Math Mileposts

As the Daddy and I continued to angst with our boys about doing math neatly and in an organized pattern, the idea struck me - the boys don't know how to organize their maths b/c they haven't used WORKSHEETS for math (or not to the extent that they remember the MathUSee pages from several years ago). So, we began writing the problems for G#1's Saxon Math 8/7 out like a worksheet. He will finish this book and probably, based on his understanding so far, begin Algebra 1 by February. But, if he continues to meet frustration with his math or not even meet his math because he is floating somewhere between one idea and the next (something we face in adolescence), he will not get to Algebra 1 EVER!
 

I also started the Saxon Algebra 1/2 with G#3 because two placement tests said that he was able to do it. We actually defined words in the introduction of the lessons into his notebook (no more loose leaf lined paper for math with these two) and mapped out the problems together before he "took off" doing his math independently. Both boys are working independently on their math this week AND enjoying how they know what kinds of problems are set up in the lessons. They are actually working ahead of completing 4 lessons a week. But this success has come at some cost because if I'm explaining that the numbers must be legible for the Daddy to grade, I've not done something else - like laundry.

On the left is an example of mapping out the math problems prior to actually tackling and completing those math problems.  The example on the right is an attempt at plowing through the math as you go with no planning or awareness if there are easier math problems later in the assignment which would take seconds to solve vs the problems that stop any progress on completion of the math assignment.

 

Week Eleven in our Happy Little Nest (NOT) History Ch Ten SOTW3 and Chemistry

Everyone is practicing their music for homeschool band and enjoying the challenge. Bet ya never thought I'd say that?!  We're beginning a new cycle of describing each country in our FLAGS (Human Geography) binder. The topic of who a country trades with or fights against has come up and I said that we should really delve further into why a neighboring country should fight at wars with said country.  The Daddy is headed to Africa next week and we're excited, but praying about it.  G#1 is enjoying the Fallacy Detective book and discussion of logic with the Daddy.  All three Gs were outside with me to clean up the garden and put everything away for winter.  The ceiling fans are cleaned and turned, and electric blankets are being used. 

No more mountains of zinnias and marigolds.  The seed heads were collected for next year's garden and bird feeder.  The trash cans serve as a raised garden and are cleaned up.  The hoses are drained and put away.  All because the kids worked with me to get it all done. 

School Stuff:  History

Far East of Europe

SOTW3CHChapter 10, begins on page 99.

Japan's Isolation: Closed Doors in the East
Guerber Story of the Thirteen Colonies:  Puritans, John Eliot, Roger Williams, Providence,, Ch. XXXIII, Stories of Two Ministers,
Japan. 1631-1638, 1633 The Story of Japan chapters about daimyo persecution of Christians
The "Foreign Conquest" of China: The Rise of the Manchu
Guerber Story of the Thirteen Colonies:   Puritans, Connecticut, Ch. XXXIV, Williams and the Indians,
Japan, China. 1635-1643, 1661-1722
(PAST FACT:  1368 and The first Ming dynasty emperor rules in China)
The Story of China.   by R. Van Bergen

School Stuff:   Science

READ and SKETCHaRESPONSE

Tiner, Exploring the World of Chemistry Chapter 5: Electricity to the Rescue  36
Kindle:  Wonder Book of Chemistry, Chap 19 (A Drop of Water) and Chap 20 (A Piece of Chalk)
Hands of a Child Notebook: 
Read sections *California Gold Rush, *Magnetic, Where in the World is Metal?, *How Plumbers Got
Activity 8 – Precious metals.
Activity 9 – Objects made with alloys.
Activity 10 – Where are certain metals found?
DK Chemistry pages 24-25
Investigate Periodic Table Construction handouts

Nature Study and Transitions

After removing a yucca that insists on crowding the lilac bush at the corner of the house, G1 and I cleared the native perennials that were already processed by the various forms of insects including bees leaving very little COLOR left.  The orange bush I bought from the County Forest Preserve several years ago was fascinating to examine.  The bush looked like this during the summer. Their catalog calls it Butterfly Weed Asclepias tuberosa, and it sits on the east side of our house receiving full sun most of the day. 

 

Above is what it looks like in the Preserve's catalog when at its height of beauty in the summer.  We didn't get to see any orange yesterday and all the seed pods made the stalks heavy.  We trimmed the leaning stalks and found the seed pods could be opened.  Below we wanted to take special attention to the feathery wisps attached to each seed in the pod.  The seeds were lined up like a peacocks feathers.  This plant is native to the area and these wispy seeds help it get around. 

 

The transition part of this post relates to the fact that the math hurdle or vexations are past for now.  The long weekend found each G getting special math attentions from the Daddy.  Each student now is ready and willing to finish math expeditiously every morning after breakfast and Bible study. The rest of the day goes so well and tasks were finished in order to examine NATURE.



MATH!

Today, G3 began Saxon 6/5. He is not even flinching as I move him to lesson 25 because seasoned, face-to-face, homeschool moms advised me that the materials prior are review.  Well, I remarked that most of each new lesson is review, so it wasn't such a tough idea to grasp.  Factoring numbers... not a problem for G3, but the review questions aren't really bumps in his path either.  {So glad that we moved his math day to later in the week, as Mondays were painful for EVERYONE}

I was reading in blog, homeschool moms' articles recently and found this piece about math curriculum choices for my kids, http://simplehomeschool.net/curriculum-choices-tackling-math/.  I've used the first and second products exclusively with my Gs and been satisfied with that move.  Actually, the kindergarten teacher that G1 had years ago began us in Saxon Math.  She was trained in the method, but I didn't quite understand and thus I used the first choice mentioned in the above article for four years.  We are transitioning back into Saxon Math, and I'm reassured of this choice by the enthusiasm of classroom teachers I know and love. 

Wow, I never would have imagined teaching elementary math as a homeschool mom (science or history is more probable), but here we are in year six of this journey. 

Checking In with Weekly Report

Ok, so y'all are always posting weekly accomplishments and I'm the sluggard who is just trying to keep up on who ate last and who is going where. So, here is a run down or sum up of what point we are in the schedule for 4th and 5th grades. 

G#2 started a week earlier than her brothers because she was ready while they were still playing with legos until noon back in August. She is completing Week 26 of an approximately 40 week schedule for 4th grade.  She read and finished all the sources for the Story of the World chapter 28 about the Roman Empire. She enjoyed a video about Ancient Roman art from Harmony Arts Mom's 5th grade plans.  She learned some new words from Spelling Workout lesson 26.  She is done with Rod and Staff English 5 lesson 56 and Saxon 5/4 lesson 73.  She survived flute in homeschool band for week 18 along with her brothers as well as read about Mongolia after moving all the way East in Asia from the Mediterranean Sea.  Her habitat studies have her and her brothers in the rainforest with the Hands of a Child crew answering a question in paragraph format regarding why the rainforest is a great place for animals to live.  She was especially grateful for poor weather this week as it was the Elemental Science Logic Stage Life Science week for Amphibians and a frog dissection. The dissection which needs to be done outside was postponed until better weather hits the Chicagoland area.  Our CBS lessons took us to Genesis 33 and it was a nice change to have more action from Bible study.

G#1&#3 both sailed through the same habitat, flags, CBS, science and art lessons. They both have their own grammar, spelling and math lessons which keep them busy.  History finds them in chapter 25 of SOTW and notebook pages from our 2009 Rome field trip were completed with pictures of each kid in historic locales.  G#1 finished reading the final book of the Roman Mysteries and wrote a short narration to complete his collection which will get printed out and placed in his history binder.

We were all active for gym time on Tuesday and enjoyed time with friends on the ice for homeschool kids ice skating time.  So much activity is initiated around here from time off the couch while playing the Wii games.  I actually allowed a library Wii game after each G completed the winter reading program from our local library on Wednesday. I'm so glad for the freedom to move in and out of the library during a regular school day.

Christmas Break

Yep, we've taken a week off! Believe it!

G#1 did a wonderful job at his part in the church play! He also enjoyed another birthday.
Everyone joined in for serving the neighborhood and nearby villages with our fellow BCJesus dudes. G#2 and I sang carols in nursing homes. The boys enjoyed other fun activities that evening. 
G#3 finally got a rc helicopter and loves it. His Christmas was thoroughly fulfilling, until
we saw TinTin last night with paternal grandparents and a few friends. #3 is becoming such an insightful fellow and continues to challenge me as well as the Daddy.
The Gs and I finally got to the pool for a second time this month and it was good.
The house got a facelift and it is much tighter, trimmer and a different color on the outside.
I'm enjoying the IEW 12 Days of Christmas. Thank you to IEW

Not much snow yet, but my kids are outside playing and inside playing. There was a moment for finishing the children's version of the Iliad story by Mrs. Sutcliff called Black Ships Before Troy.  Now the same author's children's version of the Odyssey is open and being read here too (The Wanderings of Odysseus).  G#1 finished Saxon 5/4 math triumphantly and is ready to dive into Saxon Math 6/5 when we get back to studies on Monday, January 2nd for week 19 of our school year.

Good bye 2011 - It was a fun visit.  Hello 2012 - I'm looking forward to what's ahead.

According to the Placement Test for Saxon Math...

Our rising oldest places into Saxon Math 5/4 for the fall. I'm thrilled and look forward to more math adventures with the math program that the Daddy likes.  Until then, we continue working on division in MathUSee Delta and maybe a little Epsilon about fractions.  Very few howls of disdain were uttered by said student. Being the first born, he was generally pleased to please.

The Final G Skip Counts by Three

We continue to practice multiplication tables while sitting before a meal or riding in the van. They don't breathe out the answer yet, but soon.

Semi-sequitor, we listened to the a tape recording of The Courage of Sarah Noble on the long drive to CBS, Community Bible Study, this week and my kids were rivoted to how Sarah Noble clung to her courage during the trip with her dad into the colonial wilderness.

BTW, did you know that there is enough iron in Mini Wheats cereal to move around with a magnet?

Another Skip Counts by Three

Skip Count by 3 (Multiply by 3) w/ G1

Reading

These kids are reading a chapter a day of Paddle-to-the-Sea. Yes, by themselves! And, better yet, they're narrating in 2 or 3 sentences what is done in each chapter, each day. By themselves! The first graders are doing it and it's becoming no big deal! Do I sound amazed? Well, OK. Why you ask are they just starting this endeavor, it's because they finished Handwriting for a Reason before the 2nd grader (even though he is narrating each chapter a day too). They are also doing a Draw and Write animal/item a day. (Shark is G#3 and Swan is G#2) It's magnificent to see them kick this assignment into the net like it was nothing.

My second grader was having trouble with the later chapters of Math U See Beta and I just said that he could write/copy 5 chapters a day of Saxon 1 that I had laying around. He did this for 10 days and worked his way through the second half of the kindergarten book. He also, along with his siblings, is practicing his addition and subtraction tables each day on the Math U See online practice tool. So, we've gone back to Beta chapter 26, to be exact, and now he's not vexed by subtracting 4 digit numbers. And he doesn't know where the calculator is, so I win!

Lastly, I'm reading A String in the Harp from the Juvenile Fiction section of the library. It's a long story but I'm definitely enjoying it. It takes me back to my love for things medieval and European. I am a quarter Welsh and do recognize place names from the book that are used as place names where I grew up. But for now, I'm trying to get everything wrapped up for the year, including the end of Flying Things as a huge study on Bats. My kids have planted radish, morning glory and carrot seeds. My husband has a trip into Ankara and out of Istanbul in the works for late June (a short month from now) and I'm looking forward to a fascinating summer.

LAST DAY...

Can you believe it? I'm kinda shell shocked. I've finished the shrinky dink medals for completion of kindergarten and 1st grade. These are placed in frames to be handed out when Daddy gets home after lunch. Little girl is finishing her math chapter test and the boys are playing crazy 8s card game peacefully. The boys have vacuumed and cleaned off their desks. I'm putting away my stuff for August 4th.

Daddy is taking them to see Prince Caspian movie and maybe a baseball game (in the rain) for fireworks after. I'm going to do something else. I need a break.

Awesome weather

WOW! The Adler Planetarium was wonderful! Much more impressive than the aquarium next door. I printed off the home made field trip guide and set out after the 9AM and 10AM soccer games for DOWNTOWN CHICAGO! It was a beautiful day and the price to the place was free because of a company special day. It included as many shows as we wanted! Too cool. I told the kids that it was like going to the company picnic at the KC zoo where we got to ride the bus/boat/tram/train as much as we wanted too, because they were FREE! We walked along the seawall and found our way to Grant Park and the Buchanan Fountain. Then after dinner near the universities, we walked all the way back to the parking under Soldier Field. Here is a picture into the sun away from the Adler toward the Shedd of my group.

This week is going well and the kids are getting ready for their first spelling test. They have the first 26 phonics cards from the Road to Reading packet and I will pick 6 for them to write down. They are reading the 100 lessons to teaching your child book well. We've finished listening to Little House on the Prairie and moved on to Wind in the Willows. I hope to apply some life science to that story in order to work in a science journal component. We received the Math U See book and may get the Saxon book for comparison to see how Kindergarten math is taught in a homeschool setting. They are only counting and graphing, as well as setting up patterns for math now. They liked sorting the candy from a company outing. They also enjoyed discovering the shell group today. One day at a time though is our motto. It's time to collected the oldest.

Kindergarten, first day

Dropped 1st grader, returned to pray and pledge in the garage (that's where the flag is hanging over the freezer), organized our desks and set to reading Genesis 1:1. The twins already had a clue what sounds the a, c, d, f made, so phonics was easier than it could've been. Except those silly d and b appearances. The literature exercise found us reading "If you give a mouse a cookie" and retelling the story to me with help from an drawing from the website. Math found them writing their numbers on special lined paper & my introducing the idea that the top line was the top of a tree house, middle line was the area where the leaves stopped, the bottom line was the grass and the letters that hook under the ground find roots in the dirt. It was time to check the meteorological conditions and record those on our calendars - clear and windy. They had to check all the way around the house several times because conditions changed rapidly on the first day. Stickers for everyone (on their right writing hands)! I read a story about how the hymn "Amazing Grace" was written and a story about George Washington. They colored in a picture of George while Amazing Grace played on the speakers. They practiced a little handwriting exercise that meant drawing a circle from a point at 2 o'clock counterclockwise and that's when the boy threw the pencil and was sent to his room without a reward. Girl finished that and then closed out our time with a child's journal day from "40 Days of Purpose" to receive a reward (temp tatoo on her left hand). Boy came down later and finished the child's journal page too, but no tatoo for him.