How to Write a Lab Report

 Tomorrow the Composition class is going to write their DNA extraction lab reports for Biology.  I use a simple Lab Report Rubric and MLA style citations.  But kids still struggle.  Here is a slide deck I prepared to help kids write their lab reports.  I’ve found that kids with learning differences appreciate a slide deck and find it enormously helpful.  I have no idea why.  I just know it works.  They can organize their thoughts and then rewrite the report into a document.  Here, here, and here are some sample DNA extraction reports.

My favorite used book outlets are….

 I buy loads of used books for my classes and as gifts.  Many used books look like new.  Here are a few of my favorite used book (and media) outlets.  

1. Library Book Sales. The local library system has monthly sales.  I buy cook books, garden books, and quilting books as gifts for family.  I have a friend who teaches in Alaska.  I send her three or four big boxes with children’s books and DVDs each year, most of which I buy at the library sales.  Our church has a dedicated thrift store which posts on Facebook.  Local thrift stores offer bargains on homeschool textbooks.  Our friend manages the local book sale at the library, which rejects all textbooks.  Her husband drops them off and we tote them to the church thrift store.

2. Amazon and eBay often have hard to find books listed on their sites.  Additionally, many charities list books donated, such as Saxon Math, on eBay or Amazon.  Good Will online has homeschool textbooks, too.  However, the list prices and shipping cost are exorbitant compared to other online sites.

3.  I do use abebooks; my favorite is thriftbooks. Often their site has the best prices.  Additionally, they offer points toward a free book.  If the price on book is close to another site’s I’ll chose thriftbooks and bank the  points.  

4.   You may want to check the Apologia Facebook group.  The lot prices set can be fair, especially on like-new items.  However, if you aren’t too picky, piecing together a set of textbooks is usually cheaper.  Our local Co-op has a book swap at the fall lunch in the park, just before Co-op resumes.

5.  One more tip…I love Ollie’s   I buy activity books, cook books, hobby books, etc, all new.  This is a great outlet for summer review books.  I like to buy a book, such as Curious George, and combine it with a Curious George monkey toy.   (Kohl’s Cares is a great place to buy both the toy and the book.  I buy a big lot and save the book/toy set as birthday and Christmas presents.)

Things you never knew you needed…

Wow! Good Will online has an IQ test.  In one of my grad classes, we took or administered loads of IQ tests.  I am so tempted to bid on this!

Number the Stars

 We just started Number the Stars with a bit of History, the Rescue in Denmark, and the video below of King Christian X riding through Copenhagen on his horse—all aspects of the book.  I taught a bit about the Holocaust before we started.  I’m using these guides, a Book Study and Number the Stars.  I’m using this Film Review Guide between Number the Stars and Miracle by Midnight. We all read Why 90% Survived and Rescue in Denmark.  Below are maps and timelines, too.

Bye-bye, Tokyo!

 

A few pix from Japan….

 

Homeschooling Abroad

 We’re visiting Okinawa, Japan and staying on base at Kadena AFB.  Many military families homeschool their children, as they move from base to base.  What about Japanese families?  In Japan Homeschooling is permitted at age 14, because high school is optional.  Here is a bit more about Japanese homeschooling. I found an article about the laws governing homeschooling in Europe; none of which impacts families living on a military base.  Here is a bit of background about ‘home education’ in the U.K.  Here is an article, ‘Why Homeschooling is unnecessary in Germany’, describing the homeschool ban.  Evidently, families can form a school together; however, they may not attend one day Co-op classes, common here in the U.S.  Here is an outline of the rules in different Canadian provinces—which seem to vary greatly, just as different states in the U.S. do.  Look at this post about homeschooling in China.  Yikes!  I am blessed  to teach at a Co-op in Virginia with devout families, making homeschooling feasible and a joy.  Cheers to those families who persevere despite touch circumstances.