National Geographic Stunning Science Chemistry Set

 I can not find a link for this other than Amazon and for security purposes, I'm not linking it on here, but the name on the box is National Geographic Mega Science Series Stunning Science Chemistry Set.  

Amazon has several pictures and a video describing the kit.

The box says there are 45 science experiments including build a volcano, launch a rocket, build an underwater volcano, make a glowing test tube, create a geyser, make pop crystal fireworks, chemical reactions, etc.  I opened the box and it looks like a great quality kit.  It's on sale on Amazon for Cyber Monday.

According to the instructions, the kit includes everything for 15 major experiments and then a guide on 30 extra experiments using household items.

We are starting this kit in January.  My 8 year-old saw the kit and was very excited.

January to May 2024 Plans

 I think I am about done with planning for the next semester.  I talked things over with the 11th grader to see what she wanted to do.  I pulled things from the 3rd grader's homeschool basket and asked him if he liked what he was reading/working on.  Whatever he didn't like, I took away (which ended up only being one thing).  I bought him a science kit and he was so excited!  Both kids seemed to be excited for what we picked out together.

11th Grader's Plans

Math

• Finish second half of Mathusee Algebra 2

Bible

• Finish the New Testament books

Grammar/Writing

• Learn to write/practice the 5 Paragraph Essay
• Elements of Style Workbook

Mark Twain Literature, US History and Geography

• Finish Crash Course US History (up to 20th century)
• Finish Trail Guide to US Geography
• The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
• The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
• The Prince and the Pauper

Logic

• The Fallacy Detective
• The Thinking Toolbox
• The Illustrated Book of Bad Arguments

Physical Science through Labs (no credit, just for fun)

• Home Science Tool's Microchemistry Kit (17 Chem Labs)
• Physics Pro (Thames & Kosmos)

3rd Grader

Bible

• 100 Bible Stories

Math

• Finish Wild Math 3

Reading/Phonics

• Dyslexia Reader
• Explode the Code
• Barton Reading (dyslexia-specific program)
• Copywork

French

• Ecoutez, Parlez!

Literature, History and Geography

• Finish Sonlight C (World History 2)
• Hands-on History Box

Art

• Usborne's Famous Paintings Cards
• Usborne's Expressionist Paintings Cards

Science/Nature Study

• National Geographic Stunning Science Kit
• Scientific Connections through Inquiry, Level 3
• Weekly Nature walk
• 100 Things to Spot in the Night Sky cards

End of Year 2023 Record-Keeping

 It's Thanksgiving and we will probably slow down and just finish what we are already working on, so I have finalized all of their end-of-year records.  I printed out two copies for each kid, filed one copy in my curriculum binder and filed the second copy in their school binders.  

My End of Year Records are made with MS Word.  I continuously update them throughout the year, so I don't have to do much at the end.  I just print and file them.

The 11th grader's records contain these categories:

• Bible
• Math
• Grammar/Writing
• Literature
• History/Geography/Government
• Science
• Technology
• Art
• Music
• Physical Education
• Field Trips
• Extracurricular Activities

The 3rd grader's records contain these categories

• Bible
• Math
• Reading/Language Arts
• Foreign Language
• Literature
• History/Geography
• Science/Nature Study
• Art
• Music
• Physical Education
• Field Trips
• Extracurricular Activities

I also created a new records template for 2024.  I keep records by calendar year and not school year, because we school year-round and we are a homeschool, not a school.  Also, the biggest break we get is over Christmas, not summer and we tend to shift gears more in January than we do in May.

Looking back over everything, we did an enormous amount of stuff in 2023.  The 3rd grader and I read about 60 books together.  The 11th grader did a ton of science, history and fine arts this year.  We did nine field trips, which is a lot for us in one year.  The 11th grader attended five professional ballet performances this year.

I feel like 2023 was a very successful homeschool year.

Phonological Awareness Cards for Dyslexia

 This is from the Louisiana Believes website.  I printed them out and we are adding these to our reading practice.

SET #1: https://www.louisianabelieves.com/docs/default-source/literacy/phonological-awareness-activity-cards-set-1.pdf?sfvrsn=26a06718_8

SET #2: https://www.louisianabelieves.com/docs/default-source/literacy/phonological-awareness-activity-cards-set-2.pdf

Phonemic Awareness Packet:  https://www.cru.org/content/dam/cru/communities/inner-city/educational-resources/Phonemic-Awareness.pdf

Homeschool Day 11/16

 3rd Grader

Reading

• Phonics Pathways
• Read-aloud: Sir Lancelot the Great

Nature Study/Science

• 100 Things to Spot in the Night Sky cards
• Mars
• Venus

French

• Ecoutez, Parlez!

Art/Music

• Piano practice
• Famous Paintings Art cards
• Surprised!
• Mona Lisa
• The Son of Man
• Drawing practice

Extras

• Homeschool Rollerskating

11th Grader

Bible

• 1 Corinthians

Mathusee Algebra 2

• Honors page

Grammar/Writing

• Khan Academy SAT English Prep course

Civil War Study

• Battle Lines: A Graphic History of the Civil War

Art/Music

• Classical guitar practice
• Ballet class

Extras

• Homeschool Rollerskating

Homeschool Day 11/15

 3rd Grader

Wild Math 3

• Addition flashcards
• I taught rounding to 0 or 10 with a number line and math dice

Sonlight Reading 2/Language Arts

• Phonics Pathways
• Explode the Code
• Amelia Bedelia (reader)

Sonlight C (history, Bible and literature)

• We're almost finished with Sir Lancelot the Great - this is a great book!
• A Child's History of the World
• Aesop's Fables
• Bible reading

Nature Study/Science

• A Drop of Water
• Janice Van Cleave's Chemistry for Every Kid
• #18 Floating Sticks
• #25 Attractive Streams

French

• Ecoutez, Parlez!
• He really likes this so far

Art/Music

• Piano practice
• Ballet class

11th Grader

Mathusee Algebra 2

• I worked another problem with her on the dry erase board, but even I got it wrong

Bible

• 1 Corinthians

Biology

• Smithsonian's Zoology
• Taking notes with Funschooling's Biology journal

Civil War Unit Study

• Co. Aytch
• Lens of War: Iconic Photographs of the Civil War
• Battle Lines: A Graphic History of the Civil War

Art/Music

• Ballet class

Extras

• Wednesday night church activities

Homeschool Day 11/14

 3rd Grader

Wild Math 3

• Math Reader: A Million Dots
• Practiced reading numbers into the millions

Sonlight Reading 2/Language Arts

• Explode the Code
• Amelia Bedelia
• Phonics Pathways
• Handwriting practice

Sonlight C (history, Bible and literature)

• All the usual readings

Extras

• Piano practice
• Karate class
• Playing outside

11th Grader

Math

• Mathusee Algebra 2

Civil War Unit Study

• Battle Lines: A Graphic History of the Civil War

Extras

• Aceable Driver's Education Course
• Gymnastics classes

Homeschool Day 11/13

We finished our schoolwork at lunchtime and then took our bikes on a bike trail.  Super fun! 

3rd Grader

Wild Math 3

• Place Value to millions

Sonlight Reading 2/Language Arts

• Phonics Pathways
• Amelia Bedelia (reader)
• Explode the Code
• Copywork

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

• All of our usual 3 gajillion readings

French

• Ecoutez, Parlez!

Physical Education

• Bike riding

Extras

• Ballet class

11th Grader

Bible

• Finished reading Ecclesiastes

Algebra 2

Grammar/Writing

• Khan Academy SAT English Prep Course

Civil War Unit Study

• Co. Aytch
• Battle Lines: A Graphic History of the Civil War
• Crash Course US History
• The Civil War Part 2

Physical Education

• Bike riding

Extras

• Aceable Driver's Education Course
• Ballet class

Homeschool Day 11/9

 3rd Grader

Reading/Language Arts

• Phonics Pathways - we started this today.  We're going to do this on the side in the evening and over the weekends

Sonlight C (history, Bible and literature)

• All the usual readings

Nature Study

• A Drop of Water
• Chemistry for Every Kid
• We did #24 "Moving Drops"
• 100 Things to Spot in the Night Sky
• Moon

Art/Music

• Usborne's Famous Paintings Art Cards - he made me do two of these, because he liked them so much
• "The Great Wave"
• "The Scream" 
• He did more whittling with ivory soap and his Boy Scout pocket knife
• Ballet class
• Piano practice

11th Grader

Bible

• Ecclesiastes

Grammar/Writing

• Khan Academy SAT English prep Course

Biology

• Smithsonian's Zoology
• Funschooling Biology Journal

Civil War Unit Study

• Crash Course US History
• The History of the 4th of July
• Battle Lines: A Graphic History of the Civil War
• Co. Aytch
• Trail Guide to US Geography
• Florida

Extras

• Aceable Driver's Ed course
• Ballet class

Homeschool Day 11/8

 We did school yesterday, but I was too busy to write down what we did.  But here is today.

3rd Grader

Wild Math 3

• Place value to 1 million and less than/greater than problems

Sonlight Reading 2/Language Arts

• Explode the Code
• Copywork
• He read Amelia Bedelia 

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

• There was just a ton of reading today for Sonlight
• Sir Lancelot the Great (read-aloud) - he really likes this book
• Timeline and map work

Science

• We finally finished Apologia's Land Animals of the Sixth Day

Art/Music

• He widdled/sculpted a goldfish from a bar of ivory soap with his Boy Scout pocket knife
• Ballet class
• Piano practice

Extras

• Wednesday night church activities

11th Grader

Bible

• She decided to go back to the Old Testament and reread Ecclesiastes

Mathusee Algebra 2

• Honors page

Biology

• Smithsonian's Zoology
• Funschooling's biology journal

Civil War Unit Study

• Crash Course US History
• Civil War Part 1
• Trail Guide to US Geography
• Mississippi
• Battle Lines: A Graphic History of the Civil War
• Co. Aytch

Extras

• Wednesday night church activities

Our Winter 2024 Plans for 3rd Grade

I'm adding more stuff in our day this winter, because he is definitely capable of doing more school and he enjoys learning things.  I feel like listening to all of these Charlotte Mason podcasts has inspired me to add more.

Math

• Wild Math 3

Sonlight Reading 2/Language Arts

• Finishing Sonlight Readers 2
• Explode the Code (continued)
• Copywork daily
• Phonics Pathways (about 5 minutes a day)

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

• Continue with the second half of this Sonlight core

French

• He asked to take French
• Ecoutez, Parlez! 

Art/Music

• Usborne Famous Paintings Art Cards
• Piano class - continue at enrichment center
• Weekly craft/art project

Nature Study

• A Drop of Water: A Book of Science and Wonder
• Janice Van Cleave's Chemistry for Every Kid
• Usborne's 100 Things to Spot in the Night Sky (cards)
• Weekly nature walk