Curriculum Revies

 We are finished for the year with homeschooling!  I have definitely enjoyed it and while Patrick is trilled to be finished there were things he enjoyed doing.  I'm going to record what I though of the stuff I used.  We didn't have  a full year since we started in October but it was pretty close.  We're planning on doing some stuff over the summer and then start again in the Fall.  He'll probably return to school in 7th grade.  

ELA

Patrick completed AAS3 and AAS4 this school year.  He has a few lessons left in AAS5 but we're taking a break for a little bit and have slowed down to one lesson a week.  He completed Write Shop level F.  I liked how it taught writing skills by working together.  He's going to redo it this year with a few extra projects thrown in that we'll model off their process.  He did novel studies for Johnny Termain, Refugee and Ghost Boys.  He also did a 5th Grade reading comprehension book that had him answering questions about short passages to practice nonfiction comprehension.  Grammar was a bit of a mess because he was a lot further behind then I realized.  We did some Mad Libs and the grammar with Write Shop.  I'm hoping to start Fix It over the summer.  We also used picture books to learn about figurative language.  

Math 

Teaching Textbooks worked well.  Patrick is needing less extra help than he was while in school.  His average score is 86% for Math 6.  The topics seems to match up well to 5th grade math..  I had him do the lesson and if he got over an 80 we moved onto the next one.  Below an 80 and he redid the ones he got wrong.  Almost everytime with the redo he pulled his grade up to above an 80.  

Science 

We started with Easy Peasy Chemistry.  I wasn't a big fan because the lessons are super short so I was combining a few into a single day.  Patrick hated Easy Peasy and we're not going to use it again for Science.  We added a Gather Round Homeschool unit on Space and that was a lot better.  I liked that all the information was easily presented.  There also weren't too many included experiments but plenty of ideas of ones to add.  We're going to be using them over the Summer and in the Fall.  

Social Studies 

I pieced together a American Revolution curriculum and we both really enjoyed learning about it.  We really utilized youtube videos and documentaries, which Patrick really enjoys.  We also used a lot of books this one was especially helpful.  It was definitely a lot of work gathering everything but besides a few things from teacherspayteachers.com it was mostly free.  

Our next unit was on the Constitution.  It was an easy transition.  I used What is the Constitution?  and  a pack from teacherspayteachers.com.  This was a pretty quick unit.  Our final area of study was the 50 States, which I have a separate post about.  Once again that was a lot of work to put together.  I definitely decided next year to buy a curriculum for Social Studies.  It makes it a lot easier when you're following along and not creating it.   

Health

This was another one that I put together.  We started the year with a quick nutrition lesson followed by learning about the brain.  Next we learned about Covid-19 and vaccines.  Finally we learned about puberty and sex.  I used the books Sex is a Funny Word and It's Perfectly Normal .  This was a lot easier to put together than Social Studies.  

Music 

Private trombone lessons have this one covered.  I did nothing with it!

Art

Patrick hates art!  I got a book about photography and he used that to do some stop action, self portraits and practice using the camera at different angles.  We added some art to our other topics like the 50 states.  And he did some art for scouts and fun with a gingerbread house.  

PE

This one became very loose.  He was definitely active and that's all they care about.  I'd love to get him into a homeschool PE class next year.  This is a favorite topic.  

 

States

 Patrick is currently learning about the 50 states.  I have flash cards that I found with the Great and Beautiful LA curriculum for free.  Each time we learn about a new state it's added to the flashcards.  He also fills out a page from the state pack from 1plus1plus1equals1.net.  We watch some short videos on the basics about the state along with some additional fun information.  I'm trying to make it fun while helping him learn more about the states.  We also do a food and additional activity.  There were some foods that I had planned that didn't actually happen such as the deviled eggs and we still need to do the clam chowder.  But we did almost everything.  He also did little quizzes where he had to match numbered states to the state or capital.  

Washington-ate apples and learned about Mount Saint Helens volcano 

Oregon-Chocolate hazelnut spread and played Oregon Trail

California-made Lemonade and virtual field trip to the San Diego Zoo.

Utah-jello and learned about Mormanism 

Nevada-onion rings and played poker

New Mexico-Sopapilla and building a Aztec House in Minecraft

Arizona-Cactus candy and torn paper Grand Canyon

Idaho-Fries from 5 Guys and gemstone shifting

Texas-Burger from 5 Guys and building the Alamo in Minecraft

Wyoming-learned about Turducken and diet coke/mentos gyser 

Montana-Cheyenne Cornbread and VR skiing 

Alaska Eskimo cookies and learning how animals stay warm in cold weather

Oklahoma-Sonic and land run

Nebraska-Kool Aid and Lewis and Clark map making or tornado activity 

Hawaii-tropical fruit sorbet and learning about Pearl Harbor 

North Dakota-honey and Sioux Relay Race

South Dakota-Kuchen with making it the activity 

Kansas-Bread and tornado experiment 

Minnesota-bundt cake and learning about Paul Bunyan

Iowa-pork and I forgot what activity we did for this one!

Indiana-popcorn and playing baseball 

Missouri-Ice Cream Cone and Pony Express relay race

Wisconsin-Cheese and butter, make butter in a jar

Illinois-Deep dish pizza and documentary about Lincoln

Michigan-cornflakes and water play

Ohio-Dum dums and video tour of the Football Hall of Fame

Arkansas/Louisiana-Rice and listen to Jazz

Tennesse/Mississippi-mud pie and country music and Elvis music

Kentucky-deviled eggs and learning how a baseball bat is made

Alabama-Fried chicken and documentary about MLK Jr.

Florida-oranges and dissolve a seashell 

North Carolina-Krispy Kreme and make a Wright Brothers flyer

South Carolina/Georgia-Peaches 

West Virginia/Virginia-boiled peanuts and learning about Roanoke colony and Greenbrier bunker.

New York-Bagels and Ellis Island documentary

Massachusetts-Clam Chowder and learn about the Salem Witch Trials 

Delaware-ice cream and future field trips

New Hampshire/Vermont-Ben and Jerry's and learn about Blackbeard

New Jersey-Cranberry juice and playing Monopoly

Connecticut-Pez candy and try to run 12 mph like the first speed limits 

Maine/Rhode Island-Blueberries and virtual tour of the Breakers 

Pennsylvania-Soft Pretzels and plan for future field trips 

Maryland-Berger Cookies and creating a brochure 

Week 1

 We finished our first week of homeschooling.  I feel like it's better than virtual but I still worry about doing enough.  I think that's the big question that I won't really be able to answer until he returns to public school and we see grades.  Anyways here is our week.

Math-He compled a placement test.  He technically didn't pass it but some was terminology.  With a few explanations was able to pass it.  We're doing Teaching Textbooks level 6.  He got a 95% the first day so I encouraged him to just answer the questions and get a few lessons done the next day.  He got 75% on two lessons.  So day three he went back and rewatched the video then re-answered the questions he got wrong.  He got a 95% on both.  Today he did lesson 4 and got a 75%.  I had him try again on questions he got wrong and he got a 95%.  I am a little nervous it's too high for him because he only barely passed the placement test and he is not finding the early lessons super easy.  However I feel like this is the level he needs to complete to be ready for 6th grade so worst case we'll have to explain things to him.

ELA-There is so much to this subject!  We're reading Johnny Termain and we got a guided reading packet for it.  He's not really enjoying the book and having trouble remembering details.  I think I'm going to try to do reading in the afternoon and have him read during independent time on Monday.  I hope this helps him be able to recall details better.  I just got the writing curriculum and we were able to do three days of it.  I like the curriculum but he's way behind on grammar so I'm going to need to expand on that part.  I'm also nervous about how much he'll write when the time comes.  We're back to doing All About Spelling almost daily.  I love this curriculum because it's easy and straightforward.

Science-We did two short days of Science.  I need to figure out a schedule for everything to make sure we're hitting all our necessary subjects regularly without feeling so rushed!

Social Studies-We learned about the French and Indian war.  If nothing else he learned a lot in this subject.  We read about different perspectives too and I think that helped him better understand it.  We're now watching a documentary about it.

Health- We did health last Friday.  That will probably be it for a little while.  We learned about fats in foods and nutrition in general.

Music-Our amazing friend who does lessons gave him an assessment.  We should be good here.

Art-He decided to create a scene from a book in Minecraft.  Not sure if this counts.  We talked about learning about photography.

PE-We're doing football and soccer.  He's going to compare them at some point next week.

Overall I feel overwhelmed but we're covering a lot.  I do need to start working in time for me to exercise again.

Homeschooling

It's been forever since I blogged but I'm undertaking a new adventure and wanted to document it.  Because of Covid Patrick (10) will be homeschooled.  Virtual learning just wasn't working for him and giving him headaches.  My two girls (8 and 5) will be continuing with virtual.  My two year old also does virtual but with occasional in person and I supplement a lot at home mostly to keep him busy.  Now that I've caught up let's discuss curriculum plans.  I start Monday.

ELA

I really had trouble deciding.  We're definitely doing AAS because I got it to supplement and love it.  He's almost done AAS3 and we only started in May with level one.  I also think WriteShop will be a good fit for us.  Writing is an area of weakness.  I'm also doing a novel study with Johnny Termain.  I got a guided reading packet on Teacherspayteachers.com.   And for additional grammar or gaps parts of The Good and the Beautiful.  

Math 

We're going to try Teaching Textbooks with math games to supplement.  We'll start with a free trial so this is subject to change.

Science 

He wants to do Chemistry.  I got a course from Easy Peasy.  I also got some books from the library to supplement.

Social Studies 

American Revolution is up first starting with the French Indian war.  I have Story of the World to help guide us but this one is pretty piecemeal.  I may eventually break down and buy something on teacherspayteachers.com but for now I'm just using free things.

Health

I'm hoping to do a little lesson on fats and nutrition for all my kids tomorrow.  After that we'll be learning about the brain with plans for him to build one on Minecraft.

Music 

Private trombone lessons have this one covered.

Art

I got a lot of books about art history.  I'm going to let him pick artists to imitate or write about.  

PE

We're going to start with a soccer/football unit.  Followed by archery.  No real long term plans for this one.  

I really enjoyed looking back at all the things we did when he was little.  He's not as into pictures so expect less.  I might put something together about my youngest too.  

P is for Pilgrim

 For more tot school ideas check out the gathering.  Last week we did P is for Pilgrim with the big theme obviously being Thanksgiving.  We read two books this week one being a book about the first Thanksgiving that I paraphrased the entire book and really we just used the pictures.  Patrick really liked the boat.  We also read Thanks for Thanksgiving by Julie Markes.  We talked about what we were thankful for a lot.  At school Patrick said watching television but I got a few better ones like me, which was really sweet. 

We got a lot of our worksheets from 1+1+1=1.  Patrick did really well with the color by number turkey.  I was really impressed that he did so well with it since he has only recently really started learning his numerals.  Another favorite activity (in the picture) was using cotton balls as pretend cool whip from Mudpies and Makeup.  He did really well until we reached the number eight then let me do nine and ten.  He's really come a long way though with numbers because just a couple months ago he would have struggled with all of them. 

Q is for Quarterback

  For more tot school ideas check out the gathering.  Q is a very difficult letter.  There aren't many words that start with it so we've done Q is for quarterback for two years now.  It's really just a week of a football theme.  I don't have any really great pictures this week since my son has decided that he doesn't want his picture taken. 

This week we did a lot of activities from 3 Dinosaurs.  He really enjoyed the coloring the footballs.  Recently he's taken more of an interest in cutting so he's been randomly cutting paper a lot.  I'm hoping this will help his emerging scissor skills.
Awhile ago I got some stickers in the mail with helmets for all the NFL teams.  We used those this week to practice his fine motor skills.  We also read My Football Book by Gail Gibbons and his T is for Touchdown book.  He also got a history lesson about the Greatest Game ever played from my husband who is a football nut. 
I've really wanted to start doing sight words and we did some work on the word the.  We also worked on Patrick's name using the tiles and putting in the letters.  He is awesome at matching the letters but I'm not sure if he's completely understanding the whole idea that these are words.

Baby School at 16 months

We were really busy this month with lots of things to do at home and outside of the house.  We had a lot of fun.  Here are some of the fun educational things my 16 month old enjoyed.

 

We got out our fall sensory bin.  It's seen lots of use this past month and we'll continue to play with it until December.  She definitely prefers the sensory bins involving rice to the leaves and beans.  But she has fun dumping it out.

We're working on teacher her the various parts of her body.  A simple fun game we play together is to put the leaf on various parts and sing a little song "The leaf is on your _____, the leaf is on your ______"

 

As I mentioned we've not been just staying at home.  Here she is enjoying a jumping pillow at a local farm fall festival.  She had a hard time staying up on it but she loved it!

We also visited the zoo.  She really likes turtles.  I think they're her favorite animal.

We played a lot with our homemade orange Halloween play doh.  I found the recipe here.  We really enjoyed it however I don't think I added enough seasoning because it didn't smell different from regular play doh. 

Somebody gave my son giant coins for Halloween when he was trick or treating.  Mary loved sticking them into a wipe container.  I tried to get her to attempt to get them out again by sticking her hand in but she was not interested in it at all.

Random day where she didn't nap and we were trying to find some stuff that she could quietly play with while her bother took his first nap in six months (figures she did not nap that day!).  The eggs are actually his for matching upper and lower case letters but she had fun just trying to take them apart and put them together.  She wasn't able to do it but it was fun and since she doesn't use her hands together frequently a good way to practice that skill.