In our homeschool this week... the plan was that the week would be a sort of "boot camp" to get us back in gear after two weeks of very relaxed expectations. Monday and Tuesday were full of interruptions so it didn't work out as well as I'd hoped, but I'm still pleased with how much we accomplished. None of the kids got as far in the "catch-up" areas as I would have liked. Oh well.
Landon and Kennady began studying forest biomes in Science, so on Thursday we took an impromptu field trip to the nearby state park to see some forest up close.
We listened to music by Vivaldi, and learned about this great Baroque composer and his contributions to music.
We finished reading The Wanderings of Odysseus to wrap up our study of Ancient Greece, and turned our attention to Ancient Rome next.
Spencer faces the biggest challenge of getting back on schedule after a break, but he is working well on it. He attended his Chemistry lab on Tuesday, and spent the rest of the week working on History, English, and Geometry. Staying on track in Art is easy for him, because it's only a couple days a week, and he genuinely enjoys that!
In other news... Monday evening DH and I took Landon and Kennady to the Hershey Bears' final pre-season game. Or perhaps I should say Landon and Kennady took us! They had free ticket vouchers because they'd been part of the kids' club last year. It was a good game that included a penalty shot and overtime, and the Bears won! One of DH's friends was a linesman in the game, so that added to the interest. Of course, attending the game meant that it was a late night, so school started a little late on Tuesday. Worth it!
We have plans to have company for a deep-fried turkey dinner on Saturday (we celebrate both American and Canadian Thanksgiving, because we love turkey! Monday is Thanksgiving in Canada, but since it's not a holiday here in the USA, we do our celebration on the weekend) so I had to make it a priority to find a turkey! This early in the season, many of the stores don't have whole turkeys available yet, but to my great relief I did find one on Wednesday. Time enough to thaw it! I've got a pumpkin roll ready to ice in the morning, and will bake bread in the morning too.
My favorite thing this week was... the smell of autumn, a bit of fog in the early mornings, leaves just starting to change colour, and the start of the hockey season!
What's working/not working for us... y'know what - math is really not working for Kennady. At least not working well. I am finally facing the fact that we may need to switch curriculum. Fortunately for my pocketbook, I got the news that we have been chosen to review a math product for the TOS Crew, and I am keeping all my fingers crossed that this will be the right fit!
A photo, video, link, or quote to share...
Kids are less creative than they used to be. That's the conclusion of Kyung Hee Kim, a creativity researcher at the College of William and Mary, who studied 300,000 creativity tests from 1970 to 2010. Specifically, she found a drop in imaginative though, humor and creativity among kids since 1990. Researchers believe a test-driven education system in which only one right answer exists, lack of unstructured playtime and too much screen time are the main culprits.
[msnbc.com, 8/12/11 c&e]On the Bookshelf...
- The Seven Wonders of the World by Ron Tagliapietra
- The Devil's Queen by Jeanne Kaligordis
- Already Compromised by Ken Ham and Greg Hall with Britt Beemer
A Parting Shot...
This post is linked to The Homeschool Chick - see how other homeschoolers are welcoming fall this week!
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4 comments:
We were having some math issues too and another HS mother put us onto www.khanacademy.org for their math tutorials. The site is run out of Silicon Valley by a group of MIT and Stanford grads who didn't like how math was being taught. They are funded by Bill Gates. The program starts at the begining and go right through to university level. They also have tutorials and online practice available. There was an interesting write-up about them on MSNBC a couple of weeks ago: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43384144/vp/44653836#44653836
Anyways, the tutorials have been very successful with my child and lightbulbs have been turning on...
Field trips to parks are always wonderful. Im glad you had a chance to do that.
I didn't know you were on the Crew. Enjoy. It's a life-changer. :)
Annie Kate
yeah I'm really enjoying the Crew so far! It's been a little overwhelming at times, but there have already been a couple things I've really loved reviewing (one that I'll be posting next week, I think - if I remember my schedule right!) and in the case of this math program, it might indeed be life-changing! 8-D
Thanks for sharing on HMJ:)
With regard to the quote you shared...
That's so sad, yet just another reason to homeschool. I want my girls to have plenty of time for free play and activities that foster imagination and creativity. Time spent in free play or the arts is as important as academics in our house!
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