Friday, January 11, 2008
Mid Year Report - long entry
Posted in Homeschooling
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I was asked the other day if I could post our Mid Year Report on this blog, so here it is: Bible We have tried various things this year for our Bible time, many have not 'stuck' as they just didn't work with how we homeschool - I want something that is very 'kid friendly', something that the kids can pick up and work on, not need me to 'lead' it every single day. So, what we have stumbled onto (and I got the idea from another homeschool Mom) is Bible Notebook's. We choose one book of the Bible (we are currently copying from the Book of James) and the kids copy from their Bible's for 10 minutes. Having the kids do actual copywork from the Bible has sparked many interesting conversations about what it says in the Bible and what different translations there are. This exercise has also helped the kids when they are in Sunday School, they are very comfortable looking up verses in their Bibles when the Sunday School teacher asks them to. Math This has been the one subject that we have been very consistent with - both Joshua and Charlotte use the Saxon Math books. The only thing that we have had to change with it is the time of day we use it - when it was their 3rd or 4th subject of the day, I would get a lot of tears and just general grief over having to do the math. We switched it to right after they are finished their Bible copywork and they are both sailing through it. Charlotte is using Saxon Math 5/4 and Joshua is using Saxon Math 6/5 . As they finish their lessons, I mark them so that they can do their corrections right away. So far this has been working very well. Computer Software Both Joshua and Charlotte have been using Math programs on the PC, their favorites are Math Blaster, Quarter Mile Math and Spy Master. These programs have really been helping Josh and Charlotte learn their math facts. Board Games A couple of board games that we have played with the kids to help them out with their math skills are To The Top, this is a game that I found on the Internet - the object of the game is to be the first one to reach 100 (which is the top of the mountain) by rolling the dice and using addition or multiplication to go up the mountain (we have only used subtraction to go back down the mountain). A few other games that the kids enjoy playing are Payday and Monopoly. Language Arts We started off this school year using a book called 'Grammar is Important", for some reason that I just haven't figured out yet, we have switched to the both the kids using only their Total Reading workbooks (which they really like using). We really liked the 'Grammar is Important' book and will hopefully get back to using it for the second half of the year. Computer software Both Joshua and Charlotte have also been using a program on the PC called Reading Blaster. This program is really great for helping them learn the different parts of speech, which is something that we wanted to focus on this school year. Board Games Something that we occasionally have the kids do is play board games that will help them with their spelling. Some games that they really enjoy playing are Scrabble J.R., Upwords, and Jarnac. When they play these word games, I let them use their dictionaries to double check the spelling of the words they want to use - this also gives them a chance to practice how to use a dictionary. Reading Joshua and Charlotte are both very avid readers and will often choose to read as their form of entertainment. Currently both of them are doing a Novel Study. Joshua is reading Call of the Wild and Charlotte is reading Tuck Everlasting. After they have read a chapter, they narrate to me what happened in that chapter and I type it up on the computer for them (this is the first time that we have ever done this this way, we plan on having the kids do this themselves for future Novel Studies) Penmanship This year we had both Josh and Charlotte work through a cursive writing workbook - this was mainly review for Joshua and it was learning the cursive alphabet for Charlotte. Both the kids have improved dramatically in their penmanship by going through this workbook and also from using cursive handrwriting in their Total Reading workbooks. Our long range goal for Josh and Charlotte is to eventually have them use cursive in more and more of their subjects, this is a very attainable goal for them as they get more comfortable using cursive handwriting. Science For Science, both the kids continue working on their copywork skills by outlining their chosen books, copying out the vocabulary words as well as what those words mean and finally they copy out the illustrations if there is no definition printed in the book. After they have completed their assignment from their science books, they are free to follow up and research more on their topics, if they choose. Some ways that they have chosen to do this is by looking their topic up on the Internet, reading about it from our Encyclopedia's and discussing it with other people. The books that the kids are currently using for science are The Usbourne Library of Science - Animal World (for Joshua) and Canadian Summer Weather (for Charlotte). Social Studies We started our school year with both the kids doing a Unit Study on Canada. They each chose a Province of Canada that they wanted to learn about, Joshua chose Quebec and Charlotte chose Ontario. They were both enjoying this study very much, but we set it aside so that we could participate in a Geography Project with our Homeschool group. The Geography Project was a wonderful opportunity for really learning about their chosen place - Joshua and Charlotte worked together on the Amazon. They learned so many interesting things about the Amazon, then when we 'toured the world' by checking out the different displays that other families had, they learned a lot about other parts of the world, as well. This was a perfect chance for them to learn research skills as well as how to speak in front of a crowd (very different from being in the group of 'tourists' and asking questions). Physical Activity Both of the kids were signed up to take swimming lessons, however when Joshua broke his wrist, he had sit out of the lessons - both Joshua and Charlotte are signed up to participate in the next session of swimming lessons. There are many opportunities for the kids to be outside playing on the trampoline, using their skipping ropes, riding their bikes and running around the yard playing with the dogs and cats. We also participate in a weekly event called Mug Up, this is a chance for the families of our Homeschool group to get together (mostly the Moms & the kids) and let the kids, basically, have one very long recess - they spend lots of time outside playing regular games like tag and hide and seek, they also play some not-so regular games like climbing hay stacks and jumping on bales. Life Skills Cooking Joshua and Charlotte have both started their very own cookbooks, they designed the covers and have been adding recipes to it (continuing on with their copywork). Along with adding recipes to their cookbooks, they are practicing making the recipes that they have been adding. Handcrafting This year both the kids have learned how to crochet (Joshua is currently working on a crocheted project) and knit (Charlotte is working on a knitted project). We had originally taught Charlotte how to crochet at the same time that Joshua learned, however, since she was trying to learn how to do this right handed (she is left handed) it did not work very well for her and she put it down. She has since learned how to knit using the Portuguese knitting method and absolutely loves it (she is currently making a poncho for her Canadian Girl doll). Woodworking During the first part of our school year (middle of August), Don had the kids working on putting together wooden 'kits' (book ends, CD rack, box to hold hockey cards, etc). These were given to the kids for Christmas by our neighbour's and they finally had a chance to work on them. The skills that they learned from working on these kits were how to use a hammer, lining up the pieces properly so that they could be nailed together, how to pull out nails and team work (they would often work on the projects together). Yardwork This year, both Joshua and Charlotte had the opportunity to learn how to use our push mower to mow the grass. This was a real workout for both of them (especially since we have a large yard) and a skill that both Don and I felt they were old enough to learn. Helping Others Joshua and Charlotte have learned how to make coffee, they have also learned how to use the coffee grinder. They both enjoy 'surprising' Mom by making the coffee in the morning. Both the kids have been stepping up and taking more and more responsibility of our dog, Jacob. They take turns letting him outside, bringing him in (this involves drying his feet off), letting him out of his kennel in the morning and making sure he has food and fresh water throughout the day. Homecare Joshua and Charlotte are responsible for keeping their end of the house clean - this area covers their bedrooms, the family/toy room and the main bathroom. Once a week we have one day where the kids work together to clean their end of the house. Both kids also help with the maintaining/cleaning of the rest of our home - if someone needs help doing something (for example tidying the livingroom) they are to help that person out. Another responsibility that both Joshua and Charlotte have is the unloading of the dishwasher, they both work together to get the task done but they take turns on who gets to unload the bottom and top of the dishwasher. Fieldtrips & Fun Things Fieldtrips So far this year we have only been able to attend one fieldtrip with our Homeschool group, this was to a working Blacksmith shop. It was very interesting to see how he made things, from candlesticks to nails - and the best part of the whole thing .... the Blacksmith was self-taught, he used the public library and learned how to become a Blacksmith from reading books on the art. In October we took a trip to the Hospital, the purpose of the trip was to get Joshua's cast removed. Both Joshua and Charlotte asked lots of questions about why they use rubbing alcohol to clean the arm after the cast comes off (they both decided that that stuff really stinks), why the arm is smaller after a cast is removed, how casts are taken off - they both felt the 'blade' of the cutting machine (sorry, can't think of the proper name at this moment) while it was going (they were both amazed that it didn't cut their skin). After the Doctor showed us the x-rays of Josh's arm, they asked many questions about the bones in our arms (specifically about the growth plates, as that was one thing the Doctor's couldn't see in Josh's x-rays when he broke his wrist). Fun Things Once a week we attend a weekly get-together called Mug Up. As I mentioned before, this is a chance for the kids to get together with their friends and all ages of kids are included in the fun and games. This weekly event is something that the kids really look forward to and will work extra hard to get all their schoolwork done so that we can go to it. In October we attended a Pumpkin Hunt that was hosted by another Homeschool family. Each family was to bring two unlabeled cans of food, one was to go in a 'Hobo Stew' and the other was to be a 'sweet' to make a fruit compote type thing to go over some cake - this was a wonderful opportunity to get the kids to participate in a classification exercise (they had to decide which pot the contents of a can went into after it was opened - tomatoes .... those go in the Hobo Stew, fruit cocktail ... this goes in the 'sweet' pot). Goals for second part of school year For the second part of our school year, we would like to see some things continue and we would like to add some new things. Continuing Our Unit Study on Canada will continue in the second half of the year. Our long term goal is that we study all of Canada - this will be an ongoing project. The kids will continue using Saxon for their math program, as well as using the math games on the PC. For our Language Arts program, we continue with our original plan of teaching the kids their basic grammar skills (parts of speech, etc.), we will also continue using the Total Reading workbooks. The kids will continue their progress with their chosen science books. New Things For the second half of the year, we will be starting an American Sign Language course - this will be done using the PC, and our goal is to work on this each school day. We will add fun science experiments to the kids science program for the second half of the year. |
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