Homeschool Week: 5/22-5/26

 2nd Grader

Math

• Singapore Math (this is going really well)
• We played The Clumsy Thief (card game)

Sonlight Reading/Language Arts 2 (our first week with this)

• The Fire Cat (reader)
• Handwriting without Tears
• Explode the Code
• All About Spelling

Sonlight B World History 1 (Bible, literature and history)

• Fall of Ancient Rome
• Mountain Born (read-aloud) - we are almost finished, but this is a very difficult book for him
• We watched a time-lapse video of Pompeii and the eruption of Mount Vesuvius
• We looked at pictures of the museum at Pompeii

Science

• Apologia's Land Animals of the Sixth Day 
• Bears
• Mustelidae

Extras

• Ballet class at the ballet school
• Bike riding at the park

10th Grader

History & Literature

• The Days of Elijah
• John Hersey's Hiroshima

Science

• Crash Course Anatomy & Physiology (Youtube)
• Joints
• Dissection Lab: Cow eye
• We dissected a cow eye using a dissection walk-through from YouTube 
• Cow eye was from Home Science Tools
• Excellent dissection

Extras

• She went wakeboarding for the first time
• Ballet class almost every day at the ballet school
• Church activities

More Planning 2023-2024 11th Grade

 She will still be choosing what she wants to study, but we have a couple of changes.  First, she has decided that she is going to try to go professional with ballet.  Second, this means that she will probably not be able to go to college right after high school and if she does decide to go to college, it will be as a fine arts major.

To determine what she's already studied and what she still needs to have on her high school transcript, I bought the High School Student Record from here: https://everydayeducation.com/products/high-school-student-record-a-peaceful-planning-booklet?_pos=1&_sid=e71ebaba6&_ss=r

I put together a high school transcript on Excel and I made a list of what she's missing for a high school diploma.  She still needs:

• 1.5 credit English
• 1 credit US History
• 1 credit Algebra 2

Besides Algebra 2, we can find interest-led ways to satisfy those credits.

Here's what she and I both would like her to work on for 11th grade (what we end up doing will be a lot more than this, realistically):

Bible

• Finish reading the Old Testament

Math

• Mathusee Algebra 2

History & Literature

• She wants to read several of Mark Twain's books
• I would like her to read some American literature
• She wants to watch Crash Course US History

Science

• We are working on interest-led biology topics
• Ellen McHenry's The Brain
• Organ dissections from Home Science Tools
• Crash Course Anatomy & Physiology (YouTube)
• Animal anatomy and classification
• Maybe some animal dissections
• Geology
• She wants to finish taking the guided tours of the 5 caves in the Texas Cave Trail

Foreign Language

• She and her sister have been trying to teach themselves Korean using DuoLingo and Grandma (who is a native speaker)

Fine Arts

• She has been going to professional classical ballet performances and some college-level orchestra performances
• Ballet classes at the ballet school
• She has helped choreograph several dances at the ballet school
• She plays classical guitar and ukulele
• She will be attending a ballet camp at a pre-professional program this summer

More Planning 2023-2024 3rd Grade

 I'm looking through my plans for the fall after the results from the dyslexia assessment.  Here's what I'm thinking:

Math

• Singapore Math (continuing, because he's doing well with it, but we are both missing Wild Math.  If he gets tired of Singapore, I'll go back to Wild Math)
• Math board games (using math games really made a big difference this year)

Reading/Language Arts

• I decided to continue with Sonlight Reading/Language Arts
• Handwriting without Tears 
• Explode the Code (adding this back in there)
• All About Spelling

Sonlight C World History 2 (Bible, history and literature)

• I bought the 5-Day program and I think I'm going to allow us to spend longer than one school year on it.  I think maybe I might stretch it out to 12-18 months, so we don't feel rushed.  That would give him time to catch up in learning how to read, because the next Sonlight level has readers that match the history.
• I bought the Hands-on History Box for C and we're still using the Timeline book

Science

• Apologia's elementary series (currently in Land Animals of the Sixth Day)

Fine Arts

• Draw Write Now series
• Piano class

More Dyslexia Resources

 Online Dyslexia Screening: NeuroLearning 

https://neurolearning.com/

This screening is managed by two medical doctors - Drs. Brock and Fernette Eide.  They co-wrote the books The Dyslexic Advantage and The Mislabeled Child.  They are also board members for the group SENG (Supporting Emotional Needs of the Gifted).

You download the app, pay for the screening, go through the screening online (through the app) and they send you a 30 page breakdown of your scores and what they mean.  Dr. Brock even emailed us personally after the screening.

You can use your scores to decide if you need deeper testing with an educational psychologist or use the information they give you in the packet to help your child.

The Dyslexic Advantage

Drs Eide wrote this book together and it is worth reading.  I wish I would've read this 15 years ago when my oldest two were having learning issues in public school.  

https://www.dyslexicadvantage.org/

There is an updated edition for 2023, but I think the book I have from the library is the older edition.

Toe by Toe

https://toebytoeusa.com/

This is a British company, but is available on Amazon if you are in the US.  We are not using this program, but this is what I'm going to use next if my son hits a wall with Sonlight reading.  

Homeschool Day 5/11

 2nd Grader

Math

• Singapore math
• We played the card game Math Wars (addition and subtraction)

Sonlight Reading/Language Arts

• Worked on the reader
• Phonics activity

Sonlight B (history, Bible and literature)

• Usborne's Time Traveler
• National Geographic poetry reader
• Mountain Born (read-aloud)
• The Mouse and the Motorcycle (nighttime read-aloud)

Both Kids

• Ballet classes at the ballet school
• We did Physical Education with another homeschooling family at the park
• Played pickle ball
• Went on a nature walk
• Saw a snake

10th Grader

• Besides PE and ballet class, she informed me that she's planning to play classical guitar all afternoon.  Okie Dokie.

Me

• Still reading The Dyslexic Advantage (Eide)
• We are not doing school next week, since we school year-round, we need a break sometimes

College Kids Update

• Finals are over.  All three kids got straight As again this semester and maintained their 4.0 GPAs.  All three will be on the Dean's List again this semester together
• Kid #3 (fine arts major) has one of her paintings hanging in the Chancellor's office for the next school year

Homeschool Day 5/10

 2nd Grader

Math

• We played the board game The Mathemagical World
• We also played Snakes and Ladders

Reading

• We played Bananagrams
• He read his dyslexia reader

Sonlight B (history, Bible and literature)

• Usborne's Time Traveler
• Mountain Born

Extras

• Wednesday night church activities

10th Grader

Bible

• She watched the Bible Project's video on Song of Songs (Solomon)
• She read some background information about Solomon and Song of Songs

Science

• Wicked Plants: The Weed that Killed Lincoln's Mother and Other Botanical Atrocities

History & Literature

• The Days of Elijah
• John Hersey's Hiroshima

Extras

• Classical guitar
• Wednesday night church activities

Me

• I read about 7 chapters of The Dyslexic Advantage (Eide) and I wish I would've read this 15 years ago

College Kids Update

• All of them have finals this week
• Kid #3 has over 100% average in each class
• Kid #1 has not graduated yet, but has two companies fighting to hire her (which is incredible)

Co-op Day: 5/9

 2nd Grader

• Singapore math
• Sonlight Reading/Language Arts
• Sonlight B (Bible, history and literature)
• Karate Class (at PE co-op)

10th Grader

• Gymnastics (at PE co-op)
• Collaborative Ukulele/Guitar class (at enrichment center)
• Ballet class (at ballet school)

Me

• I picked up the book The Dyslexic Advantage by the Eide's and I read a big chunk of the book while waiting for the kids' classes

Homeschool Day 5/8 and Bought A New Planner

 My homeschool planner is running out of time, so I ordered a new system for the next school year.  After looking at countless homeschool planners, I think I'm going to try a new system.  I bought a Go Girl Planner (undated monthly and weekly). https://gogirlplanner.com/products/agenda-planner

To record what we do for school, I bought a softbound bullet journal with about 200 pages.  I think I can record what one kid does on the left page and what the other does on the right page.  So each kid can have their own weekly pages.  Even though I will have a planner + bullet journal, I think this system will be a lot lighter/smaller than my homeschool planner that I'm currently using.  I decided not to buy another homeschool planner, because I find that I don't use 70% of the pages.

Here's what we did today:

2nd Grader

• Singapore Math
• Handwriting practice with the whiteboard app - numbers
• Apologia Land Animals of the Sixth Day
• Sonlight Reading/Language Arts
• Sonlight B (history, Bible and literature)

10th Grader

Bible

• Watched the Bible Project video on Ecclesiastes
• Looked at the line of Jewish kings in Rose' Book of Bible Charts, Maps and Graphs

Science

• Wicked Plants
• Crash Course Anatomy & Physiology (Youtube)
• Taste and Smell
• We have collected a number of flowers including Indian paintbrush, bluebonnets, etc and we are drying them in a flower press.  We bought white 8x8 frames and we are going to create a display with the flowers

History & Literature

• John Hersey's Hiroshima
• The Days of Elijah

Using Sonlight for Kids with Dyslexia

 Since the 8 year-old's dyslexia assessment results last week, I'm reading as much as I can about using literature-based curricula (specifically Sonlight) for kids with dyslexia.  Here's some blog posts and links I've found:

https://blog.sonlight.com/literature-rich-homeschool-dyslexia.html

https://blog.sonlight.com/dyslexia-myths.html

https://learningabledkids.com/reading/first-year-overcoming-dyslexia-through-homeschooling.htm

https://www.bfbooks.com/Homeschooling-With-Dyslexia

https://homeschoolingwithdyslexia.com/wp-content/uploads/Homeschool-Curriculum-Guide-Homeschooling-With-Dyslexia-1-1.pdf

https://homeschooling4him.com/homeschooling-your-child-with-dyslexia/

https://raisingtheextraordinary.com/dyslexia-literature-curriculum/

https://growingngrace.com/2017/04/13/literature-rich-curriculum-with-dyslexic-adhd-kids/

I need to make a giant cup of coffee and read through all of these.  Part of my brain says using a literature-based curriculum would be a terrible idea for someone with severe dyslexia, but he's been using it all year and really enjoys it.  I'm worried about what happens with HBL D when the readers match the history and you can't choose readers from different reading levels.

Homeschool Day 5/4

 2nd Grader

Math

• Singapore math - this was pretty excruciating today (it was an addition/subtraction crossword), but we got through it

Sonlight Reading/Language Arts

• Backwards spelling
• He wrote a poem
• He read his Sonlight reader
• We practiced writing capital letters

Sonlight B (history, literature and Bible)

• Usborne Time Traveler
• Mountain Born (read-aloud) - yeah, he's not liking this book much
• The Mouse and the Motorcycle (bedtime read-aloud)

Extras

• Ballet classes at the ballet school

I am looking through the action plan I got from his dyslexia assessment yesterday.  I'm planning to get a pen and highlighter today and sift through it a third time.  I might need to add some things to his schoolwork, but I'm not sure.  He tested as severely dyslexic.

10th Grader

Bible

• Proverbs - she watched both videos on Proverbs by the Bible Project

Science

• Crash Course Anatomy & Physiology
• Video on hearing and balance
• Ellen McHenry's The Brain
• We finished the chapter on Brain Anatomy
• Wicked Plants: The Weed That Killed Lincoln's Mother and Other Botanical Atrocities

History & Literature

• John Hersey's Hiroshima
• Days of Elijah

Brain Dissection: 5/3

 2nd Grader

• I finally caved and paid money for a dyslexia evaluation. He tested as severely dyslexic.  He scored as having issues with subword processing, word level reading, visual attention and passage level reading.  
• They have an action plan, so I need to sift through his scores and look at the action plan again

10th Grader

Bible

• She finished the Book of Psalms

History & Literature

• The Days of Elijah
• John Hersey's Hiroshima

Science

• Wicked Plants: The Weed That Killed Lincoln's Mother and Other Botanical Atrocities
• Brain Dissection
• We did it!  We dissected a sheep brain from Home Science Tools.  We located nerves, the spinal cord, the medulla oblongata, the pituitary gland, the cerebrum, the cerebellum, the meninges, the corpus collosum, etc.
• We did a longitudinal dissection and then a perpendicular dissection to see the arbor vitae and the grey/white matter

Homeschool Day 5/2

 2nd Grader

Math

• Singapore Math
• We played the card game Sleeping Queens

Sonlight Reading/Language Arts

• He read his reader
• He wrote his spelling words
• Handwriting practice - numbers

Sonlight B (Bible, history and literature)

• Usborne Time Traveler
• National Geographic poetry reader
• The Ology
• Mountain Born (read-aloud) - this book is a bit too slow-moving for him
• The Mouse and the Motorcycle (bedtime read-aloud)

Co-op Classes

• Karate
• Playing in the school yard with his friends

10th Grader

Co-op Classes

• Helping teach gymnastics - beginner and advanced
• Collaborative ukulele/guitar music class

Choreographing/Performing for Ballet

• She is choreographing and performing a short segment of Romeo and Juliet from the Royal Ballet at the end of year recital
• She bought her music and edited to fit the choreography
• Put the music on disc
• Practicing today on the stage to make sure her choreography fits the stage

College Kids Update

• Not giving too much info to protect their privacy, but they all have finals this week and next
• All 3 college kids are maintaining their 4.0 GPAs this semester, even after taking some real monster classes, like Anatomy & Physiology 2, Horticulture Capstone and Statistics
• Oldest is registered for fall at the university with almost a full scholarship (we have to pay a tiny balance). She has 39 credits until graduation with her Bachelor of Science
• Second is going to take the month of May to study for the nursing entrance exam and then take that in June. From there, he can apply to nursing programs (he has three picked out to apply to, because nursing is now very competitive)

Homeschool Day 5/1

 2nd Grader

Math

• Singapore Math

Sonlight Reading/Language Arts

• We went over some new words on the dry erase board
• We practiced handwriting
• He read his reader

Sonlight B (Bible, history and literature)

• Usborne Time Traveler
• Mountain Born (read-aloud)
• The Mouse and the Motorcycle (bedtime read-aloud)

Physical Education

• We played pickle ball at the park

Extras

• Boy Scouts 

10th Grader

Math

• She finished Mathusee Geometry today.  I'm giving one credit Geometry = A

Science

• Wicked Plants: The Weed that Killed Lincoln's Mother and Other Botanical Atrocities
• Crash Course Anatomy & Physiology
• We watched the video about Vision
• Ellen McHenry's The Brain
• Chapter 2 - brain anatomy

History & Literature

• John Hersey's Hiroshima
• Days of Elijah

Physical Education

• We played pickle ball at the park

Extras

• Ballet classes at the ballet school