Week 2 and 3 Recap

I didn't feel like there was enough to really say about last week. So this week you get a 2 for 1! Maybe I'll leave it at every couple weeks.

Most exciting thing about last week was our Bacon California:

Just kidding! It is actually a RELIEF map :)

Last week we found visuwords.com Super fun site to play with your list of spelling words. She even asked if she could type in random words after she went through her list. Um, of course! It really helps to learn the other meanings of a word.

This week...


We read Island of The Blue Dolphins since San Nicolas Island is off the coast of California. With her passionate love of animals I knew it would be a hit and was not surprised to see it disappear from the bookshelf after bedtime.

We're still on Little Women, I cannot tell you how much I wish I had reread/prelistened to it before adding it to our list. SO.MUCH.PREACHING. Kiddo is enjoying the story, but I can't wait for it to be over.

Latin is on the shelf until she has a better understanding of all the grammar rules. Translating with tenses is frustrating us both. Perhaps a better Latin curriculum as well.

We've finished the U.S. Geography section. I was amazed at how quickly she picked up the smaller cities. She's also thoroughly incapable of not giving me hints when I'm playing the game. Definitely looking forward to starting the North America section. I told her we were moving onto it next week and she said "We just did North America!" Of course I replied with an unwarranted tirade about how this is exactly why you need Geography when all she really meant was she thinks it'll be easy.

Her extended learning activity from Fairy Tale Grammar She had to write a short poem using verbs.

She made a my place in the world stacking map. It wouldn't have been Kiddo had she not insisted we include the solar system and galaxy in our stack.

That about wraps it up. September is looking busier and busier. I love Autumn but it goes by way too fast because we're always busy. Looking forward to the fun!

Week 1 Friday Check In

I'm joining the trend of checking in once a week on the blog and telling how our homeschooling adventure went. I'm sure that most weeks will look the same, blah blah picture blah blah, but hey, its my blog I can do what I want to *insert neener neener smiley here*

I feel that our first week went well. I'll break down the subjects for this week only.

Math

Kiddo is used to our math journal set up now since we started it during our summer classes. I give her an answer on Monday and throughout the week her task is to come up with 1 word problem for addition, subtraction, multiplication, division and 1 multiple operations. She still struggles when she gets down to having to come up with a division problem, but every week brings a better set of questions, definitely a win. We worked on refreshing our math skills and expanding them to include 3 digit multiplication.

Language Arts

Oh, I am having so much FUN with this subject. It has been much smoother than last year by miles. We haven't done any real writing yet though, so I may regret saying that.

Spelling:We did not do a lot of spelling last year, she is such a superb speller that I did not worry about it. I found a 4th grade list online, fairly easy but a nice refresher. Everyday she picks a spelling activity to do in her notebook and on Friday there's a test. She's enjoying being able to pick from a range of activities and especially likes putting the letters of a word in alphabetical order and then trying to say them.

Grammar: We have being using Grammarland and Youtube Schoolhouse Rock videos to solidify what she already knows while we wait for her EPGY courses to start. We have also been working on Wheeler's Graded Studies in Great Authors for dictation, its a great way to learn older poets. She does not like dictation.

Reading: We do this at the end of the day. In addition to her choice of books, we are reading Little Women together. We listen to the LibriVox recording and color, I mostly 'accidentally' fall asleep. It took her 10 chapters but she's enjoying it.

Geography

Not something we really covered last year. She has always been interested in maps but since we purchased Where in the World is Carmen San Diego she has been actively trying to learn more about the world...mostly because she wants to win, but I'll take it as enthusiasm for learning.  This month we're focusing on the United States, some of the city locations are throwing her off, but she is doing well.

Social Studies/ History

I'm infinitely more excited about this year than she is. I love California state history, I remember building a mission diorama and visiting San Juan Capistrano and it has stuck in my mind all these years. We started out great by doing a 2 week mini thematic on the Gold Rush before school even started.

Yesterday she started her relief map of California. So many projects and field trips to come! Yes it doubled into her geography lesson.

Science

Since dad does this, I won't really be updating about it much. They both understand things on that higher level, so it works well for them to "nerd out" with it.

Latin

Another new subject. We're using the online resource of Linney's Latin Class until I can get a proper curriculum. It is a great resource, Kiddo said she liked learning how to say the words, but she is not sold on learning the grammar rules.

Other

I try and keep Fridays fun. Only academics we do are math and spelling journals. We started following this great Artsy Friday schedule. Both of the first ones can be found on Youtube. She wants to take sewing and cooking again, so perhaps she'll start that in September. For PE we walk, bike, skate, or watch Yoga videos.

We Don't Need No Education

Its the first day of our new curriculum year! To celebrate we tried not to learn anything hehe.

We started out the day by making Nutella cupcakes for breakfast. I would link you the recipe but I wouldn't recommend the one we used. I'll work on one.


Next, she humored me with a back to school picture. It only took 40 billion tries! Open your eyes please. Aww, can I have a real smile? 

Then we did our spelling and math journals. This weeks answer is:
Can't imagine why I'm caught up on cupcakes!

After the education fluff was done, we went and picked up some curriculum books from our favorite ST. It was nice catching up with her after the long summer break. Kiddo dazzled her with her extensive knowledge of Minecraft.





From there we headed to the library to pick up a reserved book and a dozen or so fun reads. Came home for lunch and started our bio poems, which we turned into wordles.

 Then it was reading time, also get back into lounge wear time she thought:

Followed by making bookmarks and decorating our journals. She found a picture of Ricky Gervais in giraffe pajamas and pasted her own head on top of his.

Finally we listened to the first 2 chapters of Little Women on LibriVox. Whew. Made it through the first day of fun. Tomorrow is back to the not always as fun stuff.