Learning Logs: Week 14

We had a fun-filled couple of weeks! Our grandparents came to visit from Canada. We went to see the Norman Rockwell exhibit at BYU. We made a big "gratitude Turkey" and wrote the things we were thankful for on its tail feather. Our aunt surprised us by also coming to visit from Canada! It was so fun to see her and our cousins. We did gingerbread hour math and talked about angles and engineering and how buildings are designed to be strong. We made snow ice cream and maple candy the few times it's snowed so far. We are reading a Christmas story every night this month. We are also listening to The Secret Garden. It was fun to have Thanksgiving dinner when it went right along with what we are studying in history! Now we are moving past Plymouth and Jamestown and studying the lives of the established colonies, and leading up to the Boston Tea party, declaration of Independence, and writing the constitution. This week the boys used the Kano and Tessa watched a tech video. Everyone was glad to resume piano lessons and be back with their great piano classes and teachers! We are practicing for Christmas performances.

Learning Logs: Week 12

Caden: I finished up the unit on Triangles this week. It was so interesting! I like The Beginner's Guide to Constructing the Universe.
I am reading Rick Riordan's "Red Pyramid." SO AWESOME!! We had a fun class on Fridle and talked about the genre (fiction) and category (middle grade).
We read separate books about the first Thanksgiving and Squanto this week to get ready for Thanksgiving.
I really liked this photo I did this week in my Photoshop class:

It says, "You killed my teddy." "Amara, I am your teddy." "Nooooooo!"

Tessa: I am reading Sew Zoe which is a new series about fashion design and I really like it! I like doing spelling tests and pass them off every week. I'm doing pretty much all the same stuff in math, different adding and subtracting and things, not really learning anything new. I'm still doing my dog walking and teaching the preschool class at my co-op for entrepreneurship and they are both going well! All the kids like my class so much that they asked me to teach again next semester. I'll make about $100 doing that.

Davin: So I'm still listening to Secret Garden and I do spelling every week and usually get my test perfect. I've been working on my report for Damocles in my writing class and it is coming along well. In math it's just about the same stuff I've been doing, like telling time, doing 3D shapes for geometry, and then adding and subtracting multiple digits plus 2-digit multiplication. I liked learning about the first Thanksgiving and I got to read the books out loud so I liked that. For science I am studying cell parts and how cells make up every organism on earth. My favorite song in piano is called Circus Phantom and my teacher says I am learning really quickly!

Koen: We read about pilgrims and Indian. We read mother goose. I did my grammar bin and my math book and my drawing book. I passed off 4 songs in piano and got 4 pennies. We don't have lessons next week.

Learning Logs: Week 11

This week was a pretty normal week. Lots of piano practicing and reading and lessons and co-op.

Caden: In math I learned a lot about triangles and the number 3. In American History I'm studying pilgrims and the first Thanksgiving and we finished our first Rush Revere book. I read Frindle and am listening to the Secret Garden in the car. Our latin word this week was video/visium. In my Photoshop class we did some fun comic pictures:

Tessa: I am so excited! I got chosen as student of the month at the piano academy! Yay, I'm so happy about that. I've been reading A Little Princess and Pollyanna Grows Up. I do latin with Caden. We learned about first aid in my SOS science class and it was really good, but when the teacher talked about stopping bleeding, some of the kids got really queasy. Ha ha. I have liked learning more about the First Thanksgiving and can't wait to have Thanksgiving now! I did a few lessons in my entrepreneurship class and did my spending log. In Bookstore Math I'm still taking orders, adding sales tax, paying bills, etc., and it's so fun.

Davin: In math I'm learning about many-digit subtraction and do lots of story problems. In language arts I'm listening to The Secret Garden and my hardest spelling word is minions! I kept getting it wrong! I liked the Rush Revere book and the next one is going to talk about the Boston Tea Party. I haven't really done tech this week.

Koen: I am finished Peter Rabbit series and reading Mother Goose tales. My reading lessons aren't so fun but I like doing my grammar bin where we learn about letter sounds and they have little objects that start with that letter sound. It's so fun and even my baby sister says "buh" when we ask her what the B says. For my math I am learning the number 10 and the adding facts that make 10 like 6+4 and 5+5 and 7+3 and 8+2. I like my piano lessons a lot. I played piano for a really good piano player at church and he said I'm a natural and and going to be really good. That was exciting! I want to be just like him!

Learning Logs: Week 10

It was a bit of a calmer week for once! We got lots of piano practicing done and worked on our schoolwork and our house! It was nice.

Caden: I'm about a quarter of a way through my math book and it's so fun. I heard about a program called Math Inspirations that I think I want to try. Some of my friends do it and it sounds pretty cool. I read Holes and am reading Frindle now. I got a perfect score on my spelling test and I like my writing class. American History is really cool at my co-op group and my teacher is so awesome. We are talking about the revolutionary war. Piano is going well. We're learning some really fast Christmas songs that are pretty hard. I didn't really do tech class this week.

Tessa: I had a piano recital this week and did really well - there was only one time where I played two notes together instead of just one, but everything else was right. We got giant Hershey bars for a reward. My bookstore math is going great and my CLE math book is boring but fine. My favorite subject is poetry and I love reading Jack Prelutsky - he's so funny. We're reading about the first Thanksgiving in history which is great timing for this month! I'm also typing out my writing class assignments now because they are so long - like 4 pages of handwriting, and now I have to edit them so I just do that on the computer.

Davin - Piano is good, I learn all of my songs really fast. My mom, brother and I started playing a chopsticks trio that is really fun. I am reading Geronimo Stilton and Mr.McBroom and Magic Tree House Thanksgiving on Thursday. For math I'm doing angles and vertices. And I didn't do much tech this week.

Koen: I like my piano lessons and the fun games we play with my teacher. I like doing my adding for math and it's really easy. I am reading about pilgrims and Thanksgiving with my family.

Learning Logs: Week 9

Another fun-filled week is under our belts! The highlight was definitely the Fall family dance hosted by our co-op group. Fun people, great music, and costumes! So great! Caden did a wonderful job as the dance committee chair.

Caden: This week I finished reading Holes and really liked it! My mom said it was word-for-word like the movie but I was able to find several differences, ha! I did a Kano computer challenge for Halloween where they gave out spooky clues to build new things and that was pretty cool. I'm doing good in piano and keeping up with the grownups, so that's good! Our new song is "MaryAnn". And then for math I'm reading Beginner's Guide and also a book called Secrets to Mental math, and now I can tell you the answer to any 2- or 3-digit number multiplied by 11. There is a lot more to learn there though.

Tessa: I am getting ready for my piano recital next Saturday. I'm also learning "Thunder on the Plains". I finished "Pollyanna" and am reading "The Island of Dr. Libris." We learned about the word "phone" in grammar and it is part of the word "symphony" which I didn't know. In math I'm not really learning anything new right now just reviewing stuff. In my tech class I am doing the 2-week budget assignment to see what money comes in and what goes out.

Davin: I'm reading Thea Stilton and the Secret City. My hardest spelling word is minions. We are memorizing the poem "Good Timber." In math I'm back to doing my pet store because we found the missing cards I needed. I'm also learning about addition and subtraction of high-digit numbers. My new piano song is called "Bells Will Ring Soon." I didn't really do my tech class this week.

Koen: I have been drawing circle pies and clocks in my math book learning about circles and breaking them up into even parts. In piano I am working on "Bells Will Ring Soon." And I am still practicing remembering what notes are what. My mom is reading me Robert Munsch books and also Squanto and The Whipping Boy is what we listen to in the car.

Learning Logs: Week 8

We had a great week of learning! We went to the fun movie "Inside Out" on Monday, Cornbelly's for a field trip on Tuesday, then to the Scera play of "James and the Giant Peach" on Wednesday, where we knew most of the cast members and it was really fun to watch! We finished listening to "Mr Lemoncello's Library" in the car and started "The Whipping Boy." We had a great time at our co-op classes on Friday and especially loved the archery lessons, Tessa's preschool class Teddy Bear Picnic, and the fun dance class.

Caden: Math - I am learning about numbers and the symbols in nature using those numbers. You can basically diagram anything by deconstructing a triangle. I'm learning about rays too and visca pices. For language arts we learned about the greek root "thesis", I did my spelling and my hardest word is "diligently". I am reading the book "Jinx" by Sage Blackwood and Tom Sawyer. In piano I learned several songs recently and my favorite is Circus Phantom. I practice at least half an hour a day. I didn't do any Kano this week.

Tessa: I'm half way through most of my Alfred theory books in piano and I'm learning a song called Thunder on the Plains for my solo.  I finished Pollyanna and it was one of the best books I ever read! I'm going to start Pollyanna Grows Up and I'm reading Fishers of Men. In math I'm adding and subtracting decimal points, doing fraction multiplication, lines and intersections and a whole bunch of other things! For my entrepreneurship class I took some quizzes about Ben Franklin and finally submitted them.

Davin: In math I am learning about times tables and 2-step story problems. I have been reading Deep Dive and My Side of the Mountain. In my writing class we read a paragraph about a king and a farmer (Damocles and the King) and then write our summary. I finished it in class. In piano I am doing a song called Chocolate Cake, that's my new one. I like Island Vacation and I Can Fly and Swingin' too. I am really fast on our music note flash cards and like playing piano games. I did snap circuits with some of my friends last week and we built a fan that has a voice sensor.

Koen: In math I had to write down how many body parts I have of each thing - eyes, ears, hands, legs, etc - and they were all 2! I read the book "Mud" and my superhero book. I do reading lessons each day with my mom and I love my grammar bin where we have little toys that all start with the same sound. We do one or two sounds per day but I want to do more! The little things are sooo cute! In piano I love our new song called "chocolate cake" and I am getting faster at my flash cards that show notes.

Learning Logs: Week 7

It was a busy, whirl-wind week! On top of everyone practicing piano, going to lessons, and doing daily checklists for homeschool work, we helped run a very involved Colonial experience for our American History group. We went to a park with a field, forest, creek, etc. and the kids broke into 2 groups and "settled" the park as if it were Jamestown. They dressed in Colonial clothing and built shelters, gathered edibles, collected healing herbs, "fished" (for foam fish placed in the creek), "hunted" (for stuffed animals hidden in the forest), accepted challenges, built a church, staved off Indian attacks, rebuilt shelters wrecked by Indians, and cooked gruel and herbal tea over an open fire. It was so much fun! The kids could have continued for hours! On Thursday we took our "fall break" and only did piano practice and math, and then Friday we had our regular co-op classes.

Caden: I am still reading the Beginner's Guide to the Universe and like it so much. I even read it in my spare time! I finished Esperanza Rising and am now reading The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. For fun I'm reading "The Name of This Book is Secret" and we listen to "Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's library" in the car. It's a great mystery! I've been programming more Minecraft on the Kano computer and it's not easy! I make lots of mistakes but they walk me through them. I think I'm getting better! Piano lessons are going great! We're learning Deck the Halls for Christmas.

Tessa: I love my piano lessons! Theory is so fun and I love everything I'm learning! I'm getting ready for my first recital on Nov. 7. I finished Secret Garden and am reading Pollyanna for my class now. My favorite thing in math is my book store program. I love figuring out inventory and ordering new books. I love the chance cards too.

Davin: I am doing good in my piano lessons and I like to play fast. I like to make up my own music too. I am reading McBroom's Wonderful One-acre Farm and am taking a Flat Stanley class at our co-op. I took pictures and did a report then sent my Flat Davin to some friends so they could take pictures with him too. I like doing pet store math but it's a little tricky some times.

Koen: I like doing math and can do all the adding so far. I don't like writing the numbers; it's hard to remember to go all the way to the lines. I like reading Mother Goose rhymes with my mom and little brother. I like doing my drawing lessons and practicing piano. We play a really fun song called "beep beep!"

Learning Logs: Week 6

We had a great family activity this week where we dresses as Indians (Native American) and got together with a large group of homeschool friends to discuss and re-inact the Boston Tea Party. Did you know only one person was injured? It was a guy who was trying to steal tea leaves and wasn't part of the true revolutionists, so they beat him up. And only one thing was damaged (besides the tea): a lock was broken by the protestors, but they sent a lock smith out the next day to repair it. Pretty peaceful protest all in the name of preserving freedom from being illegally taxed. We also reinacted the Boston Massacre with marshmallow "rocks" and pop guns. It was such great fun!
We finished listening to Where the Red Fern Grows this week. A couple of us had a good cry while a few were rather stoic-faced there at the end :) Such a fantastic book and we had no idea we could like coon hunting so much! We had a great time making melted crayon art on canvases this week.

Caden: This week I finished Esperanza Rising. It wasn't my favorite book but it was OK. For math I am learning about using math as the building blocks of all creation. In Photoshop class we finished turning our pictures into what look like cartoons, and that was fun to do. We are now imposing ourselves onto a picture of a historical event. I have a dinosaur picture I am trying as well as Neil Armstrong on the moon. For piano we are doing Ode to Joy plus a bunch of other little songs.

Tessa: I finished reading The Secret Garden this week and I loved it! In math I am doing area of a cube or other 3-dimentional objects, plus reviewing angles, time and money. Piano is going great and I'm practicing 2 songs for our recital next month, plus doing a lot of theory that is helping me a lot. I haven't been able to do my tech class this week but I am busy walking dogs about 5x a week.

Davin: I am working on my Flat Stanley report where I talk about the things I did with my Stanley in tow. I did a long report for my writing class and got a Starburst. I liked listening to Where the Red Fern Grows and my co-op class had a party for finishing it and we watched the movie. I must say I like the book much more than the movie! For tech I played with my snap circuits for a change of pace this week. I like the spinning fan and making it fly off.

Koen: I am doing my math book and writing my numbers. I am doing Montessori math and learning adding. I like reading my Peter Rabbit book stories. The book is really huge and covers my and my mom's entire laps! I like doing my letter sounds with my letter box. There are cute little things in each box and after practicing what the letters say I can play with the toys. I am doing reading lessons every day and I practice piano every day. I like our new song called Car Crash. 

Week 5: Homeschool overview

This week as a family we are learning more about the overseas voyages of early American settlers with the book A Lion to Guard Us. We continue our art appreciation study of Carot's work by narrating a picture each art day. We also made watercolor fall leave paintings. We are reading Rush Revere's Pilgrim book still and finished listening to Where the Red Fern Grows. Tears were shed by most :)

Caden has been enjoying the Minecraft programming on his Kano computer. He is learning about Jamestown in his American History co-op class and doing a presentation next week on Henry Knox. He is working on spelling and English word roots in Language Arts, and reading Esperanza Rising for his Literature co-op class. He is also continuing to practice paragraph summaries and using assigned words in those summaries in his co-op writing class. He also does copy work, dictation and word studies each week. This week the word he studied was Service. In math he is reading Beginner's Guide to Constructing the Universe and enjoying all he is learning about using math in creation. We are waiting for new work books to arrive for him. He in enjoying his piano lessons and practices each day. He's working on sight reading the most.

Tessa is almost finished reading The Secret Garden and loves it! She is going to build fairy gardens with her Liberty Girls group one weekend soon and looks forward to that. She is doing area and volume in math and moving along through her work books quickly. Each day she does copy work from Ann of Green Gables and studies her spelling list. She also does dictation and word study weekly. She is continuing to work her doggie daycare business with two clients and makes $50 a month, which she mostly saves. Piano lessons are terrific and she is excelling and passing off her songs quickly.

Davin works on his Little Bits projects often, and his friends love to come over after school hours and build things with him. Their favorite things involve flashing lights and beeps :) Davin is very quick to pick up things on the piano and is practicing hard to read music as well as play and memorize as quickly as he can :) He is writing summaries for his co-op writing class as well. In math, he is adding and subtracting 6+ digit numbers and regrouping.

Koen is enjoying his piano lessons and loves to sit and practice. He likes his black note songs and is doing great at singing his notes while he plays and remembering where his hands should be. He is reading Beatrix Potter's Peter Rabbit series and loves doing that with mom. He draws every time he gets a chance and is working hard to write his numbers so they touch the tops and bottoms of his lines.

Week 4: Homeschool overview

This week we have been putting together Colonial costumes for our "EPIC" American History group. We have been reading Rush Revere's Pilgrims book and we finished Meet Christopher Columbus. We are studying Jean Baptiste Camille Corot for art study and reading Jack Prelutsky for poetry.

Caden: completed his spelling list and will carry over the words connect, should and people to next week. We created his new spelling list. In math he is doing long division with a 2-digit divisor. He has been reading Uncle Tom's cabin. In his American History co-op class he is talking about Pilgrims, Quakers and Shakers. For tech class, he's been working on his Kano computer doing Terminal Quest and Drawing. He's doing great in piano and will be switching classes to an adult beginning piano class so he can go faster.

Tess: completed her spelling test and passed off her words, starting her new words. She has done copy work or dictation every day. In English from the Roots up they studied the word "graph". She has been reading Mandie and The Secret Garden. In Tech Class she learned about the Ben Franklin method but still needs to submit the assignment. In piano she learned about finding notes on the treble clef and dynamics. In math she's been studying how to decide if equations are equal, and she finished her midterm test.

Davin: completed his spelling list and did a month's worth of sales, inventory, etc. for his Pet Store math.  He has read Benjamin Frankin and Flat Stanley. He has finished writing summaries for his co-op writing class about the rafflesia flower and the seahorse. In piano he is learning to read notes and has passed off all his songs so far.

Koen: doing reading lessons every day. He loves when he gets to draw. He is learning about the number 3 and how 2+1=3 in math. He likes his kindermusic class and singing about animals and using the instruments.