The dreaded planning post.   I’ve received the Rainbow Resources catalog and had brief meetings with Jordan and Alex about what they want to do and I’m getting organized.

 Math:   

Alex wants to learn “x math” so we’ve started working on Hands on Equations.   He’ll continue to use Singapore as a “fallback” occasionally, but we’ve started “Life of Fred - Fractions” at a really slow pace and it is a hit.

Jordan wants to learn to multiply big numbers, so we are going to continue our slow progress on Math-U-See.  We’ve been taking a break to work on different topics.  She’s also enjoying HOE and LOF

They are both also doing Live Math Bowl to practice their math facts.

 Social Studies:

We’re going to continue with Story of the World on audio with Volume 4 and then picking up extra books and movies as topics interest us.

Language Arts:

They are both going to continue reading for pleasure, with the occasional “challenge” book that we pick out together.   Alex  wants his writing to focus on non-fiction this year because he’s tired of thinking up stuff .   So, he is going to start incorporating a Charlotte Mason approach to reading on science and history topics by writing a summary after reading.   We did this a few years ago but I did the reading and they did a verbal summary but it seems like we’ve gotten away from it.  We’ll see how that goes.     Jordan is going to start Writing Strands.

Science

Alex has picked out several Chemistry experiment kits.  He also wants to learn about electricity and has picked out some kits for that.    I’m goign to write another post on my thoughts on pre-made kits.    Oh, and he wants to learn about airplanes and has picked out yet another (somewhat pricey!) kit and has agreed to make it a unit study so I’m going to be putting some stuff together for that.    Jordan has tentatively picked out some things and said she is interested in plants.   She has been helping in the garden and she loves craft projects, so I plan on trying to incorporate a lot of that into our studies.

On Tuesdays next year they will be going to an all day “Homeschool Discovery Academy” that holds music, Spanish, PE, computer, art and Hands on Science classes.    Although I don’t think they “need” this, they have some friends who will be going and I am needing a full day to commit to working at the office and Aubrey’s schedule has gotten busy enough that I can’t guarantee she’ll be available.

Oh, and then Alex is on the gymnastics homeschool team (somewhat of a recreational/fun team without the time or financial commitment a true gymnastics team) and Aubrey is preparing to join the HS trampoline team.

I’m thinking all of this will keep us busy.

Finally, after a rather stressful last month, Aubrey has finished all four of her online highschool classes—Honors Algebra 2, Chemistry, Honors Geography and Marine Science.

Some things we both learned.

Four online classes is the worst of both worlds—the busy work of public school without the limitation of a school day.

Another valuable lesson learned—it doesn’t matter if its a learning experience as long as you get it turned in by the deadline.   Likewise, it doesn’t have to be complete, right, well thought out or interesting as long as it is turned in by the due date.

Ok, I mock.  Actually, I do think there was some value in the experience of fighting a deadline and realizing that the work just has to get “done”.    But, I think we’ve experienced enough of that for Aubrey’s high school career.   The deadline for final assignment submissions was June 15, midnight.  Last assignment submitted, 10:00 p.m. on June 15.  BUT, she stuck with it, finished all the classes (after sweating over deciding whether or not to drop Chemistry) and got 3 A’s and one B.      Let’s just say it created a bit of tension in our relationship, lol.

Next year, one online science class.   Two community college classes on campus.   Well, ok, she is considering Thinkwell for math which is tecnically online, but a much different format.

I organized and hosted a co-op class today at our house.   It was a mini-session of Camp Half-Blood (my son’s current obsession).

This morning, Hepheastus’ forge was busy prepping shields for the young demi-gods that would be attending.  My husband’s work gets some of their materials with these large pieces of corrugated plastic which we used (with duct tape of course!) to make the shields.

When kids arrived we had a trivia challenge and after every three correct answers they were given a clue to find information to discover who their immortal parent was.   After three clues they guessed who it was.   We had children of Apollo, Aphrodite, Ares, Hermes and Athena.

Then they decorated their shields, most honoring their immortal parent.

Then, after a quick fencing lesson they had a skirmish

Attempting a phalanx.   Um, homeschoolers are hard to line up!!!

Then they divided into teams and played capture the flag, which was supposed to be a team freeze tag.  True to the books, both teams cheated and it devolved into chaos but lucky thing, snacks were laid out.  We had nectar, strawberries and chips.  I wanted to make ambrosia, but procrastination and laziness won out.

They made a necklace with big chunky wood beads which they decorated in commemoration of their “year” at camp.

Then, those that were inclined, made a book with some pages made by Aubrey, some pilfered from online coloring sheets and a few from

http://www.rickriordan.com/welcome_to_camp_half_blood.htm

http://www.hyperionbooksforchildren.com/percy_jackson_eventkit.pdf

and

http://etc.usf.edu/clipart/galleries/Religion%20&%20Mythology/greek_mythology.php
Aubrey’s pages:

I believe all demigods went home tired and happy.   I know I’m tired!!!

I guess I took quite a blogging break.   We’ve been busy playing outside, planting gardens, riding bikes, soccer, baseball, finishing college courses, playing outside some more, going on field trips, reading a bit and playing outside.     I’m going to try to get back in a better habit of logging things more frequently because it helps me organize my pictures and reminds me on the bad days of how much we do.

Dh brought home a bunch of sheets of plastic that were going to be thrown away at his work and Alex has been using duct tape to create a new home for himself.

It is full of secret trap doors, weapon target ranges and corridors.   So, how long will I have to keep this project around???

Our homeschooling looks like the days in those magazine articles about homeschooling that either bring motivation or cringing.   Or disbelief.

We’ve been in a more laid back phase, though we do make sure we do some math and reading and writing most days.   We’ve been listening to Story of the World and made it to the two chapters on the American Revolution and I decided they needed a bit more.   So, we’re adding to it several of the Jean Fritz’ stories.   Last week we listened to “Can’t You Make Them Behave, King George?” and this week we’re going to listen to the one about Patrick Henry, Paul Revere and Sam Adams.   We’re also listening to Johnny Tremain.

We add a lot of literature connections to our studies, but lately we’ve been springboarding the other direction and launching discoveries from our reading selections.   When we read “Airman” we made diving bells using  jelly jars and a bowl of water.   We did some research on hang gliding, flying machines and paper airplanes.   This month we read “From the Mixed-up Files of Basil E. Frankweiler” for our Newberry book club and as part of that Jordan and Alex created maps of their idea of the perfect musuem to hide out in for a week.   And, for the first time ever Alex has shown interest in going to the art museum.  We’re doing that this week, before the inspiration fades.    They were interested in Michaelangelo and so we looked at some books with his works and that led to some talk about carving marble (vs the pottery craft in “A Single Shard” and we also talked about fresco painting.  I think this week we’re going to try painting upside down pictures by taping large paper pieces to the bottom of the table and I have some plaster of paris lying around so I think we’re going to do an attempt at fresco painting.

What I’ve been enjoying most is the conversations we’ve been having about our books.  Deeper discussions than who did what, when and where.   We talked about the feelings behind wanting to run away and why you’d want to reinvent yourself (Mixed Up Files).  We’ve talked about pride and humility (Johnny Tremain).   We’ve talked about there being two sides to every story (British loyalists vs.  American Patriots).

I’m seeing so much growth and maturity in Alex.  Of course, as with most wild little critters, it is two steps forward and one step back.   At a Magic Tree House book club meeting Alex and his fellow wild buddy actually pulled out a chess board and played quietly for a bit.  I had to snap a picture so I could pretend our homeschooling days are full of things like this.

Because Alex is in general a negative first responder, it has been hard to offer up projects as something that sounds like fun (unless it is weapon building of course).  But, we’ve been studying a bit of chemistry and now they are both all excited to make our acid base indicator and start testing acids and bases.

And we’ve been fostering more pups.  But now, according to the shelter, I am a foster flunkie.   Jordan shows so much responsibility and dedication to the foster animals.  And she has been saving money from allowance, her business ventures, and birthdays.   And we fostered the most adorable little puggles.    So, when the time came to take them back to the shelter to go to the adoption area, we said this one is staying with us.   She shelled out her own money for the adoption fee, a crate, leash, collar, microchip and yes, a sweater.     The number of critters living in our home is starting to alarm my hubby, who is less than an animal lover, but he thought it ill advised to take a “its them or me” stance.

How could we resist???

Enter that phase in January where the kids seem to have forgotten everything they’ve learned and rather than all the interesting things they’re doing all that runs through your mind are the myriad ways they are behind their other, more evenly educated, peers.        Suddenly all I am noticing  is that Alex can’t even spell the word “pour” and Jordan mis-added 6+6.   And Aubrey isn’t even keeping up in the few “real” classes she signed up to take and has absolutely no motivation to get an “A”.  (Of course, if she were obsessed with getting “A”’s I’d be all concerned about that too….)     Alex seems to have completely forgotten long division–a topic we spent just enough time on for him to get the concept and memorize the algorithm.    And I’m cranky and they are cranky and there isn’t enough sun to go around and we’re all coming down off the sugar high of December.

Yes, I CAN make it through this phase without tossing their scrawny little hineys on the next passing school bus.  I think I can I think I can I think I can.

We went to a co-op class based on the book “Eat Your Way Around the World“   We ate Ethiopian injera bread with ginger vegetables and chicken stew (Dor Wat).    Jordan enjoyed helping to make the food and they both enjoyed eating it.   They were quite happy to eat it in the traditional Ethiopian manner using only your fingers, though they did make one concession and used a plate.    I had a chance to look through the book while we were there and I’m ordering it to do more countries on our own.

In other news, since I’ve been neglecting this blog, we’re trudging away at math, playing lots of Times Attack and trying to get in time for our new games.    We’re participating in a new co-op, which means I’ve gone and totally overscheduled ourselves again.    We’re in a pretty relaxed phase right now.

1.  Playing in the snow.

2. Going on a tour and workshop at the local Federal Reserve Bank.   Interesting stuff.    We actually got to see (from a distance) the huge vault and the machines loading the money in and the workers running the machines to determine what gets shredded.  We even got to take  home bags of shredded money.  And, my favorite with field trips–it was FREE!

3.  Jordan and Alex discovered the BONE graphic novels.    Alex read the two we have in a day and is ready to go spend a g/c he recieved on as many more as he can afford.   Since he RARELY reads completely without prompting, this is BIG.

4.  Aubrey finished her final project for her community college class in graphic design.  It looked quite nice and she ended up with an A for the class.

5.  Playing in the snow.

6. We are fostering a puppy who came to us to try to cure her of her bossy, bratty ways.   She is, um, a challenge.  But cute and loving.

7.  TIMEZ attack.   Got the full version and it is really helping both of the kids.  Alex and I have also been playing lots of mythmatical battles.  And we’re working on fractions–equivalent, reducing to simplest form, adding and subtracting fractions of different denominators…..

8.  In science we’re starting a casual, somewhat strewish chemistry unit.  Right now we are reading Horrible Sciences Chemical Chaos and yesterday Jordan and Alex created something out of a formula in the book.  It ended up being salt dough, which led to making salt dough ornaments.

9.   We’re busily trying to finish the home improvement project that completely closed down our living room since Thanksgiving so I can move stuff back in so I can have Christmas for my family over here.

10.  Last, but not least….Playing in the SNOW!!!