Weekly Wrap Up: The One with Thanksgiving

The Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers are taking the week off, but not I!

This week, we started the heart of our Medieval studies!  For the next month, we will study life in the Middle Ages: learning about feudalism, castles, knights and daily life for people of all classes.  We are working on plans for a Medieval Feast to celebrate the end of our TOG study of the Middle Ages.  We brainstormed ideas for costumes, a menu for the feast and the guest list and collected household items to make a model of a castle.  


As we were learning this week, TS 2 remembered a book we received a few years ago called Medieval Castle.  It actually opens to a three dimensional castle complete with a lord and his lady, knights on horses and a dragon.  The test subjects had great fun playing it with during their breaks this week.

We also recently finished listening to the audiobooks The Castle in the Attic and Battle for the Castle by Elizabeth Winthrop.  I highly recommend both- they were so captivating, we often sat in the driveway caught up in the story long after we had arrived home!  They even held the attention of five-year-old RA when she was with us.  A word of caution: Battle for the Castle did have a few gruesome scenes not appropriate for very young listeners.

We have two exciting field trips coming up that will complement our history studies!  Next week, we will be attending a Medieval Times Meal and Tournament with our homeschool group.  The boys can hardly believe that they will see a joust live and in person!  In two weeks, we will head to the Metropolitan Museum of Art to explore their extensive collection of Arms and Armor.  The Met is actually a wonderful place to take a family since they offer free Family Guides for several of their permanent collections that guide families through the exhibits in a fun and age appropriate way.  We plan on using the Armor Family Guide to structure our tour of this collection.  Depending on everyone's mood and energy level, we may head to the Cloisters on the way home to see a rare exhibit of Medieval Chessmen from the Isle of Lewis. 


I think I am as excited as the boys are about the next month!


The other interesting topic for this week was TS 1's final project for his Gizmos and Gadgets class at co-op.  To culminate their hands-on physics study this semester, the students were assigned to create their very own Rube Goldberg Simple Machine.  


If you are like I was and have no clue what I'm talking about, here's a little YouTube video of a Rube Goldberg Machine.  This is NOT our Rube Goldberg machine- just an example :)  

Dad and TS 1 have been working on his a little each night and they are making good progress.  I promise to post a video when it is complete.  For now, a few shots of the process:

We had a short school week because we took Thanksgiving Day off, of course, as well as the Friday after.  Thanksgiving was wonderful!  We did something completely different and went out to lunch with Tom's family to a beautiful mountain resort.  After a scrumptious meal, the kids ice skated in the beautiful pavilion.  Then we took a short hike to see the breathtaking views of the grounds.  (I know- me hiking?  Don't tell my co-op friends, they think I LIKE the outdoors or something ;)  The weather was absolutely perfect and we thoroughly enjoyed the day with family.  

I pray you had a pleasant Thanksgiving Day with the ones you love and remembered to express your gratitude to the One from whom all blessings flow!

So, How Am I Doing?

As one of the Lead Investigators of Our Great Homeschool Experiment, I am all about collecting and analyzing the data.  In that spirit, I asked the test subjects to evaluate each of their curricula on a scale of 1-10, with one being the worst possible subject they have ever been forced to learn and 10 being the best possible subject they have even been blessed to learn.  Since one of our goals for homeschooling is to reignite a love of learning, it is important to me to find out whether this is happening with the test subjects.  Here are their responses:

From TS 1:

Growing with Grammar (GWG): 9

I really like Growing with Grammar, but I don't like tests.

Institutes for Excellence in Writing (IEW): 7

IEW is ok but I don't like the long videos.  i do enjoy the typing and the writing.

Math-U-See (MUS): 8

I like MUS alot.  Even though I do two pages, I still like division.

Tapestry of Grace (TOG): 10

There is nothing wrong about TOG. 

Exploring Creation with Astronomy (ECA): 9

I enjoy learning about the planets with Dad alot.

Standing Strong (SS): 9

SS is fun because I can have fun looking in the Bible and completing each section.

Mavis Beacon Teaching Typing (MBTT): 4

I don't really like MBTT but I think I'm improving at it.

Rosetta Stone (RS): 11

RS is so fun because you have fun learning Spanish on the computer.

From TS 2:

Writing with Ease (WWE): 5

I like this subject because there are some stories I like, also Doctor Dolittle and other stuff.

First Language Lessons (FLL): 7

I like this subject because there are some poems I like.

All About Spelling (AAS): 7

I like this subject because there are phonograms.

Math-U-See (MUS): 10

I love this subject because there are lots of different problems I like and a workbook I like.

Tapestry of Grace (TOG): 6

I like TOG because there are a lot of wars and fun stories.

Exploring Creation with Astronomy (ECA): 7

I like ECA because we learn about different planets.

Studying God's Word (SGW): 8

I like this subject because we learn verses and scriptures about God.

A Reason for Handwriting (RFH): 7

I like this subject because you send messages to people.

(At the end of each lesson, there is a sheet on which you copy a scripture to send to someone to encourage or bless them.)

Rosetta Stone (RS): 6

I like this subject because it teaches us espanol.

This exercise turned out to be fun for the boys and very useful for me.  Some of their responses were surprising.  For example, I was under the erroneous impression that the boys found TOG boring but their responses indicate that they actually like it.  I obviously really need to figure out what is wrong with MBTT- we think the program has a glitch because it keeps rating TS 1's typing speed as -11 words per minute.  I knew WWE was challenging for TS 2 but it is teaching him valuable skills.  He is learning how to summarize and narrate the main points of a passage and to take dictation while being exposed to wonderful children's literature.  For these reasons, and the fact that he is rising to the challenge, we will continue to plug along at it.  All in all, other than a few tweaks here and there, it looks like we will head into the third quarter with a very similar plan to the first.

How do you evaluate what is and is not working in your homeschool?  

Quarterly Reports

Here is the Quarterly Report I submitted to the district for TS 2, our second grader:

SUBJECT	MATERIALS	EVALUATION
Reading	Completed Lessons 1-11 of Explode the Code Online, Book 1 and Lessons 1-11 of Book 4; Completed all reading and reading response assignments from Tapestry of Grace, Year 2, Unit 1, Lessons 1-5; Also independently read numerous picture books and three chapter books of his own choosing at second grade or above reading level	Satisfactory
Spelling	Completed Lessons 1-11 of Explode the Code Online, Book 1 and Lessons 1-11 of Book 4 from Explode the Code Online	Satisfactory
Writing	Completed Handwriting Lessons 1-8 of A Reason for Handwriting and Composition Lessons 1-9 of The Complete Writer: Writing with Ease, Level 2	Satisfactory
English Language	Completed Lessons 1-36 of First Language Lessons, Level 2	Satisfactory
Math	Completed Lessons 1-10 of Math-U-See, Beta Level	Satisfactory
History	Completed all history readings, reading responses, lapbooks and discussion assignments for Tapestry of Grace, Year 2, Unit 1, Lessons 1-5	Satisfactory
Science	Completed Lessons 1-6 and corresponding assignments and hands on experiments from Exploring Creation with Astronomy; Participated in a Weekly Science Enrichment Class at the xxx Co-op focusing on the Study of Insects	Satisfactory
Geography	Completed all map work from Tapestry of Grace, Year 2, Unit 1 Lessons 1-5	Satisfactory
Health	Completed the Fitness and Sportsmanship Lessons from Kids Health in the Classroom, The Nemours Foundation/KidsHealth, 2011	Satisfactory
Music	Completed weekly piano lessons and daily piano practice	Satisfactory
Art	Completed selected art projects related to the art from the historical time period studied in Tapestry of Grace, Year 2, Unit 1, Lessons 1-5 using Artistic Pursuits curriculum at the xxx Co-op	Satisfactory
Physical Education	Participated in a weekly Physical Education class at the xxx Co-op, Six Week Baseball clinic at xxx	Satisfactory

And for TS 1, our fifth grader:

SUBJECT	MATERIAL COVERED	EVALUATION
Reading	Completed all reading and reading response assignments from Tapestry of Grace, Year 2, Unit 1, Lessons 1-5; Also independently read five chapter books of his own choosing at fifth grade or above reading level	Satisfactory
Spelling	Completed Word Lists derived from Composition Work in Student Writing Intensive Level A, Institutes for Excellence in Writing Curriculum	Satisfactory
Writing	Completed Lessons 1-6 of Student Writing Intensive, Level A, Institute for Excellence in Writing	Satisfactory
English Language	Completed Units 1 and 2 of Growing with Grammar, Level 5	Satisfactory
Math	Completed Lessons 1-5, 7, 9-11, 14-19 of Math-U-See, Delta Level	Satisfactory
History	Completed all history readings, reading responses, lapbooks and discussion assignments for Tapestry of Grace, Year 2, Unit 1, Lessons 1-5	Satisfactory

Science	Completed Lessons 1-6 and corresponding assignments and hands on experiments from Exploring Creation with Astronomy; Participated in a Weekly Science Enrichment Class at the xxx Co-op focusing on Hands On Elementary Physics	Satisfactory
Geography	Completed all map work from Tapestry of Grace, Year 2, Unit 1 Lessons 1-5	Satisfactory
Health	Completed the Fitness and Sportsmanship Lessons from Kids Health in the Classroom, The Nemours Foundation/KidsHealth, 2011	Satisfactory
Music	Completed weekly piano lessons and daily piano practice	Satisfactory
Art	Completed selected art projects related to the art from the historical time period studied in Tapestry of Grace, Year 2, Unit 1, Lessons 1-5 using Artistic Pursuits curriculum at the xxx Co-op	Satisfactory
Physical Education	Participated in a weekly Physical Education class at the xxx Co-op, Six Week Baseball clinic at xxx, Twice weekly basketball practice for  Basketball Team	Satisfactory

These reports do not include the non-required courses the boys are also taking such as Spanish, Keyboarding and Bible.

Can I get a woot-woot???

Weekly Wrap Up: Schoolhouse Rock and Roller Coaster Rides

Joining the Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers once again...

The best way to summarize this week in our homeschool is to say that it has been a bit of a roller coaster ride.  

Monday and Tuesday were characterized by grumpy test subjects and- if I'm being honest- an even grumpier Lead Investigator.  I started the week feeling behind with household chores, paperwork, phone calls and errands, which made me anxious to find some time to catch up while the boys worked.  As I mentioned last week they have been working well independently, so I was expecting more of the same this week.  If I were superstitious, which I'm not, but if I were I'd have known better than to count my chickens before they hatched.  The boys were whiny and needy and all around nudges for two days straight.  They got all their work done but not without a lot of prodding from me.  

By Tuesday night, I felt angry, anxious and drained.  My Facebook reflected my emotional state: "I'm a mother on the edge.  Who's gonna talk me down?"   Thankfully, I have many funny and sweet Facebook friends and I was smiling again a few hours later.  The whole experience has made me realize that I need to plan time in my weekly schedule to take care of household stuff so that I am not trying to squeeze those responsibilities in while homeschooling.  

Wasn't I all smiles when my wonderful babysitter knocked on our door bright and early on Wednesday morning?  I made it to my Bible study for the first time in several weeks and it was a wonderful break for me.  As we've done in past weeks, I got the boys started on their assignments for the day, left for my study and then finished up with them in the afternoon.  I even had time for alone time and a quick coffee before I picked up RA from school.

We had an early dinner on Wednesday and spent part of the evening watching Grammar Rock from the School House Rock DVD series.  Oh what fun memories Schoolhouse Rock brings back for me!  I love that all three of my kids seemed to enjoy it and were laughing aloud and singing along.  And it turned out to be a great reinforcement for the test subjects of their grammar studies so far!

What's your favorite School House Rock tune?  For me, it's a three way tie between Conjunction Junction, Interjection and Mr. Morton.

We are reading a chapter a day of this book each afternoon when RA gets home from school.  (It was recommended to us by TS 1's fantastic Science teacher at co-op- thanks J!)

The tale is about two cousins who travel back in time to the age of the Vikings, which is the period in history we have been studying for the past two weeks.  The book is holding the attention of all three kids and inspired them to work together to build a time machine of their own.  Here is one of the earlier models of their Imagination Station.  It has since been upgraded but I haven't gotten a shot of that model yet :)

Thursday was a half day for RA as parent teacher conferences were held in the afternoon and evening at school.  TS 2 had a play date with a friend from school after lunch so he was on a mission to be done with his school work early.  That drive seemed to motivate TS 1, too, and by the time we picked up RA from school, both had almost finished their school day!

Thursday night was Community Night benefitting our school at a local Mexican restaurant.  We went for an early dinner and enjoyed chatting with old friends.

Friday was another Parent-Teacher conference day at RA's school so she came with us to co-op!  She had a wonderful time.  Even though I am confident that we made the right decision to send her to Kindergarten this year, I still feel pangs of guilt about her missing out on some of the fun we have in homeschool.  After co-op, we enjoyed an afternoon at the local ice rink with the homeschool group.


I can't close out this post without mentioning how cold it was today.  I was outside for most of the three co-op periods this morning and then we spent a few hours in the cold ice rink this afternoon.  I'm very happy to be in my warm and toasty home :)  I do not plan on leaving for at least 18 hours!

How do you manage a home and homeschool your children?  I'd appreciate any tips you can offer!

Weekly Wrap Up: November 11, 2011

Joining the Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers once again...

I have to start off by asking, how can the first quarter be almost over already???  On the agenda this weekend: writing the Quarterly Reports required in our state for homeschoolers.  I know some people get really crazed about paperwork, but I like to write and I like to analyze.  I am actually looking forward to putting down the test subjects' progress on paper.  

I plan on comparing their progress thus far not only to the state standards, but also to the our homeschooling mission statement.  After all, whether we are making a positive difference in all the areas we considered when decided to start Our Great Homeschool Experiment will be what we examine to determine what we will do after this school year.

On to the Weekly Wrap Up...

Our week actually started on Sunday this time.  The boys had been sick with fever and sore throats all weekend, so we stayed home from church on Sunday.  By Sunday afternoon, they were feeling fine.  Since I had plans on Monday morning and my dad was scheduled to come stay with the boys for a couple of hours, they agreed to get a jump on their Monday assignments.   Then they could spend the time with Papa on Monday playing instead of working.  This flexibility is one of the things I love most about homeschooling!

Monday morning, we continued working through the assignments for the day until Papa came.  Then I left to meet a friend for breakfast.  It was so nice to get away for a few hours and catch up with Andrea.  When I returned, Papa had the boys happy and tired out.  We finished up the rest of the day's work fairly easily.  I think we all appreciated a light Monday routine!


TS 2 and I started using the new phonics/spelling program I purchased and set up last week to replace Explode the Code.  Despite the time it took to set up, it is actually very easy to work with, especially since we are already familiar with the majority of phonograms taught in All About Spelling.

Tuesday was election day.  We had a pretty typical morning working at home.  During our mid-morning break, we walked across the street to vote.  I reminded the test subjects about our system of secret ballot voting and why it is so important.  We talked about how we should be thankful for our freedoms in this country and how it is different in much of the rest of the world.  

The boys were very productive on Tuesday.  They were determined to get their work done on time, as we had a friend from public school who had the day off coming to spend the afternoon with us.  


On Tuesday evening, I went to the monthly parent's meeting for our local homeschool support group.  The topic was Homeschooling High School.  I almost did not go because I don't think we will homeschool during high school.  Then again, I never thought we'd homeschool period.  I figured if nothing else, the evening would provide an interesting education for me.  As it turns out, I am so happy I went!  The ladies in this group are such an inspiration and encouragement to me.  They are truly striving to live Godly lives and to raise their children with love and integrity.  Listening to their struggles and triumphs makes me want to press on in this parenting journey. 

Unfortunately, my wonderful babysitter could not make it this Wednesday so I missed Bible study again this week.  We actually had piano lessons on Wednesday this week because Mr. B. could not make it on Tuesday.  During his lesson this week, Mr. B. taught TS 1 the G-major scale.  After that, TS 1 was able to take a song that was written in the C-major scale and play it in the G-major scale.  I was amazed!  I took piano for four years as a child and it never even occurred to me to try that.  Mr. B. is very happy with both of the boys' progress so far.


With the promise of another fun play date on the agenda for Thursday afternoon, the boys worked diligently all day.  I am really proud of how independent they are both becoming in working through their assignments each day.  They each need help at times with the content of their assignments, of course, but they are moving from one to the next without nagging from me.  For that, I am thankful and proud.


On Thursday evening, I went to a friend's house for Mom's Night Out with the ladies from school.  It was so nice to see everyone and catch up.  I am so blessed by the support from these amazing moms!


Friday was Veteran's Day and RA had the day off from school.  Since RA is in school and our co-op follows the school's holiday schedule, we decided to do the same with our homeschool.  That meant we all had Friday off!  We spent the morning puttering about at home- the kids all enjoying lots of free time.  Then we were off to a play date with friends from church in the afternoon.  


I plan to spend some time this weekend working on the paperwork for our Quarterly Reports, which are due at the district at the end of next week.

How do you evaluate how the year is going in your homeschool?

Weekly Wrap Up: The One with the October Snowstorm

Joining the Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers once again...

Remember our fun weekend plans from the end of last week's post?  

"We have a fun weekend planned!  Starting with pizza and a play date with some friends from church tonight, baseball clinic and Harvest Festival at church on Saturday, church on Sunday morning and a quiet (hopefully) afternoon afterwards." 

 Well, things did not go quite as planned...

We did have our pizza and play date on Friday night.  Everyone had a lot of fun!  Toward the very end of the night, I was feeling a bit under the weather.  Since it was late and I was tired, I did not think too much of it.  Turns out, I spent the night tossing and turning with fever and a sore throat.  I dragged myself to the baseball clinic on Saturday morning because it was the last one and TS 2 has been begging me to come see him play.  

I spent the rest of Saturday in and out of bed with fever.  When I was out of bed, I watched in astonishment as the snow from a rare October Nor'easter piled up outside our windows.  The Harvest Festival at church was re-scheduled for after service on Sunday.    

By early evening, there was enough snow on the ground for the kids to play with and even make a mini snowman.  

After dark, we carved pumpkins, while we watched the snow fall.  It was weird.

Sometime in the middle of the night Saturday, we lost power.  We were out until Monday night. Many in our area were out of power as the wet, heavy snow was too much for the trees and large limbs came down on power lines everywhere. Church services were cancelled as was the Harvest Festival.  Tom set up the generator and our friend came and hooked up the boiler to the generator so by late afternoon, we had heat and hot water again :)  

Monday was a fairly routine day despite the fact that my sore throat and fevers had morphed into a persistent cough.  Since it was sunny, we were able to do school despite the lack of electricity.  We even hooked the computer up the generator for a time so TS 1 & 2 could watch their Math-U-See DVDs and do their Spanish and Keyboarding programs.  

TS 1 entered his second week with the new Bible workbook I ordered from Sonlight, Standing Strong.  He loves it and I am so happy! It does exactly what I hoped, which is to teach him how to read the Bible on his own, think critically about what he has read and apply it to his own life.  I highly recommend it!

Our power came back on Monday night while we were out trick or treating with our cousins.  We were very, very happy :)

Tuesday was another productive day at home.  We spent most of our history time this week learning about King Arthur.  King Arthur is one of those iconic figures everyone knows but I knew very little about, until this week.  One of the big perks of homeschooling for me is the education I'm getting right along with the test subjects.  

Once again, piano lessons were very productive on Tuesday and I am so proud of how the boys continue to practice daily (sometimes multiple times a day) without reminders from me!

Since my hacking cough still had not let up by Wednesday, I decided to spare my Bible study classmates the germs and stayed away.  Since our super-amazing babysitter was still scheduled to come, I took the opportunity to run some errands in the morning and grab a coffee with a dear friend from school.  The test subjects did a great job once again working diligently through their independent work while I was out.  I am starting to wonder if they work better independently when I am not at home.  Things that make you go hmm.

RA was worker of the week at school and we all went to CHapel service to see her receiver her award.  Her class was also singing the opening hymn for service.  It was very sweet.

Wednesday afternoon we all went to a friend's house to watch Alladin as a fun wrap up activity to our Arabian studies.  It was scheduled to take place at our house but we lost power for a few hours again on Wednesday and had to make a last minute change.

On Thursday, we updated our TOG lapbooks by creating a Coat of Arms and an information booklet about King Arthur.  I also received the new spelling program I chose for TS 2, All About Spelling.  I chose it based on the fact that he learned to read with a similar Orton-Gillingham based program at school so the style and content will be similar to both of us.  It took about 2 hours to set up the program on Thursday afternoon!  I hope it will be more user friendly from here on out.  We plan to start using it on Monday.

And because I had not lost enough sleep hacking up my left lung this past week, both boys woke with fever and sore throats in the wee hours of Friday morning.  Needless to say, we skipped co-op and camped out in front of the television most of the day.  It was just what I needed, actually, as I am worn out.  

I'm starting to think about the paperwork for the district that will be due soon for us.  As much as I am not looking forward to the paperwork aspect of it, I do look forward to analyzing just how far each test subject has come in each academic area.

Here's hoping for a more uneventful weekend for our family!