School Summary - Getting Started Again, MFW 1850-Modern Times, U.S. States

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A Summary of August 17-28

Where did summer go? No, really. How did our summer break go by so fast? Oh, yeah. We did science all summer. ;) We finished up our science for the year, had one full week off, and then began our regular school year. I could have used a little more time, I think. But we're off and running with two middle school students. Soprano is in 6th grade.

Tenor is in 8th grade.

We started the year with a little back-to-school gift like we usually do.

Star Wars school supplies, new colored pencils, and a Greek/English Interlinear New Testament for his foreign language

Frozen school supplies, new colored pencils, and a horse Fun Facts mini book

Here's how we started:

Things that were scheduled:

Math
Tenor picked back up in Saxon Algebra I. These two weeks have been a little rough as he's trying to remember concepts that he barely learned at the end of last year. I think he's getting it though. Soprano began Saxon 7/6 with no difficulty.

Language Arts (Grammar with Writing and Reading for both; Spelling for Soprano)
We're not doing a separate writing curriculum this year. (Cue the singing angels). They're using Rod and Staff English (8 and 6) which includes composition. I've scheduled more time for the composition lessons so they can do a thorough job. With high school coming up and more difficult math this year, I wanted an easier year. For all of us. :) Tenor's first reading book is The Prince and the Pauper. He's already done some prep work and vocab. Soprano is reading The Sign of the Beaver. She's done vocab and a few activities as well. She also started Rod and Staff Spelling 6. It'll be her last year of spelling.

Electives:

Greek and Computer Science (Tenor), American Sign Language, Photography, and Sewing (Soprano)
Tenor's on Hey Andrew! Teach Me Some Greek level 4, which is why he needed an interlinear New Testament. He'll also be starting the computer science courses from Alpha Omega's Switched on Schoolhouse. We needed to get a new computer before installing the software so he hasn't started them yet.
Soprano will be starting ASL but I need to look at the program and schedule it in. She has begun her photography course (Amanda Bennett's Digital Photography unit study) and sewing (Stitches and Pins).

My Father's World 1850 to Modern Times

This is our last year of studying MFW together. Next year, Tenor will be in high school doing his own thing. It's bittersweet. We'll be picking up where we left off last year with 1850 and going right up through modern day.

Bible: This year we will be learning (reviewing) basic Christian beliefs and memorizing key Bible passages. Our first book is "A Young Person's Guide to Knowing God" by Patricia St. John. We learned 1 John 3:1 and read several story devotionals from her book.

History and Geography: 

Our first two weeks focused on the 50 U.S. states. We didn't use the U.S. Geography songs CD for no good reason other than I have a better song for the states in alphabetical order, and the youngling and padawan already have a good grasp on where the states are located. Their pretests were pretty good with only a few missing, but both final tests were 100%.

We reviewed early American history using the Children's Encyclopedia of American History.

Science: Done, done, done! Except... Looking at Tenor's high school plan, I realized that it would be beneficial to him if he had a .5 credit of natural science this year. We're using MasterBooks Cave and Archaeology books. They're not too experiment heavy so I think Tenor will get through them easily. He chose the topics he wanted to study. That should help too.

His first archaeology project was to create a seal.

We're also using the World of Science reading assignments to review what we learned this summer.

Other MFW: 

Music: Our music will focus on American composers this year, Gershwin, Sousa, and Foster. I'm adding in Copland and Williams. They're not scheduled until next week. I did have them do the Contemporary Period lesson from The Young Scholar's Guide to Composers.

Art: We learned about Millet.

Extras:

Web:

You can see them all in my Youtube playlist for weeks 1-16.
How the States Got Their Names infographic

Videos:

no other videos these weeks

Favorite Books: 

nothing particularly exciting these weeks

We survived our first two weeks! Which called for ice cream at a local creamery.

Paper Flower Summer Wreath

At the scrapbook convention, I picked up this kit from SEI which caught my eye.
I loved the muted summer colors of the wreath.
I laid all the pieces out and promptly felt overwhelmed. :)

After layering all sorts of pieces together, I pinned the flowers to the included Styrofoam wreath base. The pins didn't hold very well, so I put a little hot glue on each pin and then replaced them.

Here's the end result:

 Happy summer!

Make a Card Monday - Time to Celebrate

I had the opportunity to attend the Creating Keepsakes convention in my hometown. It worked out really well because I only live about 10 minutes away so I could drive in each day, and I was able to work for one of the vendors, which gave me spending money. :)

I helped with set-up on Thursday and worked in the booth all day Friday. Saturday was wide open so I could shop and take a couple classes. 

The first class I took was CK's "Cards Full of Sunshine". The second class I took was "Time to Celebrate", a stamping technique class sponsored by Technique Tuesday.

Enlarging a stamp technique (using tape and a Post-It note)

We worked on several techniques and then were able to take the pieces home to assemble them into cards.

Left: masking with tape technique; Right: masking with a Post-It note technique

Left: Using a die to cut a mask; Right: Die cut negative space mask

I assembled all the pieces when I got home and ended up with five cute birthday cards.

Most of the supplies came from the class kit so I'm not sure who manufactures them.
Details:

cardstock: white (unknown), black (unknown), light blue (DCWV)
patterned paper: coral, yellow, and teal dot (unknown)

embellishments: yellow baker's twine (unknown), gems (unknown), clip (unknown)
color: inks (unknown); watercolor crayons (unknown)
tools: corner punch (Creative Memories), clip attacher (Rob and Bob Studio)
stamps: balloon and flower stamps (Technique Tuesday), Block Party (Technique Tuesday)

Sentimental Souvenir Tray

I put away the patriotic decor after July 4th and dug out the summer stuff. With a few tweaks from last year, the mantel was finished.

 

The coffee table was a different story. I have not liked how I've set that up so I was on the hunt for something new. What I found was this:

Tray on clearance for $3 at Hobby Lobby; The cork roll, small bottles, and mini tags also from Hobby Lobby.

The tray was on clearance. Perhaps because it was a crazy print. I used some craft paint on the edges and sides.

This was try #1 with a paint color. It didn't work.

When the paint was dry, I glued a piece of the cork roll to the bottom.

I put sand from beaches that we've traveled to in each of the bottles and put the name of the beach and the year on the mini tags.

To finish it off, I added shells we've collected on vacation, and I printed two vintage-looking, sea-themed, clip-art postcards.

Much better than what we had previously. Other summer decor includes our entry cupboard:

And dining room buffet:

Summer's on it's way out! Soak up those last rays!

Linking up to some or all of these great blog parties:

Sunday: It's Overflowing; Sunday Showcase at Under the Table and Dreaming;
Monday: Inspire Me Monday at Sand and Sisal; Tutorials and Tips at Home Stories A to Z; Monthly Before and After at Thrifty Decor Chick
Wednesday: Wicked Awesome Wednesday at Handy Man, Crafty Woman; Whatever Goes Wednesday at Someday Crafts; 
Friday: Frugal Friday at The Shabby Nest; Flaunt it Friday at Chic on a Shoestring;

Summer Science - AIG Machines and Motion Units 5 and 6

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We're finishing AIG's Machines and Motions. In unit 5, we learned about circular and periodic motion by observing circular motion,

Nobody got wet! :)

playing with a gyroscope,

observed spring action,

"Slinky, slinky, it's such a wonderful toy..."

and making a pendulum.

We skipped observing centripetal force but we discussed the experiment.

In unit 6, we learned about the use of machines by trying to create a structure using toothpicks instead of hands to lift the blocks.

We skipped building research in lesson 31, observing natural machines in lesson 32, and scientist research in lesson 34.

And with that, we finished our summer science. Woo-hoo! 

Soprano will have an easier school year which I'm sure she'll enjoy. Tenor will have another science during the year but it doesn't look too intense. We'll see how it goes... we start on Monday!

Summer Science - AIG Machines and Motion Units 3 and 4

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Continuing with AIG's Machines and Motions unit 3, we learned about kinematics by
understanding frame of reference, measuring speed and velocity, observing acceleration caused by gravity. I'm not sure why I don't have pictures of any of the experiments. ?
We skipped a few things that seemed like they'd be too hard to do. We didn't do the second half of the frame of reference because we didn't have a wagon big enough to put a person in; we also skipped the relativity poster in lesson 20.


In unit 4, we started exploring dynamics (laws of motion, gravity, falling bodies) by observing inertia.

When you flick the card, the coin drops straight down into the cup due to its inertia.

We explored the second law of motion,

experiencing the third law of motion,

 

and played with gravity.

 

 We did an egg drop,

Soprano's design

 

Her design was unsuccessful.

Tenor's design: 4 small, inflated balloons in the bottom of the box; the egg wrapped in bubble wrap; 4 inflated balloons attached to the corners of the box

 

Tenor's design was successful! He gave credit to watching MacGyver.

determined whether mass affects how fast things fall,

and understood center of mass.

We didn't use the green experiment from lesson 26 but did this balancing bird instead.

We also skipped the green experiments in  lesson 21 and lesson 23.