So Many Experiments!

We have almost completed our first two weeks of school.  Since we didn’t have all of our subjects yet, it was a nice way to get into a routine, but not overwhelm us.  Nicholas has been doing well with his math and spelling.  So far it has been a lot of review.  I think the fact that we kept those two subjects up over the summer made it so much easier.  There was no struggle to try and remember how to do things. 

Nicholas has also enjoyed a new subject – vocab.  In the past, this was just incorporated into our reading program.  This year I have us learning two new vocab words a week.  So far, it has been working well.  He will also have some vocabulary to learn when CC starts for his afternoon class.  I’m looking forward to adding some new words to my vocabulary too.  A lot of the CC words are beyond the 4^th grade level!

Daniel does 1-2 subjects a day.  The rest of the time is for playing.  And, he has been keeping himself busy.

Fun with bubble wrap

Fort building

Puzzles he does all by himself.

Science is something they both love this year.  We learned about matter, mass, and density these past two weeks.  One of our experiments involved eggs, water, and then salt water.  We learned that salt makes water more dense then the egg, so it floats.  Without the salt, the egg with be more dense and sink.  Daniel may not be able to tell you the definition of density, but he can tell you which glass of water the egg will float in.

We also learned about buoyancy (the ability to flow) using items around the house.  We also made boats out of aluminum foil and tried to see how many coins they could hold.

Our final project of this chapter was to make lava lamps with water, oil, food coloring, and alka-seltzer. 

We still have the eggs in the glasses so they can look at them.  I told them the experiment is going to be cleaned up soon.  They’re not too happy about it.  I'm just praying the lava lamps stay in the water bottles and not end up all over the floor.  At least they are loving learning.

This week we also went to our orientation for CC and met their tutors.  There are some new families this year and one has a boy Nicholas’ age.  He is excited for a new friend.  I feel a weight off of my shoulders this year as I don’t have to worry about all of the tutoring responsibilities.  

The boys started practicing their presentations today that they will give on Monday for CC.  My goal for Daniel is to just get up in front of his class and say something.  This year for Nicholas I expect less show-and-tell type presentations and more well thought out ones. 

We’re looking forward to Monday though.  We realized at orientation how much we missed seeing everyone on a weekly basis.  So, first day of CC pictures should be on the blog . . . sooner than later.

First Day of School 2016-2017

Well, the first day of school is here!  I have one in 4^th Grade and one in Pre-Kindergarten.  Both are home with me full-time and also enrolled in CC, which starts in a couple of weeks.

This first day of school has been anything but typical.  First, we have my dad in the hospital after a major heart attack.  With all of the unknowns, visits, and emotions came a little bit of apathy toward the first day of school.  I’m usually so excited and so prepared.  Well, I just got everything ready yesterday.  The typical me would have had it all organized at least a week in advance. 

Then, Evan’s boss thought he needed Evan to work today because someone just quit.  He had this day scheduled off for a while because he likes to be home on the first day of school.  So, he got dressed, packed his lunch and headed off to work.  Then about 10-15 minutes into his drive, his boss told him to stay home and be with his kids.  He could keep his day off.  So, while we’re happy about it, we wish we would have known a little sooner.

But, the boys were excited about the first day of school, especially Daniel.  He woke up early talking about it.  Since Evan is officially off, he was also able to get them their special breakfast he does every year.

This year’s homeschool is going to be a little different than in the past.  I’ve loosened up in some areas.  It will still be a challenging year for Nicholas, but hopefully, more fun as well.

Nicholas’ curriculum:

Math – Horizons 5^th Grade Math:  Math is pretty easy for him, so he is a grade level ahead.  I’ve already been researching curriculum for the middle school and high school years because he’ll be there before we know it.

Spelling – All About Reading, Level 6:  He’s a pretty good speller too.  It’s not his favorite, but when he puts his mind to it, he can spell some pretty difficult words.

Handwriting – Prescripts Cursive Sentences and Art Lessons:  Medieval to Modern World History:  This is a book from CC.  He practices writing the history sentences from each week in cursive.  This he likes a lot.

Science - Exploring Creation with Chemistry and Physics:  This book is on an elementary level.  I already read it and it makes chemistry and physics interesting.  I’m most excited about all of the experiments we will be doing together.  This is one area that I have loosened up on.  I didn’t order the notebook that came with it because Nicholas didn’t enjoy it as much last year.  It was a hassle.  Instead, I printed out blank pages where he could take notes and draw pictures about what he found interesting.  I think he’ll retain a lot this way.

History – Mystery of History Volume 3:  Renaissance, Reformation, and Growth of Nations:  Nicholas loves History.   We will be reading three lessons a week.  I did not buy the activity guide for this book this year.  I figured that if he found a lesson that interested him, we could expand on it by getting books from the library.  That won’t be a chore for him.  He did that this summer on his own with topics that he wanted to learn about.

Classical Conversations – We’re in Cycle 2:  This is the first time repeating a cycle.  Nicholas did this one our first year in CC.  It is funny that it is Daniel’s first year too.  They will have their regular Foundations program in the morning.  However, in the afternoon, Nicholas is enrolled in Essentials.  This is where he learns grammar, writing, and plays mental math games.  He is kind of excited about it because so many of his friends were in it last year and he wanted to know what he was missing.  He also knows that it is a lot of work, so he’s a little apprehensive at the same time. 

Daniel’s Curriculum:

Reading - All About Reading Pre-Level:  He started this halfway through last year and will be done with it by Thanksgiving.  It teaches the letters and sounds.  Then he will move to Level 1.  He already knows his letters and sounds, so it is review.  I’ve just slowed him down a bit, but there’s a good chance he’ll be reading by the end of this school year.

Math – Horizons Kindergarten, Book 1:  I am taking the Kindergarten curriculum and splitting it in half.  He will do the first book this year very slowly.  Then, he’ll do the second book next year.  If he has an aptitude for math, we’ll speed it up. 

Handwriting – A Reason for Handwriting, Book K:  He started writing his letters in preschool last year.  We’re going to keep working on it.  He’s a leftie, so this should be interesting for me.

Daniel will probably help us with our science experiments and listen in on science and history.  Of course, he is also a part of CC, so he’ll have that memory work.  I also made up a few games that we can play together or he can play by himself. 

Our first day went well though.  Nicholas found his day pretty easy with math, spelling, and vocab.  Daniel kept asking for more.  He and Evan played different varieties of BINGO with sight words and numbers.  He also matched his upper and lower case letters.  We’re doing 3-4 subjects a day for the first two weeks.  I find that if we start school before CC, we don’t find it overwhelming to add more to our day.  We’ll already back in school mode, so it is no big deal.

Here are some more pictures from today:

Pre-K

 

He loves to be silly.

4th Grade

They begged to do a silly one.

BINGO!

I'm hoping this week will be a lot of fun school-wise, but also bring continued good news about my dad!