Still refining our homeschool program.

We are working on the homeschool program for Paul, ten.  He is a rising fifth grader.  Here is the link with our current program.  We just added English Anthology and are adding Warriner’s English and composition.  Why?  We do not have enough composition in our curriculum.  Our focus is on the basics: Math, Science, English, and History.  English includes reading, grammar, vocabulary, grammar, handwriting, and composition.  We have some sort of reading and handwriting everyday.  We will start staggering grammar, vocabulary, and composition.  Sound rigorous?  Look at he curricular for private and online academic schools.  

Want more science? Grow a garden!

Are you stuck for summer ideas?  Have you considered a container garden?  Our little household is under strict quarantine.  We have been growing loads of vegetable and flower plants from seed.  Nope, it’s not too late.  We are trying all sorts of containers: plant pots, shopping bags, and a felt grow bag.  You can, too! Here is a link showing how to use IKEA shopping bags.  If you want your experiment to be scientific, use the same amount of soil, water, and number of seeds in each bag.  So, how does your garden grow?  Here is a pix of ours.  Yes, the shopping bags are from Aldi.

Start used book shopping now!

It looks as though many people are home-schooling this fall.  Don’t hesitate!  Prices are rising on eBay and Amazon.  Competition is increasing, too.  I have had two recent purchases canceled because the order was double-booked, someone else placed the order for the same textbook almost at the same time.  This is especially true of books priced well at Abebooks.  Apologia has a 25% discount on their books now.  Finalize your plans and start ordering!

Start shopping for Fall.

More science textbooks just arrived.  I shop used books—especially at Good Will.  I bought a fifth grade English anthology, too.  Yes, this set is from 1996.  I’m looking for literature.  Take some time and determine next year’s curriculum.  You can’t go wrong with any of the Young Explorers Series for elementary science.  Yes, the notebooking journals are worth it.  (Abebooks, eBay, and Amazon have loads of used copies.). 

Where do you start?  Are you going with an online school?  Here are Roman Catholic home-school programs.  Here are Christian home-school programs.  The online school will shape your curricular decisions.  For now, our little household hosts a teen enrolled in Kolbe.  The ten year old, Paul, is enrolled in public school.  He has been on a home-school program since March.  For now, we are using Saxon 6/5, Houghlin Mifflin Grade 5 Reading, Apologia Young Explorers Series, Sea to Shining Sea, Vocabulary Workshop A, Easy Grammar Grade 5 and 6, and Handwriting.  We work three hours each morning, with extra reading in the afternoon and evening.  Paul finishes a page or two from each lesson each morning.  

As a science teacher, I like the Young Explorers series.  Use the notebooking journals; they have a daily schedule.  There are seven different science books.  I use series for Math, History, English, and Science.  When a Paul completes a textbook, I select another book in the series, or at the next grade level.  Don’t complicate your curriculum.  If your child does Saxon Math 5/4 and struggles, go back to 3 or reduce the pace.  Assign 10 problems, not 15 each day.  I am using older anthologies for Reading.  These are basal readers with stories, poems, literature.  Round out your curriculum with book reports, quizzes, and projects.  

Now that you have a core curriculum, start shopping.  Allow plenty of time to locate bargains in used books and workbooks.  Yes, I use workbooks and notebooking journals.  Paul likes them; when he completes one or two pages, he knows he has finished that subject for the day.  Don’t overthink it.  Just do it!

Apologia Biology: Summer Projects

Want to get a head start for Biology in the Fall?  Do these labs this summer: Experiment 11.1 Flower Anatomy and Experiment 11.2 Fruit Classification. (These are in the new, third edition.  Similar experiments are in Modules 14 and 15 of the second edition.). I usually teach the Botany modules in the spring, just when flowers and fruits are expensive—especially for a large Co-op class.  Let’s do these two labs this summer, when flowers and fruits are cheap.  The last time I did Flower Anatomy, the class had fake flowers because they were much cheaper.  Right now, there are lilies in bloom—perfect for stamen and carpels.  Examine fruit from the garden: tomatoes, cucumbers, peas, and strawberries.  Take loads of pictures, notes, and label everything.  Look at you!  Two experiments done!

Egyptian Camp

Like you, our little household is staring down three months of summer.  Have you thought about planning a camp?  One fun theme is Egyptian Camp.  Make Fruit Mummies with natron salts.  Start with a book.  Mummify your orange on the first day; it will need time to dry.  While it dries, make canoptic jars with clay.  Decorate the jars with hieroglyphs.  Make and decorate a paper mache Pharaoh Mask.  Make and play Mancala.  Here are some craft ideas for camp.  How about making an amulet?  Try to build cardboard pyramids.  Here are more ideas.  I love the hot dog mummy.  You may want to buy hieroglyphic stencils.  Below is Pharoah, Pharoah to the tune of Louis Louis.

Portfolios

It is June—portfolio season. Some states require home-school families to submit portfolios and have them reviewed by a certified teacher.  Keep records.  Start a blog with notes.  I use Google Classroom.  Our little household take photos of every activity.  We scan completed work and graded tests.  I attach documents to the graded assignments in Classroom.  I set up separate classes to make grading easier.  Keep a log of books your child reads.  Have your kids type and edit in Google Docs to make it easy to have a copy.  Teens can collect and scan work for a digital portfolio to submit.  Yes!  I take photos, scan docs, make notes, and enter grades all the time!  You should, too!

Let’s Read!

I love to read.  Make sure your child reads a book each week.  Here are sources of free ebooks.  (Good Will Has kindle listings all the time.).  You may be able to get a library card online from your local library.  Our local system has literally thousands of ebooks and free audio books.  Start with Classic books.  Here Is a list of classics for kids 8-12.  Read or listen to the classics together.  Set a timer for 30 minutes a day.  Get on this!

Wide Range Digital resources.

The Covid home-school experiment has opened up a vast number of resources.  Here Is a long list.  Let’s organize these sites a bit.  First up is Zaner-Bloser Handwriting.  We practice hand-writing nearly every day.  Try Scholastic before the company takes down the ‘Learn at Home’ resources.  McGraw Hill has resources for every subject.  Take a look and download anything you like now.  If fact, I save loads of materials to Google Classroom and Drive for my classes.  Usually, it is tough to find interesting supplemental materials.  I am taking advantage of all the freebies now—like 121 Tools.

Yes! Use textbooks.

I just concluded an extended test of Choice Boards.  Here, here, and here are examples.  Our fourth grade grandson, Paul, is enrolled in a local public school.  (We home-school a close friend’s daughter and teach Co-op science classes.). Paul spent a total of four hours each week completing a week’s worth of schooling. The assignments were very disparate.

Paul also spent three 1/2 hours each morning on my curriculum.  I am even more convinced kids need a dedicated, consistent, coherent curriculum, not the latest education fad.  Here  is our schedule.  You know what works?  Textbooks, journals, and workbooks.  The textbooks are all traditional.  We use an older Reading Anthology, here, with a wide variety of literature.

What are we using?  English includes the following: Reading, Vocabulary Workshop, Grammar, and Handwriting.  Science is Chemistry and Physics; History is Sea to Shining Sea.  Yes, we use the Journaling Notebook for Science and the Workbook for History.  Math is Saxon 6/5.  Will we finish everything this summer? Probably not.  But, Paul will be much better positioned in the Fall.