Learning Notes 1/17/11-2/4/11

(I have included three weeks of learning notes to get caught up. If I don't carve out the time to post it right away the time slips away and then three weeks go by! How is that possible? I really, really, need to come up with a schedule!!)

Week 20, 21, and 22~ Homeschooling week 3, 4, and 5

Book Work

Julia~

*Faith and Life Chapter 13& 14- written narrations

*Saxon Math 7/6- lessons 4&5, test 1

*Multiplication drill sheets

*Also reviewing Math fundamentals (review, review, review!!)

*English 6- lesson 17 and detailed review of past lessons including nouns in the possessive and objective case

*Spelling 6- lesson 3&4

*Continued work on story

*Working on book report of a biography about George Lucas (creative writing class)

*Read-

Books 1-7of the The Fairy Tale Detectives (The Sisters Grimm, Book 1) (Bk. 1)

The Heroes of Olympus, Book One: The Lost Hero

**Julia and I went out for dessert one night to discuss chapter one of You Can Become A Saint

(Julia was sick the second week of this block of school with the flu. It was a down week for her.)

Mary Jane~

*Baltimore Catechism review with Mom

*Saxon 5/4 lessons 7-13

*multiplication drill sheets

*English 4 pg 87-96

*Handwriting 72-78

*Spelling workout pg. 78-88

*Reading comprehension from Seton

*MCP Word study level D-(workbook that the school gave us) pg. 81-94

-various read alouds continuing Farmer Boy

-wrote paper on "A Time In Your Life When God's Providence Was Present" (for Little House Class)

-drew diagram of a fish and labeled. Included: habitat, diet, and senses. Wrote a small paragraph on how this information would help you catch one? (Little House Class)

Patrick~

*Baltimore Catechism review with Mom

*timed math drills

*MCP Math B pg. 151-169

*Voyages in English pg. 102-113

*MCP phonics B (we have been doing this for the last 4 weeks and I forgot to add this in, this was also sent home from school. We are up to page 130.)

*Spelling Workout- pg. 78-92

* Reading Vacation under Volcano by Mary Pope Osborne Made model of Mt. Vesuvius and had to write down three facts about Pompeii

* Reading- various readers from Library. I can really see him starting to enjoy reading.

Catherine~

*Math worksheets +1 and +2

*MCP math K pg. 137-151

* skip counting 2's, 5's, 10's

*MCP phonics pg. 21-33

* Various easy readers (Catherine is wanting to read everything now!! I am going to encourage this big time!)

EXTRA CURRICULAR

-day at Enrichment Academy one day a week

-Field trip to Frankfort to visit Kentucky's State Capital and participated in a Pro Life rally in the rotunda.

EVERYTHING ELSE

-Made Borax snowflakes (ours weren't as pretty as Martha's but it was very cool!)

-Made these pretty pictures from this website

-Science- This book Earth and Space (Library of Science) by Usborne is our spine. We

finally started working on our Astronomy notebooks. Lessons included the Universe, Galaxies, and Stars.

-Patrick and Catherine pulled out Usborne Science Activities, Vol. 2 and completed a couple of experiments. I love this book. The supplies and directions are easy enough for a kid to pull together and do independently.

Learning Notes 1/10/11-1/14/11

Week 20 ~ Homeschooling week 2

BOOK WORK

Julia~

*Faith and Life Chapter 12- narration

*You Can Become a Saint- Ch. 1 and correlating workbook pages (continued this week)

*Saxon math 7/6 lessons 1,2,3

*multiplication facts drills

*English 6 lessons 9~16

*Voyages in English pg. 199 exercise 11, pg. 200 exercise 12, pg. 207-208 exercise 20

*Spelling list - pg. 8-11

*Writing- Julia is writing a story (a long story!)

*read-

Deception (The Grace Mysteries)

Exile (The Grace Mysteries)

Feud (The Grace Mysteries)

Celandine: Book 2 in the Touchstone Trilogy

Dear America

Mirror, Mirror on the Wall: The Diary of Bess Brennan--The Perkins School for the Blind, 1932 (Dear America)

Mary Jane~

*Faith and Life ch. read and reviewed past lessons with mom

*Saxon 5/4 lessons 5-7

*multiplication drills

*English 4 pg 82-86

*Handwriting pg 68-72

*Spelling Workout- pg. 74-77

*reading comprehension exercises from Seton Reading Comprehension pg 8-12

*Reading-

Farmer Boy (Little House)

Patrick~

*Religion- Faith and Life chapter 20

* timed math drills,

*MCP Math B pg 147-150

* completed 2 pictures from Draw, Write, Now with copywork

* Voyages in English grade 2 pg 97-101

*Spelling Workout lesson 19 pg 77-80

*read various readers (from library)

Catherine~

*Math worksheets +1 and +2

MCP Math K pg 130-136

*skip counting 2's, 5's, 10's

* MCP Phonics (starting off with phonics book 4)

pg 13-20

*Bob books, and various readers

EXTRA CURRICULAR

spent day at Enrichment Academy

EVERYTHING ELSE

*snow day- they played outside most of the day after the basics were completed. Sledding and snow angels, lots of fun stuff.

*There were not a lot of extras this week. We did have a snow day. I realized that if I do not plan ahead for the art projects they just don't happen.

Learning Notes 1/3-1/7/11

Week 19 ~ Homeschooling week 1

BOOK WORK

Julia~

*Faith and Life Chapter 11- narration

*You Can Become a Saint- Ch. 1 and correlating workbook pages

*Catholic Girls Guide- The Sunflower~ discussed with mom, wrote a narration

*Saxon math 7/6 lessons 70-72

*multiplication facts drills

*English 6 lessons 1~8

*Voyages in English pg. 189 exercise 2, pg. 190 exercise 5, pg. 192 exercise 6, pg. 195

*Wordly Wise word list 1, lessons a-d

*Spelling list 1- pg. 1-5

*copywork- Poem

*read-

Assassin (The Grace Mysteries)

Betrayal (The Grace Mysteries)

Conspiracy (The Grace Mysteries)

Betsy and the Great World (Betsy-Tacy)

The Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book Five: Last Olympian


Mary Jane~

*Faith and Life ch. 15 read and reviewed over with mom

*Saxon 5/4 lessons 1-4

*multiplication drills

*English 4 pg 75,77,79,81

*Handwriting pg 63-67

*spelling list (made by mom) exercises throughout week

*reading comprehension exercises

*Reading-

Farmer Boy (Little House)

Patrick~

*Religion- Faith and Life chapter 20

* Math worksheets from here on subtraction with regrouping and timed math drills

* completed 4 pictures from Draw, Write, Now with copywork

*completed pages 1-10 English 2 for Young Catholics

completed lessons of spelling words given by mom

*read Polar Bears Past Bedtime by Mary Pope Osborne

and various readers

Catherine~

*Math worksheets +1 and +2

*skip counting 2's, 5's, 10's

* Phonics pages from workbook (that I had on hand)

*Bob books, and various readers

EXTRA CURRICULAR

spent day at Enrichment Academy

EVERYTHING ELSE

*made winter mittens

*drew Winter Village pictures from Art Projects for Kids

* Read from Children's First Encyclopedia and created bark rubbings

*made Epiphany crown cake

*made stained glass windows with crayon shavings and wax paper

*had fun visiting with Grandpa!!!

Winter~ Spring Term 2011

I wanted to put up a list of the materials we are using. This is what we are starting out with. I may tweak this as we move along through our year. I really want to eliminate any busy work. I can become a task master when it comes to workbooks. I am constantly reminding myself that I am to use them as a tool to teach and not just place in front of them to "do the next page". Excuse my ramble.

This is what we are using for the second semester

Julia grade 6

Religion:

*You Can Become a Saint and workbook

*The Catholic Girl's Guide; Counsels and Devotions for Girls in the Ordinary Walks of Life, and in Particular for the Children of Mary

*Credo: I Believe (Faith and Life Series, Book 5) revised edition

*The Ignatius Bible: Revised Standard Version - Second Catholic Edition

Math:

Math 7 / 6: Homeschool Set

Language Arts:

Voyages in English, Grade 6

English 6 by Seton

Spelling 6 by Seton

Wordly Wise Book 3

Latin:

Latina Christiana I Student Book (Latin Edition)

Science:

We are picking a theme a month and going from there.

History:

There is a lot of history here where we live. We are going to explore that, especially when the weather gets a little nicer.

Julia loves to read and write. (Thankfully) So there is no need for a workbook regarding her handwriting. The children are taking enrichment classes one day a week.

Julia is taking:

Creative Writing

Photography

Illustrating Stories

Pen and Ink drawing

Mary Jane grade 4

Religion:

The Ignatius Bible: Revised Standard Version - Second Catholic Edition

Jesus Our Guide: Book 4

Math:

Math 54: Homeschool Kit

Language Arts:

English 4 by Seton

Modern Curriculum Press Word Study: Level D (MCP)

Spelling Workout: Level D

Handwriting 4 by Seton

Latin:

Prima Latina Student Book: Introduction to Christian Latin (Classical Trivium Core)

Science:

We are picking a theme a month and going from there.

History:

There is a lot of history here where we live. We are going to explore that, especially when the weather gets a little nicer.

Enrichment Classes:

Sign Language

Little House- Explores the Little House on the Prairie Books by Laura Ingalls Wilder and completes activities related to the book.

Art

Patrick grade 2

Religion:

Jesus Our Life: Book 2

The New Saint Joseph First Communion Catechism

Math:

Modern Curriculum Press Mathematics Level B

Math Drills

Language Arts:

Voyages in English 2

Spelling Workout, Level B (Student Edition)

Phonics Workbook Level B (Modern Curriculum Press) (Full Color Edition)

Handwriting- Palmer method (not crazy about this, we are finishing the workbook from school)

Science:

We are picking a theme a month and going from there.

History:

There is a lot of history here where we live. We are going to explore that, especially when the weather gets a little nicer.

Enrichment:

Mad Science

Time Travelers- This is an all boys class. They read The Magic Tree House books by Mary Pope Osborne and pull activities from there to learn about different time periods or animals.

Art

Catherine- grade K

The New Saint Joseph First Communion Catechism

Phonics Workbook: Level A (MCP)

Modern Curriculum Press Mathematics, Level K

Catherine has just started reading so her "curriculum" is heavy on the books. We are making a lot of trips to the library for readers and story books.

All of the children are making a scrapbook. We are calling it "Our United States" using the state books by Sleeping Bear Press.

I am fortunate to have some of these on hand. I have enough to take us into the summer and then I am going to see if I can get the rest from the library.

Well, these are my "official" students and our materials.

Seasonal Plans~January

For January

Exploring Nature~

Observe full wolf moon

Observe birds daily~make a bird chart

Keep track of temperatures~and maybe snowfall

Go stargazing in our backyard

Make a moon phases flip book

Being Artistic~arts and crafts

Make pinecone bird feeders and hang them up

Copy poem- Winter Moon

make paper snowflakes

make paper winter mittens

Exploring Our World~ outings

Weekly Nature Hike

Field trip to the local planetarium

This is what I have so far. I am going to add to this list as I find things or get some more ideas.