CHRISTEPHI

We made it to Week 5! This is significant because our whole year is blocked off in five week chunks with a break between each one.  So after this week, we have a whole week off.  A much needed week off, I might add.  And not because we aren't liking the curriculum.  Just the opposite!  We are having so much fun in school that the housework is suffering.  Not the worst problem to have, but I'm still glad to have a whole week to catch up on things. (And maybe even sew something!) Miss M worked all week on finding equivalent fractions, adding like and related fractions, and reducing fractions to their simplest form.  She couldn't understand why she had to express each answer in its simplest form, so I turned to the helpful ladies in My Father's World Facebook group for some good reasons to satisfy her questioning.  The main reasons given had to do with preparing for higher level math, practicality in real-life situations (especially in the ...

While many families were back to school this week, for us it was also the start of an entirely new school year.  I always get excited to start afresh in new books with new material to cover, brand new pencils to sharpen, unspoiled new notebooks to write in.  But at the same time I always enter this phase of panic where I look at all the new stuff, the new schedule, and wonder how on earth I am going to manage to pull it off.  Of course, once I get started it's really not that bad. After all, you really only need to manage doing one thing at a time, and that's not nearly so difficult! I think the hardest thing this week was getting used to waking up "early."  I tried to get everybody on a practice schedule our last week of vacation, but since Daddy was still home from work, nobody wanted to go to bed on time. They all stayed up late snuggling in blankets and watching movies or playing video games. I made sure to get myself in bed at a decent hour though, because...

One of the most common questions I am asked about homeschooling is "What math do you use?"  Since the time we started using My Father's World a few years ago, we have stuck with their recommendation of Singapore Math.  Aside from one little foray into  Math Mammoth (which I also loved and highly recommend), we have not found it necessary to supplement at all. This year Miss M has been working through Singapore 3A and 3B.  She was so pleased with herself when she completed level 3A.  Of course, I was proud too! Level 3A focused on working with larger numbers (up to 10,000) and really nailing in those multiplication and division tables.  One day I sat down with a pile of flashcards to drill Miss M and since my camera was handy, I snapped a few shots of her in constant motion.  Apparently acrobatics help with math fact memorization! Level 3B moved on to some topics that really lent themselves to hands-on learning: length, weight, and capaci...

I started the week by sorting a whole bunch of library books I got for the next couple weeks.  I love our library!  And so far this year I've only had to pay less than 50 cents in library fines.  Considering I consistently have over 50 books checked out at a time…that's pretty good!  It helps that I can manage our books, due dates, holds, and renewals online!! We learned about the Santa Fe Trail, Oregon Trail, and the Gold Rush this week.  Many people in our area made a lot of money outfitting wagon trains headed west.  William M. Paxton, who recorded the history of this area 150 years ago, said that of the many people who left our county with gold fever, most were never heard from again.  Very few returned, most died, a small handful made it rich and stayed out West.  He lamented the loss of so many of the county's fine people. We have two student desks, a child-sized table, and a spacious kitchen table…yet Miss M consistently choos...

Week 13 of Adventures in U.S. History is earmarked for Thanksgiving. It is a stand-alone week that can be moved to an appropriate time of year.  Since we started our school year in February, we'll likely do Week 13, or Thanksgiving Week, as a finisher for our school year. We "travelled" through a few more states this week!  Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maryland, and South Carolina.  Miss M was a bit distraught that "Maryland" isn't pronounced Mary-land.  Miss M's favorite book about states in our basket book so far has been Our 50 States: A Family Adventure Across America by Lynne Cheney . (affiliate link)   The illustrations are fun and engaging and it's simply loaded with interesting facts about the states! Our 50 States by Lynne Cheney In science we learned about the American Robin, Black-Capped Chickadees, and Northern Orioles.  All three of which we have as regular backyard visitors.  We sat outside and listened care...