Is It Halloween Already?

Well, no, but RobotBoy has been bugging me about his costume since sometime in June. So, this weekend we did some re-arranging to create a crafting space in a corner of our kitchen and got started on that project.

I think I'll save telling the specifics of what/who he will be for later. But here are some photos to pique your interest.

We started with the sheild, cutting a nice round out of cardboard and attaching straps on the back for RobotBoy's arm.


We threaded the straps through slits in the cardboard and tacked them down.




Then we went to work on the breastplate. RobotBoy did most of the cutting.



We bent it roughly to fit around his torso and used some tape to hold the shape.







The last step (for today) was applying the first layer of paper mache to both pieces and setting them out to dry.



It feels like a good start.

We Survived!

Our first week of the new school year, that is.

Actually, it's gone pretty well. We kept to our routine all but one day, completed all the assigned work for the week and even managed a field trip. As I've written about before, I have been very, very nervous that we had bitten off more than we could chew this year, especially given the compressed schedule required in order to work around Moonheart's college calendar. Now, though I'm knocking on the wood of my desk as I type this, I'm beginning to feel that we might be able to pull this off.

Here's what he did:

Math - One of the things about which I was most concerned was math, especially since we would be jumping back into the midst of an algebra course he started last year. For the first time, I required no review over the summer, and I thought it very likely that he would lose a lot of ground. Instead, though, he got in there and picked up where he left off with no discernable problems. He completed the unit on Using Inequalities with little trouble and near-perfect scores. On Friday, he earned an A on his first math test of the year. He also seems to be enjoying the idea of the supplemental reading, getting through the first chapter of The Number Devil bright and early Monday morning.

History - He read sections from various books about prehistory, from dinosaurs to cave folk. He also watched the short video about Aboriginal Rock Art on the National Geographic for Kids website. He then did a review/worksheet about prehistoric art.

Reading - Tying in with the prehistoric art theme, his assigned reading this week was the novel Boy of the Painted Cave. He enjoyed it very much, although he was sad when Greybeard died.

English - We did the first reading comprhension exercise in English Prep 2 and introduced our first writing model of the year, adapted from Genesis ("In the beginning . . ."). RobotBoy also worked through the first two lessons of Word Roots B1.

Science - He read the first chapter of The Story of Science, which got thumbs up. Together, we watched the first two episodes of the Nova series Origins, which we'll finish next week. He also read the first half of the book that came with the triceratops excavation kit and starting digging into the project. On Wednesday, we took a field trip to Dinosaur World, which we've been driving past for several years but had never done before. I fully expected it to be terribly cheesy, but it was very nicely done.



While I could certainly have lived without the oppressive heat and the biting bugs, I can't blame the owners/operators for those. And, of course, the whole day might have been more pleasant had my car not quit and had to be towed to the local dealership for repairs . . . Nonetheless, RobotBoy had a good time and might even have learned a few things.

Languages - We read together through the introductory pages of Latin Prep 1. I have to admit that the pronounciation thing is likely to be my downfall, but we'll keep plugging away. On his own, RobotBoy tackled the first several exercises of The Learnables: Spanish Grammar Enhancement and the opening pages of Greek Alphabet Code Cracker. He's especially enthusiastic about the Greek.

Geography - He dug into the first lesson of the FLVS middle school World Geography course, which, as usual, was mostly about the mechanics of the course rather than actual content. The motif sounds interesting, though, and I suspect he'll enjoy this one.

Art - This is another FLVS course, with a motif that will certainly appeal: pretending to be a comic book artist. I'm not quite sure how that will play out as the course continues, but the syllabus looks pretty good. This is one that RobotBoy chose to do for fun, so I'm not worrying too much about the rigor.

That's it for schoolwork. RobotBoy also had his first full week back at dance classes, after the school had to close for Fay-related weather a couple of days last week. He seems very happy to be back. He auditioned for both The Nutcracker and Don Quixote and was cast in both ballets. It sounds like the young boys won't have a whole lot to do in Don Quixote, but RobotBoy always enjoys any opportunity to perform. We're still waiting to hear the details of his participation in The Nutcracker, but it sounds like he'll have about as much to do as last year. Fortunately, most of the rehearsals for both pieces will be scheduled on Saturday afternoons, which will at least minimize the number of car trips I'll be making for the next couple of months.

Next week, we'll add Thursday afternoon choir rehearsals to the mix. And we're waiting to hear for sure about the new tap class, which is tentatively scheduled to begin next week, also.

So, I guess we'll just see how it goes from here, but it's definitely not a bad start to the year.

Ready . . . Set . . .Really?

Tomorrow is the big day. Now that Moonheart is safely settled back into her dorm and I've had a couple of days to recover, RobotBoy and I will be starting our 2008-09 academic year tomorrow.

I'm ready, right?

I keep reminding myself that I have only one child to teach and that, if things aren't going well, I have the flexibility to change them around until it's better. I have tons of resources and my lesson plans in place and our schoolroom and supplies all organized. And I've been doing this for a few years, now. So, honestly, why do I still feel nervous?

I suppose that's a mystery we may never solve. So, let's just go on to talking about the plan.

We're cycling back around to the ancients this year, and I've done my best to run that thread through all subjects and give RobotBoy the opportunity to make lots of connections.

Here are his shelves, with all the books for the year all ready to go:




History: We're going with our home-designed approach again, although I'm trying to kick things up just a notch or two from last year. I'm adding in the Parragon Atlas of World History as a spine, which RobotBoy will read alongside the first 40 stories from the Child's History of the World CD/ROM. He'll also read another 17-ish non-fiction books, magazines or articles about specific historical people, places and events. I've cut back a bit on the number of DVDs and videos from last year, but still plan to make good use of our Netflix account. I'm determined to increase his "output" for this year, but hesitant to insist on the heavy duty outlining and narration suggested in The Well-Trained Mind. So, I've collected/created worksheets and review pages for him to do each week. He may also do some hands-on projects, and we have at least three good field trips on the agenda.

Literature: I've pulled together a stack of more than 20 books the coordinate with our history study. I think RobotBoy will enjoy most of them very much. He has become fascinated with the concept of the "hero's journey" and delights in comparing various books and movies that tie in with that theme. So, we're going to spend some time chatting about Joseph Campbell and discussing those concepts as they come up in his reading for this year.

Grammar & Writing: He'll continue with Galore Park's English Prep (Book 2), but we'll skip the writing exercises in favor of trying out the progymnasmata approach as outlined in Classical Writing. I've modified the suggested schedule to fit into our routine. So, we'll be spending two weeks with each model: the first week reading and picking it apart for grammar and style, the second week doing the actual writing project. Our samples are all drawn from the literature or culture RobotBoy will be reading about in history in those weeks. We're also going to try again to get around to the next volume of Word Roots, which got dropped from our schedule last year due to computer troubles.

Science: I think he'll have fun with this, spending the year learning about science in ancient civilizations. He'll use Hakim's Story of Science: Aristotle Leads the Way as a spine, supplementing with the six-book Science of the Past series and Jeanne Bendick's Archimedes and the Door of Science and Galen and the Gateway to Medicine. For the hands-on component, he'll use Ancient Science: 40 Time-Travelling, World-Exploring, History-Making Activities for Kids.

Math: This is the subject about which I feel the most nervousness and ambivalence. Right now, the plan is to continue with the University of California open access algebra course he started last year. However, I have recently realized that I'm not doing a very good job of making math seem particularly interesting. So, we're going to try adding in some supplemental, "fun" math reading (The Number Devil, Murderous Maths). And, in an nod toward creating a connection to the history theme, he'll play around with the activities in Can You Count in Greek?

Languages: He's continuing with The Learnables for Spanish, doing the Grammar Enhancement package this year. For Latin, we're moving to Galore Park's Latin Prep, which I'm hoping will be as good a fit for him as is their English series. And, just for fun, he's going to do a light introduction to ancient Greek, using the Greek Alphabet Code Cracker from Classical Academic Press and Hey Andrew! Teach Me Some Greek, book 2.

Other Stuff: He's also signed up to take two classes with Florida Virtual School, World Geography and a single-semester introduction to two-dimensional art. The geography class was my idea, the art his. At this point, I consider both of them expendable if we determine that his academic load is too heavy. And, although we're not doing a formal logic program, he will be doing a couple of puzzles a week from something I found on a bargain table called The Giant Book of Mensa Critical Thinking Puzzles.

Every time I sit down and type it all out, it starts to look like an awful lot of work. And when I remember that we're planning to continue doing four-day weeks (with Wednesdays off and/or available for hands-on activities or field trips), I really have to fight down panic. But RobotBoy just looks at the list and shrugs and assures me he can handle it. So, I guess we'll see . . . bright and early tomorrow!

Let's Try This Again

Well, I had the best of intentions. Honest. But those last three months of the school year just did me in, and the whole Weekly Reporter thing was one of the casualties (along with folding laundry and cooking dinner more than three nights per week).

Anyway, here we are approaching a brand new academic year. A fresh start, perhaps?

In an attempt to get myself all energized to start that new year, I've spent some time over the last couple of weeks cleaning up and re-organizing our schoolroom. I even quit practicing denial about Moonheart not schooling with us anymore and moved her desk out of the room. It made me feel a bit misty, such tangible evidence of the end of an era, but we do appreciate the extra floor space.

So, without further ado, here's what it looks like now:



This is the "nerve center" of the space, RobotBoy at his desk on the right (playing a game, truth be told) and my desk on the left. One of the things I like about the new arrangement is that I get to sit right next to the window. RobotBoy didn't like having his desk there, because he didn't like the glare of the sun on his laptop screen. But I just love the view and the natural light.

On the wall between our desks are four timelines from Milliken: Early Africa, Mesopotamia, Ancient Israel and Ancient Rome. They have lots of good graphics and information and should be helpful for quick reference during the year.



Here's the opposite wall, RobotBoy's books and curriculum for this year on the third and fourth shelves (counting from top down) on the bookcase next to the window. My stuff--including answer keys and books I might want to refer to during this year and anything reproducible--is on the shelf above his books. The other two shelves have generic supplies: printer paper, books that didn't have any other home, etc. The bookcase on the left has all of my parenting/education books, dictionaries and other reference things, projects from previous years and assorted arts and craft supplies in the plastic bins.



Here's another view of my desk (near the window!). The plastic bags on the floor are full of supplies waiting to be donated to our church's Religious Education program. One of the things of which I'm most proud is that sheet of white paper smack in the center of the corkboard over my desk: It contains my grading standards for every subject for this year. It's the first time I've ever actually sat down and worked out a logical and consistent grading plan in advance, and the hope is that seeing it there in black and white will motivate my darling son to take his work more seriously.



And, finally, a better view of RobotBoy's domain. The colorful posters are of various Greek/Roman gods and goddesses, tying in with our ancients theme for the year. I moved the world map from its ignominious position behind the door to a place of honor next to RobotBoy's desk. The green strip beneath the map is the portion of our timeline that covers the historical period we'll be studying. The plan is to add a similar strip for each of the other three eras as we get to them. Under that is a map of ancient Persia that my husband found in a recent National Geographic.

So, in terms of physical space, we're about as ready to go as we can get.

The lesson plans are pretty much done, too, but I'll chat about that in another post.

So, now all I have to do is get Moonheart through the final weekend of her current show, make sure she is packed up and ready to head back to college by this time next week, drive her there, move her into her dorm room and drive back. Yep, I should have all kinds of energy left over to start school bright and early the following Monday morning, right?