Gotta Have a Good Foundation

Math is one of those subjects that builds on itself. You gotta know the simple facts to do the more difficult problems.

We have been using Right Start math for a few years now (Levels A-C). I love the fact it stresses mental math. I love its use of manipulatives. I love the games. However, I do not love the way it teaches subtraction. Maybe it's just me, but I don't get it. I have poured over the explanations and still can't get a grasp of it. I tried teaching it to Magnus and he picked up a bit, but if I don't understand their way of doing it and can't adequately teach it, he isn't really going to understand it either. Besides, the past few weeks he has been doing geometry. I don't think he needs to be learning how to use a t-square and a triangle if he can't subtract 15 from 28. So, we're putting it on the shelf for awhile.

In all honesty, my life just got a bit easier. Thane just finished Level B and was moving onto C. I am not going to waste my (or his) time with the beginning of Level C. I am going to teach both he and Magnus together!

I have purchased the Blue Series from Math Mammoth. This series is grouped by topic. We're going to start from ground zero with subtraction and work through the books together. As we are learning the subtraction facts, they'll be getting a great review of their math facts.

We're going to be a little "math heavy" for the last part of this school year. It's a subject that has not been given a place of priority in our school and that needs to change. Along with Math Mammoth, we will also be doing the following:

* Fridays will be set aside for other topics of math such as fractions, telling time, graphing, money, ect. while we are focusing on subtraction. They been introduced to these topics and I want to make sure they retain their skills. Fridays will include games, literature, and "living math".

* Playing more games. We have the Right Start game set already. I just need to take some time to plan some into our week. I have also purchased the Math Noodlers Game, printed off this fun game, and checked out Family Math from the library.

*Reading books about the different topics/skills. We have a pretty good library system and I plan to utilize it by getting books off this list and this list. Magnus especially likes learning this way.

*"Living" out math. As and example, I will have them help me look for the better deal at the grocery store, measure ingredients for recipes, pay for items they buy with their allowance instead of me handing the correct amount of money to the clerk. I will be keeping an eye open for learning opportunities.

**For the record, I still LOVE Right Start!**

Weekly Report...Week 26

Thank you for the "get well" wishes I received last week. The suffering was minimal this week. Overall, we had a good week. Here's the breakdown of the week (I just wanted to make sure I used the word "week" at the end of every sentence...week)...

History (Both)
"The Regulars are coming! The Regulars are coming!"
Paul Revere and the Battles of Lexington and Concord were the topics we studied this week. I read "And Then What Happened, Paul Revere" by Fritz, the boys added to their timeline, Magnus read "Mr. Revere and I" by Lawson, and the boys made a pop-up of Paul Revere's ride.
Oh, and we, of course, watched the relevant episodes of Liberty's Kids.


Science (Both)
Were learning about the properties of water. I wasn't very keen on this topic, but it is quite interesting. We discussed adhesion and cohesion as well as capillary attraction. The first experiment we did was to pick up a cookie sheet off of a dry surface. It was a piece of cake. Then I placed a small puddle of water on the surface before putting the cookie sheet on it. Wowzers! The water had adhered itself to both surfaces making it difficult to pick it up. The boys thought that was cool.
The next experiment we did was pouring water from a pitcher into a glass but doing it from about a foot away and at an angle. Wanna know how we did it and how it worked?


We used a piece of twine for the water to adhere to. It was neat.

Next we tested the absorbency (capillary attraction) of a coffee filter, paper towel, and copy paper.


Language Arts (Magnus)

Writing...He worked on key word outlining and the "which" clause again. He has demonstrated proficiency in this so we'll move onto Lesson 2 of IEW SWI A next week.

Spelling...He is doing good. Nothing exciting to report. How exciting can spelling be really? And no, I have not seen Akeelah and the Bee.

MCT Poetry...We are LOVING this unit!!! I blogged about our experience with it so far. If you missed it, I encourage you to view the poems Magnus wrote here and here and the one Thane composed here.

Language Arts (Thane)

Writing...He completed week 5 of WWE. He wasn't too happy when we got to day 4 and he had to copy his narration he dictated to me. I bet next week he'll give me a 4 worder.

Reading...He completed some episodes of Headsprout.com and is working through reading Sam the Minuteman with me. It is a bit of a challenge, but he is doing good.

Math

Magnus...He drew equilateral triangles with his drawing tools and learned about fractions as he divided them.

Thane...Learned about perimeter. It took him awhile to grasp the concept (which surprised me), but after a couple days of doing it, he understands now. He also learned what a diagonal is and how to measure it.

Latin (Magnus)
We actually DID something! I had him review the chants and watch the grammar portion of chapter 2 again. There is a great possibility he may be taking a LFC A class next year, so I am not as stressed about not getting it done. I'm actually thinking about ditching LFC A now and maybe working through Minimus. We'll see.

Fun Day Friday
We finished up our history projects, did our picture study of NC Wyeth's, "In a Dream I meet General Washington"...

...went to the library to get books on how to draw dragons. They'll spend the rest of the afternoon pouring over them and fine tuning their skills. We also headed to the park to meet up with our homeschool friends. Nothin' like a little nerf gun and light saber!

Activities

Monday...?
Tuesday...Drama (Magnus) and AWANA (Both...Thane earned his patch for his second book!)
Wednesday...Fencing (Magnus)
Thursday...nada
Friday...Fun Day and Park Day with our Homeschool Friends.

Thanks for stopping by! Hopefully you'll tune in next week too!

The Lair by Magnus

We talked about the way poets use rhyme within their works in our Music of the Hemispheres (MCT) book. We discussed pattering and assigning the lines of poetry a letter of the alphabet. Here is an "A-A-B-B" poem Magnus wrote:

The dark night crept in the lair.
The stench of scorched bones fills the air.
The wind howls and the mist churns.
The dragon sleeps while the fire burns.

The Death Dealer by Thane

After watching Magnus create his poems and illustrate them, Thane wanted to get involved. He came up with most of this on his own. I helped with the word "thus".
This is his poem:

The dragon waits in his cave.
The water drips from the rocks.
He breathes a fire wave.
Death he thus gave.

The Mermaid by Magnus

A couple weeks ago I wrote about one of Magnus' poetry assignments (I am using that term loosely) from Michale Clay Thompson's Poetry curriculum, Music of the Hemispheres. In case you missed it, here it is:

Poetry...Music of the Hemispheres by Michael Clay Thompson is brilliant! The discussion of the various poetic elements is gently laid out and easy to understand. Magnus wrote his own line of poetry this week. He thought of something that makes sound and then chose words to describe that something using words that sound like that something. Clear as mud? Here is what he wrote:

She searches and surfs the waves seeking a sleepy peace.

He was writing about the waves at the beach. See how his choice of words (she, searches, surfs, seeking, sleepy, peace) and their placement gives you the sense of the waves movement? Brilliant! Magnus also painted the scene with watercolor paints.

I wanted to share the finished product with you...

Picture Study Our Way

As a way to incorporate more of Charlotte Mason's ideas into our homeschool, I have introduced the boys to picture study. I was a little hesitant, at first, as I was unsure of their reaction. I didn't want to be faced with resistance. Let me go on record as saying, "This is one of their favorite times during our week!" We have lively discussions about how this week's piece is different or similar than last week's, what we appreciate about it and what we don't, and what the artist may have been feeling or experiencing during the time he/she painted it.

Let me break it down for you:

1. I choose an artist to study for 6-8 weeks.

We have been studying NC Wyeth these past few weeks. It was a totally strategic plan on my part to introduce picture study with an artist who clearly has great works for boys to study.

2. I choose 6-8 works the artist created for the boys to study.

Here are a few we have looked at:




3. The first day I introduce the artist, I read a short biography and the boys fill out a biography page. We are using the free ones offered at www.notebookingpages.com.

4. I hand the boys their own copy of the work.

I purchased these cards from Dover.

5. I give them a few minutes to look at it and then the discussion begins.

I found this list of questions to use as a guide. I say "a guide" because I don't want this time to be scripted. I want the discussion to flow...and boy, does it ever!

I don't tell the boys the name of the work because I like to see what title they would give it. They like this part of the discussion. I write their title on the back of the card and then we place them in their binders.

Oh...the binders...almost forgot. We are using 3 ring binders and placing the pictures in these photo sleeves. The little business card size pocket in the upper right is where we are going to write the titles of the works that are on that page. Our artist biography notebook page will be placed in front of his works.

If you haven't yet started doing picture study in your own homeschool, I encourage you to give it a try!