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.