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. 

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