Our last science club class was about genetics. We had a game where I gave each kid a worksheet that told him which traits their fake person had, and then they teamed up with someone else to make a new child. They rolled dice to see if they were passing down dominant or recessive traits and then drew their baby accordingly.--It kind of sounds racy, but it wasn't I can assure you.
For history, we learned about computers. We read books about their invention and about Steve Jobs. I feel a little silly, because until this lesson, I had no idea that the "i" in ipod and iPhone etc. stands for internet. Anyway, we made our own computers.
We also talked about the information age, and we played a game where they had to run around the house to get information such as "What stuff animal is in the oven?" and then we did it again the information age way-by asking "Google-Mumma." I would just tell them the answers without them having to run around.
We also learned about pollution and green energy solutions. For our activity, we made a little pond and put our water animals inside. we then polluted it and talked about the impact that would have if it was real. We also made solar-powered toys to talk about green energy.
At the end of the week, which just happened to be the literal beginning of summer, the homeschool association had a retirement party for Granny Wendy. I sure love her. She has done so much for our community. The only reason she is retiring is so she can serve a mission, which she has already started. Her husband and she will be heading the new Pathways program that helps people bridge the gap between their education and getting accepted into a church school. I can't think of a better mission for this amazing woman!
We had a talent show as part of the party, and my boys went up to sing a song, but kept pushing each other to hog the mic. It was funny but embarrassing. Oh well, fun start to summer!!!!
And now, bare with me as I reflect on this past year, and where we are at.
Science
I think science went really well. I made little changes to the Four Year Plan, like having the 5 senses on 4 different club days. Also, each animal class had it's own day. Because of going to Idaho, I wasn't able to do everything they suggested, but really, the only thing missed was mostly learning about the workings of plants. I find this interesting (I even took an upper-course plant biology class in college) but I'm sure my group is not suffering because I skipped it.
I LOVED the dissections and microscope explorations. Maybe next time I can get fresher specimens.
History
I loved learning about modern history. I felt I was teaching my children things they needed to know. There were some subjects I realized I should have taught. Here are some I thought of in retrospect:
American Japanese relocation
Russia's 1917 revolution.
McCarthyism
Latin American immigration
Watergate
To fit in these topics (and anymore that I might think up) I think next time around I'll fit all the french revolution stuff in with the ancient history year.
Maxwell's Reading writing and arithmetic
Math is AWESOME! I have to say, I'm so pleased with Rightstart Math. I hardly used any external worksheets either. They gave you quite a bit to work with. I feel that Maxwell not only can spout out correct answers, he is thinking like a mathematician. According to Alberta standards, he is ahead of the game at present. Look at a test he took:
Maxwell's writing is okay, and his reading is a year behind. I try not to freak out about this because every homeschool mom I've ever talked to that has older kids tells me not to freak out, and that everything will be okay in the end, and he will out shine any public schooled kid's reading by far. Faith. Give me faith. I have faith in Maxwell. I know he's smart, I just don't have that much faith in myself. Thank goodness for Explode the Code online.
Hyrum's reading writing and arithmetic
I've been taking things slow, and because of how Hyrum is, I don't know if he's bored or if I'm going too fast! I think I will just plug on with what I'm doing during the summer.
With reading, we have been doing "20 easy Lessons." I chose this over "100 Easy Lessons" because the 100 lessons was really busy on the page, and Hyrum needs clarity and simplicity. I don't love it, but I don't hate it either. I think we're about to the point of moving over to BOB books.
In writing, Hyrum is done with Handwriting without tears! This has been a great program for him. He really learns with story and visual learning, so things like "dive down, swim up, and over" make things fun for him. He loves the stories like "make it so no trash can get in-between the humps in the letter "m." Just a chocolate chip." He's ready to journal.
With math, he's about ready to start Rightstart math. In fact, I've started him on the basic concepts of recognizing groups of things as numbers without counting. He's also memorized the "Yellow is the Sun" song.
Because of this, he can now easily do simple math addition
My plans for summer:
Devotionals
Maxwell: Explode the code, Dick and Jane, journal, and one or two math problems
Hyrum: Bob books, journal, and one or two math problems
Not too demanding. And if we don't do it everyday, WHO CARES!
HAPPY SUMMER!!!!
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