Critterfixer Posted October 26, 2014 Share Posted October 26, 2014 Didn't see one up, so I thought I'd get the week started. We had an unplanned field trip this morning to see and tour replica ships Nina and Pinta. They will be in the River port for the whole week, but in keeping with my new field trip guidelines we went today, bright and early and were home in time for lunch. We were surprised by just how small those little caravels are, and how cramped and miserable sleeping on deck on the Atlantic ocean crossing would have been. Very interesting. No further school for today. Regular work resumes tomorrow. We have some good ghost stories planned, we are waiting on our pumpkin seeds to sprout, and I'm thinking of what genre of story to focus on for the month of November for literature. Not sure if I want to go with mystery or pick something else. But mystery sounds fun. Got some creative writing curriculum in to look at, more for my planning than anything else at this point. It isn't very plot oriented, which is something I really want to focus on in addition to character, but it may help me build something I want to use with the boys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maize Posted October 26, 2014 Share Posted October 26, 2014 Wow, what a neat field trip to get your week started. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soror Posted October 27, 2014 Share Posted October 27, 2014 I seen those coming in a few hours from us but haven't decided if it is worth the drive yet, right now its not. We had a nice long weekend and I'm feeling well, so I'm hoping for a good week. I know I mention the state of the house every week but it makes a huge difference in the flow of our days, if the house is a wreck I have a hard time staying on top of it. With our busyness lately I've made an executive decision that I'm going to stop trying to do laundry during the week, I cannot keep up with it then anyway, not right now. I did every last little bit this weekend and the kids have been warned not to be changing incessantly (dd1 especially) as they'll be washing their own clothes if they run out. I've received all the math books I ordered for ds :) I'm thinking of starting some Jacob's MHE to go along with our logic work and then hitting fractions or geometry after we get through with the long division we are working on. I've been thinking about MHE for a very long time so I'm most anxious to try it out, I really believe the style will be a good fit and I'm hoping it gives me a bigger clue about how Jacob's upper books might work for ds. We've got 2 weeks until break but I'm not planning to be very hardcore with all the FLL work we have to do. We'll be planning to start early and finish by lunch time and then it will be project research and programming after lunch. Another executive decision, we'll be dropping back on science, I know I've went back and forth on this but we don't have the time to dedicate right now. I've got 2 books I want to read so I'm planning on knocking those out but otherwise that's it. Ds will have 1- 1.5 hrs math, 1 hr LA, 1 hr RA, and 1 hr reading to himself (mix of lit, history and science with reading) and 15-20 hrs a week of FLL. That's plenty especially as we've already knocked out half of our hours for the year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mama25angels Posted October 27, 2014 Share Posted October 27, 2014 Today is a holiday for us "Kids Day" so one is still sleeping, one is playing with Legos and I'm listening to iTunes radio. We will do our literature read aloud, and Bible, but just resting and relaxing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Critterfixer Posted October 27, 2014 Author Share Posted October 27, 2014 So far we are having a pretty good day back to school. It is nearly always a challenge if we have had what amounts to a long weekend for us (Friday, Saturday and Sunday) and naturally, I had some low lips this morning. However, after being a bit snarly about Latin, both had a good math test, and I decided to start the Language Arts integration this week instead of next week. So far we have had mostly separate spelling, grammar, reading and writing; and I had planned to start weaving this together in November as we worked toward being able to start Homer. Might as well start this week, however, so they got to pick their own spelling words from their out-loud reading assignment this morning. They chose HARD words! When I saw what they were picking with an eye to use in their own writing, I opted for 10 instead of 20 per week! So they are happy to have a short list this week. Our lesson in grammar today is on transitive and intransitive verbs, so we will be using the same selection to do grammar analysis on tomorrow. We will parse it, look at the verbs and decide how they are being used, and then they will probably get a lecture from me on how strong active verbs help an action scene to move. The piece I picked looks like it will work very well in being an introduction to building a scene, so the writing this week will include daily work on components--all stuff they will be working with in Homer in a formal way. Fun stuff anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mama25angels Posted October 27, 2014 Share Posted October 27, 2014 So far we are having a pretty good day back to school. It is nearly always a challenge if we have had what amounts to a long weekend for us (Friday, Saturday and Sunday) and naturally, I had some low lips this morning. However, after being a bit snarly about Latin, both had a good math test, and I decided to start the Language Arts integration this week instead of next week. So far we have had mostly separate spelling, grammar, reading and writing; and I had planned to start weaving this together in November as we worked toward being able to start Homer. Might as well start this week, however, so they got to pick their own spelling words from their out-loud reading assignment this morning. They chose HARD words! When I saw what they were picking with an eye to use in their own writing, I opted for 10 instead of 20 per week! So they are happy to have a short list this week. Our lesson in grammar today is on transitive and intransitive verbs, so we will be using the same selection to do grammar analysis on tomorrow. We will parse it, look at the verbs and decide how they are being used, and then they will probably get a lecture from me on how strong active verbs help an action scene to move. The piece I picked looks like it will work very well in being an introduction to building a scene, so the writing this week will include daily work on components--all stuff they will be working with in Homer in a formal way. Fun stuff anyway. Please tell me how you're doing the language arts integration? I've CWAesop A and I'm seriously considering using it for that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Critterfixer Posted October 27, 2014 Author Share Posted October 27, 2014 It's a work in progress. I'm taking notes as I go. Probably reinventing the wheel. :laugh: Some people (How I envy them!) seem to be able to plan and then go with that plan, adjusting when they need to. I just am not that kind of planner. I do better coming up with a very general idea, playing around with it and THEN making the plan. I had a horrible time with CW Aesop and that initial spelling/word analysis work! I never could add the words to our spelling list, because the lists were already too long. I don't particularly like breaking down words using their mechanical method. Then I would simply just use the CW model for the writing assignments, which was pretty much the way we used WWE when I had that. It's only in the last year that I've really begun to think about the way I want to teach language, and I simply haven't found a curriculum yet that does it for me. CW is about the only thing that comes pretty close. My very, very general goal for this week is to see how it works having the boys chose their own spelling words from a selection I'm using for grammar and as a model for writing (not narration or summary but for discussion) and to use the words, be able to spell them orally and in written work, to be able to define them and tell their part of speech. So the game plan is to write them daily, spell them aloud, look them up in the dictionary, use them in sentences and then parse those sentences and be able to tell me the part of speech. May be too much for one week, so I have to see if that is the case. I will be working through this all of November, so I should have a plan in place by Winter term that I can share. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mama25angels Posted October 27, 2014 Share Posted October 27, 2014 It's a work in progress. I'm taking notes as I go. Probably reinventing the wheel. :laugh: Some people (How I envy them!) seem to be able to plan and then go with that plan, adjusting when they need to. I just am not that kind of planner. I do better coming up with a very general idea, playing around with it and THEN making the plan. I had a horrible time with CW Aesop and that initial spelling/word analysis work! I never could add the words to our spelling list, because the lists were already too long. I don't particularly like breaking down words using their mechanical method. Then I would simply just use the CW model for the writing assignments, which was pretty much the way we used WWE when I had that. It's only in the last year that I've really begun to think about the way I want to teach language, and I simply haven't found a curriculum yet that does it for me. CW is about the only thing that comes pretty close. My very, very general goal for this week is to see how it works having the boys chose their own spelling words from a selection I'm using for grammar and as a model for writing (not narration or summary but for discussion) and to use the words, be able to spell them orally and in written work, to be able to define them and tell their part of speech. So the game plan is to write them daily, spell them aloud, look them up in the dictionary, use them in sentences and then parse those sentences and be able to tell me the part of speech. May be too much for one week, so I have to see if that is the case. I will be working through this all of November, so I should have a plan in place by Winter term that I can share. Oh, I can't wait to see that plan!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Critterfixer Posted October 27, 2014 Author Share Posted October 27, 2014 Oh, I can't wait to see that plan!! Well, that makes me accountable to have it done, right!? :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mama25angels Posted October 27, 2014 Share Posted October 27, 2014 Well, that makes me accountable to have it done, right!? :lol: Yes!! And while you're at it post your recipe for honey Apple pork! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Critterfixer Posted October 27, 2014 Author Share Posted October 27, 2014 It needs more apple flavor. But it's pretty basic. Sear pork (about a half a pork loin) in an oven-proof skillet. Set aside, and add an apple or two and onion, some garlic, a little thyme and sear that good. Deglaze with pork juice or cider (I'm going to try this with some apple cider next time and drier apples because I want stronger apple flavor.) Then I added the honey and got it up to a simmer, but I didn't reduce the honey much. It was from my bees and the moisture content was very low. I put the pork back in the skillet and rolled it around, stuck it in the oven at around 325 and baked it for 20 minutes, then rolled it around again, then baked for another 20 and rolled it around, until the pork was at 135. Then I pulled the pork, strained the juice and reduced it in that same skillet until thick. Rolled the pork around in it again and served. Typically it takes about 45 minutes for half a pork loin at 325, but I check temperature, so it might be more or less depending on the size of the roast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soror Posted October 28, 2014 Share Posted October 28, 2014 Sounds yummy! Monday was good here, since I had everything cleaned from the night before and woke early we got started early which was a great help. We did our work by lunch and then lots of playing for the girls and programming for ds. We didn't start any of our new math books. Doing the different threads with BA is working really well, he is enjoying it and we're getting through it. So, I think we'll just stick with it until we make it through the book or he gets stuck. Same ol' planned for today. I'll be working with ds this afternoon on his FLL project and he has more programming to do to prepare for our big meeting tonight. I really want to knock out some art lessons with the girls this afternoon, I hope that we have some time before dance but its our early day so who knows. I love the idea of integrated LA, we've been doing that with grammar and reading practice but not with spelling. Right now ds is doing Apples and Pears as it seems we need intensive spelling help, perhaps we can try it after we go through the levels, which hopefully help him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mama25angels Posted October 28, 2014 Share Posted October 28, 2014 I think I'm going to pull out my CW and go over it this week and see if I can make progress learning to use it and then start Ds on it, until Critterfixer gets her plan up, lol!! That way she doesn't have to rush too much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Critterfixer Posted October 28, 2014 Author Share Posted October 28, 2014 The spelling part of the program truly wasn't integrated for CW Aesop. Words were in addition to "your regularly scheduled spelling." Homer also assumes that the children either are through with spelling or using another spelling program, so I don't think that it has to be integrated. It's just something I want to do because I've got one son who is really ready to build his vocabulary by adding new words and using them, and another who really needs to learn what these words mean! He's extremely visual--can spell anything, but he doesn't always pronounce correctly, and he could be completely clueless as to what a word might mean, even if he can spell it perfectly AND use it in a sentence! Don't ask me how he does that. He's hFA, that could be part of it. So I want to integrate his spelling into his writing and literature study so we can spend time enhancing his understanding of meaning in context. Oddly enough, I think by working on this idea, I'm getting a better idea of how CW Homer will work for us this winter. I don't know what that says about my learning style--maybe that if I don't do it the hard way, I'll never learn. :tongue_smilie: I need a dunce-cap smiley for me, I swear. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sdel Posted October 28, 2014 Share Posted October 28, 2014 Well, the baby is sick/throwing up today....so we have had an "unschool" day. DD has spent the majority of they day dictating and illustrating a story. I'm calling it Language Arts. It starts off pretty strong, but it's been kind of dwindling..... The Catrepllar. (not bad for a 6 y/o) One day there were three eggs. Then after a sunny day a strong breeze blew the eggs away. They got separated from each other. One egg went into the cold weather. Another egg went into the warm weather. The third egg went into the spooky weather. The breeze stopped. The caterpillar hatched after six days. The caterpillar got cold. So it searched for warm weather. The second caterpillar had lots of fruit. The caterpillar was so colorful. The first caterpillar found grass, but not the second caterpillar (I made some suggestions on that sentence). He could just see grass and trees. The first caterpillar was happy where he was. The third caterpillar heard a voice and it looked like a monster. But it was really a cat. The father caterpillar separated from the mother caterpillar. And that is where we are.....and she didn't miss a beat when I informed her that the mom and dad of caterpillars are butterflies not caterpillars. It's HER story and I should butt out. We'll try math/spelling after soccer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maize Posted October 28, 2014 Share Posted October 28, 2014 I tried to start AOPS prealgebra with dd11 this morning, but somehow we got interrupted, and then it was time to go do ds9's orthodontist appointment, and when we came home it was lunch time, and now we're getting ready for orchestra... Not a lot of school done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soror Posted October 29, 2014 Share Posted October 29, 2014 Stefanie- Your daughter's story is great,kudos to her! Sorry the baby is sick, hopefully it passes soon. Critterfixer- Thanks for the peak inside you LA. I'm still trying to figure ds irt what he needs in this area to be honest. He can be pretty visual too and can spell more complex words but then forget the most basic words. There is a glitch there. Well, I felt worse as the day wore on, stupid weather and sinuses. Anyway, ds and I were totally rocking math and having a great time so being that we were enjoying it so much (especially as we've still not regained our former math love) and I felt bad anyway I declared yesterday a math day, we did 3 hrs worth. Some division and lots of logic. I still don't feel well and got even less sleep but we have less to do today. So, I don't know how the day is going to go. We all went to bed really late so everyone else is still asleep. Looks like we're having a late day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mama25angels Posted October 29, 2014 Share Posted October 29, 2014 Soror, I hope you feel better soon, I know that sinuses can be a bear. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mama25angels Posted October 29, 2014 Share Posted October 29, 2014 Best Day Ever!! We got everything on the schedule done, including history! Latin was the highlight of the day, we translated all 10 sentences correctly!!! Forgot to add that they are now PLAYING school!! Go figure!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
73349 Posted October 29, 2014 Share Posted October 29, 2014 I'm sick, DH's car is in the shop, and the Halloween costume is not finished. I have rescheduled the art stuff because I have no reason to believe we'll get to it this week. We did not get to religious education today, and those library books are going back tomorrow night. Blah. On the up side, yesterday's field trip coordinated nicely with our science topic! We are also doing fine with reading, math, history and Spanish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soror Posted October 30, 2014 Share Posted October 30, 2014 mama25- thanks for the well wishes, it's wonderful to hear your enthusiasm in your voice, it sounds like you had a great day. whitehawk, welcome to the thread! I feel your pain, at least your looking for the bright side. I felt even worse yesterday with the lack of sleep on top of the sinus crap. Ds and I did 2 hrs of math and that was it. I let dd off and she spent the day fashion designing with whatever material she could find and then drawing designs. I'm feeling somewhat better today but not great. It will probably be another light day for me to recover. Planning on lots more math with ds, read alouds and art, math and reading practice for dd. I'm feeling mentally renewed as our FLL is drawing to a close. I'm trying to work out some scheduling, thinking about what I want us to accomplish for the year. I downloaded Philosophy for Kids to try out as I've felt a bit intrigued about doing some philosophy with them after watching a Young Indiana Jones featuring the topic. Also, considering how much ds and I have loved the logic puzzles in BA (thus why we've been doing so much math) I've been doing a bit of research on some more logic resources. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mama25angels Posted October 31, 2014 Share Posted October 31, 2014 Soror- so glad you felt better yesterday, I hope you feel even better today! Well, today is the end of the week for us and I still haven't come down from my high on Wednesday! Boy, it's amazing what doing a good job can do for the attitude. Co op ended for us yesterday and the boys are disappointed, I'm ok, glad it's over, but looking forward to the spring classes. Now, I just need to think of a class or two to teach. Today is going to be a light one for us and I'm hoping to have a nice no running around, getting to sleep in weekend. Praying for a good day and a fabulous weekend for all of us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soror Posted October 31, 2014 Share Posted October 31, 2014 mama25 your spirit is fabulous! Yes, a good attitude really makes a difference. We don't have ANYTHING planned this weekend, I'm over the moon, its the first time in many weeks. We didn't have official school today but had an all day Robotics meeting, lots of progress made, only 2 weeks to go! EEk! I might get nervous if I think about that too much. I got in The Nature Connection book today, although I don't know if I'll be starting it next week or not as we are scheduled to do school for 1 week and then break. Depends on how much time I get this weekend to look at it and get it ready. I'm filling a crunch with robotics taking so much time but I don't want to break until after this coming week so I'm planning out my goals to hopefully make sure that happens (and it should assuming I'm feeling better). I'm really ready for a break though with being so heavy in FLL I'm excited and loving it but also ready to be finished and have renewed focus to our school as I've got a lot I want to do here as well. Plans for next week (to get an idea of it all) ds - finish BA4B -1 lesson in TC or WR3 (cannot decide which- I think I'll ask him) -2 levels in AP -4 sentences in PT -ds finish history book, William Penn's World- RA HoUS -finish our current Scientist in the Field Book and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe- culminating with us enjoying some Turkish Delight while watching the movie, which makes a rather nice end to our current session. Dd -4 math lessons -2 LoE lessons -practice reading daily -listening along with science, lit and history Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MomOfABunch Posted November 1, 2014 Share Posted November 1, 2014 This week was mostly off for us. We're trying a 3-4 weeks on, 1 week off schedule this year. So far so good - it gives time for extra outings :) and for me to clean the house :/ We went to see the fall leaves on Skyline Drive. It was great! We did an easy hike (everyone did great, except the 3 year old!). I also worked on sorting everyone's too small clothes out of their closets. I sorted, boxed and labeled 0-5T! Tomorrow I have to finish DDs clothes. Tae quan do was closed this week and it turns out DS1 really needs those workouts! He usually goes 3x a week. By Wednesday he was bouncing.off.the.walls! I am looking forward to his 13th birthday when he can use the gym with me. DS1 is doing an AoPS class, so he did keep up with that this week and he is almost through Lord of the Rings. When he finishes, he and his grandma are going to watch the movie together. DD is plugging away with reading. See my post about her LMB screening this week. For next week, I'm hoping to make it through Monday without too much complaining, for DS1 to stay on schedule with Chemistry and Arabic, and for DS2 to get reading done with me every day. He's going through a resistant phase. Our library has a new early learning area, which is fantastic! I'm going to try to have DS1 get some work done there while the littles read and play with new toys. *fingers crossed* Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
serendipitous journey Posted November 1, 2014 Share Posted November 1, 2014 It is so good to see what y'all are doing! This week I got my sleep going, which has been an ongoing struggle. (switching the tea I drink, doing aerobics & yoga & dance-workout -- I am NOT a dancer!!! -- regularly, and plenty of protein seems to do the trick) Saturday is our day off, and I am happy and encouraged to go over this week's thread and reflect on what I'd like us to do. Critterfixer, your integration work is very inspiring and I'm so glad you shared the details, and that mama25angels asked for them! I think more integration would help bring our threads of literature &c together, though our spelling won't be truly integrated for another year or so. And we need to get by the library, which we haven't been to in ages, and plan a November field trip. Critterfixer, may I ask about your "field trip guidelines"? I'd like to do field trips, but have been stymied by sleepless brainfog and A's requirement for daily formal work. If we did trips in the AM, though, and I could be disciplined about doing math+Latin+some reading that PM, we might be okay ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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