Last week, I woke up Tuesday feeling pretty bad. We managed to get some work done, but cut it short early. Surely we can take it easy one day? Ah, the mark of a downward spiral.
Wednesday, my head hurt so bad I didn't want to leave the couch so we worked there and I answered questions as I could. I figured the kids weren't getting as much done as normal, but they got some done on their own, so it was better than nothing. The internet kept cutting in and out which was frustrating the kids too.
Thursday, I'm still not feeling great, but I know we need to stay on task. So we get to work...only to find the internet won't connect at all. With TRISMS, they have sets of worksheets they have to complete each week. The timelines and vocabulary thay can do without the internet but the other worksheets, like civilization or explorer questionnaires, are almost impossible to complete without searching for some of the answers, even with the collection of history books we have. So Thursday was pretty much a waste.
Friday, we had to get a new modem and go to the grocery store because at this point we were out of everything and had to get snacks for soccer games Saturday. And I still didn't feel well, but the wait at the Minute Clinic was over an hour so I gave up and went home for more medicine and a nap. So yeah, Friday was a waste.
I miss the days when I felt like we could just take a day or blow off schoolwork, but I know we can't do that any more. What really frustrates me is that when we do sit down to do school work, they work so SLOW and goof off and are so distracted that we can't ever get ahead either.
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Monday, September 20, 2010
paper bag puppets
Youngest came home from a few days with the grandparents with a new puppet. It's a very cute tiger striped kind of thing with googly eyes. He and Middle named it Pickle, I have no idea why. So when school time rolled around, I mentioned I could help him make a paper frog puppet since we are studying frogs and tadpoles right now. He was hesitant - he's never really done crafts like my older two and never showed much of an interest in scissors or glue. I promised I would help him and he agreed. The lure of a new puppet won him over!
Well, now I've created a monster. I helped him with the first one, a frog, but he had so much fun, he's taken off doing other animals. The rest he's done almost entirely on his own:
The blue one is a fish, if you can't tell. Middle and Oldest assure me it doesn't look like a fish, but the boy wanted to do a fish and we didn't have an example so this was the best I could do. I admit it looks a little like a blue Chicken Little.
He wanted to do more today but my allergies were kicking my butt and we had planned a slow morning anyway so I just couldn't do it. I felt bad putting him off until tomorrow so we will surely do more then.
Well, now I've created a monster. I helped him with the first one, a frog, but he had so much fun, he's taken off doing other animals. The rest he's done almost entirely on his own:
The blue one is a fish, if you can't tell. Middle and Oldest assure me it doesn't look like a fish, but the boy wanted to do a fish and we didn't have an example so this was the best I could do. I admit it looks a little like a blue Chicken Little.
He wanted to do more today but my allergies were kicking my butt and we had planned a slow morning anyway so I just couldn't do it. I felt bad putting him off until tomorrow so we will surely do more then.
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Frogs!
Wow, these guys morphed fast. We saw legs last week, on Thursday I think. I didn't write it down, but I'm pretty sure my pictures are dated, I will have to go through and see. We saw arms for the first time Sunday. We had a froglet out of the water on Tuesday and today we saw this, less than a week from the first leg sighting:
Some of the tadpoles haven't even gotten legs yet. There may be more than one kind, but we now have about 10 froglets. Oddly, most are from the last bin I moved outside.
Some of the tadpoles haven't even gotten legs yet. There may be more than one kind, but we now have about 10 froglets. Oddly, most are from the last bin I moved outside.
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
And I shall call him Tiny
Our first froglet! The tads are outside now, in (new, clean) kitty litter pans of all things, but they're small and cheap and I could easily sink them in the ground so they don't bake during the heat of the day. We found this guy sitting on the side of one this morning but of course he wouldn't come back for a picture so I had to lift him up for a millisecond before his little froggy legs remembered to work and he jump back in the pan.
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Tadpoles!!!!
I put out a request to my friends to grab tadpoles for me if they saw any. Since we had hard freezes here for days on end, I have not seen ANY frogs around my house. We did find frozen dead frogs around the house this winter so I'm going to guess they didn't survive for the most part. I thought it would be great to have it as a science experiment for my youngest and repopulate the area as well.
We haven't had any tadpoles in two years at least. I think I am more excited about it that the kids. They weren't eating their lettuce so we gave them some of our turtle food and they ate that but it dirtied their tank quickly. I looked online and figured out I needed to freeze or boil the lettuce to soften it. Freezing didn't seem to do enough but they love the boiled lettuce. Yes, I am boiling lettuce 3 or more times a day (in my microwave, takes 2 minutes) for these little buggers. It's worth it because they are fascinating! They demolish the lettuce in minutes, leaving only the veins like a skeleton.
We haven't had any tadpoles in two years at least. I think I am more excited about it that the kids. They weren't eating their lettuce so we gave them some of our turtle food and they ate that but it dirtied their tank quickly. I looked online and figured out I needed to freeze or boil the lettuce to soften it. Freezing didn't seem to do enough but they love the boiled lettuce. Yes, I am boiling lettuce 3 or more times a day (in my microwave, takes 2 minutes) for these little buggers. It's worth it because they are fascinating! They demolish the lettuce in minutes, leaving only the veins like a skeleton.
Skeletal remains of lettuce
The little cutie patooties.
So now we are eagerly awaiting legs and at that point, we will probably move them outside and give them a way to climb in and out when they grow arms and are ready.
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Putting together Trisms
We spent this week getting our stuff together. I read as much as I could beforehand and ordered books to go along with each unit, at least the ones I could find. We still had some things to figure out as we went though. The kids have 3 ring binder with dividers for worksheets (questionnaires), vocabulary, timelines and language arts. We are opting to skip the science assignments since we are using Singapore Science.
One of the Trisms sets I bought came with their timeline, It's About Time, but I wasn't sure I really liked the format. Maybe I would once we got into and maybe I'll hate the one I made, but I made my own anyway. I think I need to tell Middle Child he doesn't need to fit each week's on one page, but at least he did a decent job of squeezing it in! I can't wait to see how it works when we get into it - the first week is pretty light.
I got the books for Middle's set, History Makers, ordered up to week 18, I believe. He'll read one book, usually historical fiction, a week. I did a post it note on the front of each one with the week's number on it. This is by far the most organized I get. (If you're wondering, yes, those books are stacked two deep on a shelf. I need to part with some stuff to make room, but it's so painful to say goodbye.)
Some of the books overlap with Oldest's set, Discovering the Ancient World, but mostly, hers were just impossible to find. I think I found a total of 3 for the first few months of assignments. She is the one I want to be doing a lot of reading to go in depth! I think I found something (books we already had! ha!) to fill the gap for the first few weeks at least.
Talk about comparing and contrasting! The Bible is...well, it's the Holy Bible. It's pretty heavy, serious stuff. The Cartoon History of the Universe is evolutionist, humorous and pretty silly, but fairly scientific by most views. She will also be reading creationist theories from different cultures. Some of it is already planned in her book, but I also need to find some outside reading for it. Meanwhile, these two should hold her over for a week or two.
The vocabulary and questionnaires seem to be pretty straightforward. I think I need to come up with some ideas to use or make the vocabulary more interesting. While it's only a few words each week, it's not very exciting or educational to just write definition after definition.
Tomorrow, I tackle IEW so I can figure out those assignments!
One of the Trisms sets I bought came with their timeline, It's About Time, but I wasn't sure I really liked the format. Maybe I would once we got into and maybe I'll hate the one I made, but I made my own anyway. I think I need to tell Middle Child he doesn't need to fit each week's on one page, but at least he did a decent job of squeezing it in! I can't wait to see how it works when we get into it - the first week is pretty light.
I got the books for Middle's set, History Makers, ordered up to week 18, I believe. He'll read one book, usually historical fiction, a week. I did a post it note on the front of each one with the week's number on it. This is by far the most organized I get. (If you're wondering, yes, those books are stacked two deep on a shelf. I need to part with some stuff to make room, but it's so painful to say goodbye.)
Some of the books overlap with Oldest's set, Discovering the Ancient World, but mostly, hers were just impossible to find. I think I found a total of 3 for the first few months of assignments. She is the one I want to be doing a lot of reading to go in depth! I think I found something (books we already had! ha!) to fill the gap for the first few weeks at least.
Talk about comparing and contrasting! The Bible is...well, it's the Holy Bible. It's pretty heavy, serious stuff. The Cartoon History of the Universe is evolutionist, humorous and pretty silly, but fairly scientific by most views. She will also be reading creationist theories from different cultures. Some of it is already planned in her book, but I also need to find some outside reading for it. Meanwhile, these two should hold her over for a week or two.
The vocabulary and questionnaires seem to be pretty straightforward. I think I need to come up with some ideas to use or make the vocabulary more interesting. While it's only a few words each week, it's not very exciting or educational to just write definition after definition.
Tomorrow, I tackle IEW so I can figure out those assignments!
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Learning to study
This was one thing that I have read about on other blogs and in other forums: Homeschoolers need to learn how to study. They need to learn how to take tests.
Yes, I nodded my head in total agreement, but did nothing about it. My oldest is a perfectionist and can be very unhappy with anything less than 100% or any form of criticism, perceived or actual. Trying to fit tests into our already busy schedule seemed daunting. Making the tests would be even more hassle.
As usual, the path of least resistance wasn't the way to go. I asked Oldest Child if she had studied before her first test for her FLVS class. Yes, she assured me. What she thought studying was, we will never know. She got a 70 on her first test despite knowing the material well. Many tears ensued. Threats were made to quit the class. Counter threats were made that may have involved the phrases such as "would you like fries with that" and "grounding for a lifetime."
Somehow we made it through to the second test. Oldest and I sat down and I showed her how to study. Well, somewhat. We didn't take notes or highlight, but we did go through each type of problem, looked at how the directions were phrased as this was a huge cause of panic in the first test, and made note of all vocabulary words. She took her test the next day and scored a 100% with plenty of time left over! Everyone was happy and she even admitted that studying definitely helped.
Fast forward to test 3. We studied together again, but she was a little less involved and more reluctant, like I was punishing her with this whole studying thing. We got through it, but I felt that it was more like dragging her along. She did make a study sheet since the chapter involved a lot of formulas. However, when she did her oral review and panicked because she wasn't sure what he was asking in the first question. I have learned once she panics, the recovery is slow. We reviewed a little more the next day just to be sure she had seen problems in different forms, but she definitely knew the information. She took test 3 and got a 91/95. Woot!
Unfortunately I can't teach "staying calm" which I think is the biggest factor in her success, but we will definitely have to work on making sure she is prepared beyond what she needs to avoid the panic moments. I hope that the mere act of taking more tests will help her and, if nothing else, at least she knows that one poor test doesn't ruin a grade because she has a solid A in the class now!
Yes, I nodded my head in total agreement, but did nothing about it. My oldest is a perfectionist and can be very unhappy with anything less than 100% or any form of criticism, perceived or actual. Trying to fit tests into our already busy schedule seemed daunting. Making the tests would be even more hassle.
As usual, the path of least resistance wasn't the way to go. I asked Oldest Child if she had studied before her first test for her FLVS class. Yes, she assured me. What she thought studying was, we will never know. She got a 70 on her first test despite knowing the material well. Many tears ensued. Threats were made to quit the class. Counter threats were made that may have involved the phrases such as "would you like fries with that" and "grounding for a lifetime."
Somehow we made it through to the second test. Oldest and I sat down and I showed her how to study. Well, somewhat. We didn't take notes or highlight, but we did go through each type of problem, looked at how the directions were phrased as this was a huge cause of panic in the first test, and made note of all vocabulary words. She took her test the next day and scored a 100% with plenty of time left over! Everyone was happy and she even admitted that studying definitely helped.
Fast forward to test 3. We studied together again, but she was a little less involved and more reluctant, like I was punishing her with this whole studying thing. We got through it, but I felt that it was more like dragging her along. She did make a study sheet since the chapter involved a lot of formulas. However, when she did her oral review and panicked because she wasn't sure what he was asking in the first question. I have learned once she panics, the recovery is slow. We reviewed a little more the next day just to be sure she had seen problems in different forms, but she definitely knew the information. She took test 3 and got a 91/95. Woot!
Unfortunately I can't teach "staying calm" which I think is the biggest factor in her success, but we will definitely have to work on making sure she is prepared beyond what she needs to avoid the panic moments. I hope that the mere act of taking more tests will help her and, if nothing else, at least she knows that one poor test doesn't ruin a grade because she has a solid A in the class now!
Monday, July 5, 2010
June update
June is supposed to be our slowest month, but between band camp, soccer camp, Dad's day and birthday, Middle's birthday (tomorrow!), it hasn't seemed slow at all.
Math is continuing. Oldest complains frequently of doing school work over summer, but gave a beautiful explanation to some neighbors about why she and some of her friends are doing school work during the summer. Apparently understanding why only goes so far when it's time to do the work!
Lego started back up. We've only got a few weeks until the season begins. End of July is when the kits ship. Where does the time go? We've worked on making programs more fool-proof and on some advanced line-following programs. I'll have to do my homework before next week to stay ahead of them. The advanced programming isn't stuff we've done before, but they were eating it up.
Soccer starts back partially this week. Tryouts and some conditioning practices once a week until August. As much as I want my kids to do what they like and learn something, anything, at a high/intense level...man, does it suck the life out of you.
Still, we have until mid-August before everything is in full swing so I am trying to enjoy lazy days when we can get them.
School-wise, we still have some labs to finish up, hopefully next week. And I just realized today I never ordered a bunch of stuff for next year, like science and writing. I was hoping it would go on sale and it never did. No wonder school supplies seemed so cheap this year, I never ordered them!
I have been so brain dead, hopefully I am getting it out of the way now before I have a million things to keep track of. Or maybe I just work better under pressure?
Math is continuing. Oldest complains frequently of doing school work over summer, but gave a beautiful explanation to some neighbors about why she and some of her friends are doing school work during the summer. Apparently understanding why only goes so far when it's time to do the work!
Lego started back up. We've only got a few weeks until the season begins. End of July is when the kits ship. Where does the time go? We've worked on making programs more fool-proof and on some advanced line-following programs. I'll have to do my homework before next week to stay ahead of them. The advanced programming isn't stuff we've done before, but they were eating it up.
Soccer starts back partially this week. Tryouts and some conditioning practices once a week until August. As much as I want my kids to do what they like and learn something, anything, at a high/intense level...man, does it suck the life out of you.
Still, we have until mid-August before everything is in full swing so I am trying to enjoy lazy days when we can get them.
School-wise, we still have some labs to finish up, hopefully next week. And I just realized today I never ordered a bunch of stuff for next year, like science and writing. I was hoping it would go on sale and it never did. No wonder school supplies seemed so cheap this year, I never ordered them!
I have been so brain dead, hopefully I am getting it out of the way now before I have a million things to keep track of. Or maybe I just work better under pressure?
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Math update
Oldest signed up for FLVS. Our state provides free online course and the credits count as regular high school credit. Each course has a certified teacher. You sign up to start any month and take as many or as few classes as you like. Pretty nifty if you ask me.
Oldest is in Precalculus. When I looked online at what it covered, she had only done about 1/2 of what they cover. What we covered this year was what could typically be covered in a college Precalculus course, but the state of Florida adds in all sorts of the other stuff she's never seen: sequences and series, vectors, polar coordinates and limits. I'm pretty sure we covered that in Calculus when I went through and I know we didn't cover it when I taught Precalc. Anyway, she opted to retake part of it so she could get used to the format and catch up on the stuff she hasn't seen before moving on.
The first test was a little hairy. I think I need to help her learn how to study. We've done a few reviews and tests, but it's not the same as taking a REAL timed test for a grade, I think. She's got a mid-B average overall so I'm happy with her progress, though I'm sure she's frustrated by not having a 99% like she did in her previous class!
Oldest is in Precalculus. When I looked online at what it covered, she had only done about 1/2 of what they cover. What we covered this year was what could typically be covered in a college Precalculus course, but the state of Florida adds in all sorts of the other stuff she's never seen: sequences and series, vectors, polar coordinates and limits. I'm pretty sure we covered that in Calculus when I went through and I know we didn't cover it when I taught Precalc. Anyway, she opted to retake part of it so she could get used to the format and catch up on the stuff she hasn't seen before moving on.
The first test was a little hairy. I think I need to help her learn how to study. We've done a few reviews and tests, but it's not the same as taking a REAL timed test for a grade, I think. She's got a mid-B average overall so I'm happy with her progress, though I'm sure she's frustrated by not having a 99% like she did in her previous class!
Wow, 2 months?
I made this and then went two months without an update? I am not a good blogger apparently. I even forgot which email address and password I used. Fortunately, I keep a list of these things for my old feeble brain and when I finally found where I had left *that* I could log back in.
So what have we done in two months to keep me so busy? Well, starting with April: I got a few days away in Vegas with the husband in an attempt to regain my tenuous hold on sanity. Instead of relaxing pool side, I got sick. I'd still take it over no vacation though.
The kids had all their regular activities: bowling, ice skating, band and soccer plus they started karate. I know, I know. Add in another activity? But karate is during the day, once a week and they can continue through summer when everything else is over and Middle Child has always wanted to try it. Plus it was cheap, always a winner in my book.
In May, just when I thought things would be winding down, soccer and band were extended. We had the regular offenders... I mean activities. Plus, Oldest also had a formal dance, a soccer tournament and we had a rock climbing excursion. My calendar was at least as full as ever.
Now, we're at the beginning of June. June, you were supposed to be wide open. What did I do to you? Soccer tryouts last week, band camp this week and soccer camp next week, but at least none of it involves me planning or teaching anything! Graduation, graduation parties, 4 family birthdays and Father's Day round out the month.
I want to figure out how the homeschool hermits do it. I need to learn to sign up for nothing, stay home, talk to no one and become the stereotypical antisocial homeschooler. Granted, no one I know is actually like that, but surely someone out there is for us to get that stereotype. I think that is because my friends and I are all cursed with sign-up-itis. It really is a disease. Possibly contagious.
And even as I admit all that, I'm mentally lining up things we can do for fall.
So what have we done in two months to keep me so busy? Well, starting with April: I got a few days away in Vegas with the husband in an attempt to regain my tenuous hold on sanity. Instead of relaxing pool side, I got sick. I'd still take it over no vacation though.
The kids had all their regular activities: bowling, ice skating, band and soccer plus they started karate. I know, I know. Add in another activity? But karate is during the day, once a week and they can continue through summer when everything else is over and Middle Child has always wanted to try it. Plus it was cheap, always a winner in my book.
In May, just when I thought things would be winding down, soccer and band were extended. We had the regular offenders... I mean activities. Plus, Oldest also had a formal dance, a soccer tournament and we had a rock climbing excursion. My calendar was at least as full as ever.
Now, we're at the beginning of June. June, you were supposed to be wide open. What did I do to you? Soccer tryouts last week, band camp this week and soccer camp next week, but at least none of it involves me planning or teaching anything! Graduation, graduation parties, 4 family birthdays and Father's Day round out the month.
I want to figure out how the homeschool hermits do it. I need to learn to sign up for nothing, stay home, talk to no one and become the stereotypical antisocial homeschooler. Granted, no one I know is actually like that, but surely someone out there is for us to get that stereotype. I think that is because my friends and I are all cursed with sign-up-itis. It really is a disease. Possibly contagious.
And even as I admit all that, I'm mentally lining up things we can do for fall.
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Where to start?
The biggest thing on my mind is organizing what we'll be doing with math going forward. While we've always done something with math, I've never been over organized with it. I blame my children. We'd start a math book with good intentions...only to find out after explaining the basic idea, they intuitively understood all of it. What do you do with that?
Anyway, Youngest is doing Singapore Math and seems to be happy with it. He'll sit and do ten pages one day and the not touch it for a week or two and that's fine with me. I'll probably stick with Singapore for a while though I'm sure he'll jump in spurts like the other two did.
Middle is doing Geometry with a mix of books because I've yet to find a Geometry book I like. Even when I taught College Geometry, I couldn't find one book that had everything - all the basics as well as constructions and proofs. He's done with the basics and now we're working on constructions. Life has been made a little easier in this department with this website that covers exactly what I usually teach. I'm considering combining his proofs with a whole logic type of course for our homeschool group in late spring or summer.
What to do next? I suspect he needs some review of Algebra before moving on to Algebra 2. If we do a review of Algebra then an easier version of Algebra 2 then Precalculus, this will put him roughly on the same path Oldest did. Sigh. Maybe I'll have it figured out by then. Regardless, I'll need to dig through my stuff to see what I have for some Algebra review. If anyone has any suggestion of how to stretch it further without stopping entirely, I'm all ears (eyes) because Calculus at 12/13 isn't the easiest thing to deal with...
This brings us to Oldest. She's finishing Precalculus now. She did Algebra 2 and Precalculus which is kind of redundant being mostly the same material, but she's doing a harder version now, so I guess it's kind of spiral-like and she is definitely more confident with it. My thoughts had always been that she'd probably want college credit by the time she got to Calculus, but now we're facing this at 12 years old. She's not ready for a college setting. She would feel self-conscious and put too much pressure on herself, like just about any 12 year old probably would. She's ready academically for AP Calc AB, but again, the pressure of ONE big test, her being the youngest...I think it would not go well.
I'm thinking about having her do regular Calculus through FLVS so that she gets used to the setting and sees that she is capable (because Mom telling you means nothing, of course) and then have her take AP Calc BC the next year. After that, we will have to go the dual enrollment route if she wants to continue in math, but she will (hopefully) have proven herself and she will be 14, almost 15, and blend in a little easier with the older students. The only downside is being locked into the FLVS schedule all next year. Maybe I can convince her to work ahead? Ha!
Anyway, Youngest is doing Singapore Math and seems to be happy with it. He'll sit and do ten pages one day and the not touch it for a week or two and that's fine with me. I'll probably stick with Singapore for a while though I'm sure he'll jump in spurts like the other two did.
Middle is doing Geometry with a mix of books because I've yet to find a Geometry book I like. Even when I taught College Geometry, I couldn't find one book that had everything - all the basics as well as constructions and proofs. He's done with the basics and now we're working on constructions. Life has been made a little easier in this department with this website that covers exactly what I usually teach. I'm considering combining his proofs with a whole logic type of course for our homeschool group in late spring or summer.
What to do next? I suspect he needs some review of Algebra before moving on to Algebra 2. If we do a review of Algebra then an easier version of Algebra 2 then Precalculus, this will put him roughly on the same path Oldest did. Sigh. Maybe I'll have it figured out by then. Regardless, I'll need to dig through my stuff to see what I have for some Algebra review. If anyone has any suggestion of how to stretch it further without stopping entirely, I'm all ears (eyes) because Calculus at 12/13 isn't the easiest thing to deal with...
This brings us to Oldest. She's finishing Precalculus now. She did Algebra 2 and Precalculus which is kind of redundant being mostly the same material, but she's doing a harder version now, so I guess it's kind of spiral-like and she is definitely more confident with it. My thoughts had always been that she'd probably want college credit by the time she got to Calculus, but now we're facing this at 12 years old. She's not ready for a college setting. She would feel self-conscious and put too much pressure on herself, like just about any 12 year old probably would. She's ready academically for AP Calc AB, but again, the pressure of ONE big test, her being the youngest...I think it would not go well.
I'm thinking about having her do regular Calculus through FLVS so that she gets used to the setting and sees that she is capable (because Mom telling you means nothing, of course) and then have her take AP Calc BC the next year. After that, we will have to go the dual enrollment route if she wants to continue in math, but she will (hopefully) have proven herself and she will be 14, almost 15, and blend in a little easier with the older students. The only downside is being locked into the FLVS schedule all next year. Maybe I can convince her to work ahead? Ha!
Welcome to our crazy life
I know. I am a few years late into the blogging scene, but the older I get, the more I forget. I am hoping this will help me keep track of all the things the kids and I do and what works and what doesn't.
We've covered everything from pre-K through high school over the years and now I'm starting all over with my 4 year old. Rather than reinvent the wheel every few years, hopefully I can use some of my wisdom (cough, ha!) gained from homeschooling the older two.
It's also getting towards the end of the year, so I am looking forward to organizing for next year...as organized as I ever get. More about that later, I think!
We've covered everything from pre-K through high school over the years and now I'm starting all over with my 4 year old. Rather than reinvent the wheel every few years, hopefully I can use some of my wisdom (cough, ha!) gained from homeschooling the older two.
It's also getting towards the end of the year, so I am looking forward to organizing for next year...as organized as I ever get. More about that later, I think!
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