Spanish Class

Last week J & C started their first Spanish co-op class. I wanted to be there. I really should have been there! But I couldn't be. They were in perfectly capable hands. Juan got them there in one piece, fed, dressed, and on time! But he failed. He forgot to take a picture. Any kind of picture would have sufficed. Them in front of their classroom, them walking into the building, heck even a picture of them leaving the building would have been great. Instead he scoffed "You're lucky we got there!"

So I leave you with all I have of that day... the only image my sad and uncreative imagination could come up with...

They brought home a folder that had their work for the day, along with a homework assignment. I don't know why the image is upside down but it won't turn.

We spent a big chunk of an afternoon poring over magazines. We had to find images that matched the Spanish phrase. I planned on buying a magazine but Jayden decided his old Lego comics were perfect for the project.

 

They actually really enjoyed the class. Hopefully dad remembers a picture for their second class. Better late than never, right?

Week 2!

Last week was a rough second week of school for us! A big case of the cooties hit our house and we each took turns being sick, some of us more than once! We still managed to get some school work done.

In history we read about the early Greeks, also known as the Mycenaeans. They were great fighters. They were also civilized; they had jobs, lived in houses, and even went to school. They were strong, but the barbarians that defeated them were stronger.

J did his mapwork and they both colored a Greek war chariot.

Continuing our weather unit, we did our first lab. We learned how thermometers work. There is a liquid in thermometers that rises depending on how hot it gets. We charted various temperatures, including water that had been sitting out for two hours, as well as water that had several cubes of ice in it.

We snuck in some extra math by baking cinnamon apple muffins!

During the week I read a couple of short stories from this amazing book. Apparently I am the only one here who enjoys a good Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle story though, so we shelved it for now.

Soccer & Family Fun!

Last weekend Caitlin started soccer again. She is so excited! I know I am ridiculous, but I took a whole bunch of pictures! She is just too cute in her soccer uniform!

Later that afternoon we went on bumper cars, go kart racing, and had massive amounts of ice cream.

 We finished off our day with a beautiful double rainbow!

First week of school down!

We started school on Monday, September 1st.

Apart from our regular math & language arts work, we jumped right back into our history book! Last week we read about life in early Crete. This is the beginning of our Greece unit, which means Jayden is super excited. We read about their "sport" (bull jumping), Theseus and the Minotaur, as well as what happened in Crete after Thera's volcano.

Jayden did some map work and they both colored a picture. They also worked on a maze (not pictured) that led Theseus to the minotaur.

 

Our first science unit began with weather. We read And now... the Weather by Anita Ganeri. We read about thermometers, rain gauges, and clouds.

 

Jayden is very excited to be learning cursive. His handwriting is so much better in cursive! The first full word he learned to write is dad.

 We both really like the Handwriting Without Tears program!

We have been spending lots of time at the library, which is such a peaceful time! We do school work there in the afternoon. We take turns reading to each other before we read to ourselves.

 This is my favorite picture from last week! <3

2014-2015 Curriculum

This year I will be homeschooling a 3rd grader and a kindergartner!

We decided to change the names of all of our school subjects and use Harry Potter  terminology! So for the time being, this is what our curriculum will look like:


Jayden:

Arithmancy (MATH) daily- 
Math in Focus 3A & 3B textbooks & workbooks, as well as various manipulatives

Defense Against the Dark Arts (LANGUAGE ARTS) daily-
Growing with Grammar
Winning with Writing
Soaring with Spelling
HWOT- Cursive
Monthly writing club


Caitlin:
Arithmancy-
Math in Focus 1A & 1B textbooks & workbooks, as well as various manipulatives


Defense Against the Dark Arts (LANGUAGE ARTS)-
Soaring with Spelling
Monthly writing club

Divination (CALENDAR WORK)-
Daily Learning Notebook (we will only use the "What Day Is It?" page)


Both:
Potions (SCIENCE) 2x/wk-
R.E.A.L Science Odyssey- Earth & Space 

Here is an excerpt from the website that talks about what we will be studying:
"Topics include weather, seasons, the earth, minerals, rocks, our solar system, and space. Students study the weather and atmosphere with several hands-on labs including making an anemometer, a rain gauge, and water cycle in a bowl. Rocks and minerals are studied in depth with students identifying their samples through the same tests used by geologists. Each planet in our solar system is studied individually as students make their own planet book. Earth & Space has recently been revised to include changes to the status of Pluto and the definition of planet."

Muggle Studies (HISTORY) 1x/wk-
SOTW (We got through half of this book last year so we will finish it up this year). Other materials include our handy dandy SOTW Activity Book, as well as History Pockets- Ancient Civilizations. This will also cover geography since we do map work as well.

Muggle Music (MUSIC) 1-2x/wk-
MusIQ Level 1

Muggle Language (SPANISH) daily-
J & C are enrolled in a weekly Spanish co-op homeschool class. Through games, stories, songs, and interactive activities our children will practice colors, numbers, common items, food, animals, clothing, days/ dates, greetings, and more! We will also practice with them daily at home.

Quidditch (SPORTS)-
Fall:
Both children will continue karate. Caitlin will also do soccer.

Future sports TBD.
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We also have a book list that we will get through this year.

Apart from LA and math, all other subjects will take place on an alternating schedule.

Caitlin will join us for science, spanish, music, and history (all at an appropriate level). Because she is not required to do anything for another year (kindergarten is not mandatory here), we will do as much or as little as she wants. She usually tends to want to do whatever Jayden is doing, which turns out great!

I think that's all! Stay tuned for any changes. :)