Wednesday's Homeschooling

Today we got a lot done. First we did a placement test we got from the Saxon Homeschool website. Saxon publishes math textbooks that are ever-popular with homeschoolers. Cimeron is using their Math 87 book in public school now, and I'm hoping to get a book for Aaron soon.

We got about half way through the test. It is helping me identify areas we can work on together.

Next we read from a book about magic, and learned to do two of the magic tricks. That was fun for both of us and involved using some strategy and science.

After that we did a review of New York history including the information we learned about John Brown and the start of the Civil War. Aaron usually remembers things like this very well, which makes me wonder why it has been so hard for him to learn to read and write.

Next we did the dreaded spelling test. He got a few of the words right, which I found very encouraging. Next to his words I drew a vertical line and had him write the correct version of what he missed. We'll use the missed words again another week.

Oh, one other thing I had him do - was to calculate how much money he had left out of $100 after buying a new controller for his Nintendo and a used game. I thought he'd do the subtraction on our pen board but instead he glanced at the numbers and did an estimation in his head. I thought that was cool, how quickly and easily he came up with *almost* the right number.

  ¶ 2:07 AM  

  Tuesday's Homeschooling

Sometimes I think Aaron is one of the most hyper kids I know. Then I remember how much more hyper his sister seemed when they were younger. The thing with Aaron is, he likes to talk. When it is just the two of us, he wants to talk to me - almost non-stop. You can understand why this might cause a conflict, I'm sure. You see, I want him to be quiet and do his school work. He wants to talk. Non-stop, just about. AAArrrggghhhh... that's how I feel about it at times. Then I pull myself together and look into his eyes and remember what a sweet kid he is and how lucky I am to have him here.

Like tonight - he wanted to cook. He calls it his cookin' lesson. Lately he's been cooking every evening. Tonight it was chocolate pudding and after everyone else went to sleep, he and I sat here and ate the pudding. He served it on a nice tray with the napkin holder and our two pudding cups on it. How elegant. :)

We're making progress in reading the literature selection.

Today I thought about why I started reading this book. It is because Cimeron brought it home from school. I love reading the Newbery winning books, so out of curiosity, I decided to read it to Aaron. Now I wonder... maybe I should read something else instead. I really want to read him Mr. Revere and I by Robert Lawson - a middle grade novel told from the perspective of Paul Revere's horse, but now I can't because I'm reading And Now Miguel. Well, I guess I'll have to be patient.

Today I had him write all his spelling words. Next he did a worksheet where all the answers were... the same spelling words. I warned him that tomorrow is the dreaded spelling test. Next we worked on converting fractions.

After that he wanted me to read to him from a recipe book. The recipe he wants to make is chocolate mousse. More power to him! I love chocolate.

Today we also read from the book about New York. I was surprised when it got to the part about John Brown and just barely mentioned him, showing a picture of his house in New York, where he's buried. I get so frustrated with text books that leave out important parts of history. I got the World Book Encyclopedia out and read the article about John Brown so now Aaron and I know a lot about him. He was avidly anti-slavery and in his rush to help free slaves he and his cronies killed some people and ended up in a lot of trouble. Brown was hung as a traitor. I asked Aaron how he felt about Brown's decision to help slaves, and the outcome of his life. He said that the killings of five pro-slavery men in Kansas were bad but not as bad as the slavery. "He helped more people than got hurt," he said. Brown was killed in 1859, right before the Civil War broke out.

Monday's Homeschooling

I see I forgot to write something for Monday. I remember reading a lot out of And Now Miguel and we went over spelling words... well, good thing these aren't mandatory reports... because I have a hard time being consistent with them.

  ¶ 12:32 AM  

  Friday's Homeschooling

When I was done with homeschool on Friday I went to bed, leaving Aaron to experiment with my graphics program... so I wasn't able to update this blog then, and now I see I've left it until Sunday.

Well, besides the art lesson, on Friday he did some division problems and two pages of spelling and writing. I told him we would have a spelling test the next day and he reminded me it would be Saturday. Since we follow the traditional school week for the academic subjects, he will have to do two more days on the same spelling list this coming week - one day of study, and then the test. I'm looking forward to seeing how he does.

  ¶ 11:39 PM