Just for kicks, I thought I'd share what my "little monkeys three" are learning at this point in our home school.
In the Jubilee Academy, Sierra's currently studying Black History and reading, "Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry".
I have to admit that I read it first myself, as I couldn't remember much about it (other than the fact that it was deemed "controversial" and removed from many a school library).
She's also studying geometry, plants, and the differences between Judaism and Christianity. Fairly easy topic, as we're Messianic! ;-}
Ethan and Abby pretty much do the same thing with me. However, Ethan does a few additional lessons on the computer via Time4Learning.com.
This month for Math, I'm teaching them multiplication. We touched on this briefly last year, but it didn't quite stick with Abby. Ethan's retained more, but then he's older and actually enjoys math. (Ahem)
Anyway, I printed out two copies of a Multiplication Table and bought a pack of flash cards from our local Dollar Store for $0.90 cents. Woohoo! (Hey, Lynnwood-ites! The one by Safeway on 196th is going out of business. 10% off everything!)
In Language Arts, they're building up their knowledge of parts of speech and sentence structure. They've previously learned what a noun is, what a verb does, and what the subject vs. the predicate of a sentence is. Simple stuff like that.
On a side note, PLEASE don't think this is more advanced than it is. Today they did a worksheet titled "Noun Clown" for review! (Ha ha) But doesn't it just sound oh so super-scholarly when you throw in some sophisticated, grammatical terminology? Ooh la la. ;-)
Moving on!
Ethan and Abby also have two spelling lists (24 words total) that we go over each week. Abby is a bit better at this than Ethan (she loves to read; he does not), but I have them learn the same 24 words together. This way there's no hurt feelings on Ethan's part, and Abby doesn't get a fat head. ;-) Later on, they'll use different lists but for now this works for everyone.
As a group, we're starting a new Unit Study on the Titanic. (Does anyone else have that Celine Dion song stuck in their head now, too??? Ha! Of course, now that I SAID something...ha ha! Sorry.)
After weeding through several clips on YouTube, I found two scenes from the movie that showed the iceberg damage and subsequent sinking of the massive vessel.
We then discussed how some people had arrogantly stated that, "Not even God Himself could sink that ship!" and how that may or may not have played into the event, (can't say for certain that it did, but hey...?), and other contributing "disaster" factors such as rate of speed and lack of lifeboats.
For some "Titanic Science", we'll be using this neato Teacher's Guide to make our own icebergs, learn about buoyancy, conduct sink/float experiments, and touch briefly on artifact preservation. After visiting a few Titanic websites, Ethan stated that he'd like to actually visit the wreck site some time. (Now wouldn't that be a fantastic field trip or what?!)
(*Note to Amanda & Lisamarie*: When we do any of these experiements, you guys are MORE than welcome to join us! *Rachel Boe: Same goes for Nathan and Alexandria.)
And finally, the children are learning "public speaking". They're doing this by taking turns standing up in front of the room, and clearly reading a passage from the Bible out loud.
They did really well today and seemed to enjoy it--especially when it came to critiquing each other's performances. (Ahem) Good practice remembering to keep your Bible down low enough so your face can be seen! ;-)
It might not be tops on everyone's homeschool "scope and sequence", but it is in mine.
So, there you have it. Our homeschool agenda in a nutshell! Neat, huh?
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