Showing posts with label secular homeschooling. Show all posts
Showing posts with label secular homeschooling. Show all posts

Monday, January 17, 2011

School Report, Winter 2011

Snow. Lots of snow. Weeks and weeks of snow, on the ground since sometime in the beginning of December.

We've been sledding several times since mid-December, usually with Elizabeth and once with Ken. Or rather, they've been sledding. Going down the hill on a sled makes me nauseated, which is really, really wimpy, I know. So I sit in the van at the bottom of the hill and read books on the Kobo reader that Evan gave me for Christmas. Can't get bored with 150+ books along!

Any suggestions for books to download?

As for our school report...

Ken as started studying Geographic Information Systems online with Columbus State. Basically, he'll be making sense of all the magnificent information that is available from satellites, Google, surveys, etc. He's been into geography since he was able to think about the world. I think that it started with this book:

It's a Big Big World

We recently got one for Brenna and Noah. Now they can plan their trips around the world, and start their own imaginary travel agency!

Neal and Alanna are studying Twentieth Century History together. We're using a wide variety of books, and a set of videos:


They're nice for giving an overview of time periods, and they help make mental pictures that stay in the mind. They're a bit graphic, though. I skipped through the parts about amputation in the Civil War. It was more than we needed to see!

I also looked up a list of interesting people, places and events that the kids should know, put them on slips of paper, and let them draw three or four a day. They look them up online and report back to us on what they've found. We discuss not only the subject matter at hand, but also the methods of research used and the reliability of various sources.

In the end, it's most important that they know how to learn and how to find out. Knowledge will grow, and many 'facts' they learn today will be disproved tomorrow, but the thrill of the chase of knowledge will still be there.

Neal is taking a break from Algebra to do some Geometry, as is Alanna.

I'm reviewing a Chemistry book from CK-12 that is online, excellent and entirely free! Open Source texts are awesome! I've also found a Conceptual Physics text that is also OS.

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Homeschooling Chemistry - Online Reosurces


Chem 4 Kids
An excellent site with a complete chem course for seven- to twelve- year olds. Very nicely done!

All Info About Chemistry
News, experiments, clip art, science fair projects...a lot of info here!

About.com Chemistry for Kids

Experiments, evaluations of chemistry sets, and good explanations.

MathMol Hypertext

Links chemistry and math with excellent graphics.

Chymist
Experiments and explanations...really useful!!

Periodic Table Worksheets

here at AIA

Science with me

A cheery, colorful website with games, animations, worksheets and coloring pages for preschool to about age 10. Subscription required, but it's free!

Experiments and Helps

Chemistry Comes Alive!
Several really fascinating experiments that you can watch...and probably not try at home!! Nice explosions!
Delights of Chemistry
Photos and video of over 100 experiments from the University of Leeds.

United Nuclear
Many fun experiments, with supplies sold onsite. Our favorite is "Water starts a Fire."   Be aware, though, that this doesn't start a small  flame: it starts a whooshing bright green blaze that destroyed the foil we started it on....

The pH Factor

A fun site for 8 to 12 year olds.

How to Color Fire
One of our family favorites! Try this at your next bonfire, and you can call it school!!

Burning Money
What you often feel like you're doing anyway...so why not do it literally?

Common Chemicals Around Your Home

Need something for an experiment, but afraid that ordering it will put you on a list at Homeland Security? Check other sources.

Fun With Alkali Metals!
A video of something that you probably don't want to try at home!

Curiosities
A list of things that keep science interesting.

Elements and Periodic Tables

WebElements Periodic Table
An excellent interactive table for teens. Has videos and information about each element.

Printable Periodic Table with Common Uses

A nice poster for kids. Features pictures of common things made with each element.

A Few Other Possible Periodic Tables
A new way of looking at things. Have your teen design her own!

Fun

Chemistry comics

The TWINKIES Project
Fun with bored college students. What happens to a twinkie when you....?

The Google Periodic Table

The top Google picture for each element.

Tom Lehrer
An animated song of the elements...

The Periodic Table of Comic Books
Calcium in Wonder Woman, Tungsten in Metal Men...

Homeschooling Biology - Online Resources

General Biology Websites

Biology 4 Kids
Excellent sequential lessons about cells, plants, animals, body systems and more. Great for kids ages 8 to 13, for teens' review, or for adult reference.

Treehouses on the Tree of Life
Make your own webpages about various animals, plants, or other organisms as part of this ever-growing project. Hosted bt The University of Arizona College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.

Ask A Biologist
Experiments, articles, links....very useful, especially if you have a question that your books don't answer.

Biology in Action
More video, fascinating!

Biology in Motion
Flash animations of biological processes: digestion, glandular activity, cell division, etc. Helps cement ideas in the memory. Ages 12 and up.

National Geographic Kids
Excellent site, with photos, videos, games, puzzles, news, and many things to keep a kid busy and learning. Great for times when school isn't going to happen....

Science with me

A cheery, colorful website with games, animations, worksheets and coloring pages for preschool to about age 10. Subscription required, but it's free!

Microbial Life, Cells Websites


Microbe World
Stunning site! Videos, photos, news and information about life in the world of the very small. Great for teens, and curious younger ones. Check this out for yourself, also!

Cells Alive!
Another well-done, very visual site, with lots of information games, puzzles, etc. Older kids and teens.

The Virtual Cell
Great for visualizing cell structure. Has a virtual textbook, worksheets, etc.


Heredity


I Can Do That!
For younger kids, ages 5 to 10...very nice explanations of cells, DNA, RNA and cloning. Teacher/parent pages also.

DNA From the Beginning
A really well-done interactive Flash animation site which teaches genetics in a fascinating way. Highly recommended for older kids and teens, and you!

Animal Life


Animal Diversity Web
A teen-level University of Michigan site about taxonomy and the lives and structure of animals. Look up any animal that exists, and several that don't anymore....

Electronic Naturalist
Learning about the world around us...includes 'identify this', ask-a-naturalist, and many fun things to learn.

What's That Bug?
Insects galore! All ages.

All About Birds
From Cornell, a multimedia site that will be a great help to bird watchers and those who have a report to do.... teens and up, unless your younger one LOVES birds...


Human Biology

Human Anatomy Online
Study the systems of the body with pictures and lessons.

What Color Eyes Would Your Children Have?
Basic genetics for older kids and teens...interesting approach! Compare their results with your actual kids!!


Evolution


Becoming Human
Very interactive site about how man evolved. Ages 12 and up.

PBS Evolution Lessons
Student lessons, teacher pages, activities, and videos. 12 and up.

Explorations Through Time
The history of life on earth presented in interactive modules for various age groups. Reading needed, but concepts are well-presented.

Evolving Planet: Tour Through Time

The Field Museum's  illustrated timeline about the history of the earth. Older kids and teens.

Mathematics Resources on the 'Net

Younger Kids' Math Pages


Aunty Math
Every week, new story problems are posted, with options for easier or harder ones. They're generally made for ages 5 to 11, and good explanations are given the next week.


Word Problems for Kids

Hundreds of fun mindbenders to try, with answers and explanations given

Play Kids Games
Several fun games for ages 5 to 10. Great for reinforcing basic skills. Better than flashcards!

Create a Graph
Make graphs with this fun online program!

Figure This!

Math challenges for families!

Math Timeline
Scroll along the timeline and click on the Mathematician's icon...a fun way to learn a bit about the history of mathematics.

Numbernut
Flash tutorials that start with digits and head on through computation.

Timez Attack

A free, really well-done video game that teaches times tables with the aura of a typical adventure computer game!My son did actually plead to play it! The full version costs money, but it's worth it!!

BBC Schools Ages 4 to 11

Games and activities to reinforce learning.

Older Kids' Math Pages (Pre-Algebra and beyond)


Homemade Algebra Tiles
A way to reinforce Algebra lessons for your kinesthetic learner. With explanations of how to use them.

Algebasics

A flash program that teaches algebra interactively, with audio and animations.

Coolmath
A graphically illustrated site with a monster mind reader, fractal generator, crop circle geometry, and algebra animations!

BBC Schools Secondary Math
The Beeb helps the older ones study...

Numb3rs
This mathematically-based show has a website which provides activities to go along with the shows...Bill Nye has even guested on it, so how far off can they be? Actually, the Head of the Mathematics Dept. at Caltech handles their math for them...

Simpsons Math
Yes, the TV show.  Al Jean, Executive Producer and head writer, has a bachelor's degree in mathematics from Harvard University, and many of the shows have a mathematical theme...

World Geography Online

The World Factbook
Basic maps, geographical information, political information, and much more...from the Central Intelligence Agency. One of the best resources, and more interesting than can be described!

About Geography
Statistics, trivia, quizzes and lots more.

National Geographic,
National Geographic Little Kids     Ages 3 to 6
National Geographic Kids      Ages 6 to 14
Geobee
National Geographic Education
Some of the best, most visually stimulating sites out there. These sites are perfect not just for study or research, but for turning a kid loose on when you aren't having a traditional school day. Simply wonderful! The educator's site has outline maps, geography bowl questions, family activities, etc. Geobee is a daily quiz site. Train the next homeschooled National Geography Bowl winner!



Pitara Geography
Compare your country with another...how much area? How many TV sets? Main languages?

Earth Cam for Kids
Check out animals, streets, parks, zoos, space...all live and direct.

Lonely Planet WorldGuide
Plan your next vacation - real or imaginary.

Rader's Geography for Kids
More in-depth physical geography. Covers Earth's structure, atmosphere, hydrosphere, and biosphere (for a start). Easy to follow, child-friendly and very informative.

Geography IQ
An online world atlas packed with geographic, economic, political, historical and cultural information, as well as currency converters, climate information, and more.

Where is THAT?
An online interactive game with several levels.

Geoglobe
A Thinkquest  interactive series of games. Fun, challenging, and useful.

Where does the time go?

This last week was constantly busy, but it's hard to see what was done.

We've nearly finished the BBC Life series, which was wonderful.  Both kids are in Rec Dept. Soccer, so it seems that someone is playing or practicing every night. They've also finished Standard Deviants American Government DVD, which is a great intro to what can be a dry subject.

Allie has read some in Exploring the Way Life Works, and done some work with her cell biology CD-ROM.

She's done several Grammar worksheets, and a few chapters in Calvert Math 6 Practice Exercises and Challenge Math .

She also has more than 200 pages written of her latest novel. She won't let me see it, though!


Neal wanted to blow things up again, or at least set them on fire, but I was a spoilsport and made him do experiments from The Illustrated Guide to Home Chemistry Experiments. Some fun I am!

He's read more chapters in Culture and Values.

Neal is working on Real World Algebra and reviewing with Spectrum Math 8.

He's also doing his best to avoid any kind of writing, except maybe texting!

Thursday, September 2, 2010

First Report

Nearly two weeks of school done!

We've burned various chemicals to see their colors, looked at onion cells, began our study of the Constitution, watched part of the BBC Life series (the one with David Attenborough), learned a bit about grammar and math, gone to the library in Columbus, played soccer, walked the Darn and Clark Lake, cuddled the kitties, read about a few composers....

We're fairly up-to-date with our folders of work, except maybe on the math. Today should be Math Day, to get us on track.

We've decided that we want to get a Red Panda. Or several.

Monday, June 28, 2010

Summer Break...Sort Of....

We finished our exams. I've sorted the books and stored the best for Brenna and Noah. A few that need to be finished or reviewed are on the desk waiting. I've even chosen the basic outlines for the Fall's Learning Season.

But learning continues here between the Asiatic Lilies and the enormous tomato plants. Alanna and Elizabeth have their own garden behind the Gray Building (my husband's great-grandfather's former blacksmith shop that's next to our house.) Their broccoli is gorgeous, and their pumpkin plant is threatening to engulf the entire back of the building! The girls also have a pottery class starting tomorrow.

Neal has plans involving soccer, computers and science experiments, but he's a bit vague. Thirteen is a vague year.

We do have a bit of math to review this summer, and a bit of a history book to finish ( A History of USBook 3 on the American Revolution.) We'll squeeze that in between painting the front porch and redoing the living room floor. Our current family debate is about whether to paint the porch white with green accents, like the rest of the house, or Black and Gold to honor the Columbus Crew Football (soccer to you, probably!) team...

Monday, March 29, 2010

Our Space Mission

Back in February, while my husband was basking in the semi-warm sun in Del Rio, Texas and we were dodging record snowstorms here in Ohio, Neal, Allie and I checked Google Maps and ventured out to the Challenger Center in downtown Dayton.

The Challenger Center is one of 50 learning centers in over 30 states and a few foreign countries. Homeschool groups, Scout troops, school classes, and such can make reservations to take part in a simulated space mission. Allie and Neal's mission involved studying a comet, but other ones include visits to Mars and the Moon.

Kids are given various jobs on their chosen mission, and guided in performing them. Allie was in medical, and Neal was in communications. They had a really good time, and enjoyed working with the other homeschooled kids. The adults who led the program were very enthusiastic and communicated well with the kids.

We'll be looking forward to visiting the Final Frontier again soon!


Saturday, November 7, 2009

Homeschooling Language Arts on the Web

Homeschool Reading and Book Sites


Starfall
A very well-designed, colorful interactive children's reading course online...all free! Great for 4- to 7- year olds!

Scholastic Kids
Games, downloads, and activities for children's literature.

All Info About Reading Education
Lesson plans, activities, worksheets, and other helps for teaching young and beginning adult readers.

Book Adventure
A free site that gives children points and prizes for answering questions about the books they've read! They can earn enough points to get a subscription to Highlights for Children magazine, books, candy, temporary tattoos...Parental permission required, but the site is quite legitimate!

Book Hive
A searchable list of kid's books, with games, coloring pages, quizzes, You can search by subject, genre, reading level, etc. Each book is reviewed , and you may add your own review, Some have advisory notes for parents. A really fine resource!!

All Info About Teen Reading

Features reviews of good books, parent helps, worksheets, and much more!

Homeschool Writing Sites

Free Worksheets
Printable story starters.

Alphadictionary
A site for kids ages 7 to 13. If your child signs up (with parental permission, they will  e-mail her a vocabulary-building kids word-of-the day, called the Goodword Junior, five days a week along with tips and tricks to help her remember correct spelling and pronunciation. There are also games, puzzles, and other fun things to do here. A really great site!!

Family Education Printables
A wide assortment of pages with topics ranging from puzzles about classic kids' books to parts of speech to paragraph writing. This can be very valuable for that end-of-the-year portfolio, and the kids may really like some of the puzzles!

MLA Style Guide
Practice writing college-level reports.

Homeschool Grammar, Spelling and Other Sites

Learning Page
Free membership, and many free printables, including alphabet and handwriting pages in several styles, story ideas, etc.

Kids Page Archive
Many worksheets for kids ages 5 to 12. Vocabulary, rhyming, spelling, grammar, stories, etc.

Eats, Shoots, and Leaves
The punctuation game...
Proofread!!!
An article about editing...with a great photo!
Mad Libs on the Web
By far the easiest and most fun way to learn the parts of speech!! Add words to stories...and read the silly results!!

Fun Brain
Online games to improve vocabulary, spelling, plurals, and other writing skills.

I Know That!
More online games, like Punctuation Paintball and Scrambled Stories.

Anagram Server
Play with your words!!

Don't Buy It!
A site about media propaganda and wise consumerism for teens. Eye-catching and fun!

Saturday, October 17, 2009

A Few Favorite Online Resources for Lesson Planning and Worksheets

JASON Science 

 -  Weather, ecology and energy are presented to kids from about 10 to 15 in really cool multimedia units. (Bright, interested younger kids might enjoy these also.) There are videos, activities and printables all available for free. It's easy to teach, or your self-starter can do it on her own. Not enough for a year of science, but certainly good for some variety. Has my kids' Great rating.

Curriki

- As a confirmed Linux user (can't wait for Ubuntu Karmic Koala!!!), I've been hunting Open Source educational materials as well. Curriki is the home of thousands of such projects - some ongoing, some finished. There's even a homeschool section. This is the home of the software developed for the One Laptop per Child initiative, which means that much of the curriculum is web-based rather than text-based. It covers from toddlerhood to college. Submissions are welcome also. Every time I go there, I'm amazed!

Teachers Pay Teachers

Teachers (including homeschool types) put their best  lessons, power point presentations, worksheets etc online, and other teachers (again including us radicals) throw them a few bucks to get the resources. Again, it's little ones on up, and there are quite a few few freebies. The previews are good, also. It's possible to make a bit of money on this site. The indexing is a bit clunky, though.

If you don't have Power Point and would like to use the ones offered on any of the sites above, try Open Office, a free, open souce program by Sun Microsystems that is much better than MS Office and includes quite a bit that MS doesn't. And it's awesome.

There are quite a few more to add to this list...but this should offer a nice beginning!

Thursday, September 3, 2009

First Day, First Week

Monday was our first day of "official" school. So far it's all gone quite smoothly and happily, so here's a few things I've learned about my Students:

1) Allie tends to go to bed right after her story time (which is Book 3 of the Belgariad right now), so she has  no formal bedtime, but she gets in at about the same time each night. Neal, on the other hand, has no bedtime but he does have an arising time. As long as he can get up when he's supposed to and be relatively cheerful about it, I won't impose bedtime.


2) It's very nice to have Allie up for an hour or so before Neal gets up. That allows us to get through most of her academics without competition or interruption.


3) Neal believes that he is unschooling. While I'm sure that his definition wouldn't gel with some purists, he did pick out his subjects and books, and he studies mostly on his own, with a bit of encouragement. Sounds pretty close to unschooling to me.


4) I send emails to the kids most mornings with computer-based activities listed for the day. It may be a website to check out, or a workpage for their writing club, the The LOLcats and Phun Gnomes Society  (Club Oath: We will not kick gnomes, and we will respect LOLcats. Excellent free lesson plans for a  writing club)


5) Writing is much more fun on a laptop, even if it's Dad's. Having fun writing is more important than perfecting handwriting.
6)  Subjects that have Girl Scout badges to go along with them are great!

Saturday, August 29, 2009

Our First Week...


This week was travelling school. Charlie (Dad)  was off, so we made several short trips, many of which were educational  ;-)
Sunday was niece Angie's baby shower, which was very enjoyable, followed by dinner at Charlie's parents. Monday was local business and soccer practice. Tuesday was a home day, Wednesday was a trip to Ceasar Creek Fossil Beds. We came home laden with bags of  fossils, most of which were shells and corals.
Thursday was soccer practice.
Friday started out with a stop at Batelle Darby Creek Park, which was lovely, especially when we were heading down to the river when it began to rain very heavily. We  made it to the van without being struck by lightning but with totally soaked clothing. The heater and fan on the van were put to good use on our way to  the Center of Science and Industry in Columbus. There we learned about Egyptology, archaeology, physics, chemistry, oceanography, and basketball-playing rats! (Between the homeschool discount and the military discount, we pais $12.50 for 5 people!)This was followed by dinner at Spaghetti Warehouse and way too much food! I'm not sure that I'll  have the Pasta Alfredo again, but the chocolate cake was deleriously wonderful!

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

1700s Unit Study Books Used - order

This is a guide to our upcoming 1700s unit for Neal and Allie this fall...and no, I don't feel obligated to do everything! Most of it was made from books that we already have or that are available from the library. Wish us luck!

1700s Unit Study

Intro- review
Ohio 12-30 Geology 48-65 Indians
The Witch of Blackbird Pond , From Colonies to Const. Lesson 10
http://etext.virginia.edu/salem/witchcraft/
The CARTOON HISTORY OF THE MODERN WORLD
to page 241
Native American Tragedy worksheets
Review Timeline
Africa http://www.fsmitha.com/h3/h28af3.html
History Quiz
http://harrypotter.wikia.com/wiki/Events_prior_to_1800
http://worldhistoryforusall.sdsu.edu/eras/era6.htm OVERALL
http://worldhistoryforusall.sdsu.edu/eras/era6.htm units (downloaded)
http://www.wsu.edu:8000/~dee/Equiano.html slavery

General Worksheets
History Report doc

Literature
Robinson Crusoe
Wordsworth
Coleridge "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner"
Rip Van Winkle
Ben Franklin
Christina Rosetti
Alice in Wonderland
Pride and Prejudice
Tennyson
Dickens
Caddie Woodlawn
The Sign of the Beaver
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
Wm Blake
Thomas Gray
Robert Burns
Phillis Wheatley
http://www.poetseers.org/spiritual_and_devotional_poets/india/ramprasad India
http://www.poetseers.org/spiritual_and_devotional_poets/buddhist/ryokan Japan
http://www.poetseers.org/spiritual_and_devotional_poets/india/kamalakanta India


Art
Great American Artists John Singleton Copley p 14
Discovering Great Artists Linnaeus, Gainsborough, Blake, Constable, Hokusia, Audobon,
Story of Painting
A Story of Music Bach to Schubert
Story of Music
http://www.classicsforkids.com/composers/composers_timeline.asp
Philosophy for Kids 27, 48, 51, 53, 89,
Home Crafts
inventions



Frame
George Washington's World
Making Thirteen Colonies
From Colonies to Country
Places in Time
The Cartoon History of the United States to 116
Timeline

http://www.timepage.org/spl/13colony.html

Great Awakening


Research
Speeches p 237
Write a stirring sermon about an idea
http://www.gale.cengage.com/free_resources/bhm/timeline/1700.htm

World
Can't You make the Behave, King George
http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/customs/questions/monarchy/hanovarians.html
http://www.docstoc.com/docs/526565/Crime-and-Punishment-of-1700-1800
http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0107521.html (France)
Flame colored taffeta
Sutcliffe Scotland Bonnie Prince Charlie
http://www.nla.gov.au/exhibitions/upsidedown/timeline/html-frameset.html Australia
http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ht/09/sfc/ht09sfc.htm
http://www.danbyrnes.com.au/lostworlds/timeline/lwstory6.htm
http://www.bized.co.uk/dataserv/chron/events.htm
http://www.jewishhistory.org.il/history.php?startyear=1700&endyear=1799
http://www.diversiton.com/religion/main/islam/timeline.asp
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_Chinese_history
http://www.askasia.org/teachers/essays/essay.php?no=131/ Japan
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_South_America
Anson's Way Ireland
Quest for a Kelpie Scotland
Twilight Child Finland
http://www.wwnorton.com/college/english/nael/18century/welcome.htm England
http://www.cricinfo.com/ci/content/story/89662.html Cricket literature
Robert Burns Scotland
http://www.isidore-of-seville.com/robroy/ Scotland
http://web.archive.org/web/20020214030439/http://www.tartans.com/articles/famscots/robroy.html
http://www.nls.uk/broadsides/index.html


American Revolution

Story of Mankind 51
From Colonies to Const. Unit 3 Causes, Stamp Act, Who fired first,Effects
Speeches 229-235
Book of Games and Puzzles
Watchwords of Liberty
A Book about Ben Franklin A
Thomas Jefferson
George Washington A
Shh! We're writing the Con. 
Where was Pat
Decl of Ind.
Eyewitness America N
The Way of Democracy A
THE PRINTER'S APPRENTICE
CHARLOTTE

FINISHING BECCA
Patrick Henry
Thomas Jefferson

Government
From Colonies to Const. Unit 4 evaluate, shays, arguments,foreign views
Speeches 236 245
The Words We Live By
We The Kids
Govt worksheet folder
http://press-pubs.uchicago.edu/founders/tocs/toc.html Constitution

US after Revolution
Ohio 68-86 land ownership
History of Clark County doc
Geography early states
Presidents (incl articles of fed)
Courage of Sarah Noble http://www.homeschoolshare.com/courage_of_sarah_noble.php
DANGER ALONG THE OHIO
The Second Bend in the River

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/award99/icuhtml/fawhome.html Ohio
http://xroads.virginia.edu/~CAP/PENN/pnhome.html Wm Penn

French Revolution

A Little History 34, 35
Story of Mankind 52, 53
Les Miserables
A Tale of Two Cities
Voltaire

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

School Plans for 2009-2010

Singapore Math 3a, 3b (fast review mode) 4a, 4b

Writing - continuing her novellas and blogs and such, doing simple reports. Work on punctuation and continue spelling.

Reading every day

Science - not sure yet

History - 1700s and beyond, world and US. Government. Geography of where we study.
Based on George Washington's World, our Timeline books, and a lot more add-ons.

Soccer, basketball, dance, acting, sign language, Girl Scouts, art projects (Discovering Great Artists), etc.


Neal

Head First Algebra, Life of Fred Algebra, Basic Math review

History - 1700s and beyond, world and US. Government. Geography of where we study.
Based on George Washington's World, our Timeline books, and a lot more add-ons.

Science - Conceptual Physics, Cartoon Guide to Chemistry

Writing - continuing her novellas and blogs and such, doing simple reports. Work on punctuation and continue spelling.

Reading every day.

Soccer, tennis, acting, art, music, etc.

Ken

Study for A+ exam, CLEP English, Canadian Studies?, Intro to College @ CS

Saturday, March 14, 2009

Flu Season is Over....

...at least, I hope so. It dragged on and on and on, and now we're all recovering.

Ken and Evan are currently in Canada at a music festival with Caleb. They left on Friday, armed with birth certificates and a notarized parental permission form, which they didn't need.

For some reason (massive coughing? 102 degree fevers?) we haven't done much school for the past few weeks. I want to get back to it on Monday. Here is a list of our present projects:

Renaissance unit studies: Our World History videos, lots of books, art projects, etc.

Math is The Life of Fred. Excellent fun!

Science : Ken and Neal are watching a college-level video series from The Teaching Company on Earth Science. It's detailed and interesting. Allie and I are reading several books.

Writing for the history notebook and for fun.

Maybe, if the weather is as promised, we'll go to the Columbus Zoo this week. This being Ohio in march, though, it's a bit unlikely.