Jennifer Lambert

A Sacred Balance

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Math Monday: Hopscotch

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We did math outside since it was such lovely weather!

We used our Twister Hopscotch rings and chalk to group and worked on multiplication.
Multiplication Table
Tori listened well and read the table I wrote. She drew flowers in her rings to represent the numbers.
Hopscotch Math
Katie went one step further: she copied out the multiplication table!
Grouping
Even Alex wanted to get in on it!
Preschool Math Play

Liz brought her books out and sat on the plasma car to complete her work!
Math Work
A constant distraction last week and probably for months to come: dump trucks and bulldozers as a new house is being built. They’re just digging the basement now. The dump truck drivers honked their awesome horns at in the driveway each. time. they. drove. by.
Dumptruck
The girls measured trees with little apples.
Measuring with ApplesApple Measuring
Here is September’s math calendar page. The girls chose two colors and grouped the chips.
Cookie Mouse Math Page

The girls each chose brown and blue chips.
Counting Chips
Coloring Chips

We’re continuing with Life of Fred and Singapore math for Tori and Katie. Liz finished her Life of Fred Fractions book! She’s on Decimals now.

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Apple Tasting

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We had an apple tasting!

Kind of like a wine tasting, but with kids and no cheese or olives or fancy crackers. We did have water cups to cleanse our palates.

The kids had so much fun!

My favorite growing up was a Rome apple.

We bought every kind of apple we could find. There are so many apple varieties!

We ended up with 10 plus one from the neighbor’s apple tree. So, 11 apples to taste and compare and graph our findings.

Alex was excited to get started.

apple comparison

Liz helped Alex. He tried most of the apples. I didn’t make him graph anything. He just told us if he liked it or not. And he liked to tell me the colors.

big sister helping

Here is Tori’s completed graph. I see that she didn’t name her favorite or least favorite. She did circle two favorites and X the one she did NOT like.


apple tasting chart

I sliced the apples into fifths and we discussed fractions. We just read Fraction Apples, so it went well.

We counted seeds.

We discussed color, texture, and taste.

apple graphing

I helped the girls with their graphs by letting them copy mine after we discussed everything.

apple discussion

Alex ate half the Honeycrisp. Overall, that was everyone’s favorite. And the most expensive. He kept staring at it and saying, “I like it!” and biting it. So cute.

toddler tested

We love apples!

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Homeschool Electives

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I struggle most weeks trying to fit it all in.

We do the academics just fine. I try to make it as fun and engaging as possible.

I want the kids to have the extras too – electives.

While I’m not too concerned yet with keeping track of electives, I want to provide opportunities and continuity throughout their homeschool time – on into middle school and high school credits.

And these should also develop into hobbies and life skills.

I do encourage as much free time as I can.

I really think the children need to be children.

They’re learning that if they complete their lessons quickly, they get more free time. This helps them to learn time management.

They did this pyramid on their own and yelled,

“Mom, take a picture! We’re cute!”
Yes, yes, they are.

Pile of Kids

I don’t want to schedule their every second.

Often, they complain they’re “bored” and beg to play the iPad or computer or watch TV. Sundays, we try to keep technology free.

I give them ideas of what to do with each other or alone and they almost always have lots of fun playing dress up or pretending with their dollhouses and toy figures. It seems that there’s always one who begs to do more schoolwork or “school play” and Mama’s just needing the break!

Boredom is a good thing. It sparks creativity.

Daily outside time is key.

They burn off energy and ground themselves by going barefoot in the grass. They soak up the sun and fresh air and learn about backyard bugs and plants and critters.

It’s important.

I love to see them running and playing in the yard and we’re all soaking up the sun!

We try to go outside every day unless the weather is just utterly horrible.

We’ve had thunderstorms the last couple evenings, so we sat on the deck right by the door and watched until we had to come inside because of the hail and winds.

We like to watch the bats and hummingbirds at dusk when it’s nicer out.

Homeschool Electives

Homeschool Electives:

Extracurricular Activities

Our various children do participate in piano lessons, gymnastics, soccer, track, and fishing club, but I try to limit activities so we’re not overscheduled.

I think music is so very important. Learning about it or lessons for an instrument.

Drama or theatre is fun and offers lots of great skills.

PE or sports are very necessary, especially for homeschoolers. It’s up to me!

Health education is super important and we have to make sure we don’t miss anything as homeschoolers.

Also, Civil Air Patrol is a great elective for ages 12+.

Computers and technology are great skills and we just teach as appropriate how to do data processing and use MS Office and how to navigate the Internet and social media.

Teaching kids to be money savvy is certainly something that many schools fail to teach properly.

Arts and Crafts

I have ideas for sewing projects galore, if I could just buckle down and teach the girls to do them when Alex is napping or Daddy is occupying him. Also looking into local affordable classes for crafts, or camps. Hobby Lobby and Joann often offer single project classes.

Art creation and art history is very important. We take lessons and learn along with our history and visit lots of museums!

Photography

I made photo journal cards, laminated them, and set them in the girls’ cubes (workboxes).

Camera Cards

Let the fun begin!

Camera Assignments

Foreign Language

We learn languages like Latin from about age 8/grade 3 through high school. The kids choose to continue or add Greek or Hebrew. They also like to learn French or German.

Cooking skills

Cooking skills are important, or home economics, whatever you want to call it…it’s important!

Chocolate Muffins

Elizabeth made these yummy chocolate chocolate chip muffins for breakfast the other morning. She used a mini flower muffin tin and a regular muffin tin. Who doesn’t like “brownies” for breakfast?! I love giving the kids freedom in the kitchen. I sure don’t want to kill any desire they have for cooking.

I found these Simple Mornings natural muffin mixes at the store and I didn’t even care about the price tag (about $4!). It takes the fear out of baking for Liz. She gets a little nervous cooking from scratch with so many different ingredients to measure. She gains confidence with easy mixes and gets excited that she created something yummy for us.

Toddler Fun

I want my kids to be free explorers as much as possible when young, but sometimes I have to help out with some creativity.

Tape Racetrack

I had some painters tape and I made a road for Alex on the floor of the basement. He thought it was the greatest thing ever!

We do sensory bins every month or so too. I really just try to go with whatever interests him. Cars, dinosaurs, all the boy stuff!

It’s important to find something each child enjoys other than just academics. I encourage perseverance and not just trying a new thing and throwing it away after a few weeks. They need to stick with it for a season or two to learn it and then decide if they should move on to something else.

How do you fit in the extras?

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A Day in Our Life

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On a good day when Mama gets up early and the kitchen is clean and the coffee is made…

Homeschooling four kids can be a challenge.

My Royal Little Lambs

Our Homeschool Schedule

7 AM

when we’re ~supposed~ to get up and eat breakfast. Some days, it staggers between 0730 and 0800. I am so not a morning person. I make eggs or coffee cake or cheesy grits or steel cut oatmeal, with bacon and two kinds of sausage. Why can’t they all like the same thing?

Morning chores need to be accomplished before our school day: clean the table, get dressed, brush teeth, make beds…

8 AM

Tori and Katie do their Grapevine Studies Catechism page while I or Elizabeth wrestle Alex into clothes for the day and convince him to brush his teeth.

He’s addicted to his iPad in the mornings (and every other minute of the day) and I have to convince him it needs to “take a nap or eat” so he will join us in the school room.

Often Tori gets her Bible page completed way before Katie even finishes breakfast and then she does her morning routine. Whatever works. She’s the “good one.”

I steal a few minutes to check my email and Facebook or get a blog post started. I need my two cuppas! I often have to remind all the girls to brush their teeth and wash their faces (multiple times). Really?!

9 AM

I get Tori and Katie started on their seat work.

They have a daily journal and math work and word families pages. Some they can do on their own and others they need me to direct them. I try to interest Alex in his workboxes at this time.

I remind Elizabeth that she does indeed have a school daily checklist and she better get started. She uses Alex as an excuse and will play with him every chance she gets. If she would work diligently, she could be finished with 3/4 of her work in about an hour.

Here are the girls’ checklists. I got the idea from here. I got some little Command hooks and they’re in front of their desks on the wall. The girls love it!
Assignment Checklist
Weekly Assignment Cards

Elizabeth has a pink agenda with a monthly calendar and daily checklists. Trying desperately to teach her to manage her time!
School Agenda Booklet
10 AM

I do our read alouds on the sofa.

Alex has recently shown interest to join us which is wonderful! He really, really loved our Beowulf picture book last week.

Occasionally, I call to Elizabeth to join us if it applies to her studies. We’re currently reading through Famous Men of the Middle Ages. The only problem is Liz doesn’t want to get back on task.

I love being able to lay all over each other and read on the sofa!
Reading Time with Mama
Rubeus enjoys our sofa time. He likes to snuggle and look at the pictures. I swear he understands the stories!
Homeschool Kitty
11 AM

I usually give the Tori and Katie a break to play with Alex with his workboxes and other learning toys. They love helping him with his Tot School. It’s a good incentive to get Katie to finish her list. I help Liz move along in her studies. I make sure she’s gotten her Bible, math, and Greek completed, at least. I find my now cold coffee and some days warm it in the microwave or toss it. I steal a few minutes to check email or write.

12 PM

Lunchtime. Liz usually helps prepare this. I like the help, but I know she’s using it as an excuse to not do her work. I think she also wants the time with me. We usually have leftovers or deli ham with fruit and veggies.

1 PM

Naptime for Alex.

No excuses for Liz now since she has time to complete her list! I use this time to teach her any concepts that she needs in history or LA. She gets her notebooking finished during this time. I like this conference time because I love seeing the connections that Liz makes. She really does get it!

2 PM

I finish up anything with the girls: science, crafts, art…
Theodora Crowns Craft

3 PM

Clean up time, especially the kitchen. We make sure Alex is up from his nap so he will go to bed on time.

4 PM

I try to prep dinner and get the table set. Tori often helps. The kids play until dinner time. I try to get in some computer time to blog, check email and Facebook.

5 PM

Dad is home and he and the kids check the garden. Then we’re working on dinner and eating. Wednesdays, the littles have gymnastics.

6-7 PM

Tori, Liz, and I clean up most nights.

Then the kids like to play outside and practice cartwheels and watch the hummingbirds.

Tuesdays and Thursdays, Katie starts soccer practice this week.
Hummingbird

8-9 PM

Sometime during this hour, we gather the younguns for baths and bedtime routines. I’ve been really lax with the nice weather and the sun being out so late.

We’ll have to gradually start going to bed earlier. My husband is also worn out and goes to bed with the kids most nights!

I usually stay up until about 11, reading, writing, researching, or watching Doctor Who.

Check out our other posts in this series. Our Curriculum, Our Homeschool Space…

 
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Garden Bounty

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A garden update.

Tori loves the garden. She’s the only one Dad can trust out there without supervision. She loves to go check the beans and the tomatoes and she knows when and how to pick everything. She’s learning so much!

She was excited to help prep the beans for dinner and freezing.

Alex was thrilled to sample our first watermelon.

Watermelon

He does like watermelon. He calls it “little lemon.” It took me a while to understand and he got very frustrated with me. sigh

We have pickled LOTS of cucumbers.

We have frozen green beans.

And we have some beautiful tomatoes – Roma, cherry, and an heirloom. They’re delicious.

We’re getting overrun by yellow squash. We have frozen lots of it. We have sautéed it, casserole’d it, grilled it, and given lots away. We’re almost sick of it!

We have onions drying in the cellar.

We have canned blackberry jam and tomato sauce.

Soon, it will be apple season and we’ll make applesauce and apple butter!

Gardening is really hard work!

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Homeschool Space in Utah, Part 2

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We are so very blessed to have a basement where most of our homeschooling is accomplished and our stuff is stored. This leaves the upstairs to look neat and tidy, most of the time!

Would you like a tour of our basement? I didn’t grow up with a basement and this is very exciting for me!

At the bottom of the stairs are these lovely closets and room for Alex’s sensory items and puzzle drawers (there’s another drawer to the left on the other side of the closet). There was no pretty angle to take this picture! I was balancing on the stairs! My husband built the sensory table. The purple bin holds our Montessori sand tray and under the table is our light box with manipulatives.

Sensory Table

‘Round the corner, my main kids’ school books shelf…past and future Tapestry of Grace, science, Bible books go here. Also, some reference books are stored here that the kids don’t use as often. The bottom shelves store some Color Wonder, Do-a-Dot books, magnet books, dry erase books, and Educubes.

Bookcase

Our “main” school room. Tori’s and Katie’s matching desks. So pleased to have these. They match the girls’ bedroom sets, so eventually they may fit in their room, or they can take the whole set with them someday (in a far off future!) I found them at yard sales. I also found the awesome table and chairs set at TWO DIFFERENT yard sales – totaling $35! I keep our theme books in the little gutter tray under our picture frames with our daily lessons. The bulletin boards haven’t been updated with our weekly Bible verse(s) or themed word wall yet.

Girls Desks

The window is worthless because the deck covers it and it messes up my whole wall arrangement! Oh well, we rent, so there’s nothing I can do. I’d rather not see the window well and all the critters in there. Maybe I could just get a BIG white board and cover it all up.

The girls’ cubes (modified workboxes since they share) are on the opposite wall of the above picture. I also have their weekly word family wall above it.

Girls Cubes

Alex’s corner. I moved our calendar to his area since he’s the one who needs to work on it now. There’s a chair railing than goes around the ENTIRE basement – weird and it messes with my poster placement! grr!

Preschool Learning Space

Every classroom should have a fishtank, no? ack, it needs cleaning!

Fishtank

Our media center and choice vicinity of family read alouds. The TV is my husband’s dowry, lol. He really wants to upgrade. I suppose after 8 years, we should. The screen is pretty much done – sticky and written all over.

TV Space

Behind the sofa, we have our reading center. The shelf on the left holds all of Elizabeth’s books that the girls are now inheriting – American Girl, Dear America, Royal Princess Diaries, Magic Tree House, some classics. The little shelf on the right holds picture books , among them our vast collection of Berenstain Bears, Magic School Bus, and Dr. Suess.

Reading Bookshelves

The light green cube on the left holds current unit/week Tapestry of Grace books for the girls.
The dark green cube on the right holds our living math books for Alex and the girls.

Reading Bins

Here is Elizabeth’s cube system (in progress). One cube per subject – history, foreign language, Bible, math, science, LA. The striped basket holds her art books and supplies. The notebooks propped on the floor need to be gone through- old papers put into the portfolio, reorganized, etc. Liz likes to do her work upstairs (away from the little ones and I don’t blame her!) I’ve given her a letter try to turn in completed work for our conference. Her agenda and TOG binder and Kindle are on the left. In the magazine file are her minioffices with a big bunch of notebook paper.

Tween Cubes

We have a craft room too. Liz’s and my sewing machines are here (messy with mending piled up!) That’s my grandmother’s sewing basket on the floor!

Sewing Area

Here is our new craft table! I need one more chair and the three girls can sit here and work together on projects. They worked here, decorating their math journals last week.

Craft Table

Back upstairs is MY domain and conference area. On the left, on the other side of the wall, is the piano keyboard and kids’ computer.

Mama Work Space

There’s also another bookshelf, just inside the doorway. These two bookshelves hold reference materials and “my” books on literature and Bible. I also have some nicer children’s books on the bottom shelves that I monitor so they don’t get messed up. Some were mine when I was a kid!

Mama Bookcase

I know we’ll not have this much space probably every again, but it’s so nice to be a little spread out while we can!

See our curriculum list for this year here!

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Salt Dough Maps

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Fun Dyed Salt Dough Maps for Geography

We made lovely maps of landforms for geography study.

We used the book Geography from A to Z for reference. The toothpicks were for labels.

Landform Salt Dough Maps

Always fun to let them get them their hands dirty mixing the flour, salt, and water! Sticky!

Fun sensory play.

Mixing Salt Dough

I separated the dough into three sections and dyed them yellow for desert, blue for water, and green for land.

Alex liked using play dough tools.

Making a Salt Dough Map

Kate was very particular placing her land and water dough.

Salt Dough Map

Tori loved the hands on activity!

Salt Dough Map Play

Liz liked rolling out her dough.

Rolling out the Desert

We placed toothpicks in parts of the wet dough maps.

After the maps dried, we glued handwritten flags to the toothpicks, labeling the land formations.

It will dry and harden overnight. You can add painted details!

How do you make geography fun?

Also see this salt dough map of the Nile River Delta. Check out no-bake cookie dough maps and chocolate chip cookie maps.

Print

Salt Dough

Ingredients

  • 1 cup AP flour
  • 1/2 cup salt
  • 1/2 cup warm water
  • food coloring optional

Instructions

  1. Mix ingredients together with a wooden spoon or plastic spatula or by hand.

    Divide into thirds. Add yellow to 1/3 (desert), blue to 1/3 (water), and green to 1/3 (grass) to make land maps.

    It will harden so keep in a zip bag in fridge until ready to use.

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Prayer Journal for Homeschooling

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I have a prayer journal for our family each year.

I love going back to view the answered and unanswered prayers and see our spiritual growth and blessings.

I had this lovely lilac journal lying around for just the thing. Isn’t it lovely? I bought it at Walmart (It’s a Dayspring product and I can’t find it anywhere online; must be discontinued) a while back because I thought it was so pretty. 

Here is a similar Prayer Journal that I like too. I hadn’t really thought about what I’d use it for, but God knew I would come across it and He was ready to nudge me to start this prayer journal.

Homeschool Prayer Journal

My first prayer journal entry.

It’s about my eldest because she’s the child I am most worried about this school year.

I hadn’t thought about format, but here I starred the topics where I most want to see improvement. Only God can do that and if He uses me to help do that, I am willing. I dashed off a few ways I am already planning to help her in those areas. I’m sure God has His own agenda. He always seems to, eh?

Often, I have to get out of the way.

Then I prayed right there on the page.

Prayer Journal Entry

I hope my prayer isn’t too selfish.

I need her to be independently working so I can teach the middle kids and keep the toddler interested in tot school and out of trouble.

I know I often expect too much of my eldest. She has so much responsibility. I often rely on her too much.

I also pray that I can keep on schedule and on track with planning lessons so that everything runs smoothly this year. No more winging it with three officially in school and a toddler on the loose! I have to be diligent with meal planning, lesson planning, gathering materials, library books, printing and laminating, and being cheerful about it all.

That cheerful part is the hardest, let me tell ya. My husband doesn’t like coming home to The Grouch.

I think my next prayer entry should be about me and my attitude and how it affects my family.

I hope, in the spring or early summer, I can look back over my prayers and concerns and successes and failures to see how God has moved through our homeschool, through our family. How he has pruned us to be fruitful.

We are so blessed to be able to teach the kids at home.

It’s been years and I still update my prayer journal every fall and spring and it’s such a blessing to see where God has led our family!

As a military family, we often pray for great opportunities for our family when we PCS every few years. It’s getting more and more difficult as the kids get older for them to find extracurriculars and friends. It’s like the community falls away more and more as the kids get older.

Ways I pray for our homeschool and our children:

  • academics
  • best materials for each child
  • safety
  • good attitudes
  • schedule help
  • my attitude and cheerfulness
  • good influences in friends, coaches, teachers
  • understanding and comprehension for difficult materials
  • extracurricular classes and funds
  • driving lessons
  • dual credit options
  • part time work options
  • college, trade school, vocation
  • tests and exams
  • scholarships
  • relationships with peers, teachers, parents
  • Scripture

I love that I’ve homeschooled my eldest all the way to college and the other three kids are doing great!

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How do you pray for your children?

Linking up: Pinch of Joy, House on Silverado, April Harris, CWJ, Mostly Blogging, Grammy’s Grid, Pam’s Party, Pieced Pastimes, Moment with Franca, Random Musings, Stroll Thru Life, Jenerally Informed, Shelbee on Edge, Eclectic Red Barn, Bijou Life, LouLou Girls, Suburbia, Soaring with Him, InstaEncouragements, Anchored Abode, Ridge Haven, Ducks in a Row, Fluster Buster, Ginger Snap, Thistle Key Lane, OMHG, Penny’s Passion, Try it Like it, Artful Mom, Debbie Kitterman, Slices of Life, Simply Beautiful, Cottage Market, Hubbard Home, Being a Wordsmith, Answer is Choco, Momfessionals, Lauren Sparks, Imparting Grace, CWJ, Anita Ojeda, Modern on Monticello,

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Our Curriculum for 2012-2013

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Our goals for this homeschool year:

Alex: Tot School

Alex has shown much more interest in doing school lately!

I plan to continue the following:

Tori and Katie: 1st grade

I’m following the ideas in The Well-Trained Mind and Ambleside Online: First Language Lessons, Winnie the Pooh, Christian Liberty Nature Reader, monthly theme printables – if I can more advanced ones to match Alex’s themes. Quarterly, we study an artist, composer, hymns, poet. I post them on our calendar board.

Here’s their 1st grade curriculum:

Liz: 7th grade

We still like reading lists and other things from Ambleside Online. We love the quarterly artist, composer, hymns, poet.

Here’s her 7th grade curriculum:

  • Apologia General Science. We’re following the ideas mentioned in this blog post.
  • Life of Fred Fractions with mathbooking
  • Elementary Greek
  • Second Form Latin
  • First Start French (Liz will teach Tori and Katie: it’s pretty basic stuff) We have Mango Language free from our library and they give us access from home and on our devices. Sweet!
  • Reader Notebook
  • Tapestry of Grace Year 2
  • Artistic Pursuits
  • Grapevine Studies for Bible

Schedule:

Every Day: math, reading, foreign language
Mondays: Intro to TOG unit, art lesson, science lesson intro
Liz watches Latin DVD lesson, reads Greek and French lessons (much shorter than Latin lessons)
Tuesday: history reading (TOG), science reading
Wednesdays: map work and geography (TOG), science reading and notebooking
Thursdays: Lit reading (TOG), LA notebooking, science reading and notebooking
Fridays: finish reading with TOG and science and notebooking, Liz has a science test biweekly
Saturdays: finish up any notebooking, work with Dad on science experiments, history projects, nature study

Themes:

Because I get bogged down in stuff and often don’t remember important events until after the fact, here is my reminder of appropriate themes for certain months. Some themes don’t matter when you do them, but I put them where I needed filling. I must remember to gather materials beforehand. ha!

August: summer themes (BBQ), nursery rhymes, dinosaurs
September: apples and leaves, autumn, community helpers
October: pumpkins, Halloween, space, transportation
November: harvest and Thanksgiving, farms
December: Hanukkah, Christmas, family
January: New Year, snow and winter, MLK Jr. Day, bears
February: Groundhog Day, Chinese New Year, Valentines, President’s Day, health
March: St. Patrick’s, animals
April: spring and Easter, weather
May: Cinco de Mayo, Mother’s Day and flowers, bugs
June: Father’s Day, gardening, frogs, beach
July: Fourth of July, camping

Our Curriculum for 2012-2013

Elizabeth is 11 and in 7th grade.

Victoria is 6 and Katherine is 5 and they’re in 1st grade (funny how they have different abilities! Tori loves math and science and Katie can narrate very well and can read much more fluently than Tori).

Alexander is 2 and does Tot School (when his mood is right).

History:

I love it when all the kids learn together. I love Tapestry of Grace for this. Here are the children coloring Rose Windows from cathedrals and Elizabeth is researching them on the iPad. She read the article to her siblings.

We are studying Medieval Times this year. We can’t wait to dress up Alex as a knight or something. I wish we lived close to a Medieval Times restaurant. I found the coolest medieval cookbook at the library. We shall have us a medieval feast as our unit celebration!

Rose Windows
I supplement the girls with Story of the World. It is actually listed in TOG as a core history book for upper level grammar. I used SOTW with Liz for her first 4 years and then we did Ambleside Online for a year or two while I wondered what to do and now we’re hardcore TOG users. I can’t rave about it enough. We really do read almost everything on the list for Lower Grammar and Dialectic. We don’t always finish each week in only one week though. We sometimes take two weeks before moving on, or we combine weeks if it works better that way.

Bible:

The kids often have a hard time comprehending when I just read from the Bible. We often read from our Bible story book for TOG history. We needed something more though. We’ve been loving Grapevine Bible Studies. I contacted Dianna a couple months ago and asked if I could do reviews for her and she happily obliged. I really thought the idea was silly at first, but the kids love it. They really get it. I need something the kids can all do together and this fits well.

We reviewed the Esther study. We are currently reviewing Ruth and the Catechism.
Liz then has her Worldview reading from TOG. Right now, she is reading The Church in History
.

Math:

I really dislike math. We’ve used Singapore Math from 1st through last year (Liz’s 6th grade year).It pains me to say that I needed a teacher manual when Liz got Math 5. It doesn’t help that my husband is a whiz at math. His spiritual gift is not teaching though. I just started Tori and Katie on Singapore 1B and they love it. I feel I can teach them at this level ok. We’re at a loss as to what to use for middle and high school.  I ordered Liz the Life of Fred Fractions in the interim and she loves it. But I feel she needs more than that. She needs to start algebra next year. Curious about Teaching Textbooks or VideoText. Pros/cons?

Science:

We’ve used Apologia science Exploring Creation elementary series from day 1. Tori and Katie did Swimming Creatures last year. This year we are learning about Land Animals. Elizabeth is beginning General Science this year.

We also do nature notebooking each month. I read a Christian Liberty nature reader to Tori and Katie almost every day.

Language Arts:

Um. I was an English teacher in my past life. I don’t have a curriculum for this. I know there are some great ones out there. I’ve looked at them and I just can’t bring myself to spend money on them.
I use the TOG writing ideas each week, mostly for Elizabeth. Elizabeth learns her grammar from her Latin program. She started with Prima Latina in 3rd grade. IF I feel she needs a refresher, I teach it to her. That’s what I did. I don’t need a curriculum to teach grammar or writing or reading. I think I am blessed with these talents. I love literature and writing and all that grammar stuff. Liz love to read. She carries her Kindle with her everywhere. I loaded some free classics as well as some TOG and Ambleside Online reading books on there and she loves it.

History Living Books

I use online printables for Tori and Katie. The girls really love her word families. We read A LOT. We do copywork. We get lots of books from the library for history, science, and literature. We’re also working our way through First Language Lessons. I don’t make them do every lesson. Tori asked me last month: “Mom, when are going to move on from nouns? I get it.” So we move on!

Living books for history and reading:

Foreign Language:

I teach them all a word each week or so in German, French, and Spanish. This week is the word “sun.” Die Sonne, le soleil, el sol. They love it. Katie is begging to learn Spanish. I guess I can try to fit it in. Our library has a Mango languages app.

Liz is currently going through Elementary Greek. It’s just ok. She will begin Second Form Latin when she completes the Greek study. Any recommendations out there for a good Greek program? Liz really loves it but I am less than thrilled with this text.

Art:

We love Artistic Pursuits! All the girls enjoy these lessons. We also study the artists on Ambleside Online. I really need to incorporate more arts and crafts. TOG has some great ideas, and I am just lazy.

Other:

We have lots of computer games and iPad apps. Technology, check.

I think Tori and Katie need to start up Funnix again, taking turns. It would give me time to work with Alex one on one. I need to set a schedule up a couple times each week.

Tori, Katie, and Alex are taking gymnastics this year. They just started and they love it! We took a couple years off and Tori and Katie are just picking up where they left off. Katie is playing soccer these next couple months. Liz and Tori will probably run track again in the spring. Not sure what to do for Liz during the fall and winter. She wants to start Taekwondo, but it’s just not affordable or convenient. They recently pooled their allowances and bought a couple Just Dance Wii games. They make you sweat!

Gymnastics Girls

I also plan to begin a homemaker’s journal with Elizabeth. I have plans to get a lovely scrapbook and pretty tab dividers and let her help me plan it. My mom just gave me a subscription to Better Homes&Gardens and I think Liz could use that as a jumping off point to begin her home idea scrapbook. She can start collecting decorating ideas, recipes to try, cleaning and organization tips, beauty and hygiene tips, hospitality and event planning/holiday ideas.

Basically, it will be a real life Pinterest since I will not let her have her own account yet. (I’m a mean mom!) I hope it helps her get more adept at running a household and doing her chores. If she gets to make some decisions, then maybe that will generate interest? I was doing so much more at her age and she doesn’t even want to learn. sigh

Making Lemonade

This is an exciting year!

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Middle School Science

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We’re all pretty excited about Apologia General Science.

They did the first experiment together and it was colorful and fun.

density experiment

The water, oil, and corn syrup layered themselves and the rock sank and the grape floated. cool.

Density Experiment

We’re following a great schedule and notebooking plan.

It’s been an eye opener for her. We explained the plan and showed her the plan and got her notebook organized and the schedule printed out.

Then she thought she could skim through like she always has.

Not so much. She got a 64 on her first test.

I warned her that 7th grade was going to be different, harder.

Now she knows.

Her uncle is visiting with his family this week and he teaches 7th grade science. This has been great for all of us. He told us that “she’s just like a 7th grader” (the good and the bad). And he’s been able to talk to her about her studies. It’s given her a new perspective. You know, moms and dads know nothing, but uncles can be cool.

So, she knows that she has to actually work at something.

A new concept. A first step toward maturity.

General and Physical science are reviews of elementary material, preparing for high school lab sciences.

We read many living books about scientific topics, watch documentaries, go on nature hikes, visit museums, and more.

Good Middle School Science Skills

Physical science

Brush up on the laws of motion, force, speed, and the transfer of energy. Students should understand the effect of friction on objects, as well as the difference between friction and inertia. Kids have the opportunity to learn about the properties of a range of materials, studying size, weight, and shape. They should conduct experiments, use tools to gather and organize data, and learn how to make graphs to present their findings.

Life science

The life sciences include everything from the human body to ecology. With so many topics, at any given time students in middle school might be immersed in studying a particular insect, or observing a terrarium or aquarium to learn about ecosystems. Junior life scientists also learn about plants, including the basic processes, like photosynthesis, that allow them to thrive.

Earth and space science

Middle school earth science lessons review how the earth was formed. Kids should review how the earth orbits around the sun as well as the moon orbits around the earth. Make connections between orbits and time. Understand that a year is the length of time it takes the earth to orbit the sun and a day is based on how long it takes for the earth to make one rotation on its axis.

Teachers may include a geology lesson that focuses on a single point of interest like the Grand Canyon. By studying the Grand Canyon, for example, students can follow in the footsteps of professional scientists, learning to read geologic lessons in the rock, and discern the effect erosion has on the earth’s natural features.

Science and technology

Many schools emphasize the relationship between science and technology. These technology-focused activities might include a study of bridge design or a discussion about robots’ value to society. Lessons should give special attention to the way science and technology can be used to solve human problems and meet human needs.

Scientific inquiry

While studying science, your child will also be learning about the process of scientific inquiry — how to ask incisive questions, design experiments, gather evidence, formulate answers, and communicate the results. It’s not uncommon for students’ ideas and misconceptions to be challenged or changed.

By contrasting and comparing, students hone their critical thinking skills, analyzing errors and making summaries of what they’ve learned. Many other soft skills should grow and develop while studying science. For example, students might begin to learn the importance of recording their observations or recognize the limitations their own memories.

Using math skills in science

Rock solid math skills are crucial to success in science. Whether students are being asked to create a new calendar for an imaginary world or calculating sea rise from an arctic ice melt-off, they’ll use a wide variety of math skills involving basic arithmetic, geometry, and pre-algebra.

Creating graphs and tables, measuring to scale, calculating ratios, determining weight, distance, and volume – all these are math skills needed for science. Source: Great Schools

Famous Scientists Notebooking Pages
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