Time to Move

Howdy!

Our home for Silver Creek Academy is moving.  Please go to Our Place in Papalote if you'd like to follow us and see what is going on.  At the top of the page you will see a tab labeled Silver Creek Academy.  This is where all future homeschool posts will go.  There will be a time of transition as I attempt to move all our posts from this blogspot to our new place on the web.  I hope you will still hang around and keep up with us on our homeschool journey

Educating in Christ,
Pam 

Yes, We ARE Still Here!!

Howdy!

Absence makes the heart grow fonder......well, that's what they say anyway.  I'm not trying to assume you love this blog, ha!  But, we certainly have been absent!  My last post was in November 2013!   I was encouraged to read a piece of it just now and see that we had had a good school week.  I will say that while the blog has been quiet, it doesn't mean we haven't been doing school.  My last post for a school update showed week 5-6 of MFW, we are currently in week 21 of school.

We had a lot of "life" happening last fall.  We had illness, dental issues, the loss of sweet loved one's, and basically it was a struggle to get through a typical school day, much less keep up with all that was going on AND write here on the blog. I have truly missed my time here because it is something I enjoy doing.

So, what I would like to share today is this.  We took a MFW break. Dum, dum, duuummmm.....Yes, the curriculum that sold me on homeschooling and is what I would consider another love of my life, became overwhelming.  Not just for Caleb, but for myself. So, I did what any good momma would do, I hit the pause button.  Our last week of MFW was #9.  I still love it and we will go back to it.  Just as soon as I'm sure we're both ready and in the right place.  My heart knows that time is fast approaching....Honestly, one day I realized that too much was going over Caleb's head and things that he needed to be mastering, weren't getting mastered.  We were using ECC (Exploring Countries and Cultures) and it was written for 3rd to 8th graders.  So, it was up to me to give him what he needed at HIS level.  We were missing consistency with all the interruptions from that season of our life and I think that also made it hard for me to find the time I needed in order to figure out WHAT was really his level.  And that happens.  That is a part of homeschooling though.  Things happen; we tweak and adjust and then we move on.

In January 2014, we began a time of regrouping for us.  I switched things up.  I bought a new/different math curriculum.  I went back a bit and we have spent a lot of time reviewing and reinforcing those things I didn't think were clicking.  I bought a very inexpensive science and social studies curriculum for us to do in the mean time. I found a different bible curriculum from Apologia and we have just loved it. We stayed with our current spelling and language arts books because I felt progress was being made in those areas with the materials we had.  

Fast forward to today.  We're about to wrap up the spelling and language arts books.  We have flown through 1/2 a year of the new math curriculum in 2 1/2 months.  We will be moving onto the next level soon.  Caleb really loves the new bible lessons.  And he has enjoyed some of the science and social studies.  I say some because if it doesn't involve hands-on science, he really doesn't like it.  But, the books come with new definitions, reviews and tests and so far he has done exceptionally well with the lessons.  We do some of it orally and some of it written.

I told the principal that I didn't think we needed more than a 3-4 month break from MFW to regroup and reinforce the cores.  I wasn't far off the mark.  I see Caleb maturing and understanding so much more by leaps and bounds.  I'm so proud of him.  

So, weeks 10-20 have been very different.  This post will not be picture heavy because while a lot of MFW is basically hands-on and has a lot of picture worthy stuff, what we've been doing during our break is not.  I do have some pictures, so I will post them here for you to see:

 

Caleb was being creative during spelling.  Used a different color for each word.

 Caleb insisted on doing this experiment.  It was something we had done before and he wouldn't let up until I let him do it.  So, I let him.  He wanted to melt ice on the plates with one ice cube just on the plate, one ice cube in warm water on the plate, and the last ice cube in cold water on the plate.  He learned that the ice cube sitting in warm water cooled off the warm water pretty quickly.  He wanted to know which ice cube would melt first.

 Another creative spelling list.  These words he underlined.

This is a picture "he" colored from our new social studies book when we talked about beavers and what their world looked like.

 In science we talked about seed pods and he learned that he still doesn't like peas. 

The apple was a part of our math and a discussion on what makes a half.  And then we took the seeds out and used those on a math worksheet, counting seeds and doing addition/subtraction problems with the seeds.

In this math lesson, Caleb was to use the different patterned shapes to fill in a triangle, doing it four different ways.  When he was done he had to sort the shapes, count how many of each he used in all four attempts and then put the totals into a graph.

So, there are a few pictures from our escapades since the 1st of the year.  Like I said, there aren't very many.  Part of that is I just did not take the time TO take pictures either.  We tried to stay focused.  :) 

I am looking forward to our return to MFW.  Caleb says he isn't.  I think it's because of all the sad memories that took place last fall amidst our school attempts, and the struggles we had trying to get through and understand a curriculum of which much was over his head.  I know with this break, his increased maturity since last fall, and my own new, refreshed outlook, things are going to be so different.  We have incredibly productive school days now and I look forward to when we are wrapped back into MFW.

Educating in Christ,
Pam

This Thing Called Homeschool

Last week was one of the best weeks we've had since school started.    We only had one interruption on Veterans Day, with a parade and a breakfast our church prepared for the Warriors on Wheels as they passed through our small town.  And believe you me, we've been riddled with lots of interruptions since school started.  That my friends is information for another post.  I can't even begin to tell you how accomplished we felt to have several good school days ....  in a row. 

Admittedly, some days I wonder why I'm doing this. This meaning, this homeschool thing.  It's not the norm at all, although it is becoming more and more common every year.  I wonder though, wouldn't it be easier .... if..... I sent our son to public school every day because:

1)  I could let someone else be the responsible one for his education.

2)  I could let him be around a lot of other kids his own age every day, all day long....learning "social skills" and "stuff" from them.

3) I could use the time I spend on homeschool research and prep for something else, and I wouldn't have to - - research curriculum, scope out field trips, keep up with constantly needed supplies that are non-typical school supplies, look for on-line resources to supplement our days and themes, spend so much time on-line at our library's website selecting books and then later picking them up from the library, investigate home school co-ops and groups, stalking on-line homeschool groups, figuring out the best way to keep records and stay on top of things, etc.

4) Then I could have more time to do other things, (like, have more time for me, or maybe I could get another job, keep my house cleaner,  stay up with my tasks and responsibilities at home, be a little more organized with my job at church,......Oh I can think of a lot of ways I would spend that time.)

And then, someone comes along and shares a story of their day.  A story involving several shocking scenarios that allow me to once again remember why I am in this thing called homeschooling.   After those scenarios are played out in my mind, stories from my past pop up as reminders as well, discouraging news articles I've read flip open their files in my memory banks, and all these things come bounding to the surface.

Did you know?  That in some of the high schools these days, the kids are allowed to cuss at and around their teachers, without any repercussions?  And this includes the "f-bomb."  And that a visiting parent isn't even enough to make them pause for a moment and think, 'maybe this is disrespectful?'

Did you know?  That some teachers are scared to demand respect out of the students around them.  So, the kids that are there to learn and gain an education, are exposed to the once that do not care about school at all?

Did you know?  That a large majority of students ignore their school work and don't care that they will end up in ISS?

Did you know?  That students can shut down and duct tape a teachers computer while the teacher steps out of the room and not be reprimanded when that teacher returns?

Did you know?  That middle school teens like to hang out at local fast food restaurants and it is quite common for many of those students to engage in fighting and/or threatening confrontations?

Did you know?  That elementary kids under 5th grade level, typically hear curse words and inappropriate words, such as body parts, as they ride home on the bus?

Did you know?  In some states and schools that teachers of health class are allowed to introduce your child to the details of same sex relationships?

Based on personal experiences:

Did you know?  That a child can sit in a class room and be assaulted by spit wads and no one will do anything?

Did you know?  That a child can be made fun of on a daily basis, and the teachers won't/can't do anything?

Did you know?  That a child can be pushed around out on the playground, and no one will stop the one doing the assaulting?

After you read through that list, it doesn't become rocket science anymore folks.  All these things rumble around inside me and make me feel sick to my stomach.  I know homeschooling is not for everyone and I know that there are many reasons out there that leave parents in the position of not being able to homeschool.  I am not here judging anyone their choice.  Each family has to make the best choice available to them.  

What this does do for me is it makes me feel all the more grateful -- that at this time, in this moment, God has blessed us and we are able to homeschool.  Will this always be the case?  I sure can't answer that.  Only God has the answer to that.  But, I do know that being a homeschool parent is a calling.  It is something you are called, by God, to do for your children.  Does it mean I am not nervous or apprehensive with the courses that are in our future? No, it does not.  I am nervous about all those things.  But, I also know that He WILL equip me with all I need to get that job done.  

"Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus."  Philippians 1:6

So, for today.  For the here and now, I am grateful to be able to homeschool.  Even on the frustrating days....Because on those days especially, there is no better feeling than when we do manage to pull it all together and get the job done.

Educating in Christ,

Pam

Week #5-6 - ECC - 3rd Grade

Welcome to our little place on the web.  Here you will see what we did next in ECC as we moved into weeks #5 and #6 and "flew" to Mexico.  Each time we "fly" to a new location I put my arms out to my sides and make airplane noises.  So, okay, Caleb is 8 and probably way past airplane noises.  But I love the eye roll and look he gives me.  And some day, he will look back and say, "Hey mom, remember when you used to make those airplane noises as we flew from one country to the next?  You always tried to make me laugh, and I liked that."  (I can dream, can't I?)

He took a picture of me this week.  At least this one is okay enough to show all of you:

Bible:  

Our bible sessions for the last two weeks consisted of lessons from:
*Windows of the World and some reading on Cuba
*Locating Bethlehem, Jerusalem, and Nazareth on the map/globe
*Locating the Jordan river
*Windows of the World with readings on Haiti

We continued our reading in the book of Matthew covering  chapters 3 - 4 - and the beginning of 5.

The memory verse was  Matthew 4:4 - Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'"

Language Arts: Our lessons included either copy work of the memory verse, and/or weekly vocabulary words.  With the vocabulary words, he writes the name and a draws an illustration on one side of the 4x6 card.  And on the reverse side, he write the definition.    His recent words were:  Desert, Dune, Canyon, and Gulch. I think I mentioned that he does all the work on these cards, except for the coloring.  I think I'm a few weeks behind in my coloring.  One of these days I will get them done.  I'd better get at it because I expect he will be pointing his finger at me very soon.

Spelling:   We covered a lot of ground in spelling with a new list of words to write nearly ever day.  We discuss any he gets incorrect, which has been pretty rare lately.  He's really been doing a good job.  Caleb finds it more palatable to write the words on his lap-size, dry erase board.  I need a record of the work done, for me.....so I take a lot of pictures.  Here are some of his lists.  I absolutely love his side note.  I had just received a telephone call telling me that my sweet sister-in-law was very sick and in a bad way.  I was crying on the phone and Caleb was writing me a note.  God bless my sweet son for his sweet spirit.  I don't know what I would do without him to bless my days.

 

English:  

We've continued with daily lessons in our Queens Language Lessons book.  We were focusing on a narration on wolves, a discussion of capital letters and the days of the week, additional narration and some fill in the blanks on the days of the week.  Sometimes the copy work is that of a poem and sometimes it's just a list of words, like for these lessons, the days of the week.

We also drafted our first letter to our pen pal, Nathan.  His momma also thinks he will have a good time writing letters to a pen pal.  We shall see how Caleb does from his end.

Math Drills:

Ten minutes of daily math drills consisting of either worksheets or flashcards.

Math:

We're still working through our Singapore Math Review Book, completing 15 worksheets, on various topics.  Things seem to be clicking a little better for him as we go through this book of review.  I am very glad we stopped moving ahead and took some time to review these concepts consisting of word problems, number bonds, ordinal numbers, patterns, etc....(a lot of which was very easy, but some of which I have found a review was necessary.)

Geography:

It really is crazy to think about the things we can cover while spending two weeks in any one country.  Mexico was interesting, for sure.

* We filled out our passport with the date we started our study of Mexico and placing a Mexico flag sticker on the passport as well.  With each country, we will fill out a page in our passport and adhere the countries flag sticker there for reference.

* We discussed Mexico, what hemispheres it is in, the bordering countries and bodies of water.
*We filled out a worksheet of Mexico's flag.  Yes, we always color together or everything in our MFW worksheets would remain black and white.  :)

  

* We spent some time in our Classroom Atlas, A Trip Around the World, and Illustrated World Atlas: talking about the people and places in Mexico and the Nature, Farming, and Industry of Mexico.

* We also prepared and began playing our Geography Game.  Maybe for my next post I can take a couple of pictures.  It is a map of North America and comes with individual cards for each country in North America.  I laminated our maps and all the little cards for durability.  We're supposed to play the game two times a week, but Caleb loves it so much we play EVERY day.  As we move throughout the continents our maps and cards will change.  Did I say he loves to play?  Oh yes, I did.  He loves it!  I mean, literally begs me every day to play first.  I used to make him wait until Geography time, but then I realized I might be squelching something there and what did it really matter anyway.  So, we play first.  Sometimes even before bible, but, shhhhh, don't tell anyone about that, ok?

Art - Mexico:  Caleb seems to not be too excited about the art projects I've picked out so far this year.  I'm a little disappointed in that because I spent a lot of time choosing things I really thought he would enjoy.  But, one of the projects he did get into was making a "Sun."  One thing we learned was that we should have made the points of the sun all one piece instead of separate pieces because they did not dry to the sun face.  We had to go back and glue them all down before he painted it.  Maybe we used the wrong type of clay, not sure.  But, it still turned out cute.  When daddy asked him about his sun, Caleb said, "I learned that blue and yellow make GREEN."  You can see in the last picture where his paints mixed a bit and he has some green.  I think it gave his sun face character.  :)  Oh, the point of this project was that Indians were well known for making beautiful pieces of pottery.

An unfinished project - I really thought he would have fun making a picture on this piece of tin by hammering a nail into it.  What kid doesn't like hammering?  Right?  Um, yeah....maybe it was just the wrong day.  I don't know. But, it sits.....undone.

Book Basket:  

Caleb still does ten minutes daily reading books from our book basket.  He doesn't like it anymore than he did in the last two weeks.  Oh well.....He loves to be read TO.  What can I say?

Science:

Our science topics were from our Living World Encyclopedia and Properties of Ecosystems books.  We discussed deserts, how animals cope in the desert and with dryness, oases, and rain in the desert.

I will admit, Caleb says science is boring this year, and I guess I agree with him.  Did I mention this already?  I can't remember.  Too much has been going on for me to recollect and I don't want to take the time to go read my previous posts.  So, he says he finds it boring.  It's not as hands on.  He likes to dig into experiments, not read about deserts and the animals that live there.  But, we keep on plugging along because all of this really is important.  Actually, I think he loves learning about the animals, but how it's tied to science, not so much.

And then, sometimes he comes up with an experiment on his own that he wants to do.  He talked about his one for nearly two weeks and finally things settled down in our lives enough that I could say yes, let's do your experiment.

So.  Here is his experiment on melting ice.  He insisted - - three plates with an ice cube on each one.  #1 - ice with hot water, #2 ice without water and #3 ice with cold water.  He wanted to see which ice cube would melt fastest.  Honestly, I think he knew the answer.  He just wanted to do something he knew he could "win" at or come out as "right."  But hey, that's okay.  He learned that one dose of hot water did not completely melt the ice like he thought.  The ice cooled down the hot water and it was no longer hot.  So, he replaced it with additional hot water, and ..... success.  :)

Music/Art:

We continued listening to our Wee Sing CD.  We have learned that it's easier to "take" the music if we listen to it in the car.  So, we'll listen to 2-3 days worth at a time while we are riding around.  Otherwise, he sits next to me, eyes rolling, and just wanting to run away.  But, if we're riding around in the car, for some reason, he's good with that.  

Reading:

*Polar Bear Morning
*Red Hat
*If You Want to See a Whale
*What Floats in a  Moat
*Bailey

Read-a-Loud:

We read started a new Read-a-Loud book called Cameron Townsend.  We're only a couple of chapters in, but so far it sounds like he plays a big role in getting bibles translated into other countries.  It's a bit of a dry read.  Caleb, who normally loves to be read to, is not getting into this one.  We will keep at it and see.

The Complete Book of Animals:  

We did worksheets on the the grizzly bear, Moose, Otter, Wild Turkey and Porcupine.

Cooking:  The conclusion to our study in Mexico was supposed to be a Mexican Feast.  But, in the midst of it all, there was just too much going on and too much to deal with in order to "do it right."  While we WANTED to have a pinata and all the typical foods for a Mexican feast, including homemade tortillas and having family come over and share it with us, it just did not happen.  

What we did have was:

BEANS

TORTILLAS

CHEESE DIP

JALAPENO POPPERS

And Not Pictured:   

BEEF and CHICKEN FAJITAS.

Let's face it.  Caleb is a picky eater.  And I could have spent all the time in the world making all these delicious Mexican foods like enchiladas, tacos, chalupas, or whatever....and he wouldn't have eaten a bite.  But, chicken fajita and cheese dip?  Now that he will do.  Everything else was for daddy and I just because we like it.

Misc.:   We've had this puzzled sitting here since we did Adventures.....finally, we pulled it out and put it together.  Caleb had such a great time!  I think we will look for more fun, EDUCATIONAL puzzles to do together.  We tried another just for fun, but it was quite difficult and I ended up putting it together by myself.  But, here is our puzzle of the U.S.

Wrap Up:  I don't want to end our post with too much doom and gloom, but Oct and part of Nov has proved to be a challenging month.  We had a very close family member who became seriously ill on Oct 7th, which lead to their departure into the arms of Jesus on Oct 23rd.  Caleb underwent three very serious dental appointments that no 8 yr old should ever have to go through.  But, that is over and we are so glad.  I also lost another person (my older kids Aunt Kari), who I have always thought very highly of on Oct. 29th.  Both funerals were in the early part of November.  

Suffice is to say that school was hard pressed to get done during this time. It was intermittent and half-hearted at best when we did get to it.  But, what I keep telling myself is that Caleb learned many valuable tools during this very difficult time.  Maybe it wasn't a new math lesson or a new spelling word, but it was how to be compassionate to  those around you who are scared, sad, and grieving.  How to be a brave boy for a momma who cried many a tears in these weeks.   Let's just say a lot was learned in these weeks, even if we didn't crack a book.  And, it might mean we will have to do some school in June in order to make up time lost.  Or, maybe we can fill in with school on some otherwise planned days off.  I do know that God knows where we are right now and He knew from the beginning that we would be right here, right now.  It will all get done.  It will.  

I'm excited to say we ARE back to school now, EVERY day, and are doing our best to just keep moving forward each day.  We finished week #7 and are in week #8, so we will have a new post for you very soon.  I'm finding these posts take quite a bit of time to write.  I guess it's just because there is a lot that goes into each themed set of lessons.  I'm so glad to get this one done and be able to share some more of our adventure in ECC.  

Stay tuned for our trip to Canada....

Educating in Christ,

Pam

Week #3-4 - ECC in MFW

Welcome back.....here you will see a breakdown of what we did for the 2 weeks we studied the United States.  

Bible:  

Our bible sessions for the last two weeks consisted of lessons on:  

*Missionary Kids - from our Window on the World

*Dwight L. Moody from our Hero Tales book

*Navajo Indians - from our Window on the World book

*Harriet Tubman - from our Hero Tales book

*Discussing the map of Israel and Egypt

The memory verse was Matthew 1:13.

While reading from the Hero Tales book, there are daily writings and discussion on character traits.  These are based on the behavior of the character we are reading about.

The one pictured here is about "Perseverance" and we discussed this after reading a chapter on Harriet Tubman.  The black woman who successfully found her way to freedom from slavery and then brought 300 others with her to freedom in the years that followed.  Very wonderful book.  We read the children's book last year in 2nd grade.  So, it was nice that it was already a familiar story that could be reinforced.

Bible Activity:

He created a bookmark with the name Matthew on it written in Greek.   He was quite intimidated. So, I wrote the letters in pencil and he copied over them with a marker.

Language Arts:

*Copying the memory verse and new vocabulary words, Butte and Badland.

Spelling:

We've moved on in spelling to daily words done via dictation.  I'm so pleased to watch Caleb write words he's not had a lot of exposure to.  Sometimes we write them on notebook paper and other times I let him use the dry erase board as he seem to prefer that.

English:  

We've continued with daily lessons in our Queens Language Lessons book.  Focusing on capitalization and a variety of copy work.

Math Drills:

Ten minutes of daily math drills consisting of either worksheets or flashcards.

Math:

We're working through a Singapore Math Review Book, completing 31 pages of math work these past two weeks.  Caleb is doing really well and I'm certain we can move onto book 1B very soon.

Geography:

Just being honest here.  The MEAT of ECC is geography.  These past two weeks we covered a lot of territory.

* We put flag stickers on a map of a variety of different countries.

* We labeled a map of North America

* We spent a lot of time reviewing the state names by looking at an empty map of the U.S.  

* Caleb plays a game on the iPad called, Stack the States.  He can place all 50 states on the map in record time, without mistakes 1/2 the time.  It's a 3 strikes and you start over, type of game.  Well, I quickly learned that he wasn't really reading the state names, but memorizing the shape of the state.  So, we had to start spending more time looking at an unlabeled US map.  I'd call out a state name and he would point where it would go.  

* We spent a lot of time in our Classroom Atlas book, looking at a lot of different maps, filled with a lot of information.

* We used our Classroom Atlas, A Trip Around the World, Illustrated World Atlas...

* We had a challenge where we colored all the states in the U.S. using only 4 different colors.  

* We read about Farming & Industry

We colored the US Flag....

Book Basket:  

Caleb does ten minutes daily reading books from our book basket.  I will say, he doesn't like this AT all.  But, we do it anyway.

Science:

In science we learned a lot about Forests via our Property of Ecosystems book and Living World Encyclopedia.  We completed some worksheets discussing all the basic information about Forests.  I think Caleb isn't enjoying science as much this year because it's basically all reading and learning about biomes and ecosystems, etc.  He really likes the hands on stuff, and there really hasn't been much of that so far.

Here Caleb drew a flying squirrel after we read about different animals in North America.  Considering he doesn't like to draw, I think it's rather cute.  :)

Music/Art:

We listened to our Wee Sing CD.  Caleb isn't a big fan of this either. It's children singing and well, he's just not much into singing.

Reading:

* When I Was Young in the Mountains

* Yes Let's

* Crinkeroots Guide to Walking in Wild Places

* A Tree is Growing

* Are the Dinosaurs Dead, Dad?

* Magic Carpet

* Forest

* O'Say Can You See

* Forest Food Chains

* The United States from A to Z

* Around the World in 80 Pages

Read-a-Loud:

We read several more stories from Kingdom Tales.  They are so heartwarming....I found myself crying through a couple. Caleb smiles and shakes his head....

The Complete Book of Animals:  

We did worksheets on the Bald Eagle, Beaver, Beaver Lodges, Gray Wolf, A Word Search on different animals, and the Grizzly Bear.

With weeks 3-4 finally blogged and posted I can officially call them a wrap.  We're knee deep in week 5 right now and I'm excited to say we're discussing Mexico.  I look forward to sharing what we learn as we move through that country in Weeks 5-6....

Educating in Christ,

Momma Pam