ivey league academy: months in review

So obviously I haven't been faithful in my blog posts this semester.  We HAVE been doing homeschool though!  :)

I do want to keep up with this blog again, so here's a quick update on where we are:

Micah does math and Word Ladders on some days, other days he just plays.  Which is fine.  He's in a weird in-between preschool/kindergarten place, so we're still getting our bearings.  I do have handwriting and Language Arts curriculum from The Good and The Beautiful to try with him later on.  Some of it will be easy for him, some of it not.

As for Caleb, third grade has been challenging for both of us.  Horizons Math is still great, but I do feel like they introduce some stuff too early, such as solve for n.  He can do it if it's a simple problem, such as n+3=8, but lately they've gotten into some crazy pre-algebra stuff, like n+3=5 x 4, and I think that's a bit ridiculous for third grade.  So for now we skip that.  He was recently introduced to division, finding equivalent fractions (yay for cross-multiplying!), and more complicated multiplication problems.

We are exactly halfway through Language Arts (BJU Press English 3).  He has struggled a bit with the writing chapters but overall he's doing better.  In January we're finally going to work on cursive with him; I've been putting it off but I know it's a good skill he needs to learn.

We switched spelling curriculums AGAIN.  This time we went with All About Spelling based on numerous recommendations from fellow homeschoolers.  We started with Level 1 and just finished it, so we will start with Level 2 in January.  I'm really hoping this will help everything click for Caleb; today he was doing a Word Ladder (we've been using them to bridge the gap between AAS levels since I didn't want to start a new level this close to Christmas break), and he spelled the word "more" this way: mroe.  He just can't hear the letter sounds sometimes!

We just finished Volume 3 of Sassafras Science Adventures (Botany).  I found this leg of their journey to be very interesting, but I slacked off on the scientific demonstrations and activities for each chapter toward the end there.  Caleb still listened to the story and wrote down facts about the plants featured in each chapter, and he is very excited about the next book (Earth Science).

Caleb also enjoyed learning about the New World Explorers using Homeschool in the Woods' Time Travelers.  It was nice that I could just print off what we needed and pick and choose which activities to do.  However, I think I'm going to save the other units for when he's a little older.  These history units are recommended for 3rd grade all the way up through 8th grade so maybe we can do more with it once he's more confident with his writing and creative skills.  He does want to learn more history so in January we're going to learn out of American Pioneers and Patriots by Christian Liberty Press.  It'll be a nice continuation of what we learned this semester, but not as intense.

Both kids love the Picture Smart Bible lessons we've been using.  We didn't always get to it, so we are about halfway through their Old Testament study (just finished up Esther and Job).

They also enjoyed making their own Spanish dictionary notebooks.  When they're older we'll learn more conversational Spanish but for now just learning some vocabulary has worked well.

As for piano, that's been rough.  We're not consistent and Caleb struggles with the theory part, so I have looked into outsourcing the piano lessons.  Sure, I was attempting the lessons myself and that was free, but I really want to give him a chance to love piano (or just music in general in case he's like I was and wants to try a different instrument eventually), so I feel like this is worth the investment.  There is a local "arts academy" that is always taking on new students....they offer a trial lesson which is mostly a meet-and-greet and mini lesson to see where the student is at and what they want to work on.  Plus the nice thing about homeschooling is we can try to schedule lessons in the early afternoon before public school lets out!

We've been way more consistent with read-alouds, too.  We started with E.B. White's Trumpet of the Swan and we both enjoyed it!  After that Caleb wanted me to read the Hardy Boys series aloud.  We just finished the fifth one and borrowed the sixth book from the library, and he's still hooked. :)

So I feel like we're in a pretty good place for now.  I'm going to use our Christmas break to rest and slowly prepare for the next semester.  I like to go through history and science beforehand; my homeschool planner has monthly lists for materials, activities, library books, etc., so it's helpful in the long run to jot down what I'll need.  I'm also going to plan a little more school for Micah for the days when he's asking to do something.

See you in January!

ivey league homeschool: 2018!!

And so begins another school year!  I decided to start homeschooling Micah to a degree since his reading and writing are so advanced.  Plus last year he would often ask to "do school too" so I figured we could start him on pre-K stuff.  Of course within the first couple of days he was tearing through preschool-level workbooks we already had in our stash plus several free worksheets from education.com, so I decided to order Horizons Math Kindergarten for him!  As for language arts, I think we'll wait on formal curriculum.  He's bored with preschool or kindergarten level since most books focus on letter sounds and how to write the alphabet, which he already knows, yet I don't necessarily want to start him on first grade stuff yet either!

We started school on August 6 and already have a couple weeks under our belts.  Here's a breakdown of the curriculum we're using this year!

Math: Horizons Math for both (3rd grade for Caleb, K for Micah)

English/Language Arts:  BJU Press English 3 for Caleb, independent reading/writing practice for Micah

Spelling: We did exactly one week of the second half of Spelling You See (Level B) and it wasn't a good fit at all.  This workbook relies heavily on dictation and focuses on "vowel chunks" (two vowels used together) and Caleb doesn't learn well that way.  So we switched back to Explode the Code; we're starting with Level 2 1/2 since it will reinforce what he did on Level 2 back in first grade.  Plus I incorporate a very informal quiz at the end of the lesson to make sure it sticks.  It's easier for him right now which is fine since he really struggles with spelling.  We're also continuing with Daily Word Ladders (Grades 2-3 level).

We try to get these three main subjects done daily, and then loop through the rest of the subjects below (doing two or three of them a day):

Science:  Sassafras Science Adventures Volume 3 (Botany) (both kids)

The first week was an introduction to botany so we took an "observation walk" around our neighborhood and looked at plants and trees.  Also saw LOTS of caterpillar nests.

During the second week, we started learning about some of the plants and fungi of the Amazon rainforest.  We focused on orchids and ferns.  I modified this for Micah by finding free coloring pages online for him to color while Caleb filled in the information in his logbook.  We also studied a fern frond and talked about how it uses spores to reproduce instead of blossoms or seeds.

History:  Homeschool in the Woods' Time Travelers Units: New World Explorers (both kids)

This is a really neat curriculum so far.  It all comes on a CD-ROM; the only downside is you have to print out everything, but this way you can also pick and choose what you want to do since there are lots of activities and projects there.  I mostly chose this curriculum because of the big hands-on factor; Caleb often enjoys putting things together and I've noticed he remembers information better if he has a project to do along with it.  This unit focuses on explorers and their ships during the age of exploration.  Each kid has a binder to keep their papers in, plus they will each also put a lapbook (file folder) together with information in it.  We've learned about the reasons for exploration and made spice cookies (spices were one of the reasons!), and also the differences between today's world map and Ptolemy's map (people used to think the world was mostly made of land so maps used to look quiet different!).  We also learned about life on a ship; we tried dried blueberries since any fruit you'd find on a ship would be dried (the boys were not fans!), learned about scurvy, and practiced knot-tying.

Bible:  Picture Smart Bible: Old Testament

This is also a cool curriculum.  The students listen to the lesson and color in sections of the lesson page; most OT books have their own page but some pages have a few of the shorter books clustered on it.  The pages have pictures and symbols on them that help tell the main events of each Old Testament book.  We did the Introduction to the Bible page and then the Genesis page.  I colored the Genesis page for fun!

Spanish:  Vocabulary Pages found on teacherspayteachers.com

I didn't want to get too complicated with a foreign language yet.  Since both boys have expressed an interest in Spanish, I found free vocabulary pages online and we use an Usbourne Spanish picture dictionary to look up words (this book is great because it's also divided into categories..."at school," "at home," "colors," etc.).  The first week we learned colors and the second week we learned some of the numbers.

P.E.: This is the most difficult subject to incorporate because it's so hot and humid outside right now! Mostly this consists of free play outside for now, but we do want to get both kids running around, throwing and catching better, cycling better, etc.  Randall sometimes works with them in the evenings after dinner. :)

Piano:  We're starting Caleb on the Alfred Basic Piano Course, including theory.  We try to shoot for at least 15 minutes a day but hopefully as he gets more confident we can go for 30 minutes.

We also try to do a read-aloud most days...right now I'm reading The Trumpet of the Swan by E.B. White aloud and Caleb especially is enjoying it.

Sometime during the year I want to do more handwriting practice as well; I have Handwriting Without Tears Kick-Start Cursive for Caleb, and one of the printing HWT for Micah too (he writes letters and numbers but can be pretty messy; I'm not going to focus just on neatness for now but if he finds it fun to do this workbook too then we'll do it this year).

Here's to a great year!

ivey league academy: weeks in review!

It's been a looooong time since I updated this blog so let's just look at the highlights from the past month!

Anatomy:  We covered the urinary system one week.  We made a "kidney" using a mixture of corn syrup and water, plus mini marshmallows and sprinkles to represent the items that are filtered out by the kidney.  We also did a scientific demonstration with a balloon and water to show that the bladder can expand as it fills with liquid, but then returns to its original size once emptied

We also learned about genetics and DNA.  This was a more complicated subject so we kept it simple.  Caleb learned about the double helix and how DNA are the building blocks of life.  We also discussed different traits he and his brother had inherited from his parents (i.e., the ability to roll his tongue, detached earlobes, slight widow's peak, etc.).

And we also learned about the immune system.  Caleb learned about the different types of white blood cells and how they protect the body by attacking viruses and bacteria.  For our experiment, I mixed up unflavored gelatin with water and sugar, then carefully poured a tiny amount into disposable cups with lids (we didn't have petri dishes!).  Using Q-tips, Caleb carefully swabbed several different household objects and then rubbed each one on the gelatin (obviously using a clean Q-tip for every sample).  I labeled the lids and placed them in a dark kitchen cabinet so we'll see what we get!

Countries:  We studied Japan and attempted origami dogs!

We also studied Egypt.  For our activity, we just watched "Prince of Egypt." :)

And we studied Morocco.  We did a fun "henna hands" craft using a simple hand outline printable and also tried Moroccan mint tea; Caleb doesn't really like warm tea (we found that out when we studied England!), so I made a cold brew batch in the fridge using a big sprig of mint plus 5 green tea bags.  I didn't add sweetener so Caleb didn't really like it but I think it tastes great with the mint!

Read-Alouds:  We read the sixth and final book in the Frank Einstein series!  Caleb loves them and has gone back to check the earlier ones out with his own library card.  After that, we read Centerburg Tales, the sequel to Homer Price.  Right now we're about two-thirds of the way through The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street by Karina Yan Glaser.  I kept seeing it pop up on Instagram (I follow a lot of homeschoolers on there!) and it really is an entertaining read.

For the rest of our subjects, we're plugging away.  We're almost done with the first half of our spelling curriculum (since we switched late in the fall), so I told Caleb we could do the second half when he starts third grade.  We'll still do Word Ladders as practice, and maybe even a little Explode the Code till then.  He's just made so much progress with spelling that I would hate to see it slide during the summer break!  He's doing great in English and math as well.

Links:
Germ Collection Project (Homeschool Den)
Origami Dog Instructions (DIY is Fun)
http://diy-is-fun.com/crafts/paper-crafts-crafts/simple-origami-for-kids-and-their-parents-selection-of-funny-and-cute-figures/

ivey league academy: weeks in review!

Here's what we did the week of 3/12-3/16!

Reading:  Caleb chose a book to either read to himself or out loud as he works toward his next Pizza Hut Book-It prize.

English:  We finished Chapter 11 and had a test.  Caleb did very well!  We also did a cumulative review before moving on to the next chapter.

Spelling:  Caleb continued with his daily Word Ladders and his Spelling You See curriculum.

Math:  Caleb continued with his Horizons 2 Math workbook.

Word of the Week/Journal:  We didn't get to our word of the week so we saved it for the following week!

Anatomy:  This week we learned about muscles and muscular contractions.  Caleb picked up things of various weights and watched how his arm muscles moved!

Countries:  This week we studied China.  I heated up some chicken egg rolls and Caleb loved them!  We also tried our chopstick skills with yarn noodles.

Read-Aloud:  We finished the fifth book in the Frank Einstein series.  There is a sixth one but I think it was very recently published so the public library has it listed as "on order."  I reserved it though so as soon as they have a copy we should be first in line to check it out!

Here's what we did the week of 3/19-3/23!

Reading:  Caleb kept reading toward his Book-It prize.  He's really been enjoying the Nate the Great detective series so I've been putting those on hold at the library a couple at a time.

English:  We started a new chapter this week, which focuses on how to write a brief fictional story.  We read a couple of sample stories and learned that every fictional story has a problem that needs to be solved.  Caleb planned out his own story, including the main character, the setting, the problem/solution, and the story map (beginning/middle/end).

Spelling:  We continued with Word Ladders and Spelling You See.

Word of the Week/Journal:  This week's word was "fiasco."

Math:  We continued in his math workbook.

Anatomy:  This week we learned about the digestive system!  We learned about the teeth, the esophagus, the stomach, and the intestines.  For the demonstration, we put some saltines in a Ziploc bag, closed it, and then crushed them up (like how the teeth chew and crush the food).  Then, I poured a little soda in there, closed it again, and we worked it around with our fingers (the acid in the soda broke down the crackers into a paste, like what happens to our food in the stomach).

Countries:  This week we studied Thailand.  We read some great books from the library, including The Umbrella Queen, in which a little girl learns how to paint umbrellas like all the women in her village in Thailand.  We didn't paint umbrellas, but the boys did paint on some posterboard!  For our snack, I got "pocky sticks" from Target.  They're basically very thin cookie sticks dipped in chocolate or other flavors.  The boys liked them!

Read-Aloud:  This week we started Homer Price by Robert McCloskey, the author of Make Way for Ducklings and Blueberries for Sal.  Caleb enjoyed when we read Beverly Cleary books about Henry Huggins, so I figured he might also find the character of Homer Price entertaining.  We're both enjoying it!  I picked up the follow-up book, Centerburg Tales, from the library for when we're done with this one.