2015-2016 Homeschool Plan: Math

I'll start with math. Look here for last year's information. 

I feel like I wasn't as rigorous in math this past year. We technically made it through the plan and covered all the material, but I just feel like I could have worked on it a bit more, kwim? Specifically, I really need to assign the boys different problems. Toward year's end, I assigned the same thing to both boys and let them work on it together. I'm not sure that was the best route, as each has different weaknesses and strengths and this allowed them to use each other as a crutch.

In any case. By "made it through the plan," I mean that we worked through Dimensions Math 7B, reviewed Dimensions Math 7A and used Key To Algebra books to review and reinforce. Also, at the end of the year, I added in these workbooks for additional review and had both boys work through them on their own. (I also used Hands on Equations' manipulatives for some of the equation work.)

The Dimensions Math books are very clear and easy to teach from...with plenty of sample problems, problems to assign and workbook reviews. We're still at the point where I work through the lessons with the boys, rather than leaving them to tackle it on their own. (But I can see that just handing these books to students to work through on their own would also work well, if that's what you're looking for.) 

That said, my plan for the coming year is to work through Dimensions Math 8A and 8B, supplementing with Beast Academy 3D-4D practice books for extra practice/review. 

So. That's math. ;)

2015-2016 Homeschool Plan: Overall

So. It's almost time to start the new school year.

Which means...it's time for my somewhat annual homeschool posts. :) 

I'll start with the basics. Once again, we'll be homeschooling two while Noah tackles his sophomore year at CEC. Here's more:

• We're going to continue with our roughly "6 weeks on, 1-2 weeks off" schedule. (Yes, this means that sometimes the younger two won't have school while Noah does, and sometimes Noah won't have school while the younger two do.) I continue to really appreciate taking things in chunks like this and find it works best for our family.
• Both Asher & Micah will still attend the Fort Collins Options program on Mondays. 
• Technically speaking, Asher will be in 7th grade and Micah will be in 5th. As usual, the schoolwork we do doesn't necessarily follow that; and, for purposes of Options, Asher is listed as 8th grade and Micah is listed as 6th.
• Given Asher and Micah's aptitudes and personalities, we'll continue to use a single lesson plan for both boys for most subjects this year.

Now, I'll continue by subject for the younger two. Feel free, though, to completely skip these upcoming posts. ;) (You can revisit past posts by using that "Homeschooling" category link over on the left...generally, curriculum reviews/plans are in June-Aug 2010, June 2011, August 2012, July 2013, and August 2014. I'll also be working on updating the boys' curriculum pages on the left.)

Tuesday's Ten

Catching up and such...

1. A couple weekends ago, Asher and Micah had the privilege of attending a seminar by a Grand Master (9th degree black belt) and then the promotion of their karate instructors (to sixth and seventh degree black belt). It was pretty awesome.

2. Micah has discovered the joys of creating imovies with his ipod. I particularly enjoy the stop motion animation/drawings. 

3. All three boys had their regular dentist appointments just before Noah started school. All clear! No cavities or other issues. Whew.  

4. We don't actually have a ton of appointments, but I'm glad that it turns out that Noah's schedule this term will be pretty conducive to that...so we don't have to fight for the coveted just after school slots, lol. (His schedule has him getting done for the day about an hour sooner than the schools.)

5. Asher's decided to grow his hair out over the summer. Of the three boys, Asher's hair works best for this, so that's good. But. I don't really know how to cut his hair now that it's getting longer. Suggestions? 

6. I sadly didn't have any big fanfare or celebration here, but Nathan celebrated his fortieth birthday last Thursday! 

7. Beyond our Hawaii trip, Nathan just wanted to go to IKEA to "celebrate"...he needed some supplies to build his own portable standing desk for when he works from other offices. The boys took the opportunity to wander and try out sofas:

8. The day we drove down there was also the eight year anniversary of my dad's death. Miss him still and always...

9. Sunday, Asher and Micah had Karate West's annual performance at New West Fest.

Unfortunately, the demo team only made it through three routines before the announcement came to take cover from the rain and incoming hail until further notice. (I hear that things eventually did start back up, but the demo team's performance was simply over.) Sad. Beyond it being Asher's fourth New West Fest performance, we were really looking forward to the fair food, lol. (The possibility of needing to deal with hail damage to a second vehicle, though, had us heading home.)

10. I really am going to get my homeschool stuff planned and do my annual plan blog posts soon. Honest. ;)

That was all. Happy "it's already the last half of August for goodness sake" to you!

Sophomore

So. Apparently I'm now the parent of a sophomore. ;) Yikes. Here was Noah on his first morning back to school:

He wasn't altogether perturbed or anything. Amazing. ;) 

He's still at CEC (Colorado Early Colleges) and we're pretty happy with how that's going. He's already got nine college credits to his name and will add nine more this semester, having gotten most all prerequisites out of the way and tested out of high school level classes last fall/winter. This semester, he'll be taking English 122, World Mythology, 20th Century World History, and Spanish 1. (Spanish is the only high school level class and should be interesting since we've never tackled that before.) Given the college classes (which fortunately are all still on campus so he only goes to the CEC campus), he was able to work his schedule so that he only goes from roughly 10-2 every day (with a one hour lunch on Tuesdays and Thursdays). Not bad at all. 

(You may notice that there are no math or science classes in his schedule. Which is odd for him. But. He's already exhausted the math and science classes offered on the CEC campus yet is still technically too young to take off campus classes at the community college. We got an under-age waiver but decided that if we can push it one more semester before sending him to off campus classes, we'll do that. So, he'll start off campus classes in the spring (still requiring that under-age waiver). In the meantime, I'm making him do a math curriculum on his own time this semester so that he's ready come January. He's so excited, lol.)

Four on Friday

1. We joined the multitudes awhile back and purchased the Exploding Kittens Kickstarter game. We received it recently and have played it a few times. Oh my goodness. The creators are crazy! ;) (For what it's worth, it's been pretty fun and totally amusing!)

2. Who knew that there is an Asher's Brewing Company in Boulder? I didn't. After seeing some of their pint glasses when I was out with boys and nieces and nephew, though, I discovered this and have since purchased a couple of the pint glasses for our own collection. ;) Asher thinks this is dandy, as we've never found any "personalized" items with his name, lol.

3. Earlier this week (and I debated about sharing this, lol), Asher began his day by walking past Nathan and greeting him with, "That shirt makes your butt look good." We're unsure what to make of that. ;)

4. Speaking of shirts, though, this is the shirt Nathan's wearing today after the completion of his first full week of boot camp:

Hee hee. I bought it for him. I'm sweet like that. ;)