S and H were tasked with watching baby R today after they finished school. This was supposed to make it easier for me to finish instructional time with N and C. Well, it was like WWE out in the living room, so I ended up keeping R in the classroom while I banished S and H to separate rooms. Not ideal, but one of the hazards of homeschooling with a big, rambunctious family. It usually works out better than it did today. We still got things done, though!
N (age 11):
Math: N started work on math as soon as she woke up this morning, because she didn’t get her worksheets or lesson review completed at the salon yesterday. She warmed up with mental math and a worksheet on equations. Her lesson was a review of lines (i.e. vertical, horizontal, and intersecting) and angles (i.e. acute, obtuse, right, and straight angles). She completed a lesson review.
Spelling: N practiced her words with the prefixes mis-, en-, and im-. I think she’ll be ready for an assessment tomorrow.
Reading: N read a chapter of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, and I read a chapter of The Witch of Blackbird Pond last night.
Bible: N and C reviewed all their memory verses (2 Timothy 3:16-17, Exodus 20:1-17, Psalm 1:1) and recited the books of the Bible. The lesson was on the rules for presenting a peace offering. We discussed the symbolism and the use of the leftovers from offerings (grain and peace) to provide food for the Levites, comparing it with modern tithes at church providing for pastors.
Science: N and C copied definitions related to constellations and continued to memorize the planets of our solar system.
History: N, C, S, and H learned about the Anglo-Saxons coming Britain, and the land being divided among the Celts and the Anglo-Saxons. They listened to a greatly abridged version of the epic poem “Beowulf.” We discussed superhero stories in different cultures and talked about superheroes in current American pop culture.
Art: N, C, S, and H wanted to have an art lesson today to spread out “Fun Friday” over the rest of this week so that they don’t need to have school on Saturday. They also requested that the lesson use oil pastels. So, using The Usborne Art Treasury, we learned about Paul Klee and looked at some of his paintings, including “The Golden Fish.” The girls drew colorful, oil pastel sea life on a piece of watercolor paper, and then painted over the fish with dark watercolors. The techniques learned were oil pastel resist and watercolor salting.
Filmmaking: I’ve written about DIY.org, which is a fantastic site for teaching kids to learn skills independently and earn rewards in a safe, supportive environment. DIY.org has branched out into year-long classes taught by experts called Jam. One class, called “Animation,” is taught by an animator who works on the Cartoon Network show “Steven Universe.” It’s currently offered free of charge to kids ages 8-14 as a trial (other classes, such as master chef, illustrator, inventor, etc., all taught by experts in their fields, are offered at $99 per year, which is a great price in my opinion). N and C are working to complete their first three Quests in the animation class.
Music: N practiced her scales (G major and C major) and practiced her lesson.
C (age 9):
Math: C warmed up with mental math and a worksheet on multiplication. Her lesson was on writing fractions of a dollar as fractions and as decimals. She completed a lesson review.
Spelling: C continued to review words with different spellings of the long /e/ sound.
Reading: C read a chapter of Little House in the Big Woods , and I read a chapter of The Witch of Blackbird Pond last night.
Bible: Combined class with N.
Science: Combined class with N, S, and H.
History: Combined class with N, S, and H.
Art: Combined class with N, S, and H.
Filmmaking: Same as N, but not combined.
Music: C practiced A, B, C, and all her chord transitions. She played while reading music.
S (age 7):
Math: S warmed up by counting to 100 by 1s, 5s, and 10s, and by counting backward from 20 to 1. Her lesson today was on dividing a shape in half and ordering shapes by size. I gave her a piece of paper, which she cut in half. She then cut one of those halves in half. Next, she cut one of those halves in half. Then, she cut one of those halves in half. Finally, she organized all the pieces of paper from largest to smallest.
Grammar: S continued to work on memorizing “The Caterpillar.” We reviewed the definition of a noun, and continued to work on the difference between common and proper nouns by naming common occupations and proper names of individuals who perform those occupations.
Reading: S reviewed lower case “z” using a printout from The Measured Mom. We sang the alphabet song. Now that she’s learned to recognize the letters, we are going to focus on the sounds each letter makes. For letter “a,” we repeated the sound over and over while making the motion of holding an apple. Next, I showed her a picture with an alligator and other things (like a crab and some grass and a spider web). She named items she saw, and then pointed out everything that began with the short /a/ sound. I read S and H a chapter of Ramona the Pest.
Writing: S did copywork of upper and lower case “a,” and of her first and last name on a custom worksheet I made at HandwritingPractice.Net.
Bible: S and H learned about the rules for presenting a peace offering. We discussed the symbolism and the use of the leftovers from offerings (grain and peace) to provide food for the Levites, comparing it with modern tithes at church providing for pastors.
Science: Combined class with N, C, and H.
Art: Combined class with N, C, and H.
H (age 4):
Math: H warmed up by counting to 20 with me. Her lesson was on creating and reading an AB pattern using different colored linking cubes. It was a reinforcement of a previous lesson and she breezed through it quickly.
Reading: H continued to review the vowels and their sounds using flashcards. First, we went through each card and said the name of the letter and its short sound (e.g., “A says /a/,” etc.). Then, I laid the cards on the desk and made a short vowel sound. She had to identify the letter based on the sound I made. I read S and H a chapter of Ramona the Pest.
Writing: H did copywork of her name and all the vowels (all upper case) on a custom worksheet I made at HandwritingPractice.Net.
Bible: Combined class with S.
Science: Combined class with N, C, and S.
Art: Combined class with N, C, and S.
Homeschool Daily 