School Summary - 3 Weeks of Late 1800s and Early 1900s Then Break

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Soprano's Mandarin Square

A Summary of December 7 -24
Between Thanksgiving and Christmas we had one day shy of four weeks of school. With holiday projects and preparations, it took some serious willpower to get everything done. Now that Christmas is behind us, we'll enjoy a break until the Monday after New Year's Day. Then head into our 18th week... the halfway mark for our school year!

Here's what we did:

Things that were scheduled:

Math

Tenor is one lesson and a test short of finishing Algebra I! I tried to talk him into doing some extra so we could start the new year in Algebra II but he was not inclined. :)

 

Language Arts (Grammar with Writing and Literature for both; Spelling for Soprano)

Just doing the composition assignments in their Grammar books instead of an entire separate writing curriculum has been wonderful this year. Although they still dig their heels in when it's time to do one. Soprano finished an essay on alligators and did some work on friendly and business letters.

Electives:

Greek and Computer Science (Tenor), American Sign Language, Photography, and Sewing (Soprano)

Dare I say again that we need to catch-up on sewing? I'm hoping to finish her current project (a pieced potholder) and start the next over break. 

A bound blanket she made as a Christmas gift using a pre-sewn front panel for her brand-new baby cousin

Tenor aced his Greek mid-term, but is really behind on projects for his computer science course. Hmm, maybe I'll nudge him to work on those over break too.

My Father's World 1850 to Modern Times
Weeks 15-17... were all over the place. I appreciate the chronological study of history. It's interesting to see how events in different countries influenced and affected other countries all over the world. However we're going so fast. :) I wish we had just a bit more time to really absorb everything.

Bible: This year we will be learning (reviewing) basic Christian beliefs and memorizing key Bible passages. We learned Philippians 4:6-7 and Matthew 6:33.

 

History and Geography: 

We looked again at the westward movement of American people (thereby displacing Native Americans). We talked about industrialization (thereby displacing cottage workers) and how the stock market came about, and then tracked two stocks.

Graphing Kroger's stock

Graphing J.C. Penney's stock

After a week of "investing" --- Soprano's choice didn't do very well.

We jumped into Asian history studying the Sino-Japanese War and then the Boxer Rebellion.

The student sheet has a misprint. The red is supposed to be on the top of the circle (see right). Tenor likes to read ahead and followed the student sheet not me reading the activity book and got them reversed.

The stances for Kung Fu are very similar too, but named differently from, Tae Kwon Do, which Tenor still takes. He explained that kicks and punches all stem from these basic positions.

Over to the U.S. and Teddy Roosevelt and the Panama Canal project

Then to Russia for Czar Alexander II, Nicholas II, and Nicholas III.

(We did the Russian ballet positions activity but the youngling and padawan asked to not have the pics online. It wasn't that bad, honest. :) )

Back to Asia and China's the Last Emperor

Tenor's Chinese Mandarin Squares

Across the Pacific to America and the Wright Brothers

Right back to Vietnam's quest for independence

And then finally stopping in Persia (Iran).

I have history lag. :)

We skipped building our own torpedo, doing Vietnamese water puppetry (really??), and Bedouin Weaving (It was Christmas Eve.) Outlining, timeline, and maps got done though. 

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

Other MFW: 

Music:  We're bridging the gap from Sousa to Satchmo with the DVD included in the MFW kit. It's interesting to see how march music evolved into jazz. But the DVD has a super long intro that you can't skip past that's kind of annoying. We've been doubling up weeks just to avoid watching that intro over and over. :)

Art: We learned about Remington and copied the masters. Then we continued with Impressionism and Renoir.

Extras:

Web:

You can see them all in my Youtube playlist for weeks 1-16. Here is the list for weeks 17-34.

Videos:

The Presidents by The History Channel
Newsies
Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman (Episode 30)
Fiddler on the Roof
Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (with Shirley Temple)
Samantha: An American Girl
Animated Hero Classics: The Wright Brothers
The King and I
The Magic School Bus: Taking Flight

Favorite Books: 

Frederic Remington by Mike Venezia
Samantha books from American Girl
Leah's Pony (Oklahoma) by Elizabeth Friedrich
My Brothers' Flying Machine by Jane Yolen

Crafty Ornaments

Two years ago, Bass got me the big Papertrey Ink kit for a Christmas gift so I could make our Christmas cards. In the kit, I got 6 half circle ornament pieces. I wasn't sure I wanted to attempt anything with them but I found this on Pinterest and was inspired to make my own.
It didn't go well.
Plan B was to try this neutral aqua version. I decided to make it a little more rustic though and used Kraft instead of aqua.

My other crafty project was inspired by this.
I found my high school tassel and our college tassels. I have no idea where Bass's high school tassel is but I have spare ornaments to use if it turns up.

I took the charms off the tassels and used my jewelry pliers and jump rings to attach them to the ornament toppers. I added the relevant information to a mini banner I cut using the banner from the PTI Tinsel and Tags die set.

Because our tree "needed" more ornaments. :)

Details:

cardstock: #110 white (Recollections), Kraft (unknown)

color: Classic Kraft (PTI)

embellishments: snow (PTI)
tools: Tinsel and Tags dies (PTI)
stamps: Tinsel and Tags (PTI)

Make a Card Monday - Merry Christmas from Our Home to Yours

Every year after I finish my Christmas cards, I tell myself that next year I'll do a simpler card so it won't be so much work. It never fails that the following year somehow I'm making something even more complicated. Like our card for this year:

I fell in love with the Papertrey Ink kit that came out around the holidays two years ago. I put it on my Christmas wish list. Bass "surprised" me with it on Christmas morning. Of course, that meant I absolutely had to use it for our cards this year.
This is almost a totally PTI card. I embossed the large mat background. And cut all of the circle layers and banner from the PTI dies. After I stamped the layers and adhered them, I added Stickles along the snowbanks for a little sparkle. (I listed 3 different colors below simply because I kept running out. I only used 1 color per card.) I think I like how they turned out.

But next year is going to be an easy card! ;)
 
Details:

cardstock: #110 white (Recollections), Pure Poppy, Aqua Mist, Soft Stone (PTI)
patterned paper: Tinsel and Tags (PTI)

color: Classic Kraft, Pure Poppy, Pinefeather (PTI), Landscape (Palette), Always Artichoke (SU!), Moonlight White (Brilliance)

embellishments: Crystal glitter glue (Gary M Burlin), Icicle, Diamond (Stickles)
tools: Tinsel and Tags dies (PTI), Swiss Dot embossing folder (Cuttlebug)
stamps: Tinsel and Tags House Additions, Tinsel and Tags (PTI)

School Summary - Dividing Africa Up, Potato Woes in Ireland, and War in Cuba

I respectfully ask that you not pin pictures of my children to Pinterest. Thank you!

Liberian and American flags

A Summary of November 16 - December 4
We had a week of regular work and then our fall break for the week of Thanksgiving. Break week came right after my annual trip to the beach with my girlfriends. Having a week off after a busy weekend was perfectly timed. I should remember that for next year.
After our holiday break, we completed another full week.

Here's what we did:

Things that were scheduled:

Math

Language Arts (Grammar with Writing and Literature for both; Spelling for Soprano

Electives:

Greek and Computer Science (Tenor), American Sign Language, Photography, and Sewing (Soprano)

My Father's World 1850 to Modern Times
Weeks 13 and 14 focused a lot on Europe scrabbling over Africa. I marvel again at families who choose to focus solely on American history. We look at events happening our country today and can easily feel overwhelmed. Yet, if you know history, world history, you can see the same patterns playing themselves out over the past thousands of years. "There's nothing new under the sun." (Ecc.)
We looked at Brazil becoming a republic and the Spanish-American War, which was between the American and Spanish but not fought in either Spain or America.

Bible: This year we will be learning (reviewing) basic Christian beliefs and memorizing key Bible passages. We learned Luke 6:27-28 and Psalm 119:105.

 

History and Geography: 

I know the TM says that the activities are optional but I always have a sense of homeschool mom guilt if we don't all of them. These weeks though had some that just did not appeal, and then we ran out of time. We only colored the African map and didn't add any texture.

We made a telephone (which was scheduled 7 days later so that might show just how much we skipped activity-wise.)

Outlining, timeline, and maps got done though.

 

Science:

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

Other MFW: 

Music:  They colored a page with John Philip Sousa info while we listened to two of his marches.

Art: We dove into Impressionism and painted like Monet and then drew like Degas.

Extras:

Web:

You can see them all in my Youtube playlist for weeks 1-16.

Videos:

The Presidents by The History Channel

Monet by Devine Entertainment

The Miracle Worker

Degas by Devine Entertainment

Favorite Books: 

B is for Big Sky Country (Montana) by Sneed Collard
Kirsten books from American Girl
Linnea in Monet's Garden by Christina Bjork
Mailing May (Idaho) by Michael Tunnell
The Long Way to a New Land by Joan Sandin
Alexander Graham Bell by Mike Venezia
William McKinley by Mike Venezia