Slacking and lacking in the humanities department!

Confession...we've not had the chance to learn as much as I had planned for. Part of the problem was that teaching math has been an unpredictable event! Now that we are moving on with TT, I'm excited to get to more fun and exciting things! Shakespeare, art study, composer/music study, Plutarch, nature study... I'm going to go do some planning right now!

“The only thing that interferes with my learning is my education.” ~Albert Einstein

Teaching Textbooks 4

Math has been a struggle for Almond. Not that she isn't good at it, she just doesn't like doing it...Somewhere in the process, she decided it was too hard, and didn't enjoy the daily drill. In first grade she began the complaining, whining and crying. I tried to switch curriculum to find the right fit... I know I've made mistakes, which probably didn't help the issue! I also went back and forth about really wanting a mastery program vs. spiral approach. I've tried Singapore, MUS, Developmental Math, Houghton Mifflin Math, unschooling with games and activities, a tutor, and Horizon... What I realized was that dd does need a spiral approach, or we'd be stuck in the same place for a LONG time! My other kids weren't that difficult...Pistachio used Saxon up until Algebra, and now uses TT as well (I never pushed the mastery thing with him because he is very gifted in math, and MUS annoyed him).

So I guess with all that rambling, I wanted to say that we have been doing TT for the last 2 weeks, and she loves it! She's been doing at least one lesson a day, without any coercion, tears, or complaining! Yay!

Monthly Learning Report-November

The past month has been challenging... With hubby on a short deployment and illness, I'm pleasantly surprised that we have learned a thing or two! =)

Read Aloud

PISTACHIO

Language Arts

Literary Devices—compare and contrast, cause and effect, categorizing to organize and recall information
Vocabulary-Vocabtest.com Unit 1-2
Grammar—participle phrases (parsing and diagramming sentences)

Math
Teaching Textbooks Algebra 1, Lessons 37-46

Science
Plate Tectonics
Atmosphere, Weather & Climate
Metamorphic Rocks, Landscapes & Biomes
Grassland Landscapes
Arctic Tundra
Tropical Rainforest
Deserts

History
Settling the Northern Colonies
Plymouth Bay, Massachusetts Bay, Philadelphia “The City of Brotherly Love”
Pilgrims, Puritans, Quakers, William Penn, young Benjamin Franklin

Physical Education
Pop Warner Football

Music
Electric Guitar, private lessons
Solo techniques, song-Canon Rock

ALMOND
Language Arts




Reading Comprehension—recalling details (narration), story sequence (using various readers and poetry)

Grammar—Plural Nouns—adding s; adding es to words ending in sh, ch, x, or s; nouns ending in y

Poetry—rhyming pattern, content and meaning, “Young Night Thought” and “The Sun's Travels”

Handwriting—cursive letters (upper and lower case) g,h, I, j, k and review b, e, f

Spelling/Phonics—long “a” sound-"ai" and "ay"

Composition—dictation, literature response, sentence structure, punctuation

Math
I've been using various workbooks as well as internet resources

Money—value of $10 bill, $5 bill, $1 bill, 50 cent piece, quarter, dime, nickel, penny, adding up change, buying with money and making change, word problems

Multiplication facts for 3, 4, 5

Division-concept of, using linking cubes—dividing into equal groups

Telling Time-reading time, understanding hours later, word problems

Science
Mercury
vocabulary—asteroids, crater, elliptical, gaseous, terrestrial

salt dough model of Mercury


Social Studies
medieval castles-moat, drawbridge, knights, keep, boarding house, castle walls, manor, portcullis gate, enemy attacks on the castle

feudal system, lords, nobles, serfs

Ballet/PE
Level 2 ballet class, 2x a week
rehearsals for The Nutcracker ballet, cast as a party boy and school rat

Equine Science/Horseback Riding
horse breeds, colors, tack—bridle, bit, reins, saddle pad, saddle, stir-ups

jogging, walking forward and backward with better control of the horse



PEANUT

Thanksgiving-we read several library books for both Almond and Peanut
Alphabet/Phonics-we've been making an "ABC" book, inspired by Homeschoolshare's Alphabet Lapbook (I will post pictures at a later time!).

We continue to read many books, some from the library, but most from our own collection. This past month, these were her favorites.




Math
This is a fun and colorful workbook...and it only cost about $6 from Barnes and Noble! She is working on counting, identifying and writing her numbers 1-10.
Peanut also follows along with Almond in social studies and science when she wants to.

Ballet
Pre-ballet 2, 1x a week
rehearsals for The Nutcracker as a Santa Helper

She hasn't been interested in much formal learning this past month, but is enjoying playing and dancing!

Selecting Literature

So we go to the bookstore, and Almond asked if she could get a book... I say, "sure, but you know I need to approve...go and find a few and I'll help you choose." We own many classics in paperback, but she said she wanted to find a hard back so it would be her special collection. So, she comes back and I'm thinking to myself, "I hope she doesn't pick that fairy princess series all the girls at ballet are reading..." Her picks...Alice in Wonderland, The Secret Garden, Wind in the Willows, and A Little Princess! Need I say more? ;D

Free Audio Books

Somehow, I totally forgot about Librivox.org... Duh! Free mp3 files of our favorite books...they have most books that are in the public domain. I was surprised to find just about all of my read aloud titles there! Last night we finished the last few chapters of The Wizard of Oz and and started The Secret Garden. So easy!!!

Oink!

Yes, the H1N1, or "swine" flu hit our house! Kids have been sick at different intervals the last 2 weeks... Luckily, I didn't get it, and am hoping to stay healthy despite my lack of sleep! =) We're really feeling lazy, especially with holidays coming up...we normally start to slow down about now. Hopefully we'll be healthy again soon and get back on track!

Monthly Learning Report-October

Family Read Aloud


PISTACHIO
Language Arts

Literary Devices—flashback, characterization, setting, plot, prediction
Vocab from literature
Writing-persuasive essay
Grammar-helping verbs (parsing and diagramming)

Math
Teaching Textbooks Algebra 1, Lessons 23-36
Solving equations, undoing equations, undoing with division, more than 2 operations, solving with 2 unknowns, invisible coefficients

Science
What is Earth Science?
Scientific Process
Measurement and Laboratory Skills
Views of the Earth
Erosion
Erosion
Weathering
Human Impacts on Erosion
Water Erosion
Deposition
Coastal Erosion
Applying Knowledge: Real Life Examples
Ocean
Water Cycle
Reefs
Origin of the Oceans
Ocean Floor

History
War of Independence
Declaration of Independence

Physical Education
Pop Warner Football

Music
Electric Guitar, private lessons
Solo techniques, song-Canon Rock

ALMOND

Language Arts




Oral narration, written narration (4 sentences), dictation, vocabulary from literature
Grammar-object pronouns (me, you, him, her, it us, them), possessive pronouns (my, mine, your, yours, its, his, her, hers, our, ours, their, theirs), nouns—singular and plural; using “have” and “has”




Writing-friendly letter, persuasive letter, organizing thoughts and ideas

Handwriting-cursive letters (upper and lower case) G,H,I. Review of letters B, F

Spelling/Phonics-words ending in silent “e” such as cable, fable, gable, sable, stable, cradle, ladle, maple, staple, beetle, feeble

Math
Money—value of $10 bill, $5 bill, $1 bill, 50 cent piece, quarter, dime, nickel, penny; counting money; dollars and cents, adding/subtracting with word problems

Multiplication facts for 2, 5, 3

Telling Time—hour hand, minute hand, writing time, reading time, saying the time

Review of triple digit addition/subttaction with regrouping

Math Fun on Multiplication.com and Fun 4 the Brain

Science
Astronomy
The Sun
-center of the universe, millions of miles away, made of heat and gas
-why you shouldn't stare at the sun
-revolve and rotate, day and night
-solar flares and sun spots
-what color is the sun?
-Light waves, how we see color

Equine Science, level 1 (horseback riding)
saddling, mounting the horse, gate safety, riding techniques: walking, jogging, dismount, horse face markings, leg markings

Social Studies
The Pledge of Allegiance
King Alfred
The Vikings

Geography— location of continent Europe and countries of Spain, England, Germany, Italy, France, Denmark

PE/Fine Arts
Ballet, level 2
Rehearsal for upcoming Nutcracker production. Cast as a "party boy" and "school rat"

PEANUT

Reading lots of books!



Alphabet Books



Lapbooks for A, B, C

Counting Books

Games to learn/review numbers 1-10, Go Fish, matching, Sorry (using plain cards)
Starfall.com

Fine Arts
Ballet, pre-ballet 1
Rehearsal for Nutcracker, cast as a "Santa Helper"

ALMOND and PEANUT
Poetry

"A Thought"
"At the Sea-Side"
"The Swing"

"Autumn" by John Claire
"Harvest Sunset" by Carl Sandburg
"Trees" by Joyce Kilmer

Nature Study

We've spent at least a few hours each week just being outside. Our focus was on different trees, bark, leaves, shapes, colors, and seed pods (acorns, pine cones, etc...)
Nature Journal drawings

Books




Art
watercolors
Peanut's Picasso reproduction (this is me!) lol


Almond's flower