he's going to bed around midnight. Between 8pm and midnight, he gets his school work done (reading literture and science...no writing assignment on Tuesday and Thursday), talks to us (me, dad and brother...my boys are TALKATIVE at night) does some chores (folding his clean clothes, scooping the kitty litter, etc...), works-out with a punching bag that's in his room, gets a shower and watches some tv.
He has more school work on Monday, Wednesday and Friday (writing, geography, studying for driver's permit) since he doesn't have the PE classes or volunteering. The chore list is also a bit longer on those three days. The PE classes are not all year long. He has a *full* day of school on Tuesday and Thursday when the PE classes are not in session.
Sunday, February 6, 2011
My Current Reading List
Here's my current reading list...
-The One Year Bible and/or ESV Study Bible
-The Holiness of God by Sproul
-A History of the American People by Johnson
-Norhtanger Abbey by Jane Austen
-Napoleon's Button's How 17 Molecules Changed History
-The Count of Monte Cristo
-How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
-Are You a Liberal, Conservative or Confused?
My surprise favorite in this list is The Count of Monte Cristo and the Holiness of God. I hate "preachy" books, so I often avoid spiritual books (other than the bible, of course:). The Holiness of God is a delightful surprise!
The Count of Monte Cristo is, well, so dog-gone THICK. I also thought it was one of those "boy books" that appeal to men more than women. Not true, at least at this early point in the book. Oh, and I'm *trying* to set a good example for my boys and pick up THICK books, NOT see exactly how pages are in the book nor in the chapter I'm reading. Surprise what we can find enjoyable when we stop letting stuff like that get in the way:)
-The One Year Bible and/or ESV Study Bible
-The Holiness of God by Sproul
-A History of the American People by Johnson
-Norhtanger Abbey by Jane Austen
-Napoleon's Button's How 17 Molecules Changed History
-The Count of Monte Cristo
-How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
-Are You a Liberal, Conservative or Confused?
My surprise favorite in this list is The Count of Monte Cristo and the Holiness of God. I hate "preachy" books, so I often avoid spiritual books (other than the bible, of course:). The Holiness of God is a delightful surprise!
The Count of Monte Cristo is, well, so dog-gone THICK. I also thought it was one of those "boy books" that appeal to men more than women. Not true, at least at this early point in the book. Oh, and I'm *trying* to set a good example for my boys and pick up THICK books, NOT see exactly how pages are in the book nor in the chapter I'm reading. Surprise what we can find enjoyable when we stop letting stuff like that get in the way:)
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Easy One-Skillet Chicken Parmesan
Here's another recipe that all my picky men folk enjoyed. I did too, but *I* am not the picky eater around these parts!:)
Easy One-Skillet Chicken Parmesan
-1 ½ Tbsp. oil
-4 small boneless chicken breast halves (1lb.)
-1 ½ cups frozen chopped green bell peppers
-1 can diced tomatoes with basal, garlic & oregano
-1 cup water
-2 cups MINUTE White Rice, uncooked
-1 cup Mozzarella cheese, shredded
½ cup Parmesan cheese, grated
1.Heat oil in large skillet on medium-high heat. Add chicken and peppers, cover. Cook 4-5 min. on each side or until chicken is cooked through, stirring peppers occasionally. Remove chicken from skilled, cover to keep warm.
2.Add the can of diced tomatoes and water to skillet; stir. Brind to boil.
3.Stir in rice, top with chicken. Sprinkle with cheese; cover. Reduce heat to low; cook 5 min. or until cheese are melted.
I modified this from a recipe I found on the back of the Minute Rice box. I only made garlic bread to go with this dish. Next time I serve it, I will either have to make *2* skillets of this dish or add a salad and maybe some green beans for a side dish. All my men said they'd rather have just 2 skillets of this next time. They really loved it. A rare thing for all for all of them and for ME to also love the same dish so much.
Easy One-Skillet Chicken Parmesan
-1 ½ Tbsp. oil
-4 small boneless chicken breast halves (1lb.)
-1 ½ cups frozen chopped green bell peppers
-1 can diced tomatoes with basal, garlic & oregano
-1 cup water
-2 cups MINUTE White Rice, uncooked
-1 cup Mozzarella cheese, shredded
½ cup Parmesan cheese, grated
1.Heat oil in large skillet on medium-high heat. Add chicken and peppers, cover. Cook 4-5 min. on each side or until chicken is cooked through, stirring peppers occasionally. Remove chicken from skilled, cover to keep warm.
2.Add the can of diced tomatoes and water to skillet; stir. Brind to boil.
3.Stir in rice, top with chicken. Sprinkle with cheese; cover. Reduce heat to low; cook 5 min. or until cheese are melted.
I modified this from a recipe I found on the back of the Minute Rice box. I only made garlic bread to go with this dish. Next time I serve it, I will either have to make *2* skillets of this dish or add a salad and maybe some green beans for a side dish. All my men said they'd rather have just 2 skillets of this next time. They really loved it. A rare thing for all for all of them and for ME to also love the same dish so much.
Friday, February 4, 2011
Living books for science...more info about what we do...
Below is a response I wrote to a friend on our local homeschool email loop about living books for science in the middle and highschool years.
Last year, when Zach was in 9th grade, we started the year using Apologia Biology. He hated it (couldn't stay awake...literally...while reading it each day). Zach was starting to hate science, so I wanted to do something to help him enjoy it as much as possible. Honestly, I know that if *I* am not enjoying something, I'm really not learning much. I figure that the college years will have plenty of those type classes, so why not make the most of the years we have at home.
A month or so into the school year last year, I found a website created by a mom who is into Charlotte Mason's teachings. She had listed all the living books that her highschool aged children had used to cover credits in your basic highschool science classes, biology, chemistry, physic and I think she's got earth science on there too.
http://charlottemason.tripod.com/
Some of the books she has listed have evolutionary content. Don't let that scare you away right now. By the time your kids are in highschool, they will be prepared to read this stuff, discuss it with you and think/agrue it for themselves. Also, we are finding that often times some of the best scientific authors believe in the evolution theory, BUT these same authors have the better info and better writing skills on other areas in their field of expertise.
Since Zach was working on a biology credit, I had him read from a few books from her list for biology and then one that I found on my own by the same author of one book from her list. By the end of the school year he had read...
-a few chapters in Apologia biology
-select chapters from The Way Life Works (the most textbookish in her list of books)
-Life of Mammals
-Life of Birds
-Of Wolves and Men
At the end of the school year, I called Homelife Academy to talk to their highschool counselor (I think her name is Lynn). She was SO helpful and reassuring in the path we are taking with science. She advised me to call his 9th grade year of science "Zoology I" instead of biology since he did so much reading about animals.
Zach *really* struggles in math. He is 10th grade this year, but after a year of pre-Alg. that was a FLOP last year, *he* wanted to go back and review fractions, decimals and percents. SO, this year he's been working through the Key To Fractions, Decimals and just this week started on the Percents books. When he finishes these books, he'll move on to the Key To Algebra. HE wants to continue with the Key To Algebra even though I've been advised that it is really only a pre-Alg with about 1/2 a year's worth of Alg. I in the book. BUT, he *really* understands the way the Key To books presents concepts, so that's what we are gonna go with. I had rather (and he feels the same) him fully understand a small amount of higher math than to be exposed to a lot of higher math, but barely understand any of it.
Next year he'll work through the Key To Alg. then in 12th grade he'll work through the Key To Geometry. Most kids are taking Chemistry in 11th grade, but he would be lost as a goose with a traditional Chemistry textbook since you need Alg. II in order to do the math in Chemistry. The math skills he needs for the upper level science is just NOT there and aren't gonna be there in time to get these credits in with your traditional textbooks.
I explained all this to Lynn at HLA. She agreed that this was the best route for him. Zach understands that he will not have enough math credits to go straight to a 4-year university and will have to go to a CC for at least a year because of his math. He's OK with that and we are too. He works VERY hard on his math and is doing all he can do. God made him this way and we are not fretting over it (anymore...used to fret over it!:)
Also, I feel that Zach is doing ALL he can in math. He's utilizing the brain God gave him to his best ability in math. I don't think this goes unnoticed by God. If God chooses for Zach to attend a 4-year universtiy right after highschool instead of 1 or 2 years at a CC, then GOD will work that out. Of course, God's plan may very well be for Zach to be at a CC for 1 or 2 years, but He also *might* want to show how HE can work things out the way He wants to no matter the circumstances. AND, of course, God may have a tee-totally different plan than college right away or at all. Right now, we (including zach) feel that God does plan for him to go to college, so we are planning accordingly as much as possible.
This year, he's read about 6-8 chapters in Abeka Biology and a book titled Microbe Hunters.
Here are the books that he'll be choosing from to read for the rest of this year (10th) and over his last two highschool years:
-Napoleon's Buttons How 17 Molecules Saved History (chemistry)
-The Double Helix (biology) (There's a PBS documentary that tells the other side of this story that we'll watch, but I can't find it in my favorites right now. UGH!)
-The Origin of Species (biology)
-Darwin's Black Box (chemistry/biochemistry)
-Darwin on Trial (biology)
-Six Easy Pieces: Essentials of Physics explained by it's Most Brilliant Teacher (Physics)
-A Brief History of Time (Physics)
-The Mystery of the Periodic Table (chemistry)
-A Short Hisdtory of Nearly Everything (a little bio, chem and physics)
2 of the books listed there are from Ambleside Online's House of Education upper level years. Also, here's a link to a list that a gal posted on TWTM message board...
http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1804511&highlight=Double+Helix#post1804511
I'm also not using formal science programs with my 7th grader, Jake, either (he doesn't like Apologia Elem...I think she writes as to a younger crowd and he can hear that in some of her writing, although it is full of some new and interesting info!). He's my struggling reader and as you know, science is the LAST area our struggling readers are able to really comprehend when reading. Also, he struggles in math too (God love this child...no part of school comes easy to him), so there is NO reason to push, push, push to get to those higher sciences. I want him to ENJOY science. Science is about God's creation. I want him to have a love of what God created.
This year (7th) he did read a bit of one of the Abeka science books (not the 7th grade book, but I can't remember which grade). I decided to have him read CLP Nature Reader book 4 instead. It's an *easy* read for him, but he has to orally narrate everyday and then one day a week, he has to key word outline what he reads, then write a paragraph about it.
He's almost finished with this book. Here's the plan I have (so far) for the rest of this year and next year (8th grade):
-It Couldn’t Just Happen
-The Story of Inventions McHugh and Bachman (CLP)
-CLP Nature Reader book 5
-biography of Alexander Graham Bell, like Always Inventing by Tom L. Matthews, or Talking Wire by O.J. Stevenson
-Food and Nutrition for Every Kid
-Albert Einstein and the Theory of Relativity by Robert Cwiklik OR Ordinary Genius by Stephanie McPherson
-Archimedes and the Door of Science by Jeanne Bendick
-Galileo and the Magic Numbers
All of those books, except the Food and Nutrition for Every Kid book, are books listed on Ambleside Online's years 3-6. We might not get to all of these, but it's a good list to choose from for Jake.
I want to point out that just because we don't use textbooks for science doesn't mean my boys are just JUMPING for JOY everyday when they get to "science" on their daily check list:) They had much rather be watching wrestling (Zach) or shooting hoops (Jake).
I will say that when Zach complains about reading his science, I'll sometimes ask, "Do you want to go back to using a textbook like Apoloia or Abeka?" His response is always, "No, those are boring."
The upper level Apologia text DO have end of chapter questions that make the student really think. Abeka's upper level science books do also. The problem comes for some students who are overwhelmed with the amount of scientific info crammed into each day's reading of a traditional text, then having to apply this huge amount of info. With the living books approach, we have found that *most* of the books we've used so far give you easier to digest amounts of info, which is in turn easier to apply.
Also, sometimes (about twice this year) pull out the textbook and find a section that pertains to what Zach's reading in his living book. I'll have him read it, then take notes using the Cornell Note Taking System....
http://coe.jmu.edu/learningtoolbox/cornellnotes.html
Since he has done key-word outlining, this system of note-taking was not hard to pick up.
Jake, my 7th grader, will complain about his science reading in a different way. He doesn't appreciate learning the way Zach does (I like to say "yet" about this:), so for school he wants to do things the quickest, easist, most non-thinking way. Reading a living book usually takes longer than the time you spend reading a section in a textbook. Then organzing your thoughts for an oral narration on what you just read takes more time than just giving short answers to end of section ?s and of course, key word outlining and writing a paragraph really takes more time and thought.
He often asks if he can go back to using the textbook. At first he didn't feel this way, because his reading skills were not to the point of being able to *scan* a page. But once he got to the point where he could scan the page for the answers to the end of section questions, then he prefered the textbook.
Last year, when Zach was in 9th grade, we started the year using Apologia Biology. He hated it (couldn't stay awake...literally...while reading it each day). Zach was starting to hate science, so I wanted to do something to help him enjoy it as much as possible. Honestly, I know that if *I* am not enjoying something, I'm really not learning much. I figure that the college years will have plenty of those type classes, so why not make the most of the years we have at home.
A month or so into the school year last year, I found a website created by a mom who is into Charlotte Mason's teachings. She had listed all the living books that her highschool aged children had used to cover credits in your basic highschool science classes, biology, chemistry, physic and I think she's got earth science on there too.
http://charlottemason.tripod.com/
Some of the books she has listed have evolutionary content. Don't let that scare you away right now. By the time your kids are in highschool, they will be prepared to read this stuff, discuss it with you and think/agrue it for themselves. Also, we are finding that often times some of the best scientific authors believe in the evolution theory, BUT these same authors have the better info and better writing skills on other areas in their field of expertise.
Since Zach was working on a biology credit, I had him read from a few books from her list for biology and then one that I found on my own by the same author of one book from her list. By the end of the school year he had read...
-a few chapters in Apologia biology
-select chapters from The Way Life Works (the most textbookish in her list of books)
-Life of Mammals
-Life of Birds
-Of Wolves and Men
At the end of the school year, I called Homelife Academy to talk to their highschool counselor (I think her name is Lynn). She was SO helpful and reassuring in the path we are taking with science. She advised me to call his 9th grade year of science "Zoology I" instead of biology since he did so much reading about animals.
Zach *really* struggles in math. He is 10th grade this year, but after a year of pre-Alg. that was a FLOP last year, *he* wanted to go back and review fractions, decimals and percents. SO, this year he's been working through the Key To Fractions, Decimals and just this week started on the Percents books. When he finishes these books, he'll move on to the Key To Algebra. HE wants to continue with the Key To Algebra even though I've been advised that it is really only a pre-Alg with about 1/2 a year's worth of Alg. I in the book. BUT, he *really* understands the way the Key To books presents concepts, so that's what we are gonna go with. I had rather (and he feels the same) him fully understand a small amount of higher math than to be exposed to a lot of higher math, but barely understand any of it.
Next year he'll work through the Key To Alg. then in 12th grade he'll work through the Key To Geometry. Most kids are taking Chemistry in 11th grade, but he would be lost as a goose with a traditional Chemistry textbook since you need Alg. II in order to do the math in Chemistry. The math skills he needs for the upper level science is just NOT there and aren't gonna be there in time to get these credits in with your traditional textbooks.
I explained all this to Lynn at HLA. She agreed that this was the best route for him. Zach understands that he will not have enough math credits to go straight to a 4-year university and will have to go to a CC for at least a year because of his math. He's OK with that and we are too. He works VERY hard on his math and is doing all he can do. God made him this way and we are not fretting over it (anymore...used to fret over it!:)
Also, I feel that Zach is doing ALL he can in math. He's utilizing the brain God gave him to his best ability in math. I don't think this goes unnoticed by God. If God chooses for Zach to attend a 4-year universtiy right after highschool instead of 1 or 2 years at a CC, then GOD will work that out. Of course, God's plan may very well be for Zach to be at a CC for 1 or 2 years, but He also *might* want to show how HE can work things out the way He wants to no matter the circumstances. AND, of course, God may have a tee-totally different plan than college right away or at all. Right now, we (including zach) feel that God does plan for him to go to college, so we are planning accordingly as much as possible.
This year, he's read about 6-8 chapters in Abeka Biology and a book titled Microbe Hunters.
Here are the books that he'll be choosing from to read for the rest of this year (10th) and over his last two highschool years:
-Napoleon's Buttons How 17 Molecules Saved History (chemistry)
-The Double Helix (biology) (There's a PBS documentary that tells the other side of this story that we'll watch, but I can't find it in my favorites right now. UGH!)
-The Origin of Species (biology)
-Darwin's Black Box (chemistry/biochemistry)
-Darwin on Trial (biology)
-Six Easy Pieces: Essentials of Physics explained by it's Most Brilliant Teacher (Physics)
-A Brief History of Time (Physics)
-The Mystery of the Periodic Table (chemistry)
-A Short Hisdtory of Nearly Everything (a little bio, chem and physics)
2 of the books listed there are from Ambleside Online's House of Education upper level years. Also, here's a link to a list that a gal posted on TWTM message board...
http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1804511&highlight=Double+Helix#post1804511
I'm also not using formal science programs with my 7th grader, Jake, either (he doesn't like Apologia Elem...I think she writes as to a younger crowd and he can hear that in some of her writing, although it is full of some new and interesting info!). He's my struggling reader and as you know, science is the LAST area our struggling readers are able to really comprehend when reading. Also, he struggles in math too (God love this child...no part of school comes easy to him), so there is NO reason to push, push, push to get to those higher sciences. I want him to ENJOY science. Science is about God's creation. I want him to have a love of what God created.
This year (7th) he did read a bit of one of the Abeka science books (not the 7th grade book, but I can't remember which grade). I decided to have him read CLP Nature Reader book 4 instead. It's an *easy* read for him, but he has to orally narrate everyday and then one day a week, he has to key word outline what he reads, then write a paragraph about it.
He's almost finished with this book. Here's the plan I have (so far) for the rest of this year and next year (8th grade):
-It Couldn’t Just Happen
-The Story of Inventions McHugh and Bachman (CLP)
-CLP Nature Reader book 5
-biography of Alexander Graham Bell, like Always Inventing by Tom L. Matthews, or Talking Wire by O.J. Stevenson
-Food and Nutrition for Every Kid
-Albert Einstein and the Theory of Relativity by Robert Cwiklik OR Ordinary Genius by Stephanie McPherson
-Archimedes and the Door of Science by Jeanne Bendick
-Galileo and the Magic Numbers
All of those books, except the Food and Nutrition for Every Kid book, are books listed on Ambleside Online's years 3-6. We might not get to all of these, but it's a good list to choose from for Jake.
I want to point out that just because we don't use textbooks for science doesn't mean my boys are just JUMPING for JOY everyday when they get to "science" on their daily check list:) They had much rather be watching wrestling (Zach) or shooting hoops (Jake).
I will say that when Zach complains about reading his science, I'll sometimes ask, "Do you want to go back to using a textbook like Apoloia or Abeka?" His response is always, "No, those are boring."
The upper level Apologia text DO have end of chapter questions that make the student really think. Abeka's upper level science books do also. The problem comes for some students who are overwhelmed with the amount of scientific info crammed into each day's reading of a traditional text, then having to apply this huge amount of info. With the living books approach, we have found that *most* of the books we've used so far give you easier to digest amounts of info, which is in turn easier to apply.
Also, sometimes (about twice this year) pull out the textbook and find a section that pertains to what Zach's reading in his living book. I'll have him read it, then take notes using the Cornell Note Taking System....
http://coe.jmu.edu/learningtoolbox/cornellnotes.html
Since he has done key-word outlining, this system of note-taking was not hard to pick up.
Jake, my 7th grader, will complain about his science reading in a different way. He doesn't appreciate learning the way Zach does (I like to say "yet" about this:), so for school he wants to do things the quickest, easist, most non-thinking way. Reading a living book usually takes longer than the time you spend reading a section in a textbook. Then organzing your thoughts for an oral narration on what you just read takes more time than just giving short answers to end of section ?s and of course, key word outlining and writing a paragraph really takes more time and thought.
He often asks if he can go back to using the textbook. At first he didn't feel this way, because his reading skills were not to the point of being able to *scan* a page. But once he got to the point where he could scan the page for the answers to the end of section questions, then he prefered the textbook.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Living Books for Highschool Science
Last night at our local homeschool support group meeting, I shared about how I'd been having my 10th grade son read living books, which are non-textbooks that are written by one author who is passionate about his subject, instead of using textbooks for highschool science.
My son's math learning difference is the reason I first began using a living books approach to science. Traditional science textbooks are full of upper level math, which my son has not studied as of yet. I decided that since I was not going to have him just wade through the upper level maths just to say we'd done them (and barely pass them), there was also no reason to just wade through the upper level traditional science texts that are more math heavy.
We are a history loving family, so it made sense to try to tie his love of history to his science studies. My older son also is an animal lover, which is the reason I chose higher level books for him to read last year on the topic of animals (zoology for those who want to sound official:).
This is how we got started on this living books for science path. Now I will share why I feel this method of learning science is creating some life-long *learning* skills in my son.
He is currently a little more than 1/2 way through the book Microbe Hunters. I read almost all of this book last year. I am a lot like my son in that I struggle with math and science, but this book captivated me. He's been enjoying it, but for the past couple of days has voiced that he's "not getting this book" anymore.
After I had arrived home from my homeschool mom's support group meeting last night, he shared with me that the last chapter was "over his head."
This morning, I pulled Micorbe Hunters off his shelf and reread about 1/2 the last chapter that he had read. Once he was awake this monring, I asked him if he was looking up any scientific terms that he came to in the readings. I know for a fact that he looks up terms, people, places and events when reading history and literature. He loves history and literature and desires to really understand what he reads in those areas, so HE *chose* to begin looking up things he came to that he didn't understand to help him comprehend his history and literature readings.
He had not been doing this while reading Microbe Hunter. Knowing scienctific terms is not important to him, but I told him that if he's going to fully understand what he's reading in this book and other's like it that are scientific in nature, he was going to have to keep his online dictionary open while reading or keep the hand-held electronic dictionary we have by his side while reading this book and other's like it.
I shared that this is a skill that I knew he used in other readings, but that he will need to use this skill of looking up things to help you better understand what your reading for the rest of his life in collge and in his job and sometimes as a spouce and a parent even.
He has used some formal science texts in the past. I explained that most of life's learning does not come in this textbook format where all the supposedly new and important terms are in bold print with a definition in the back of the book. Also, most of life's learning does not come from sources that have questions at the end of a certain amount of reading to supposedly made you think about what you just read. In life, you ask the questions yourself, then you find the anweres to those questions and you are in charge of making sure you thinking about what you are learning. In life, you most often do not have a formal/traditional teacher or textbook to guide you and force you to do this.
Thankfully, he understood this. Now, he's only a 17yo boy who finds pro-wrestling, loud rock music and chatting on face book tremendously more interesting than anything we are reading or doing for school. I do not expect him to FULLY grasp this concept of how important it is to develop skills that will make him a life-long learner. I'm just confident in the fact that this seed has been planted and with maturing and also having parents who set an example by using this skill openly with their children, he will eventually take hold of this for himself and embrace it fully.
My son's math learning difference is the reason I first began using a living books approach to science. Traditional science textbooks are full of upper level math, which my son has not studied as of yet. I decided that since I was not going to have him just wade through the upper level maths just to say we'd done them (and barely pass them), there was also no reason to just wade through the upper level traditional science texts that are more math heavy.
We are a history loving family, so it made sense to try to tie his love of history to his science studies. My older son also is an animal lover, which is the reason I chose higher level books for him to read last year on the topic of animals (zoology for those who want to sound official:).
This is how we got started on this living books for science path. Now I will share why I feel this method of learning science is creating some life-long *learning* skills in my son.
He is currently a little more than 1/2 way through the book Microbe Hunters. I read almost all of this book last year. I am a lot like my son in that I struggle with math and science, but this book captivated me. He's been enjoying it, but for the past couple of days has voiced that he's "not getting this book" anymore.
After I had arrived home from my homeschool mom's support group meeting last night, he shared with me that the last chapter was "over his head."
This morning, I pulled Micorbe Hunters off his shelf and reread about 1/2 the last chapter that he had read. Once he was awake this monring, I asked him if he was looking up any scientific terms that he came to in the readings. I know for a fact that he looks up terms, people, places and events when reading history and literature. He loves history and literature and desires to really understand what he reads in those areas, so HE *chose* to begin looking up things he came to that he didn't understand to help him comprehend his history and literature readings.
He had not been doing this while reading Microbe Hunter. Knowing scienctific terms is not important to him, but I told him that if he's going to fully understand what he's reading in this book and other's like it that are scientific in nature, he was going to have to keep his online dictionary open while reading or keep the hand-held electronic dictionary we have by his side while reading this book and other's like it.
I shared that this is a skill that I knew he used in other readings, but that he will need to use this skill of looking up things to help you better understand what your reading for the rest of his life in collge and in his job and sometimes as a spouce and a parent even.
He has used some formal science texts in the past. I explained that most of life's learning does not come in this textbook format where all the supposedly new and important terms are in bold print with a definition in the back of the book. Also, most of life's learning does not come from sources that have questions at the end of a certain amount of reading to supposedly made you think about what you just read. In life, you ask the questions yourself, then you find the anweres to those questions and you are in charge of making sure you thinking about what you are learning. In life, you most often do not have a formal/traditional teacher or textbook to guide you and force you to do this.
Thankfully, he understood this. Now, he's only a 17yo boy who finds pro-wrestling, loud rock music and chatting on face book tremendously more interesting than anything we are reading or doing for school. I do not expect him to FULLY grasp this concept of how important it is to develop skills that will make him a life-long learner. I'm just confident in the fact that this seed has been planted and with maturing and also having parents who set an example by using this skill openly with their children, he will eventually take hold of this for himself and embrace it fully.
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Crockpot Swiss Steak
My best friend and I have been swapping recipes lately. Running kids from different afternoon activities that seem to end *right* at supper time when everyone is starving as soon as the activity is over, has caused me to need more quick and easy recipes. Of course, cheap recipes are also a plus too!
Crock Pot Swiss Steak from the Betty Crocker website
-1 1/2 lbs, boneless beef steak of your choosing (I used beef stew meat, already cut up).
-3 T flour (to make GF, use corn starch...which I did and it worked!)
-1 tsp. ground mustard
-1/2 tsp salt
-2 TBS olive oil
-1 can stewed tomatoes (I used 1 can chopped tomatoes with success)
-2 garlic cloves, minced (The can of chopped tomatoes had garlic in it, so I skipped this).
-1 large onion, sliced (Substituted one cup of frozen chopped onion).
-1 large green bell pepper, sliced (Substituted one cup of frozen chopped green bell pepper).
Cut beef into 6 servings pieces (or use beef stew meat like I did, which will make the dish kind of "stewish" since some of the meat will fall apart while cooking...yummy!). In small bowl, combine flour or corn starch, mustard and salt. Coat the beef in the flour mix.
In a 10-inch skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Cook beef in oil for about 15 minutes, turning once until brown. Place beef in a 3.5-6 quart slow cooker. Top with onion and bell pepper. Mix tomatoes with garlic and pour over the beef and veggies. Cover and cook on low for 7-9 hours.
I served this with mashed potatoes. My hubby said it would be equally tasty over rice or egg noodles. My boys prefer mashed potatoes over rice and I can't eat egg noodles, so it was mashed 'tators for us.
Yesterday morning, I got this in the crock pot, then peeled and chopped my potatoes in small pieces. After that, I put them into the pot, covered with a lid and set it on the stove top. While hubby and I were out shopping (I *really* think I'm needing a cute scarf for a t-shirt I have:), I called the boys to remove the lid and turn the potatoes on med-high. About 20 or so minutes later, we arrived home and the potatoes were almost ready to be mashed. *Easy* and delicious, especially if you have a teen at home to help out a little ahead of time while you are out looking for the perfect scarf to dress up an ordinary ole black t-shirt.
If anyone decides to make this with mashed 'tators, we prefer the Gold potatoes. They have a buttery taste before you add any butter, which is even yummier when the butter is added.
Crock Pot Swiss Steak from the Betty Crocker website
-1 1/2 lbs, boneless beef steak of your choosing (I used beef stew meat, already cut up).
-3 T flour (to make GF, use corn starch...which I did and it worked!)
-1 tsp. ground mustard
-1/2 tsp salt
-2 TBS olive oil
-1 can stewed tomatoes (I used 1 can chopped tomatoes with success)
-2 garlic cloves, minced (The can of chopped tomatoes had garlic in it, so I skipped this).
-1 large onion, sliced (Substituted one cup of frozen chopped onion).
-1 large green bell pepper, sliced (Substituted one cup of frozen chopped green bell pepper).
Cut beef into 6 servings pieces (or use beef stew meat like I did, which will make the dish kind of "stewish" since some of the meat will fall apart while cooking...yummy!). In small bowl, combine flour or corn starch, mustard and salt. Coat the beef in the flour mix.
In a 10-inch skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Cook beef in oil for about 15 minutes, turning once until brown. Place beef in a 3.5-6 quart slow cooker. Top with onion and bell pepper. Mix tomatoes with garlic and pour over the beef and veggies. Cover and cook on low for 7-9 hours.
I served this with mashed potatoes. My hubby said it would be equally tasty over rice or egg noodles. My boys prefer mashed potatoes over rice and I can't eat egg noodles, so it was mashed 'tators for us.
Yesterday morning, I got this in the crock pot, then peeled and chopped my potatoes in small pieces. After that, I put them into the pot, covered with a lid and set it on the stove top. While hubby and I were out shopping (I *really* think I'm needing a cute scarf for a t-shirt I have:), I called the boys to remove the lid and turn the potatoes on med-high. About 20 or so minutes later, we arrived home and the potatoes were almost ready to be mashed. *Easy* and delicious, especially if you have a teen at home to help out a little ahead of time while you are out looking for the perfect scarf to dress up an ordinary ole black t-shirt.
If anyone decides to make this with mashed 'tators, we prefer the Gold potatoes. They have a buttery taste before you add any butter, which is even yummier when the butter is added.
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
10th Grade 2010
My 16yo son asked to study 20th century/modern history this year. He read a small amount of the SL 300 (Modern History) Core's main spines and also one of the spines suggested by Ambleside Online's Year 11, which is their modern history year. He chose the main book that AO suggests for a spine, which is 20th Century History by Gilbert. Modern history is NOT for the faint of heart. He's enjoying history and literature this year, but has found that some of his modern history readings are best done at any time other than right at bedtime.
Before I share what he's been learning this year, I want to mention that this is my son who has Asperger Syndrome and many of the learning differences that come along with AS, like dysgraphia, dyscalculia (not an official dx, but very obvious), focusing issues and auditory processing issues (dxed and recieved therapy...not very helpful therapy). Joyously I can share that he has NO trouble with reading or comprehension. What a wonderful blessing that has been for him (and me:). Also, he doesn't have trouble putting words on paper if he's allowed to type those words. He's been typing many years now.
Here's what he's used and learned up to the mid-year point:
Bible: NIV Student Bible: following AO's year 11 reading plan
Math: Sigh...the thorn in his side...After completing TT Pre-Alg. last year, he came to me asking to please review fractions, percents and decimals before moving on in math. This summer he started working through the Key To...books for review with great success. By the early spring he will be ready to begin the Key To Algebra (his choice). He's using the Key To Tracker program that this company offers for a minimal yearly fee of $5.95 . This online program does pre-testing for each Key To book, periodical spot check quizzes, which then tell you which page the concept is on in the book that you need to go back and review. It also has end of book tests. We highly recommend this for anyone using the Key To books.
History: We are following AO's year 11 reading schedule for Gilbert's 20th Century History. At this point, he's mostly just read and orally narrated. He's a wonderful narrator. One of my favorite things in the world is to listen to him talk about something he's read. He ties in things he's learned from the bible, what he's read in literature and even current events. It just comes naturally to him.
Literature: Mostly tied with the modern history readings. So far this year he's read, All Quiet on the Western Front, Lord of the Flies, Call of the Wild, The Chosen, Metamorphosis and is currently reading Black Boy (not listed in the order he's read them).
Writing: He's had end of book writting assignments for almost all of the literature selections and also completed most of the assignments in the first half of Writing Strands level 5 (we've dropped that now). Since the first week of November until now, he's had free writing time each day. He is working on a novel and some short stories. I think he's also got some story lines going that he would like to see turned into a video game one day. This is one of his passions, as you can tell.
Driver's Ed: He's been studying the drivers ed handbook, taking online quizes a few times a week and playing some simulated driving game online. He's not spent much time actually driving, but will after Christmas.
Current Events: He reads from World Magazine instead of regular history readings each Friday. Also on Friday, instead of regular bible readings, he reads from Voice of the Martyrs.
Biology: Some readings from Abeka Biology and also Rainbow Science biology section. Is currently reading Microbe Hunters. Usually for science, he reads, then orally narrates. Although he doesn't love science, he still has some excellent science narrations.
Exercise is a also a huge part of his weekly activities. He doesn't need a much exercise as my 13yo does to help him stay focused. He particiapted in homeschool PE classes at a local gym from September until November. When the classes were over, he began to do some workouts at home or at the gym about every other day.
He has had a passion for inner city/urban ministries for the past couple of years after participating in a local one week program for area youth groups called Project Acts. This fall, he began helping with the after school tutoring program that the church we are attending has had going there for 11 years! Although it's been a challenge for him, he's enjoyed it and grown a lot while serving with this ministry.
Like his younger brother, he also volunteers with the lower elementary aged Awana group on Wednesday evenings. This is the highlight of his week! He loves kids and serving.
I think I lied in the previous paragraph when I said that volunteering with Awana is the highlight of his week. No, I must admit that watching professional wrestling is the highlight of his week! This is his current obsession (obsessions are a key part of the AS dx). If there was only a way to give highschool credit for all the watching and READING (He has *2* pro-wrestling encyclopedia type books) about pro-wrestling!
There you have it...a Beechick and CM imspired highschool education that my son actually ENJOYS.
Before I share what he's been learning this year, I want to mention that this is my son who has Asperger Syndrome and many of the learning differences that come along with AS, like dysgraphia, dyscalculia (not an official dx, but very obvious), focusing issues and auditory processing issues (dxed and recieved therapy...not very helpful therapy). Joyously I can share that he has NO trouble with reading or comprehension. What a wonderful blessing that has been for him (and me:). Also, he doesn't have trouble putting words on paper if he's allowed to type those words. He's been typing many years now.
Here's what he's used and learned up to the mid-year point:
Bible: NIV Student Bible: following AO's year 11 reading plan
Math: Sigh...the thorn in his side...After completing TT Pre-Alg. last year, he came to me asking to please review fractions, percents and decimals before moving on in math. This summer he started working through the Key To...books for review with great success. By the early spring he will be ready to begin the Key To Algebra (his choice). He's using the Key To Tracker program that this company offers for a minimal yearly fee of $5.95 . This online program does pre-testing for each Key To book, periodical spot check quizzes, which then tell you which page the concept is on in the book that you need to go back and review. It also has end of book tests. We highly recommend this for anyone using the Key To books.
History: We are following AO's year 11 reading schedule for Gilbert's 20th Century History. At this point, he's mostly just read and orally narrated. He's a wonderful narrator. One of my favorite things in the world is to listen to him talk about something he's read. He ties in things he's learned from the bible, what he's read in literature and even current events. It just comes naturally to him.
Literature: Mostly tied with the modern history readings. So far this year he's read, All Quiet on the Western Front, Lord of the Flies, Call of the Wild, The Chosen, Metamorphosis and is currently reading Black Boy (not listed in the order he's read them).
Writing: He's had end of book writting assignments for almost all of the literature selections and also completed most of the assignments in the first half of Writing Strands level 5 (we've dropped that now). Since the first week of November until now, he's had free writing time each day. He is working on a novel and some short stories. I think he's also got some story lines going that he would like to see turned into a video game one day. This is one of his passions, as you can tell.
Driver's Ed: He's been studying the drivers ed handbook, taking online quizes a few times a week and playing some simulated driving game online. He's not spent much time actually driving, but will after Christmas.
Current Events: He reads from World Magazine instead of regular history readings each Friday. Also on Friday, instead of regular bible readings, he reads from Voice of the Martyrs.
Biology: Some readings from Abeka Biology and also Rainbow Science biology section. Is currently reading Microbe Hunters. Usually for science, he reads, then orally narrates. Although he doesn't love science, he still has some excellent science narrations.
Exercise is a also a huge part of his weekly activities. He doesn't need a much exercise as my 13yo does to help him stay focused. He particiapted in homeschool PE classes at a local gym from September until November. When the classes were over, he began to do some workouts at home or at the gym about every other day.
He has had a passion for inner city/urban ministries for the past couple of years after participating in a local one week program for area youth groups called Project Acts. This fall, he began helping with the after school tutoring program that the church we are attending has had going there for 11 years! Although it's been a challenge for him, he's enjoyed it and grown a lot while serving with this ministry.
Like his younger brother, he also volunteers with the lower elementary aged Awana group on Wednesday evenings. This is the highlight of his week! He loves kids and serving.
I think I lied in the previous paragraph when I said that volunteering with Awana is the highlight of his week. No, I must admit that watching professional wrestling is the highlight of his week! This is his current obsession (obsessions are a key part of the AS dx). If there was only a way to give highschool credit for all the watching and READING (He has *2* pro-wrestling encyclopedia type books) about pro-wrestling!
There you have it...a Beechick and CM imspired highschool education that my son actually ENJOYS.
Monday, December 20, 2010
Books of 2010
Late in 2009, I began forming a new habit of daily reading classic books. My new habit carried over into the entire year of 2010 and has now become a passionate hobby. In a previous blog post on December 31, 2009, I shared my reading plans for 2010. Here is the list of what I did read this year, which were many from my original list (I even tweak my own lists and plans:).
Little Women
Anne of Green Gables,
The Chosen
The Hiding Place
Things Fall Apart
The Scarlet Letter
Black Boy
Common Sense
The Grapes of Wrath
Emma
Pride and Prejudice
Mansfield Park
Sense and Sensibility
Anne Frank The Diary of a Young Girl
Books I've started, but haven't finished *yet*.
Farenheit 541
Uncle Tom's Cabin
The Great Gatsby
The Origin of Species
Microbe Hunters
The Lively Art of Writing
A few not-so-classics
Basic American Government (read about 1 chapter...can't decide if I want to continue)
Love and Respect (I *think* I finished this one.)
Lies My Teacher Told Me (almost finished)
Whatever Happened to Penny Candy (finished)
Are You a Liberal, Conservative or Confused? (just started)
Eats, Shoots and Leaves (also just started)
Sacred Marriage (read about 1/2)
Fearfully and Wonderfully Made (read about 1/2)
Now I must start thinking about my tentative reading plans for 2011. Oliver Twist will be at the top of that list, since I just began reading it yesterday.
Greta:)
Little Women
Anne of Green Gables,
The Chosen
The Hiding Place
Things Fall Apart
The Scarlet Letter
Black Boy
Common Sense
The Grapes of Wrath
Emma
Pride and Prejudice
Mansfield Park
Sense and Sensibility
Anne Frank The Diary of a Young Girl
Books I've started, but haven't finished *yet*.
Farenheit 541
Uncle Tom's Cabin
The Great Gatsby
The Origin of Species
Microbe Hunters
The Lively Art of Writing
A few not-so-classics
Basic American Government (read about 1 chapter...can't decide if I want to continue)
Love and Respect (I *think* I finished this one.)
Lies My Teacher Told Me (almost finished)
Whatever Happened to Penny Candy (finished)
Are You a Liberal, Conservative or Confused? (just started)
Eats, Shoots and Leaves (also just started)
Sacred Marriage (read about 1/2)
Fearfully and Wonderfully Made (read about 1/2)
Now I must start thinking about my tentative reading plans for 2011. Oliver Twist will be at the top of that list, since I just began reading it yesterday.
Greta:)
Sunday, December 19, 2010
7th Grade - 2010-11
If a person could become a genius from just persevering, my 13yo son would be a genius. Watching him struggle, but never give up warms my heart. I remind him often that God has blessed him with the gift of realizing at an early age the reward of hard work and perseverance!
To some, what I have him doing for schoolwork might seem a bit easy, but it's a perfect challenge for him. This is my son that we highly suspect has dyslexia and also auditory processing issues and we know for a fact that he has ADD. On top of these learning differences, he's got a VERY independent spirit. He likes to do *everything* on his own.
For someone who has such learning differences, he's really a go-getter (with a bit of whining thrown it for good measure;). Here's what my whining, go-getter;) has been doing so far this year.
Bible: One Year Bible for Kids: daily reading and oral narrations
Math: Developmental Math level 11 (almost complete...moving into level 12 after level 11)
Literature: Robin Hood by Roger Lancelyn Green (HE chose this very challenging book and did very well! He could only handle reading about 5 pages a day, but comprehended it *and* enjoyed it!) and Follow My Leader by James B. Garfield (Might be one of his favorite books so far in his reading career:).
Megawords: Completed level 2. Now about 1/4 of the way through level 3.
History: Story of the World book 2. Will finish book 2 shortly after Christmas, then begin book 3. I think I'll have him do the map work again for book 3.
Science: A few different library books, but currently is reading CLP Nature Reader book 4.
Cursive: Cursive Connections book A
Writing: Written narrations, copywork and dication. One written narration each week from literature, history and science. Thursday is set aside for copywork. Usually I choose from the literature book he's reading or a bible passage he's read recently. We read and study the copywork together that day before he copies it. On Friday, we read and study the copywork again, then I dictate it to him.
In order for him to focus during school time, he needs an enormous amount of daily phsysical activity. Between every subject, he goes outside to shoot hoops, even when it's cold and drizzling rain! Having him do one chore between most subjects, like making his bed, feeding and watering the cats, starting a load of laundry, folding his clothes or towels, etc...is enough activity to help him be able to focus when he sits down to school work again.
Having some vigorous and lenghty exercise is essential to his focusing ability. At the start of the school year, he ran cross country with the Augustine Classical School team and now he's playing basketball with them also. Cross country and basketball both require almost daily (about 4x per week) team practice for 1.5 hours.
All of this exercise is just as essential to his success in school and life in general as are the 3Rs.
Volunteering with the lower elementary Awana children at church has helped him become a better student at home. Having the opportunity to be a responsible and helpful person has always been important to him, although he's not always had the maturity to understand what he should do to be responsible and helpful. Assisting a couple of Awana students who are trying to learn and review their verses each week, has brought to him the realization that he does have the ability to be respsonsible and helpful. This attitude has carried over into his responsibilities at home with chores and school work.
The first half of this school year has been his greatest so far. As he's maturing, being responsible and hard working has been steadily increasing this year, while the whining has been steadily decreasing. Praise the Lord!!!!
Greta:)
To some, what I have him doing for schoolwork might seem a bit easy, but it's a perfect challenge for him. This is my son that we highly suspect has dyslexia and also auditory processing issues and we know for a fact that he has ADD. On top of these learning differences, he's got a VERY independent spirit. He likes to do *everything* on his own.
For someone who has such learning differences, he's really a go-getter (with a bit of whining thrown it for good measure;). Here's what my whining, go-getter;) has been doing so far this year.
Bible: One Year Bible for Kids: daily reading and oral narrations
Math: Developmental Math level 11 (almost complete...moving into level 12 after level 11)
Literature: Robin Hood by Roger Lancelyn Green (HE chose this very challenging book and did very well! He could only handle reading about 5 pages a day, but comprehended it *and* enjoyed it!) and Follow My Leader by James B. Garfield (Might be one of his favorite books so far in his reading career:).
Megawords: Completed level 2. Now about 1/4 of the way through level 3.
History: Story of the World book 2. Will finish book 2 shortly after Christmas, then begin book 3. I think I'll have him do the map work again for book 3.
Science: A few different library books, but currently is reading CLP Nature Reader book 4.
Cursive: Cursive Connections book A
Writing: Written narrations, copywork and dication. One written narration each week from literature, history and science. Thursday is set aside for copywork. Usually I choose from the literature book he's reading or a bible passage he's read recently. We read and study the copywork together that day before he copies it. On Friday, we read and study the copywork again, then I dictate it to him.
In order for him to focus during school time, he needs an enormous amount of daily phsysical activity. Between every subject, he goes outside to shoot hoops, even when it's cold and drizzling rain! Having him do one chore between most subjects, like making his bed, feeding and watering the cats, starting a load of laundry, folding his clothes or towels, etc...is enough activity to help him be able to focus when he sits down to school work again.
Having some vigorous and lenghty exercise is essential to his focusing ability. At the start of the school year, he ran cross country with the Augustine Classical School team and now he's playing basketball with them also. Cross country and basketball both require almost daily (about 4x per week) team practice for 1.5 hours.
All of this exercise is just as essential to his success in school and life in general as are the 3Rs.
Volunteering with the lower elementary Awana children at church has helped him become a better student at home. Having the opportunity to be a responsible and helpful person has always been important to him, although he's not always had the maturity to understand what he should do to be responsible and helpful. Assisting a couple of Awana students who are trying to learn and review their verses each week, has brought to him the realization that he does have the ability to be respsonsible and helpful. This attitude has carried over into his responsibilities at home with chores and school work.
The first half of this school year has been his greatest so far. As he's maturing, being responsible and hard working has been steadily increasing this year, while the whining has been steadily decreasing. Praise the Lord!!!!
Greta:)
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Blogging...again!!
I knew I would do this. I just KNEW I would start a blog, but not follow through with it! When I started this blog, I told a friend that I would either be obsessive about blogging or neglect it. Maybe I can somehow find the middle ground.
I think I'll start blogging again by sharing how our school year has been coming along.
This year, I decided to do something drastically different. I made PLANS!! Wow. What a difference having plans have made in how much learning is taking place in our homeschool this year. Donna Young's site has been the main source of my planning information and forms.
http://donnayoung.org/forms/help/usingqup.htm
Using a 9 week planning page from Donna Young's website has been the most helpful tool I've used this year.
http://donnayoung.org/f10/planner-f/f-school-pdf/quarter_v1.pdf
I've planned for each and every subject for both boys using the 9 week planner. I've had to tweak the 9 week plans for some subjects, but even with tweaks, we've stayed pretty much on schedule.
Planning breaks has been helpful also. Usually, we just take breaks as needed, but I found that we were often times taking to many breaks. We'd take a break when our brick-n-mortor school friends were out of school and also when we simply needed a break for whatever reason. I have scheduled our breaks around our brick-n-mortor school friend's breaks. If we absolutely need a break at another time, then the boys have to make up the lost time during the schduled break or on a weekend.
Up until this year, I had always used a daily checklist for the boys. I would not have specific plans on the daily checklist. It would just have subjects listed, so they could check off each subject.
This year, I decided to use a Weekly Checklist from Donna Young's site.
http://donnayoung.org/f10/planner-f/f-school-pdf/edwkruld.pdfhttp://
My boys like having the little bubble in each box. They use a colored pen to color in each bubble as the finish a subject for the day.
I am allowing my 16yo 10th grade son to use this weekly checklist as a weekly guide. He is allowed to double up on some subjects (other than math) some days and skip another subject the day he doubles up on something. Also, if he gets busy (or lazy;) during the week and gets behind, I'm OK with that as long as he finishes the work on the weekend. He's doing great with this responsibility.
Also, I've never *officialy* counted school days until this year. Donna Young's site also has a calendar I printed and placed in each boy's binder, which is where I also keep the nine week planners.
http://donnayoung.org/f10/calendar-f/cal-sc-10-11/blue-08-10.pdf
I will share in another blog post exactly what resources we have used (meaning used and dropped or kept) so far this year.
Greta:
I think I'll start blogging again by sharing how our school year has been coming along.
This year, I decided to do something drastically different. I made PLANS!! Wow. What a difference having plans have made in how much learning is taking place in our homeschool this year. Donna Young's site has been the main source of my planning information and forms.
http://donnayoung.org/forms/help/usingqup.htm
Using a 9 week planning page from Donna Young's website has been the most helpful tool I've used this year.
http://donnayoung.org/f10/planner-f/f-school-pdf/quarter_v1.pdf
I've planned for each and every subject for both boys using the 9 week planner. I've had to tweak the 9 week plans for some subjects, but even with tweaks, we've stayed pretty much on schedule.
Planning breaks has been helpful also. Usually, we just take breaks as needed, but I found that we were often times taking to many breaks. We'd take a break when our brick-n-mortor school friends were out of school and also when we simply needed a break for whatever reason. I have scheduled our breaks around our brick-n-mortor school friend's breaks. If we absolutely need a break at another time, then the boys have to make up the lost time during the schduled break or on a weekend.
Up until this year, I had always used a daily checklist for the boys. I would not have specific plans on the daily checklist. It would just have subjects listed, so they could check off each subject.
This year, I decided to use a Weekly Checklist from Donna Young's site.
http://donnayoung.org/f10/planner-f/f-school-pdf/edwkruld.pdfhttp://
My boys like having the little bubble in each box. They use a colored pen to color in each bubble as the finish a subject for the day.
I am allowing my 16yo 10th grade son to use this weekly checklist as a weekly guide. He is allowed to double up on some subjects (other than math) some days and skip another subject the day he doubles up on something. Also, if he gets busy (or lazy;) during the week and gets behind, I'm OK with that as long as he finishes the work on the weekend. He's doing great with this responsibility.
Also, I've never *officialy* counted school days until this year. Donna Young's site also has a calendar I printed and placed in each boy's binder, which is where I also keep the nine week planners.
http://donnayoung.org/f10/calendar-f/cal-sc-10-11/blue-08-10.pdf
I will share in another blog post exactly what resources we have used (meaning used and dropped or kept) so far this year.
Greta:
Monday, January 25, 2010
Homeschooling During Family Crisis
Whew! The past couple of weeks have been a whirlwind. My mother-in-law has been in and out of the hospital. I spent most every night with her and a huge part of many days while waiting for the dr. to arrive for the daily update.
My boys, almost 16 and 12yo, were home alone druing these days. With each passing day while sitting at the hospital, I became more thankful that we homeschool. Not having to fret over homework in the evenings while caring for my mil was a blessing beyond measure!
During this time, I grew in my appreciation for Ruth Beechick & Charlotte Mason methods that we incorporate into our homeschool. I didn't have to rush home every evening to check workbook pages or answers to end of section readings. Instead, I would call home, ask each boy what they had read so far that day and then have them orally narrate to me over the phone. At the end of the day, when they had to choose one subject to do a written narration, they would call me and read their written/typed narration to me over the phone.
Another thing that came to mind during this time was the fact that my boys are able to carry on much of the housework in my absence. My friends, whose children go to regular school and then have FULL afternoons of homework and extracurricular activities, have NO time to learn to carry on with the house keeping. It was a blessing to know that the laundry was not being ignored, the cats were being cared for, including the litter box, and that my boys can feed themselves, although I did supply them with easily prepared food items.
This was also a learning time for me. I realized that I need to work on my boys automatically getting to their chores without constant verbal reminders. If I called and asked if such-n-such had been completed that day, they would say no, but then attend to it immediately after I reminded them. No fussing or whining about the chores to be done, even the extra chores that would usually belong to me. I'm thankful for this fact, but do need to work on them not needing constant reminders. Of course, that will probably be a LONG row to hoe with them!
I'll be updating soon about the books I've read so far from my reading list. Idle time in the hospital equals many pages read!
My boys, almost 16 and 12yo, were home alone druing these days. With each passing day while sitting at the hospital, I became more thankful that we homeschool. Not having to fret over homework in the evenings while caring for my mil was a blessing beyond measure!
During this time, I grew in my appreciation for Ruth Beechick & Charlotte Mason methods that we incorporate into our homeschool. I didn't have to rush home every evening to check workbook pages or answers to end of section readings. Instead, I would call home, ask each boy what they had read so far that day and then have them orally narrate to me over the phone. At the end of the day, when they had to choose one subject to do a written narration, they would call me and read their written/typed narration to me over the phone.
Another thing that came to mind during this time was the fact that my boys are able to carry on much of the housework in my absence. My friends, whose children go to regular school and then have FULL afternoons of homework and extracurricular activities, have NO time to learn to carry on with the house keeping. It was a blessing to know that the laundry was not being ignored, the cats were being cared for, including the litter box, and that my boys can feed themselves, although I did supply them with easily prepared food items.
This was also a learning time for me. I realized that I need to work on my boys automatically getting to their chores without constant verbal reminders. If I called and asked if such-n-such had been completed that day, they would say no, but then attend to it immediately after I reminded them. No fussing or whining about the chores to be done, even the extra chores that would usually belong to me. I'm thankful for this fact, but do need to work on them not needing constant reminders. Of course, that will probably be a LONG row to hoe with them!
I'll be updating soon about the books I've read so far from my reading list. Idle time in the hospital equals many pages read!
Friday, January 1, 2010
2010 Bible Verse
1 Corinthians 13: 4-7 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on it's own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Greek: irritable and does not count up wrong doing.
I began 2009 in a deep, dark spiritual desert. By God's Grace, six months into '09 I was on the other side of the desert! It was a hard, yet wonderful, journey through that desert. I came out of my desert experience with my focus on glorifying God. Sometimes the best revelations are the simplest ones. I didn't say easy. Oh, it's not easy to always Glorify the Lord. It is simple because instead of thinking, "How can I be a better wife (or mother, friend, etc...)?" I just pray, "Lord, show me how to glorify YOU today."
I can't glorify the Lord unless He is directing my path. There is nothing in my flesh that can glorify Him. Only the Holy Spirit can teach me how to glorify Him. I've learned that the things that glorify Him the most come at simple, everyday moments with friends and family.
The verse that God has given me this year focuses on what love actually should look like in my life. My prayer for 2010 is for the Holy Spirit to teach me how to LIVE this verse, especially with my hubby and children!
Happy New Year!
Greta:)
Greek: irritable and does not count up wrong doing.
I began 2009 in a deep, dark spiritual desert. By God's Grace, six months into '09 I was on the other side of the desert! It was a hard, yet wonderful, journey through that desert. I came out of my desert experience with my focus on glorifying God. Sometimes the best revelations are the simplest ones. I didn't say easy. Oh, it's not easy to always Glorify the Lord. It is simple because instead of thinking, "How can I be a better wife (or mother, friend, etc...)?" I just pray, "Lord, show me how to glorify YOU today."
I can't glorify the Lord unless He is directing my path. There is nothing in my flesh that can glorify Him. Only the Holy Spirit can teach me how to glorify Him. I've learned that the things that glorify Him the most come at simple, everyday moments with friends and family.
The verse that God has given me this year focuses on what love actually should look like in my life. My prayer for 2010 is for the Holy Spirit to teach me how to LIVE this verse, especially with my hubby and children!
Happy New Year!
Greta:)
Thursday, December 31, 2009
New Year, New Blog...
I've been thinking of starting a blog for a while. What better time than at the beginning of a new year. Well, not only a new year but a new decade! I wonder how I will do with this. Either I will post obsessively or ignore this new "friend".
Let's see...what do I want to say first...
I've recently decided to start reading more. Not just reading more but also reading *classics*. Tackling one book a month is also another endeavor I'm planning. Here's my tentative list for 2010...
***Finish:
-Little Women
-Age of Opportunity (parenting teens book)
***New reading for 2010:
-Anne of Green Gables
-The Chosen
-Laddie
-Little Britches
-The Lonesome God's (reread this)
-Pride and Prejudice
-A Tale of Two Cities
-The Merchant of Venice
-Waldon
(All of the above are suggested reading for mentors in A Thomas Jefferson Education)
-Little Men
-Jo's Boys
-The Hiding Place
-Mere Christianity (I plan to read this on the weekend instead of my regular bible reading plan).
-Bible (daily...all year)
Greta:)
Let's see...what do I want to say first...
I've recently decided to start reading more. Not just reading more but also reading *classics*. Tackling one book a month is also another endeavor I'm planning. Here's my tentative list for 2010...
***Finish:
-Little Women
-Age of Opportunity (parenting teens book)
***New reading for 2010:
-Anne of Green Gables
-The Chosen
-Laddie
-Little Britches
-The Lonesome God's (reread this)
-Pride and Prejudice
-A Tale of Two Cities
-The Merchant of Venice
-Waldon
(All of the above are suggested reading for mentors in A Thomas Jefferson Education)
-Little Men
-Jo's Boys
-The Hiding Place
-Mere Christianity (I plan to read this on the weekend instead of my regular bible reading plan).
-Bible (daily...all year)
Greta:)
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