What Do Home Schoolers DO All Day? 9-15-10

Where do you go to school?
Many people still have a blank look on their faces when my son answers, "I am homeschooled."

The few bold individuals who inquire further seem very curious about what we do all day. So, in an effort to let those folks into our homeschool (and personal lives) I am posting a look at a "Day in the Life of . . . . well . . . . Us!"

As one of my mentors says, "Homeschooling is a Lifestyle!" *1

Although we do set school hours, the learning and active teaching never stops while we are awake! I truly believe that parents must set the tone, habits and expectations for their children -- whether they are "home schooled" or not.  As a teacher with over 20 years experience, I can ABSOLUTELY tell which families do this and which do not.
 When my kids were in traditional school I still "homeschooled." The biggest difference was that I was filling in the gaps from lesson plans to which I had no access. Luckily in the lower grades it is fairly easy to figure out the "lesson plan."

My youngest son (11 years old)  is attending a private Christian school part-time so you will notice "ORCA" notated by those subjects. Our reasons for making the decision to participate part-time at a traditional school are fodder for whole new post down the line!

Here is a snapshot of yesterday. It is not chronological but divided by subject.

RELIGION -

• Confession
• Adoration
• Studying the Gifts of The Holy Spirit .
  Our Memory Trick: WUC4  KP (with sign language initials)  - Fear of the Lord
  C is also Right Judgment
  4 is also Courage
  P is also Reverence
  Fear is also Wonder and Awe!
• We both attended the Great Adventure Bible Study Facilitator Training at church (7 - 9pm)

MATH -

• We skipped the Saxon Math lesson today
• We reviewed simple Business Math using the Tamale Business Venture as our lesson plan :-) Part of this lesson was review. See BUSINESS /CONSUMER EDUCATION entry below
  

1. Gross and Net Profit
2. Profit Margins
3. 10% tithe
4. 50% savings
5. Spending Budget of $100.00 at ThinkGeek.com
6. Calculation of tax - (according to Comptroller's Office the state tax is 6.25% and local businesses can charge up to 2% -- so we used 8% as an estimate)
7. Calculation of shipping and handling

LANGUAGE ARTS -

• ORCA - Mr. S. reminded the kids to ask themselves questions as they identify verbs, simple subjects, predicates, etc.
• ORCA - Mini pop quiz in class (what questions do you ask yourself to i.d. parts of speech)
• @ home - Writing Paragraphs Workbook pg 4 (Exclamatory and Imperative Sentences) 
• @ home 1 BIC

1.  Writing Prompt - Partner Story! My son started the story and we physically passed it back and forth adding on each time. As we reached the climax of the story we began collaborating (i.e.:  he shared what he thought should conclude the tale!! LOL).   We surprised each other with our differing ideas and laughed at the dialogue.  This has been one of the most animated, fun and fruitful creative writing endeavors we have ever done! 

SPELLING - ORCA - Studied words for test
HUMANITIES/HISTORY - ORCA LOTS of history today!  Studying for tomorrow's test.
@ home: Looked up "galleon" (the type of vessel that Ponce de Leon sailed)
VOCABULARY -

• Vocabulary workbook 7/8 (88%) 
• FreeRice.com (600 grains /levels 5-9)

GEOGRAPHY - world geography on-line
SPANISH  -

• On-Line (La palabra del dia: Quiero ) and
• Conjugating Tener and 
• Santa Maria, Madre de Dios, ruega por nosotros, pacadores, ahora y en la hora de nuestra muerte.

iCIVICS - Reviewed general "what is civics" and branches of government.
I have added 2 more sites to the sidebar of HSchooling Notebook because the iCivics Amendment activity, "Do I Have a Right?" is now too easy. :-)

• http://www.congressforkids.net/games/amendments/2_amendments.htm
• http://www.evgschool.org/three_branches_of_government.htm

BUSINESS /CONSUMER EDUCATION - Delivered all tamales! He insisted on doing it by himself -- on his bike with multiple trips - --  and  declined my offer to drive him in an air conditioned car :-)
Reviewed the original Plan of Action.  He met exceeded his sales goal (+1) and  adhered to his timetable. Discussed new territory.
Product chosen-
Fresh Tamales  
Territory -
Neighborhood only

What will the market bear?

We researched area prices for a dozen fresh tamales.
Rico's  $30.00
Knights of Columbus $7.50 (I believe these are frozen?)
Survey of yahoo users (found through a google search) --  ~$7.00 to ~$18.00  
We split the difference on the survey results, came down a notch and decided that a fair price would be
$12.00 a dozen. 
Who is our competition? 
Church tamale sales in our Parish last weekend 
Area Restaurants?
Calculated Expenses -
Cost of the tamales, paying driver and gas. 
Calculated Profit Margin - 
Gross minus expenses 
Calculated division of profits -
tithe, savings, money to spend
Plan of Action -
Calendared a time frame, reviewed safety guidelines, practiced script, created order sheet, mapped territory, route and set a sales goals.

PHYSICAL EDUCATION: ORCA - played on the field at recess (passing and running game)

*1 Tina Robertson from New Beginnings