Student of the Month

This is the face of a young man that has put in a lot of extra academic hours! (like working through summer and holidays) Via tutoring and regular academic work. Some of you may not know this but my son, this handsome fella here, has a learning disability.

We are blessed with an amazing friend (and pastor's wife) that has been volunteer tutoring Sammy for the past 2? 3 years? She was the one who unofficially diagnosed him with the learning disability to begin with. Her heart is so devoted to serving God that when He told her to help Sam--she did not hesitate. She has put in her own time and energy to not only feed his mind, but his soul.

I haven't written much about it yet but our current academic adventure involves home educating through a public charter school. We haven't always done this (but we've always home schooled) but the past 4 or 5 years, it's been a good fit for us. We meet with an Education Specialist every 20 days to turn in work samples and fill the ES in on what we have been doing.

This year she started awarding a Student of the Month from one of the families she over sees. This time it was Sammy. She told him such nice and sweet things; how she had seen so much improvement in his work, how he has worked so hard and she recognizes it.

What a blessing. She made this award and gave him a full size of his favorite candy bar: Three Musketeers.

I am so proud of him and grateful for the help he has received.

Here's one of his most recent watercolors. He personalized it by adding the ear phones. Pretty creative, huh?

Ca Science Center

I had an opportunity to do an extra credit paper for my own science class. One of the extra credit choices was to visit the science center and write a paper on it. Of course I took the middles with me (& the toddler). We have been there before but not for a long time. We had such a great time.

The center now has a two story aquarium. From the top floor, there is an outdoor viewing area and downstairs is a full length viewing area. You can even walk through a glass tunnel that goes through the aquarium, sharks and schools of fish swim above you. It's really impressive.

Birdy had so much fun in this wind tunnel. On her arms are simulated plane wings. You feel the air resistance according to how you direct your wings.

Both Sam and Birdy loved pretending to do a newscast. They didn't skip a beat when our toddler decided to join them. Birdy just ad-libbed and pretended like K was also an 'expert' on the show. It was hilarious.

 They all couldn't get enough of this hang gliding simulation. I thought laying on that thing looked pretty comfortable.

Here are all three of them, using a giant lever to lift a truck. It really works and accurately demonstrates the various support it offers at different points on the lever.

We had a really fabulous time, so much fun. I'd like to go back. The aquarium was our favorite part and we spent the most time in that area. There are also different rooms representing different eco-systems. One was a desert and features flash floods. Kurtis was a little scared of the mock lightening and thunder. I was creeped out by the room that was all about compost and decay. I couldn't tell if the floor was supposed to be the floor of  a forest or decomposers. EEwweee....!!!

I can't wait to go back. There is so much to see and do there, too much for one day, for sure. We went in the late afternoon for only a few hours. It must've been a great time because we nearly had the place to ourselves.

Days like this remind me WHY I love home-educating so much. The freedom to step away from the books and learn via hands on in a fun and relaxing setting.

Linked to:

November Learning Record

Time for our 20 day meeting again. The kiddos always do better than I initially perceive them to have done. We really enjoyed doing paper marbling. It was interesting, fun & produced really pretty papers. It has turned into more of a challenge than I initially imagined, with me being in school while still having school-age children at home. I could do more checking up on them to help with follow-thru. 

Sammy is really enjoying his science. He gets a lot done because he enjoys it so much. Right now he has an experiment going that shows how plants turn to follow the sun. 

Birdy prefers the non-assigned work, like writing in her journal. She is learning how to create entries that aren't just: "Today I woke up and...." For awhile she was stuck with every entry beginning in that same.exact.way. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
 
Birdy

LANGUAGE ARTS
letter writing to pen pal
daily journal entries
Oak Meadow LS 8-10
Grammar: recognizing & using conjunctions, prepositions, pronouns
spelling words: since,  money, mean, ready, princess, idea, pony, share, buy, guess, train, least, opinion, always, those, because, lose, want, different, does, write, owe,  dollar, more, meant

MATH
Teaching Textbooks:Lessons 49-61
multiplication speed drills to 12: 8 min

SOCIAL STUDIES
Oak Meadow: Lessons 8-10
documentary: Pompeii - Vesuvias volcano
Met artisan from Africa: free trade products 

SCIENCE
how seeds spread, how seeds travel (get to their new home)
concepts of nutrition

PE
WII Sports: bowling, basket ball

ART
marbling paper
sketches of shapes w/ shading
self-portrait

Sammy


LANGUAGE ARTS
Reading Comprehension work books Level 6B (21-25)
Oak Meadow Lesson 7-10 Vocabulary (dictionary skills & alphabetizing): mosaic, righteous, personify, stanza, palace, citadel, eternity, theme, geometric, sewage, reincarnation, elaborate, sanitary, sacred, spiral, heir, subservient, humility, cocoon, shirk, ceremony, fiance, harmony, spontaneously, scholar, paradox, quietude, ambition, frugality
Adverbs: sentences containing “how” & “when” adverbs.

Wrote letter to pen pal. (emphasis on *present tense*)
wrote letter pretending to be in a *caste*.


MATH
Teaching Textbooks Lessons 89-108
percentages, multiplying & dividing decimals GEOMETRY: point & line segments, angles, types of angles, pairs of lines, polygons, perimeter, area, circles, geometric solids,
UNITS OF MEASURE: units for length, units for liquids, units for weight, metric system, combining units GRAPHING CONCEPTS: number line, measuring w/ a ruler, negative numbers


HISTORY
Oak Meadow: Ancient Civilizations & religious beliefs; Persia: Zoroastrianism: mono-theistic culture, art: stonework, rock wall carvings called *reliefs*, objects made of bronze, silver & gold, walls & domes paved w/ mosaics. India: Himalayan Mountains: highest in the world (Mt. Everest), India’s name comes from Indus River, 2 major religions: Hinduism (worship many gods) & Buddhism (8 fold path), caste system: Priests, Warriors, Traders, Servants, Outcasts. Family Relationships: close, extended family in one home, meal time important. China: established along 2 rivers: Yellow River & Long River, Girls & boys could mingle (play) as children but @ age 15 (girls) & 20 (boys) parents arranged marriages. Children expected to obey parents & women were expected to obey husbands. Boys were regarded as more valuable than girls, have high regard for elderly wisdom: researched Chinese Tea Ceremony, Confucius
Geography: locate countries on the map
Documentary: Pompeii: Vesuvias

Cultural: Business & artisan from Africa, learned about free trade business, how it bolsters economy & helps others. 


SCIENCE
Oak Meadow Lessons  7-11
Soil & Nutrients: 1)function of soil; difference between dirt & living soil 2) understand how plants use nutrients, how nutrients cycle in the environment & how compost is produced by soil organisms: fertilizer, bacteria & compost, soil food web. Stems & Transportation: 1)difference between herbaceous & woody plants, & functions of stems & wood 2) Understand & describe transportion of water & nutrient through specialized plant tissues 3) understand & describe function of leaves: what stems are primarily made of, function of xylem & phloem, photosynthesis. Photosynthesis: 1)importance of the process to all life on earth 2) able to describe process 3) transpiration: photosynthesis equation, why important, difference between atom & molecule, how gases enter & exit plants. Flowers & Plant Reproduction: 1)distinguish between angiosperms & gymnosperms 2) main parts of a flower 3) how flowers reproduce through pollination: 3 ways pollination can occur, define deciduous, main parts of a flower, importance of pollination. Plants Sense & Respond: 1) why leaves turn toward light (phototropism) 2) why roots grow down into soil & stems grow up (gravitropism) **Current Experiment**: plant in box w/ light only from one side: observe plants gradual movement toward light source (sun)



ART
marbling paper
self-portrait



PE
scooter 1 mile (20 min)
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 


I am so grateful that I live in an area where home-educating is a legal option.

Paper Marbling

One of Sammy's ancient cultures lessons included marbling paper as an art lesson.  It was very easy.

You add water to a flat container. Then you place a dot of paper on top and squeeze drops of ink paint on the dot. The paint will slowly spread across the surface of the water. When you have added the colors you want, you gently place your sheet of paper on top, wait a few seconds and then lift it up. the designs are one of a kind and not exactly repeatable.

It was actually very fun to do because every design is so different. It was fun to mix the paint colors and see what develops. That is ONE of the joys of home educating....all the fun YOU get to have as a parent.

Marbled papers can be used for all sorts of crafts and projects. The middles cut small sized pieces of paper to use as Artist Trading Cards. (they are about the size of a standard trading card, cut from various art papers) You could use the marbled papers as stationary, journal or book covers. Even background & decorative papers for scrapbooking! So many possibilities.

People will notice...

(This is reposted from my main blog because it has to do with home-educating)

We were all at the park today while the Mr. was across the street for an audition. I noticed a lovely woman with a pre-school aged son. She sat on a bench watching him play, initially. Then she began pushing him on the tire swing. They were having a conversation that was basically about making friends. She told him what a good job he did introducing himself and gave him suggestions on other ways he could make new playmates on the playground. It was reminiscent of conversations I used to have with oldest around the same age.

Oldest was staying close to the kiddos while I did a little writing. Later I moved closer to them while he relaxed under a shady tree. The middles, the toddler and her son were all playing nicely together. His mother eventually approached me to compliment me on how nice my children were with her son and to play with him. She was very sincere. I told her I thought it was because they were used to having a little brother around and also their older brother was a good example.

"Well, they all must have got it from somewhere." She said referring to me.

"Thank you." I responded, accepting her compliment.

She inquired how I felt about the age gaps. (oldest is 7.5 years older than #2 and #3 is 7 years older than the toddler) I told her , honestly, how much I really loved it, actually. Admitting how over whelmed I felt when the middles were younger being only 2 years apart. Plus, what a great help older kids are to younger ones.

"So..I have to ask then, what is your secret for such wonderful children? you've obviously done a really great job," she finally said.

I smiled, unsure how to answer. Do I say what I really *want* to say? Do I beat around the bush? Do I really have an answer to give? After a split second hesitation I finally decided to just go for it and respond how I honestly felt like answering.

"Well, if there is a secret, if I'm being honest, I know everyone can't do it but I really think it's due to homeschooling," I smiled. "I mean, I really love it. I tell everyone that I think everyone should homeschool. Life is just so short and your children have such short childhoods, it's so great to be able to spend all that time together. And since they are together so much, I think they realize, they've got to make it work because all they have is each other. I mean they have outside activities but for the most part, we're together most of the time. And when you are together so much, everything is magnified but you can address issues right then and there and really be on top of it."

I was ready for her to gently begin to walk away and smile politely but she stayed put and responded sincerely. We continued our conversation talking about the weather, our desire to go to the snow this season and the fact that she's from New York. I told her how I recognized the conversation I over heard her having with her son earlier, from conversations I used to have with oldest on how to make friends. She recommended a website for condo vacation rentals by owners.

I left feeling so encouraged. It's nice to hear compliments like that, right? It's reassuring. It was a great highlight of a wonderful day. And reminder that people are noticing, not that that is why we choose to parent well, but it's good to remember when we're tempted to NOT parent so well either.

October Learning Record

Being enrolled in a public Charter school requires us to meet with an "Education Specialist" every 20 days and turn in work samples to add to the children's portfolio of work and create a "learning record". These meeting used to stress me out, primarily because of the previous ES we used to have and partly because I tend to not be so organized.

This is what my LR looks like when I AM organized:

* * * * *

* * * * *

BIRDY

LANGUAGE ARTS
Writing Sample: compare & contrast essay
letter writing
daily journal entries
cursive writing; paragraphs (Thanksgiving poem)
Reading Comprehension Lessons 1-4 work book
Oak Meadow Lessons 5-7
Punctuation: recognition and proper usage of question marks & exclamation points
copied paragraphs & fixed missing punctuation marks
recognition of proper nouns & common nouns; copy a paragraph & fix capitalization of pn & cn
recognition of prepositions: copy paragraph & underline the prepositions

MATH
Teaching Textbooks:Lessons 33-48
perpendicular & parallel lines, (identifying) types of triangles; Scalene, Isoceles & Equilateral, Acute, Right, Obtuse, polygons, perimeter, area, intro to fractions, adding with 4 digits, regroupong, rounding & estimating w/ 4 digits, decimals; tenths & hundredths, decimals & fractions, decimals in words, dollars & decimals, dollars/cents/decimals, adding & subtracting decimals
multiplication speed drills to 12: from 15 min to 9 min.

SOCIAL STUDIES
Oak Meadow: Lessons 5-7
identify & sketch animals of local region/environment, sketch animals in their environment; squirrel, bat, rabbit, lizard, pigeon
foods & living quarters: bird: worms/insects-nests in trees, rabbits: grass, lives in a burrow, squirrel: nuts & live in trees, bats; fruit, live in caves, lizards: insects, live in gardens
identify and (begin) research local/regional native peoples/tribes: Chumash, Gabrielino, Cahuilla, Lauiseno, Tipal-ipal : foods & living quarters


SCIENCE
identify, harvest & dry: sunflowers seeds
inspect & observe peanut, sketch the inside of peanut
plant flowers in garden
farm animal observation: pigs, cows, goats, bee observations: hive, bee language & communication, matching animal eyes to the correct animal.

PE
rode bike 7 laps around block: (1.4 mi)
walk 1 mi

ART
crochet: shoelaces, cross-stitch, Paper Mache pumpkins
water color pencil: master copy of an abstract painting
sewing class: Made a BEE costume: sewing a seam, attaching appliqued stripes

FIELD TRIP
La County Fair
* * * * * 
* * * * *

SAMMY

        

LANGUAGE ARTS
letter writing, journal writing
Reading Comprehension work books Level 6A (10 lessons)
Vocabulary (dictionary skills & alphabetizing): plague, nomads, drought, famine, prophet, migrate, monotheism, faith, courage, justice, proverb, ethics
vocabulary words used in sentences
Creative writing: fictional story of a bully/under-dog
Retold/wrote story of Moses (rough draft: Ancient Civilizations)
Writing Sample: Compare-contrast essay

MATH
Teaching Textbooks Lessons 73-88
adding/subtracting a decimal & a whole number, multiplying a decimal & a whole number, multiplying decimals by 10, 100, 1000, zeros in the quotient w/ decimals, dividing 2 decimals, thousandths & decimals, dollars & cents, adding money, rounding decimals, comparison shopping, percents,

HISTORY
Oak Meadow: Ancient Civilizations & religious beliefs; Hebrews: Egypt: Abraham, David & Goliath, Moses, 10 Commandments,
Geography: locate & label Middle Eastern countries on the world map (accidentally located & labeld South American countries instead!)

SCIENCE
Oak Meadow
Green plants: 1.basic anatomy & biological composition of a seed 2. basic requirements for seed germination & growth 3. several methods of seed dispersal in nature: difference between growth & reproduction of plants & animals, 3 ways plants are important to Earth, 3 parts of seed (seed coat, embryo, endosperm), importance of each part, 3 requirements for seed germination/growth, 3 ways seeds can be dispersed
Seedlings: 1. Identify & describe structure & function of basic parts of green plants: roots, stems & leaves: explained functions of parts of a green plant: leaves, stem, roots, root hairs, bud, bud scale. Described 2 main types of root systems, main functions of roots in green plants: describe 3 functions, roles of leaves in function of plant, 3 parts of plant commonly eaten by humans
Farm animal observation: cows, pigs, goats

ART
Mastered water color pencils
cake water colors, perspective drawing
Paper Mache Pumpkin

PE
football: played various positions: receiver, lineman
rode bike around block 6 x = 1.2 mi
rebounder

FIELD TRIP
La County Fair
* * * * *
* * * * *

Pretty impressive, huh? It looks impressive to me BUT they can certainly accomplish more than this.

It would help if I kept a log of work DAILY instead of trying to keep track only every 20 days, try to remember, look back their work. Duh. I know. The first two meetings of the year I was very over whelmed with my own school so I wasn't as prepared for our LR meetings and did not create a LR at all. I think I am back on my game now though.

Paper Mache Pumpkin

This month the middles (4th & 6th grader) tried paper mache for the first time. They created pumpkins. I thought they would find this craft fun and easy. As usual we needed to wing it.

The process involves inflating a balloon and covering it with strips of starched tissue paper. There wasn't ANY orange tissue paper at the store, believe it or not. So I purchased orange paper napkins instead. They tore them into strips but did not take apart the layers. I think it could have been smoother if they did. Once the paper is dry, they drew a face with a black sharpie and then the balloon is popped or deflated.

I think they came out adorable!!!

(even though we only got a pic of one)