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

Focus! DIVIDE AND CONQUER

I found a great resource to help us help our kids learn how to focus.  

And who can't use a tip or two in paying attention?

Here is a quote:

Some things are just better taken in bits and pieces. When kids already have trouble paying attention, being faced with pages of math, passages to memorize, or long periods of ‘boring stuff’, breaking it down is often a great solution.

1. Divide memorization into sections, and study at different times. Maybe your child has to memorize “The Road Not Taken”. Work on stanza one during the ride to school. After school, review stanza one and add verse two. While cooking dinner, add verse three to the mix. After dinner, review and add the last verse. Remember, you eat an elephant a bite at a time.

2. Learn vocabulary words in different places. Divide vocabulary lists into groups of five, and study each group in a different room. If she’s learning a foreign language that has gender or verb forms, consider having one room to learn masculine nouns and another for feminine. Learn one verb form in the kitchen, another in the car, the irregulars in the bathroom . . . .

You can order the e-book here: http://helpyourchildfocus.com/
author: Kayla Fay

Titles Must Capture the Readers' Interest!

And . . . . THAT title is an example of "how NOT to do it"! 
 
Today in our Language Arts class one of the writing prompt was:
Write 5 titles that would capture the interest of your readers.
My 10 year old son had fun with this one and his titles definitely captured my interest. The seond one had me laughing out loud!

1)  The Boy Who Saw Clearly

2) Dick and Jane Go Insane

3) The Wheel with Spikes

4) The Mice Who Had Lice

5) The Spider Who Caught a Fish

Hulu, O. Henry, Steinbeck & God

A couple of days ago my 4th grade son and I were poking around on hulu.com. He loves to watch Modern Marvels and I'm a vintage movie gal.

I found an old show called, O. Henry's Full House. It is a film version of the some of the best stories of O. Henry.
We watched the first vignette and both of us decided to settle in for the whole show.

The surprise element was that it was hosted by John Steinbeck! John Steinbeck is one of my favorite authors! I had never seen film footage of him, I had only seen pictures. The O. Henry stories were fairly well interpreted and the acting was vintage 1950s with some 1950s star to boot! I think it was waaaaay cool to find this classic but! it was the host, John Steinbeck, that had me glued to the screen.

I told my son how I loved Grapes of Wrath and Tortilla Flat. I assured him that he would love the stories when he was a little older. I think he was a bit put off because I did not want him to read the stories just yet. And, I understood his frustration. . . his Mom just raved about an author and then tells him, "Oh, but you can read the stories in a couple of years."
Well, today I was unpacking (yes, still unpacking - and we will be "still unpacking" until we get every room painted so we can then secure shelves to the walls) . . . . where was I?

Oh yes . . . .
Today while unpacking I found a Prose and Poetry anthology published in 1965.
A little side note here . . . I have a weak spot for 3 types of books:

1. Classic classroom readers - primers and anthologies
   
2. Unique Alphabet Books
3. Good Catholic publications - from picture books to Papal encyclicals and everything in between.
   

I had planned to use the 1965 Prose and Poetry anthology (and many more I have packed away) in our homeschooling. I just hadn't planned on the fire, moving and living out of a suitcase with all our things in storage for two and a half months. So, I am, very randomly, discovering things here, there and everywhere.

Where was I?
Oh yes, the anthology that I found.

I flipped it open to a random page and viola! -- a story by John Steinbeck! A story apprpriate for my 10 year old! The Red Pony.

God is so good! He is just so good! I keep smiling at the way He puts things in our paths. Puts 'em there so we sometimes stumble over them!
We started the story today . . . . I know there will be tears at the end, I am getting the tissues ready.

O. Henry's Full House

Feature Film |1:57:36

A dozen top stars (including Charles Laughton, Marilyn Monroe and Anne Baxter) and five famed directors (including Howard Hawks and Henry Koster) join forces to present filmed versions of the best stories of O. Henry, all narrated by John Steinbeck.


cross posted at A Catholic Notebook

A Storybook Day in Home School

Today was a simply stellar home school day.
Oh, if they could all be this productive and this much fun!
I am recording it here for posterity. :-)
√ means "done" . . . . as in, "check!"


Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Saints Simon and Jude, Apostles (Feast)

√ First Reading: √ Psalm: √ Gospel:

Ephesians 2:19-22 Psalm 19:2-5 Luke 6:12-16 I believe, in order to understand; and I understand, the better to believe -- St. Augustine

RELIGION -

• √Readings for the Day
  
• √ Faith and Life - (Noah)
  
• √ Baltimore Catechism -
  

√ MATH - Saxon 5/6; Lesson 22 (Division w/ remainders - leading into fractions and decimals)
√ READING - Sustained silent reading / St. Vincent de Paul book (3:50pm)
LANGUAGE ARTS

• Spelling - Spelling City
• SRA reading comprehension & phonetics -
• Easy Grammar: Grades 5 & 6 -

HISTORY

• √ The Story of the World, Ancient Times Susan Wise Bauer - chapter 9; The First Cities of India
  
• √ Timeline - 2000BC Mohenjo-Daro flourished
• √ Independent study online

1. http://www.mohenjodaro.net/
2. http://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/ancient/mohenjo-daro.html
3. http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/indusvalley/ (interactive)
   

SCIENCE -

• √ Physics
• √ Construction of a Hydrogen fuel cell kit for HydroCar (with Joelle)
  

GEOGRAPHY -
SPANISH -

• Spanish Online -
  
• Notebook -

LAGNIAPPE

Catholic Mosaic -
Information added to Time Line Book -
Information added to Journal -
Learn and Explore -
Keyboarding -

SOURCES:
* Daily Readings @ post heading via EWTN