We have always used it in conjunction with mapping activities & a globe. No confusion here at all. Pulling the civilizations out of context with one another defeats the purpose of chronological (or in the case of SoTW, semi-chronological) history - a huge part of the story depends on comparing & contrasting the groups over time.

DS & I accidentally discovered the relationship between square & triangle numbers today while free-playing with pattern blocks. We just finished the Perfect Squares chapter of BA3, so excellent timing for a rabbit trail...

That’s cool! We love gameschooling 🙂 Is it always in California, or does it change locations annually?

I think we usually have an annual one. Dmmetler started the 2018 one, then recently there was the 2019 Wrap / Brag combination thread as well... but both of those tend to have more of a long-term focus, rather than being a place for day-to-day brags.

All About Spelling has been a great fit here. Every lesson he gets practice spelling both verbally & on paper (plus with phonogram tiles if you so choose). Every lesson reviews both mastered & unmastered content. Every lesson he is writing complete sentences, which translates directly into his independent writing. The only draw-back is that if I hadn’t found the books used for a great price, it would be getting expensive as he will have completed 3 levels by the end of this year.

These were hugely popular in Hong Kong when we lived there, but unfortunately I never could get DS interested in them. It’s been over a year though, & our local library has the whole physics series so perhaps we’ll give them another shot. Thanks for the reminder 😊

I love to read & re-read the planning threads on this board throughout the year. It’s the only place I really see posters acknowledging that their plan changes several times before the year begins & that by the time the year is actually occurring whatever they had originally considered is often unrecognizably different from where they’ve ended up!

I thought he made it pretty clear that by testing he meant more self-testing than a formal assessment, but I can see how the terminology could be bothersome considering how hyper focused on standardized testing schools have become. I think it depends on the textbook. Some certainly pre-digest content to the point of billeted lists & little context. However, there comes a point at which reading whole books on numerous topics to the point of mastery is simply too time-consuming & effortful to be practical in a structured, scheduled classroom environment. I’m glad you enjoyed the talk 😊

Yes, it does. Each of the spelling lessons is phonics-based.

My DS is about a grade level behind Wendy’s kiddos, but the above is true for us as well. He is on track to complete AAS 1-3 this year & the improvement in his independent writing has been excellent.

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I found this really interesting - a presentation on learning by UT Austin professor of neuropsychology Dr. Michael Mauk. Thought it intersected nicely with some of the discussion here.

I would be thrilled to have that opportunity!

I was thinking the same thing! I find writing in print to be faster, neater, & more comfortable. Perhaps it has something to do with being left-handed, or my pencil grip... I’m not sure. I do know that in sixth grade I got fed up with my handwriting being nearly illegible & went back to self-teach from primary notebooks. My print now is very clear, if not beautiful. As for DS, I’ll require that he use his new skill for copy work once or twice a week next year, then occasionally for free writing after that. I have no preference which he ends up using primarily. He’s in 1st now, so we’ll work on cementing cursive in 2nd before moving on to learn typing in 3rd.

Yes, we run into the same blank stares 😅 Currently I’m torn. I’ve discovered an ability-grouped homeschool math team through the local Math Circle. I think he would really enjoy it! Unfortunately, it’s on the other side of town at 11am - 45min each way for a 75min weekly meeting... I’m leaning toward this one being “worth it” both academically & socially. We’ll know more next week once we’ve shadowed the class. He’s never met other kids who love math like he does, & there is a park nearby where theoretically we hold lessons if we drove over early. Perhaps history, which is largely literature-based. I had planned to dedicate a separate day to that anyhow. Most offerings don’t make the cut, though. Park days, artsy craftsy things we can do at home, short one-off workshops, jam-packed “homeschool days” at local museums / galleries that we could visit any time, athletics, age-grouped co-ops... all a hard pass. It has to provide something that I either cannot offer myself or have no interest in offering myself!