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~What We Are Reading~
Me: Norton Anthology of American Literature (almost done!)
Bear: The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Frankenstein
Noodle: Ramona, Age 8 (on CD)
I dream of having a homeschool week where we don't have to leave the house for anything! Every day this week was something, and that something always throws our days out of whack. I suppose that is a blessing and a curse of being a homeschool family. We have the flexibility to do stuff that needs to get done, but it also means a regular schedule is kind of out of the question. It is what it is right now so I need to just get over it.
Bear - Grade 10
Algebra II - Khan Academy videos and "practice this concept" problems. He is starting to complain because apparently there are some bugs with the videos and practice problems not exactly jiving. I don't know what to do. I want to tell him to just keep going because with all the fabulous reviews of Khan Academy, (albeit compared to public school instruction) say it is fabulous. All the years this child has complained about math, we have switched curriculums. Until I finally learned nothing math related will make this child happy. He does like his tutor, but he hasn't seen her in a while due to not having too many issues. It might be time to see her again. If he did not have to take the SAT and wasn't going to attend college, I wouldn't bat an eye about letting Algebra go. I have gone my entire adult life without using it. He however, is a university bound science major, and has big goals, so therefore Algebra is necessary. What to do, what to do......
English - He read The Legend of Sleepy Hollow Monday and Tuesday. Wednesday he read some William Wordsworth poems and completed an analysis/comprehension worksheet for the poems. Thursday he started reading Frankenstein. He also completed a few lessons in Art of Poetry, and took a chapter quiz. For vocabulary he completed a lesson in Vocabulary from Classical Roots. Monday - Wednesday he worked on and finalized an analytical essay. He titled it, "God Doesn't Exist" - sigh. His first couple of drafts read more like "Why the God of the Bible is a Jerk" - so after critiquing and proofreading his first couple of drafts, his final version was much more coherent and in line with the title. I 100% disagree with his content, but with an analytical essay the thesis has to be debatable anyway. Content aside, the final paper was a vast improvement over the first draft. I am really hammering down on the writing with him because he tends to write essays like he would type an Internet forum post. He also tends to write with a condescending tone, which definitely needs to stop. Also, he has a bad habit of not making his intro and closing paragraphs clear. Finally, he did some Grammar review lessons with CLE.
TOG History- We are condensing some weeks together to do some catch up. History is Bear's least favorite subject, which kills me, because I love History! Consequently, he tends to back burner it and then needs to do a lot to catch up. Then he complains and I have to remind him that if he just did it when he was assigned, he wouldn't be playing catch up. Part of me however, is wondering if I should just get a history textbook so he can just "get it done." I love Tapestry of Grace, it is rich and full, and awesome, but I wonder how much HE is getting from it. Although we have good discussions, it is painful for both of us to go over everything because he despises it. I get excited about stuff and making connections and he just rolls his eyes at me. He just doesn't love it. Noodle and I love history, so TOG works great for lower grammar. It strikes me as a little funny because I read a lot of reviews of TOG and many people poopoo TOG for the lower grammar and rave about how rich and great it is for high school. I can easily see Noodle continuing all through high school with it, but Bear is just miserable. I don't like curriculum hopping or switching, and definitely not in the middle of something. I am seriously considering getting Bear something more open and go and less involved for his last two years of high school. I'd continue with the literature, Philosophy and Fine Arts, but I think for the reading, comprehension and tests I should pick up a textbook program. I used Notgrass with my oldest, but I also like Abeka. I have made no decisions and I may discuss it with him before doing anything.
This week he did some reading from Heritage of Freedom (alternate TOG resource), he read McCullough vs Maryland for the government component, as well as Gibbons vs Ogden. There were questions to go with that and we briefly discussed the cases. He completed a couple weeks worth of geography assignments, did the famous people summaries and wrote a biographical essay on one of them. For Philosophy we discussed Hegel. For Fine Arts he did some reading from the Story of Painting.
Biology- Science is his passion. For Biology he worked on finishing Module 13, wrote up lab reports for dissections he completed previously. He read and completed workbook pages for the Miller/Levine Biology he is using as a supplement. He did more studying for the upcoming AP Biology test.
Logic- He completed a few lessons in Discovery of Deduction.
Listening to Music- He has been neglecting this for a while, so this week he picked back up where he left off in the Yale Lecture series. He really enjoys the Professor.
P.E. - Workouts at the gym and longboarding with a fellow Boy Scout.
For fun, Bear launched a rocket a few times.
Bear is a "longboarder" - here is a video of him flying down a road. Excuse his silly friend at the end of the video.
Noodle - Grade 2
Bible- We listened to worship music every morning, which I am really loving. I am ashamed at how little attention I have paid to God, and how neglectful I have been in instructing my children in the Lord. I set aside God's Great Covenant New Testament 1, to save for 4th grade in a couple of years. I am going to order God's Great Covenant Old Testament 1 so that it will be more on Noodle's learning level. Right now we are doing a study of the Ten Commandments. I have a workbook with lessons, activities and worksheets all centering on the Ten Commandments, so I pulled it out and we are working through that. We have the Commandments on the wall of our classroom as well, so Noodle is working on memorizing them all.
Math- Noodle completed several lessons in his Abeka Math 2. We did some flashcard practice too.
Language Arts - I planned on finishing CLE Book 110 this week, but it didn't happen. Noodle completed a few lessons in his Explode the Code Book 5. He also completed a few lessons from Ordinary Parents Guide to Teaching Reading. For writing we worked on an assignment from a review product, and he also did some copy work related to his history fair project.
History - We mainly worked on the History Fair Project. We will pick up with TOG next week.
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| Noodle's rendition of Lewis and Clark |
Science- We didn't do any science this week! We were consumed with the history project.
Latin- He completed one new lesson from Song School Latin.
Fine Arts- Noodle did some free drawing, no real instruction/art assignments this week.
Linking up with Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers
7 comments:
Funny, Dawson is the opposite of Bear. He loves history and literature. He tolerates Math (Life of Fred is a lifesaver). But with science, he just wants to get his hands dirty. He's not really interested in it. I'm not either, so it's a good mix.
Bear loves to read, he just doesn't love to read history. LOL - He is kind of a reading "snob" right now, because he says he prefers "non-fiction." Whatever, I prefer stories that I can lose myself in!
After reading through your post, I just want to hug you. You have some difficult things to deal with. I'm glad your youngest is enjoying TOG so much and I pray the Lord will grant you wisdom in your decision regarding a history alternative for Bear. I also hope and pray your biopsy results are benign. *hugs*
Hello! I have a message for Bear.
Bear:
You don't know me, I don't know your mom, I'm just some random person here out on the Internet.
But I wanted to talk to you about math. It sounds like you are chafing and not enjoying some of the curricula you have been using.
I see that you would like to do a hard science when you get to college. If that is your dream, we need to talk about math. You have to KNOW math to do hard science in college. Math will no longer be something that you need to "get through" -- it will be one of the primary tools in your toolbox.
And in college, you will be competing against people who are very, very good. They will know the math down cold, so when they get, say, a physics problem, they do not have to stop and think about the math to do it, they can free up their short term memory to think about the physics part of it. If you have to stop to wrestle with the math, it's going to be painful.
I don't want that for you. (Even though I am some random stranger who doesn't know you.) I have been there, and I know all too well what I am talking about.
So, what I'm trying to say is: take your math work seriously. Even more seriously than you think you need to. Algebra, in particular. My calculus professor once said that all of his students that thought they were having trouble with calculus were *really* having trouble with Algebra. You have to have that Algebra down solid, 100% so you can wrestle with the calculus, and then get that calculus down 100% so you can wrestle with the physics (or chem, or whatever).
And once you get to college? Learning the math will be on *you*. Most of your learning will be you and the book (and other resources -- one of which will probably be Khan Academy!) and the problem sets, just grappling it out. The stereotype of the TAs who barely speak English "teaching" your math class has some basis in truth. So, if you are a bit of a "glass half full" type, you can think of having imperfect curricula as a gentle warm-up for what is coming down the pike for you.
I'm not trying to freak you out. I'm trying to remind you why you are taking Algebra II in the first place and how it fits in to your dreams.
I wish you all the best.
I will keep you in my prayers with the biopsy! Hang in there! :-)
You have had another busy and productive week with your kids. I hope the math bugs are worked out. I am doing Pre-Algebra with my older two and sometimes I feel it is like pulling teeth, lol, to get them motivated to do it. The history project looks great. I am a history person, so I just love things like that. :-)
Many blessings, Lisa
a very productive week!! I'll be praying for you and your family. Thank you for sharing.
keeping the prayers up for your biopsy results!
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