Field Trip to US Bureau of Engraving and Printing

 Our school today was a field trip to the US Bureau of Engraving and Printing in Fort Worth, Texas.  

https://www.bep.gov/visitor-centers/fort-worth-tx-tour-and-visitor-center

This was an excellent field trip.  It's more of a tour for older kids and adults.  The 3rd grader thought it was interesting, but did not enjoy it as much as the college kids did.

It's free.  You don't have to make reservations if your group is under 10 people.  Parking is free.  They drive you in a tram to the facility from the parking lot.  Everything is indoors.  You can't bring any electronic devices - you can't even have a cell phone or smart watch.  There is security everywhere, but they are very friendly and welcoming.

The facility has a 2-story museum with interactive exhibits, a theater with a 10-15 minute video describing the process and finally, they give you a map and a self-guided tour device.  You walk a quarter mile overhead the facility and listen to the self-guided tour.  There is a gift shop at the end.

Super friendly staff and a very interesting field trip!  

Homeschool Day 1/11

 I'm sick, so our school days might be sporadic, depending on how I feel.

1st Grader

• Miquon Orange Math
• Reading
• Explode the Code
• Ordinary Parents' Guide to Teaching Reading
• Human Body
• 50 Wacky Things Humans Do
• We made muscle groups from play dough and placed them on a paper outline of the human body
• The Random House Book of Bible Stories
• Elmer and the Dragon
• He played outside

9th and 11th Grader

• Algebra 1 (9th) and Stewardship (11th)
• Windows to the World - they wrote the final and rough drafts of their literary essays on the short story "Contents of a Dead Man's Pocket"
• The Infographic Guide to American Government
• We did a Mock Trial.  Even the 6 year-old helped.  There are several mock trial scripts available for free online.  I printed copies for everyone and we acted out the trial together.

Homeschool Day 1/10

 1st Grader

• Miquon Math Orange
• Reading
• Ordinary Parents' Guide to Teaching Reading
• Explode the Code
• Handwriting without Tears
• Bible
• The Legend of the Poinsettia
• The Random House Book of Bible Stories
• Human Body
• 50 Wacky Things Humans Do
• Activity: We made all of the major organs of the body out of play dough and placed them in their relative correct positions on a paper outline of a body.  We did the digestive system, lungs, heart, kidneys, bladder, brain, etc.
• Played outside
• Cub Scouts' Pinewood Derby

9th and 11th Graders

• Algebra 1 (9th)
• English
• Windows to the World
• Read "Contents of a Dead Man's Pockets" (short story)
• Annotated the story and began a rough draft literary analysis essay
• Finished The Little Prince and did a group discussion of the book
• American Government
• Finished You Decide! Applying the Bill of Rights to Real Cases (EXCELLENT!!)
• The Infographic Guide to American Government
• Bible
• Revelation 10 and 11
• German (together)
• German Demystified, lesson 1 (pronunciation)
• Vocabulary - 5 nouns
• Listened and read Matthew chapter 1 from the Luther Bible

Homeschool Day 1/5

 1st Grader

• Reading
• Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading
• Explode the Code
• Miquon Math Orange
• Literature
• The House on Pooh Corner
• The First Adventures of Spider
• Practiced his address
• Human Body
• First Human Body Encyclopedia
• 50 Wacky Things Humans Do
• Lab - sugar tasting lab
• Tested the taste of sugar on different parts of our tongues (in the name of science)

9th and 11th Graders

• 11th grader took a TSI English practice test - only missed one question
• Algebra 1 (9th) and Stewardship (11th)
• English
• Windows to the World - outlining the literary essay
• The Little Prince (discussion and reading)
• Bible
• Study of Book of Revelation - chapter 9 reading and discussion
• American Government
• The Infographic Guide to American Government
• You Decide! Applying the Bill of Rights to Real Cases
• 8th Amendment
• 2 Supreme Court cases
• Discussion of death penalty in the US
• Physics
• The Way Things Work Now
• QSL Physics Lab
• Transistor lab - measuring voltage around a circuit with a transistor in place on the breadboard
• This is actually our last electronics lab

Homeschool Day 1/3

 1st Grader

• Reading
• Explode the Code
• Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading
• Miquon Math Orange - he did several pages - he likes math
• Literature
• The House at Pooh Corner
• First Adventures of Spider (African folktales)
• Human Body
• First Human Body Encyclopedia
• 50 Wacky Things Humans Do
• Van Cleeve's Biology for Every Kid (labs)
• Optical illusions labs

9th and 11th Graders

• Algebra 1 (9th) and Stewardship (11th)
• English
• The Little Prince (Saint Exupery)
• Windows to the World - literary essay
• The Way Things Work Now
• Mystery of the Periodic Table (9th grader)
• American Government
• You Decide! Applying the Bill of Rights to Real Cases
• Fifth and Sixth Amendment
• Discussed 2 Supreme Court cases
• The Infographic Guide to American Government
• Bible
• Revelation chapter 7

Homeschool Day 12/29

1st Grader

• Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading
• First Language Lessons 1
• Explode the Code
• Miquon Orange Math
• Biology
• We finished Magic School Bus Presents The Human Body
• Bible
• The Legend of Saint Nicholas (Gruen/Ferri) - he loved this picture book
• Literature
• House on Pooh Corner
• Aesop's Fables for Children (we read two fables)
• He had a long playdate with a friend 

9th and 11th Graders

• Algebra 1 (9th) and Stewardship (11th)
• English
• The Little Prince (Saint Exupery)
• Windows to the World - literary essay
• The Elements of Style - we did some of the sentences together on the dry erase board
• American Government
• The Infographic American Government
• You Decide: Applying the Bill of Rights to Real Cases
• Fourth Amendment
• We covered about 4-5 Supreme Court cases covering search & seizure, probably cause, warrants, etc
• We ended up consulting a relative who is an attorney and asking questions about illegal police searches - very interesting
• They also had friends come over to visit

Homeschool Day 12/28

 1st Grader

• Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading
• First Language Lessons 1
• Miquon Math Orange
• Story of the World 1
• Aesop's Fables for Children (we read two fables)
• The Great Wall of China

9th and 11th Graders

• Algebra 1 (9th) and Stewardship (11th)
• English
• Windows to the World - literary essay
• The Little Prince
• American Government
• Infographic Guide to American Government
• You Decide: Applying the Bill of Rights to Real Cases
• Finished discussing 1st Amendment
• 2nd Amendment
• 3rd Amendment

Homeschool Day: 12/27 - Back in the Saddle Again...

 Our first day back after a 3 week break.

1st Grader

• Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading
• First Language Lessons 1
• Handwriting without Tears
• Miquon Math Orange
• We finished The Beginner's Bible
• Story of the World 1
• We read Pegasus by Mayer/Craft
• Magic School Bus' The Human Body
• P.E. - We are playing pickle ball in the afternoon

9th and 11th Graders

• Math
• Algebra 1 (9th) - she is at the end of this course
• Mathusee Stewardship (11th)
• English
• Started The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint Exupery
• Read small bio of the author
• Windows to the World - literary essay
• Bible
• Daily Bible reading
• Study of Revelations - we reviews chapters 1-4 and read 5-6
• American Government
• Read The Infographic Guide to American Government
• Researched:
• Texas state governor
• US Representatives for our district
• US Senators for our state
• You Decide: Applying the Bill of Rights to Supreme Court Cases
• Discussed First Amendment and two Supreme Court cases
• Wisconsin v Yoder (1972)
• Edwards v South Carolina (1963)
• P.E. - We are playing pickle ball in the afternoon

Winter/Spring 2022 Plans: High School

 Winter/Spring 2022 Plans for 9th and 11th Grades (English/Government Focus)

Math

• Finish Mathusee Stewardship (11th grader)
• Start Mathusee Geometry (9th grader)

English

• Windows to the World, Literary Analysis
• Strunk & White's Elements of Style
• Narrations
• Literature
• One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich
• The Little Prince
• The Strange Case of Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
• The Red Badge of Courage
• The Misanthrope
• Edgar Allan Poe (selected writings)
• The Turn of the Screw

German (continue)

Bible

• Continue daily Bible reading
• Study of Revelation

American Government

• Continue covering Texas and US Government
• The Complete Idiot's Guide to American Government
• You Decide: Applying the Bill of Rights to Real Cases
• Mock Trial

STEM Thursdays

• Finish The Elements and Mystery of the Periodic Table
• Subatomic particles unit study
• VEX IQ or Physics Pro lab kits
• Work on science fair projects
• Python Programming (continue projects)
• Some physics kits - like the "build an engine" kit and ultraglider kit

Outsourced/Extras

• Shakespearean Theater (11th grader)
• Reader's Theater (9th grader)
• Ballet
• Wednesday night church activities
• Voice lessons (11th grader)

Homeschool Day 11/16

 1st Grader

• Miquon Math - second day and it's a hit!
• Reading
• My Father's Dragon (read-aloud)
• Explode the Code
• He read to me from an easy reader from the library
• Handwriting without Tears
• Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day
• Gymnastics (outsourced)

9th and 11th Graders

• Algebra 1 (9th) and Stewardship (11th) - 11th grader needed a lot of help, lesson covered mortgages and amortization
• English
• Steinbeck's The Pearl
• Government and Economics
• Fun Facts About Texas
• When Texas became a US state
• Area
• Population
• Flag
• State flower
• State animals
• State sport
• State tree
• State Nickname
• Gymnastics (with a homeschool group)

We did not get to finish Physics and German, because the 13 year-old started to not feel well.  So I let them call it quits.

Homeschool Day 11/1

 1st Grader

• Math
• Picasso Tiles
• Winnie the Pooh (read-aloud)
• Reading
• Explode the Code
• See Pip Point (finished the book)
• First Language Lessons 1
• Story of the World 1
• Physical Education - we played baseball at the park.  He also went walking on a nature trail and played on a playground.

9th and 11th Graders

• Algebra 1 (9th) and Stewardship (11th)
• Kafka's Metamorphosis
• Windows to the World Literary Analysis
• Bible
• Study on Revelation (end times)
• US Government
• What are the three branches of Texas state government?
• What is the responsibility of each branch?
• Apologia Chemistry
• LAB 4.2
• Physical Education - baseball at the park.  We also walked a nature trail.
• Voice Lessons (outsourced - 11th grader)

Homeschool Day 10/25

 1st Grader

• Math
• Count by 5's and 10's
• Using pennies to show the value of nickels, dimes and quarters
• Put a very gross penny into a cup of vinegar to watch it clean the penny
• Reading
• Explode the Code
• See Pip Point - he read this to me
• First Language Lessons 1
• Story of the World 1
• Boy Scouts

9th and 11th Graders

• Algebra 1 (9th) and Stewardship (11th)
• Started reading Franz Kafka's Metamorphosis
• Bible
• Gladys Aylward
• Video: Revelations - Part 2 - the Bible Project
• US Government - answered and discussed
• How many counties are in Texas?
• What county are we in?
• What is a county seat and which city is our county seat?
• Who is in charge of our county?
• Apologia Chemistry - finished Module 3 - Naming Compounds
• Code Combat (Python programming)

Homeschool Day 10/18

 1st Grader

• Math
• Read Measuring Penny
• Looked at coins and learned their names/values
• Reading
• Explode the Code
• He read See Pip Flap
• First Language Lessons 1
• Story of the World 1 (Ancient Egypt)

9th and 11th Graders

• Algebra 1 (9th) and Stewardship (11th)
• Windows to the World: Literary Analysis
• Bible
• Gladys Aylward
• Video: "Revelation 1-11: the Bible Project"
• Bible prophecy chart in Rose Book of Bible Charts and Graphs
• US Government
• Started a ladder of representatives
• Researched who our District councilman, how to contact him, etc
• Wrote a short history of Fort Worth
• Chemistry
• Converted celsius to kelvin
• Video: "The Genius of Mendeleev's Periodic Table"
• Explored this interactive periodic table from the Royal Society of Chemistry

Homeschool Day 10/11 - 3 new subjects + a curriculum change

 1st Grader

• He's very sick today, so he did not do anything.  Mostly watched cartoons and napped.

9th and 11th Graders

• Algebra 1 (9th grader) and Stewardship (11th grader)
• English
• Elements of Style together on the dry erase board
• Animal Farm (read-aloud)
• Written narration of Night
• Bible
• Bible readings
• Apostle Study: Judas
• The 12 Outlaws
• Rose's Book of Bible Charts and Graphs
• Gladys Aylward
• US Government (new subject)
• Research our city government
• What kind of government does our city have?
• Who is the mayor?  Party affiliation?
• How many districts is our city broken into?  Which district are we in?
• Chemistry (curriculum change - we dropped Masterbooks Chemistry and switched to Apologia)
• Module 2: Energy, Heat and Temperature
• LAB 2.1 - Calibrating Your Thermometer

Since we finished World Geography, I've added three new subjects for this term:

1. US Government - my plan is to start with our city and county government and learn work our way into state and federal government.  I'm not using curriculum, just using research-based learning.
2. Economics - we are going to try videos from here: https://mru.org  We are starting with the Microeconomics course.
3. Project-Based History - we are going to work backwards through time using our family tree to study different time periods and events that occurred with each generation...what life was like, etc and how past events relate to current events.

Curriculum change for Chemistry

    We switched from Masterbooks.  We were almost halfway through the course and my kids just weren't learning anything.  The labs were difficult to do at home.  We were halfway through chemistry and had never even boiled anything.  If I use that course again, it would be for middle school.  We switched to Apologia.  It's cumbersome, but I can teach the book myself + the labs are very homeschool-friendly.