Wow, am I backed up! I toyed with the idea of just ending the blog altogether after these past few weeks of holidays, sick days, crazy errands, and repair work on the house. But, I really want to have a complete record of my days, so here’s a summary of the last seventeen school days.
N (age 12):
Math: N started each lesson with mental math. Her lessons were on number families (counting numbers, whole numbers, integers, and rational numbers), multiplying algebraic terms, using multiple unit multipliers, converting units of area, diagonals, interior angles, exterior angles, solving equations with mixed number coefficients, solving equations with negative coefficients, evaluating equations with signed numbers, evaluating equations with signed numbers without parentheses, and finding percent of change (increases and decreases). She also did quite well on an assessment and had an investigation on graphing functions.
Bible: N and C reviewed their memory verses (Galatians 4:4-5, Isaiah 9:7, Micah 5:2, Daniel 9:25, Isaiah 7:14, and Malachi 3:1, and Deuteronomy 15:18). They finished their study of the book of Matthew and began reading the book of Mark. We discussed the differences between the two books and the intent of the authors.
Reading: N finished reading The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. She enjoyed it so much, that she asked to read The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. While reading that, she also read The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Rip Van Winkle. She was pleasantly surprised by how well-done the Disney version of “Ichabod Crane” was.
Spelling: N had two assessments from her Spelling Workout F.
Writing: N and C practiced using rhymes, incorporating seemingly disparate sentences into a coherent paragraph, using words related to fish in a story that’s not about about fish, telling a story from the perspective of an inanimate object, and writing a professional letter.
History: N finished learning about the Revolutionary War, about the Ratification of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, about the differences between the nationalists (later known as the federalists) and the federalists (later known as the anti-federalists), about the characters and political persuasions of the founding fathers during the first five presidencies, and about the toll differing politics took on the relationships of the founders in A Patriot’s History of the United States.
Science: N and C learned about krypton and other noble gases; iron, copper, zirconium, iridium, gold, and the other transition metals; and lanthanum, neodymium, promethium, terbium, and the other lanthanide metals.
Geography: N and C learned about Chad, the Sudan, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Senegal, the Gambia, and Guinea-Bissau. They also reviewed maps of Europe, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, South America, and Central America.
Spanish: N completed several more lessons and a worksheet in Spanish.
Music: N practiced her scales and practiced sight reading with our musical flashcards.
C (age 11):
Math: C warmed up with mental math every day. Her lessons were on multiplying by one-digit numbers, multiplying three factors, finding missing numbers in multiplication problems, division facts, three ways to show division, problems about equal groups, one-digit division with a remainder, divisibility (by 2, 5, and 10), recognizing halves, solving problems with parentheses, using the associative property, and listing the factors of whole numbers. She also had two assessments and an investigation on fractions (halves, fourths, and tenths).
Reading: C finished up Nzingha: Warrior Queen of Matamba. She read an abridged version of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. She started reading an abridged version of A Christmas Carol and East of the Sun, West of the Moon.
Spelling: C had three assessments and did very well on all of them.
Bible: Combined class with N.
Writing: Combined class with N.
History: C and S learned about Abbas I of Iran, the Ottoman Turks in Persia, the Thirty Years’ War in England, the isolation of Japan under the Tokugawa dynasty, the rise of the Manchu dynasty in China, the Moghul emperors of India, the beheading of Charles I in England, Oliver Cromwell’s failed “Commonwealth of England experiment,” and the plague and fire of London under Charles II.
Science: Combined class with N.
Geography: Combined class with N.
Spanish: C completed several more lessons and a worksheet in Spanish.
Music: C practiced her ukulele.
S (age 8):
Math: S practiced counting to 100 by 1s, 5s, and 10s using her hundred-number chart. She counted backwards from 30. She counted by even numbers to 20 and by odd numbers to 19. She learned to write numbers 56-60. Her lessons were on subtracting zero from a number, subtracting a number from itself, writing the numbers 0-10 using words (although I’m not spending too much energy on this considering her reading difficulty), identifying pairs, identifying the season of winter, writing money amounts using the cent symbol, and paying for items using dimes and pennies (she’s great at counting money because she counts her allowance daily like Silas Marner). She also had an assessment and did quite well (only one problem incorrect).
Reading: S continued her unit of All About Reading. She reviewed words using the short /u/ sound and read two stories. She began work on words using the short /e/ sound and the letter Y (which she wants to pronounce as /w/, but we’re working on it). She was very motivated to finish her last lesson and read fifteen words in about two minutes! A record!
Writing: S copied the days of the week on worksheets that I made from the Writing Wizard website.
Grammar: S reviewed all the poems she’s learned so far and began memorizing the poem “Mr. Nobody”. She practiced listening comprehension with the stories “The Crow and the Pitcher” and “The Boy Who Cried Wolf.” She reviewed the days of the week, the months of the year, and the seasons; she practiced using was/were; she learned the capitalization rules of holidays, days, months, and the word “I”; she practiced using sit/set; she reviewed nouns, verbs, and pronouns using the poem “The Three Little Kittens”; she practiced writing her address; she learned how to abbreviated titles of respect; she practiced using is/are; and she learned how to punctuate poetry.
History: Combined class with C.
Science: S watched Coyote Peterson videos religiously. She’s mildly obsessed with him.
Bible: S and H practiced their memory verses (Proverbs 11:3, Titus 2:7, John 3:16). The learned about Jacob and Esau’s sibling rivalry, about Jacob tricking Esau out of his birthright and his blessing, and about Jacob running away out of fear that Esau would kill him.
H (age 6):
Math: H filled out the next date in her calendar and colored the date block according to the pattern. She practiced counting to 20. She said the days of the week and the months of the year. Her lessons were on identifying circles and rectangles, solving a matrix with circles and rectangles, placing objects on a real graph, identifying the fewest and most on a graph, creating and reading an AB color pattern, creating and reading an ABB color pattern, acting out addition and subtraction story problems, and creating and interpreting a pictograph.
Reading: H reviewed A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, and M. She continued to practice letter flashcards for these letters. She was introduced to the letters N, O, and P.
Writing: H copied A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, and P on a worksheet that I made from the Writing Wizard website.
Bible: Combined class with S.
Homeschool Daily 