Sixth grade lesson plans

It is almost August, we are a month from the the next school year, yet I felt like I was trying to beat the clock finishing up my lesson plans!

The house we are living in is being sold so we thought it might be a good time to look at moving.  We'd been talking about buying a house for the past year and now it is time. So between shopping and cleaning, packing and touring next month promises to be a busy one. I didn't want to wake up on the first day of school and not be prepared so I preemptively got it all (mostly) ready now!

With the exception of a few workbooks I still need to purchase, all of the sixth grade curriculum is in this file box.

And I've made a checklist and lessons plans for each week!  While my plans are not yet final, at least one subject will be reevaluated after the first week, it's nice to have them done.

That's one less thing to worry about during our big move.  Now I just need to make sure I don't lose the crate!

Insta-replay: family time!

What another update? But it's only been a week? I can hear you all wondering at my new found reliability.  Truth be told, I sat doe to work on homework and my computer decided to update, so instead of homework I thought I would blog!

We have had some delightful time with family! Our small family made it to 7/11 on 7/11 for the free slurpee!

Our Walters family had a camping trip together.  It involved relaxing round the fire and the girls played paper-dolls. I'm so glad those dolls are getting some use!


The trip also involved icecream! They were some of the biggest cones.

Next we had Ward family time at the Enchanted Forest, our local theme park. It was so much fun, and is a great place to spend with little kids and big families!

Merry had some one-on-one time with a cousin, they are definitely kindred spirits!  Yet both so unique.

And then we were back to our little family, Charry and I clogged at our local art fair. And we as a family wandered for a bit before going home to nap.

So that's what we've been up to.

"Insta"-replay, keeping track of time

Dear Diary,

I should be cleaning and getting ready for camp but... oh wait this isn't my diary, it's a public blog. Whoops.

So what have I been up to? Spoiler alert, it's not cleaning!

We celebrated with Grandma Jackie!  She finished treatments for breast cancer.  And we went all pink to show our support and love 💕.

Celebrated Fourth of July with small town style! Dressing up and watching the parade.  We skipped the late night fireworks but saw quite a few on our car ride home.

Biggest excitement came in the form of a branch landing on our car.  Now we are dealing with insurance, which is no fun.  

Spending time with my family is always important!  Right now I just have the one little sister living close by, so we were excited when she had a day free to spend with us.

And we had our first clogging demonstration at the county fair.  Speaking of fair, I don't think it is fair my daughter is as tall as I am!

So that was my busy week, full of celebrations and family! And I'm excited for more family and celebrating with camping and visitors planned in the next weeks!

Planning highschool

I'll be honest, the closer my kids get to highschool the more I think, "I should blog about their preschool days."  After all write what you know.  And I know they can both read and write now, so I must have done ok.

But highschool, I don't know how that will go yet.  I've started making plans, buying curriculum, and scheduling next year.  But will things go as planned?  Am I scheduling enough time?  Will this curriculum work for the year?  So many questions!

So I'm going to give myself a little advice, the same advice I would give someone starting homeschooling their kindergartener.

First: This isn't a one day process, just like you don't learn to read in a day, there is very little that is learned in just one day!  Highschool lasts 4 years, so don't cram everything into the first year! It's better to ease into somethings.

Second: You aren't starting from scratch. When I started homeschooling, I had already spent 5 years watching my daughter grow and play.  I already knew her personality.  So I was able to choose learning options that I knew she would enjoy, like worksheets with princesses and mermaids.  Now I've had 8 years lesson planning and used a variety of curriculums.  I know what has worked and what has not.  Just because now it's highschool level doesn't mean previous experience won't help.

Third: Breath!  As much as I would love for everything to go smoothly next year, it won't ruin my child if a subject doesn't work out.  After all I thought I had ruined her love of reading when she spent an afternoon crying under the kitchen table, cause "sounding out words was too hard." (After that we took some time off schooling, more coloring and watching PBS) But she reads for fun every chance she gets now!  So maybe being relaxed will help her, as well as me, next year!

So that's my advice, fingers crossed I'll follow it!

"Insta"-replay: summertime

Hello Summer!  June is gone but the heat remains!

 

Merry bridged to Girl Scout Cadet, the junior high level.  She's still excited about the club and this year will be the only one where she and her sister are at the same level.

 

End of year recital is always an exciting, busy time.  They did beautifully! Every year I am amazed at how much they grow, as dancers and as people!

 

This was Merry's first spring recital without Toby dancing too.  I think I missed Kim the most! Not having my sister backstage with me meant I had to talk to other dance moms, which wasn't too bad I suppose.

 

Random find in the checkout line.  Jon likes to bemoan the fact that "kinder eggs" are illegal in America, so when I saw chocolate eggs with toys inside, I had to buy them.

  

June ended with temperatures in the upper 90s.  So thank you inlaws for sharing your pool!

Hope your summer is going well and that you are staying cool!

"Insta"-replay: are we there yet?

The end of the school year is drawing near, so near, yet it keeps just out of reach, sigh.

 

 

With summer here we are doing summer things, like toasting marshmallows.

 

And taking trips to visit family.

 

Idaho is much better to visit in the warm early summer than the snowy winter.  And we made the trip in just one day.

 

Seeing family was worth it, but it did add two more days to our already running late school year.  But then again that is one reason we homeschool, I get to make our schedule and decide on days off.

Just like using a rest stop on a long car ride, taking a break makes the journey longer but more enjoyable.

Life of Fred: Beginning Algebra review

Charry is finishing up her final lesson of Beginning Algebra today! So I thought now would be a good time to offer my humble opinion on the curriculum.

Charry started using Life of Fred, in 3rd grade, after a very bad 2nd grade year.  And to be honest the books aren't perfect.  But for all their faults the love of math that they inspire has made them totally worth it for us.

So how do they inspire a love of math?  The books tell a humorous tale of tiny 5 year old Fred Gauss and his adventures as a math teacher at Kittens University.  Charry is willing to work through the math in order to read about poor Fred and his misadventures.

How well do they teach math? Well, that depends on the student.  Fred books present math as puzzles for the reader to solve.  If a child loves working through puzzles these are excellent.  My child is not a lover of puzzles so she took some coaxing.  Since she is a lover of attention having math one on one with mom was a motivator.  And since I love puzzles I could walk her though things, asking the questions that helped her head in the right direction.

Is it really a complete curriculum? Yes, but that doesn't mean it never needs supplementing.  With the Beginning Algebra book I also bought the "additional problems."  Since I'm not great at making up problems this was helpful.  But we didn't use most of it. For most lessons what was in the book was enough for her to understand the concept.

Did she remember what she learned? Yes! Between the antidotal Fred stories (which all related back to the math) and the mom examples, she got a high A on her final test!  To be honest it surprised me how well she did.

So what are the faults? One is the time I had to spend with her. I don't consider this a fault really but many homeschoolers want their students able to work independently in highschool.  Honestly I don't think any math curriculum is very "independent" especially once you get to highschool.

Another fault that seems to be present in all of Dr Schmidt's books is an arrogance of the author.  He constantly seems to belittle other math books and other teacher.  I think it is all in jest but occasionally it will rub me the wrong way.

So all in all I love Fred! (In fact I'm coming very close to owning all of the Math books) And next year Charry is excited to be following his adventures once again!