Biology Co-op 10/16

 I didn't post this yesterday, because I was overwhelmed, but here's what we did for the biology class that I teach on Friday mornings.  It was a great class.  The boys were actually listening and enjoying it.

Bacteria and Viruses (reference: BJU Life Science textbook)

Thylacine

• We learned about the Thylacine or Tasmanian Tiger, an extinct marsupial from Tasmania/Australia
• We watched videos of the last Tasmanian Tiger from 1936
• We discussed what led to its extinction

Bacteria

• Bacteria structures, size
• Bacteria types
• How bacteria help the environment
• Can you see bacteria with a microscope?

Viruses

• Viruses are not living organisms
• Virus structure
• Video of a virus attacking a cell
• You can only see viruses with a special microscope

LAB

• Using 10 Petri dishes with agar and 10 cotton swabs, the kids swabbed various surfaces (including a toilet seat, doorknob, cat's paw, cat's water bowl) and then created streak plates.  I'm keeping the Petri dishes in a warm place until next week when we can compare/contrast bacterial and fungi growth on the plates.  Maybe we can take some small samples, form slides and try to identify bacterial shapes under the microscope

Homeschool Day 10/14

 Bible

• The Action Bible

Reading

• The Wild Robot
• Where the Red Fern Grows

Language Arts

• The Good and the Beautiful LA 6
• The Good and the Beautiful Cursive 6

Math

• Life of Fred Fractions - adding fractions

History

• Story of the World 2 - Tenochtilan and the Aztecs

Art & Music

• Violin lessons with a teacher

Extras

• Confirmation Class at Church
• Homeschool Recess Group

Homeschool Day 10/13

 Bible

• The Action Bible

Reading

• Where the Red Fern Grows

Art & Music

• The Good and the Beautiful Drawing I
• Violin practice

Extras

• Karate class
• Boy Scouts

Planning for Winter 2027

 I'm flipping through the remainder of our books and curriculum.  By my calculations, we have about 4-5 weeks of schoolwork left, besides math and language arts (we've got plenty of that).  We are finishing Bible, Story of the World 2, literature, Earth Science, etc.  This is one of the dangers of schooling year-round.  You find yourself in mid-October wondering what you're going to do next.  And our "school year" is very off-kilter with everyone else's school year.  

Do I want to continue our current homeschool method?

Do we want to try something else?

Do we need a break?  With ADHD, we tend to get bored with breaks.  

Do we want to go back to Sonlight?  I do, but I don't think he does.

It's exciting when we finish our curriculum, but it's also stressful, because I don't like to plan.  I don't like record-keeping, planning, picking curriculum....  I do better with the actual teaching and working with my student.

It's time to look through things like Sonlight's website, Ambleside Online's website, The Well-Trained Mind and even reread The Brave Learner and some of Charlotte Mason's writings.  

Homeschool Day 10/12

 Bible

• The Action Bible - Jesus walks on water and Jesus feeds the 5,000

Reading

• Where the Red Fern Grows

Math

• Life of Fred Fractions

History

• Story of the World 2
• The Mayans

Science

• Concrete: From the Ground Up

The Reverent Lutheran: an Excellent App!

 We recently started following the Reverent Lutheran app and it's excellent.  Here's a link to the app: https://www.reverentlutheran.com/

The app offers a daily office, creeds, calendar, prayer library, the Lutheran rosary prayer, morning/noon/evening devotions, a Holy Scripture library, the Catechism and Book of Concord.  

The app is free and I haven't found anything asking for a subscription or fees.  There doesn't seem to be any ads on the app, which is nice.

My favorite part of the app is the prayer library.  This is overall an excellent app.

Homeschool Day 10/7

 Language Arts

• The Good and the Beautiful LA 6
• The Good and the Beautiful Cursive 6

Math

• Life of Fred Fractions

History

• Story of the World 2 - Vespucci and Magellan
• We finished The Ghost in the Tokaido Inn 
• EXCELLENT BOOK!!

Extras

• Private violin lesson
• Homeschool skate at the roller rink
• Confirmation class at church