Less Traveled By ~ Homeschool Edition

Homeschooling Highlights ~ A Big Catch Up

While I've managed to update my other blog the past couple of weeks, I have fallen by the wayside here----and I've not really updated over there like I would like to either, but such is life.  :-)

So now that it is SEPTEMBER I will try to report on what DG has been up to for the past couple of months.

Hello Mr. Caterpillar---you are a sign of September being near!

 

July was spent in full dance mode, with math and some literature done here and there.  DG was able to help with two weeks of dance camp for the younger girls at her (now) former studio and she also attended a week of a dance intensive there for older dancers.  She had a blast all three weeks!  She enjoys working with the younger girls a lot, and thinks she might enjoying teaching dance classes one day.  As far as her own classes, she determined that she wanted to try for a longer workshop or intensive next summer!  She took three ballet classes and two modern classes in the afternoons over the summer, and she was exposed to a different style of ballet and an excellent teacher that danced in Russia when she was younger.  It was very neat for her to have that experience!

I got much better at making buns more quickly this summer....imagine that!

At the end of the summer DG decided to audition for a ballet school that is close by, and we made the decision to switch studios after her audition and meeting with the artistic director of the school.  It was an emotional time for sure, but in the end I think it was good that it was a short period of time between when she decided to audition and when we needed to finalize plans for the new dance season.  She LOVED her old studio and her teachers; but she is settled in to her new routine now, and she is enjoying all that she is learning at her new studio.  She also decided to audition for a production of the Nutcracker this year, and we are eagerly awaiting news of whether or not she will have a part.  Regardless of the outcome, we are very proud of her for auditioning.  In fact, we are very proud of her for all the new situations she found herself in over the summer and how she handled and worked hard throughout each one!

 

As for an academic update, we are beginning to get back to our full schedule.  I've made a couple of changes in our curriculum.  One change is that I decided to go ahead and have DG start Analytical Grammar.  She is enjoying it a lot so far!  We also added a Critical and Creative Thinking  book into the routine .  She is enjoying that as well.  DG also started working in the first unit of Write with the Best.  The jury is still out on that one and if we will continue it.  I have YET to find a writing program that I think is a good fit for DG.  But for some crazy reason, I keep thinking I NEED to use one!  I also ordered and have begun listening to the course Teaching the Classics from the Center for Literacy Education.  I've started to implement some of the beginning lessons which discuss literary elements.

Our most recent picture study

I know this isn't nearly as exciting as pictures, but here's a glance of her last full week of studies:

Bible ~ Faith Based Reading ~ Personal Development

• Who is God? p. 32-41
• Beautiful Girlhood ch. 3 and ch. 3 journal
• Proverbs 17-20

History ~ Citizenship ~ Geography

• Discovery of New Worlds ch. 1-8
• Augustine Came to Kent ch. 1-4
• We the People:  The Story of the Constitution
• Book of Centuries entries

Science ~ Nature Study ~ Natural  History

• Swimming Creatures p. 41-53
• Burgess Seashore Book ch. 5-6; notebook page

Literature

• The Cricket in Times Square ch. 1-6 (on CD)
• Tar Beach (Setting/Characters)
• Song and Dance Man (Setting/Characters)

Art ~ Music

• Picture Study:  Renoir-Two Girls at the Piano
• Recorder practice
• Hymn, folk song, patriotic song study (National Anthem, Oh Shenandoah, Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing)
• Composer study:  Tchaikovsky

Math ~ Logic

• TT Lessons 36-39
• Logic p. 8
• Creative/Critical Thinking p. 1-3

Writing ~ Grammar

• Analytical Grammar- Lesson 1 Notes, Exercises 1-3
• Write with the Best Unit 1; Days 1-4

Physical Education ~ Dance

• Ballet Classes:  Four classes 90 minutes each

And there you have it!  What DG has been up to for July and August! 
(This picture really sums it up......reading and dance and dance and reading!  I snapped this shot of her fitting in a few more minutes of reading before we left for ballet this week.)

Homeschooling Highlights ~Fifth Grade (2)

Well, there's nothing like having a month fly by in the blink of an eye!  DG has had a great start to her school year, and since so much time has passed already, I thought I'd just do a picture round up this time.  So hold on to your hats----here's June and the beginning of July:

Recital 2012---DG had a great time and so did her daddy, who participated again this year in the adult volunteer scenes as a king.  DG was a member of the royal guard, a royal servant and one of the prince's puppy dogs.  This was her first year to dance on stage with a younger class as their helper/leader.  She danced as the puppy with a sweet group of three and four year old butterflies.  She really enjoyed helping in that class this year.  Everyone did a fantastic job!

 

Some other quick highlights.....

I took DG and one of her cousins to a painting class and they had a great time. 

 

The first science project in Swimming Creatures- Which is heavier:  cold or hot water?

The beginning of her "ocean box" (animals will be added throughout the study) -

 

Science writing-

Animals from the Burgess Seashore Book readings so far-

History writing (narrations about druids and the steps to becoming a knight)

Cursive copywork

Fun brownie-cupcake decorating from Independence Day-

DG made another batch today all by herself from beginning to end---oven use and dish washing included.  She did a great job!

The next few weeks are going to be full of dance days.  DG is helping out for two weeks at her studio's camp for younger girls and she is attending a week of camp for her own age group.  We will continue work in math, logic and analogies during that time; and we'll likely continue some of our readings, though that will be minimal.   I'll post again when we get going back "full steam ahead" in August.

 

 

Homeschooling Highlights - Fifth Grade 1

I am hoping to post consistent updates of our work and activities this year; however, I will not necessarily be posting weekly or even on a set day of the week---though ideally I'd like to post almost weekly. 

Our days of school througout June and especially July are going to be scheduled around outside activities and so a "week" of plans may actually span the course of more than one calendar week.  After that, we will fall into a more regular rhythm; and my plan is to try for a six weeks on, one week off rotation.  We are adding in an "exam week" at the end of each twelve week term as well.  So if you see a post with only a few items listed and another with a lot of activities listed, know that it is because some will feature a full week of plans, some will feature less. 

I am also still working out how I'd like to make highlights posts this year....list style, narrative style, or a combination of both.

So without further ado.....

.....our first highlights post of the new year!

Bible ~ Faith Based Reading ~ Personal Development
Devotional Reading with Mom
Proverbs 1-2
Monks and Mystics p. 11-14
Beautiful Girlhood Ch. 1


History ~ Citizenship ~ Geography
Marco Polo Ch. 1
Florida Studies Weekly 14
Map work to accompany Marco Polo and Marie Curie


Science ~ Nature Study ~ Natural  History
Covered "Ocean Box" to be used throughout the course of the Swimming Creatures book


Literature
Strawberry Girl Ch. 10, Ch. 11
One Fine Day
Poetry
Marie Curie Ch. 1


Art ~ Music
Recorder practice - Nine Note book pages 1-2


Math ~ Logic
Analogies Level 1 p. 1-2
Teaching Textbooks 5 Lesson 13
Skittles Graphing


Writing ~ Grammar
Portfolio Cover
All About Me
Poems:  "My Day", "Dance"


Physical Education ~ Dance
Company Rehearsal

 

Strawberry Girl is a current read aloud, meaning that I generally read this book aloud to DG.  However, this week she wanted to read a chapter to me----and I wish I could have recorded it!  The book is written with a "Florida Cracker" dialect and she did an EXCELLENT job of switching voice when reading dialogue versus the narrative parts of the chapter.  I enjoyed listening to her so much!  My mind did not wander once, and that is saying a lot for this lady!

I also thoroughly enjoyed DG's first oral narration of the year which was on the first chapter of Marco Polo.  I know it's only been a few weeks since we closed out one year, and started another---but WOWZERS! it was so rich and engaging and it was as if she had many more weeks inbetween the two and time for growth.  DG has always given engaging written narrations (yes, you read that correctly----she has always preferred to write and requested it, even pleaded for it at times, from the very beginning), but this oral one was like one of her written ones.  Very cool!

We are learning to play the recorder together.  We began last year, and reviewed some of the first pages this week.  We are using Penny Gardner's New Nine Note Recorder Method, and so far, so great!

 

First Day of Fifth Grade in Pictures

Yummy pancakes shaped like fives for 5th grade---a first day tradition

New supplies and a "welcome to the year" letter

Graphing---another first day tradition

Assignment sheet, printouts and books, ready and waiting

Ready, Set, Go----Fifth Grade!

We kicked off our new school year on Thursday, May 31st!  We had a few weeks off between the close of 4th grade and our new year, and DG was very excited to start!  Her enthusiasm makes me smile and keeps me going!

I thought I'd share the line up of books that we are starting the year with:

The basics:  Logic (Daily WarmUps:  Analogies Level 1, Mind Benders), Math (Teaching Textbooks 5) and English (Our Mother Tongue:  A Guide to English Grammar)

Faith based reading:  Gladys Aylward:  The Adventure of a Lifetime, Beautiful Girlhood and the Companion Guide, Who is God and Can I Really Know Him?

Middle Ages:    The Story of the  Middle Ages, When Knights Were Bold, Monks and Mystics, Castle, Marco Polo

Science and Natural History:  Swimming Creatures of the Fifth Day, The Burgess Seashore Book for Children, Handbook of Nature Study, Marie Curie, Young Scientist

We are finishing up Strawberry Girl from the end of last year and we are also continuing reading Florida Studies Weekly.  While the "main" history for the year is a study of the Middle Ages, we will be adding in Florida history readings and field trips througout the year.

There are many other books planned for the year, but these are the ones the beginning ones.

Homeschooling Highlights--In the Home Stretch

DG finished her Teaching Textbooks 4 (math) today!  After today we have 10 more days of "fourth grade" and then we are having a two week mother-daughter camp that we are both looking forward to.  ("Camp" at home.....I'm busy planning fun things for us to do together!)  Our sweet girl is already looking forward to starting 5th grade----and we've scheduled that first day for June 1st!  It will be here before we know it!

Looking ahead to June and July, DG will actually be quite busy with a discipleship camp at church, her dance recital near the end of June,  a summer dance intensive/camp that she will participate in, and dance camp for younger girls that she will be helping out with again this year.  But we will start our new studies and continue on with some that will carry over from our current year (like Florida history).

Here are a few pictures from recent days---we visited family and went to a marine lab/aquarium and we also took a trip to our local art museum where we got to see some of my favorite type of art---impressionism!  The museum has a beautiful garden area (and pictures were not allowed in the impressionism exhibit) so the flower pictures are from the museum trip.

And a few shots of some of her recent work (she REALLY enjoyed designing her own notebook page for the first chapter from Swimming Creatures of the Fifth Day!)  She is also really enjoying reading about the Timucua Indians.

Beautiful art projects that DG completed recently---the frog is so cute!  I had fun making one too.

Colorful Light Ray Cross art project from Housing a Forest

Woven Eye Frog  art project from That Artist Woman

Homeschooling Highlights-February and March

Well, this post is more like a highlights of the highlights post since it spans two months....Time has been flying and we've been busy!

DG completed about five units in Creation to Christ since the last update.....and we have pretty much decided to stop with Creation to Christ there----just short of the sections of Jesus's life and ministry. Since we have been involved in an indepth study of Luke this year, we have been studying His life and ministry all throughout the year.

We are going to finish our year up with a study of our state's history and also begin a science study of Swimming Creatures of the Fifth Day.   Some of this may carry over into "next year" but that's okay!

DG has eight more math lessons and two math quizzes until she is finished with Teaching Textbooks 4 and then we'll be ready to start Teaching Textbooks 5!

She read seventeen books in her free reading time in February and March----and has been eagerly awaiting the release of Kingdom Keepers V (which has been ordered, shhhh....it's a surprise though)!

This is the time of year we like to spend outside more often and inevitably go on more field trips, so it seems.  We recently we to the local science and history museum together and also on a tour of our local newspaper and a federal reserve bank with a small group.  Each of these trips was excellent!  I think we enjoyed the newspaper tour and the museum the most. 

Here are a few pictures from the museum:

We watched this little guy swim around and eat for awhile.

 

We played with this neat magnet/liquid combination exhibit (along with lots of other physical science stations).

 

DG had fun doing a new to us scavenger hunt through one of the museum's rooms.

 

We've also been doing more art projects (thanks to Art Projects for Kids , Deep Space Sparkle and That Artist Woman):

Warm/Cool Color Hands

Line Drawing/Patterns

Textured Watercolor

Back to School Project

She has really enjoyed the projects!

That's it for now.....hope to be back before too many more weeks go by with another update.

 

 

Homeschooling Highlights - End of January

The last few weeks have zoomed by; and I am a bit behind on our updates, so I'll briefly recap the end of January.

The weather has been great and we have visited the zoo three times since I last wrote!  We've gone at different times of the day on each trip, and we've been able to see animals in action that we often don't see up and about when we go earlier in the day.  The lions were up and about on one trip and we got to see the black bear sipping water from his small pond and eating a small bird on the most recent trip.

We began a series of picture studies by the artist Johannes (Jan) Vermeer.  The first piece we studied this was The Milkmaid which I am able to picture below as it is in the public domain: 

We used the prints from the Ambleside Online related Yahoo Group, and then found the work online at a site where we could look at some parts of it more closely.  We also found the answer to "what is that box on the floor?" 

We've also studied The Geographer, pictured below.

DG completed two more units in Creation to Christ and continues to work diligently through her Math and English assignments. We were also fortunate to make another trip to the symphony and our local paint on plater place.  Fun times!

I will close with pictures of some of her recent work:

Science journal sketches:

The Parthenon:

Alexander the Great's Horse- Bucephalus

Poetry Painting-