So, what are we learning?
HISTORY
Review of last year's US History because I did a horrible job of quizzing them as they went along. The American Literature and American Government classes at Co-op took so much of our time that we just read without proper review. They remember everything from Thelma's American Literature, and I realized that it is because they had their reading reinforced by lecture, discussion, quizzes, writing, and exams.
We are daily doing history in an interactive way for at least one hour, four days a week. Since they did all the reading up through reconstruction, we are simply reviewing the AP US History Flash Cards. We are reading twenty a day. Then, they split the cards up and quiz each other on the contents. Every two days, I am having them take quizzzes here:
Fabulous website with interactive quizzes! Love it.
Doing 20 cards a week, we can finish our review by next month and continue with our regular history that involves listening to this:
Joy Hakim's History of US on cassetteIn addition, we will continue with Biography of America
SCIENCE
I bit the bullet and switched to Apologia Biology for Paul
I still think the BJU Biology is much more rigorous, but it was too dry and tedious for Paul last year (Michael dutifully did every single study guide question and excelled on the test, but I don't think he particularly enjoyed it). I have heard that BJU is the best, and I got it for $5! Yet, I also had to buy the tests and answer keys and lab notebook for probably more than the $35 I spent on all of those things for the used Apologia plus I got a multimedia CD with it. In addition, I found a website with much of the book vocabulary lists on flash cards! So cool: I just wished I had switched him last year when the co-op class was doing Apologia Biology Lab! I was just so overwhelmed with starting a new co-op with all these people I didn't know and had been together for a long time. It was a pretty miserable start for me all around. People didn't really reach out to me or my kids except the Biology lab teacher, Sheri! So, it was a relief to drop that and just do government even though I clicked the most with the Biology lab teacher. But I digress (which I can do on this blog!)
So, I really love it, and I think that Paul loves it too! I love the CD. I love the emphasis on the Lord, and who gives a rip if it isn't as rigorous?
Michael is going to finish out this:
The Cornell Bird Biology Home Study Course.He read the whole book last year, but to get the certificate, you must pay $200 and complete ten open book exams, but we were so uncertain about our finances with George having just lost his job (another reasons why the Co-op was just too much for me). In retrospect, we probably could have afforded it! So, I wished I had done it then. He is going back through the chapters he already read and completing the exams. I bet he retained a ton though. So, it shouldn't be too much for him.
When he completes this, I will have him do Human Anatomy and Physiology. Possibly through the community college.
Speaking of Science, I have to go on to that for the kids! To be continued tomorrow.
3 comments:
Carol,
I'm glad to read this! I find it interesting that you think Apologia Biology isn't very rigorous. It was definitely rigorous for Caleb! It was a lot of hard work for him. He even struggled at times. I got to the point of not putting as much emphasis on memorizing all the vocabulary. I even began typing up all of the module questions and study guides with space for him to answer on the same pages, then use them as he took the tests. He received a good, solid biology education. He did enjoy the dissections. Not the microscope labs, though...hard for him to see and find and draw with detail. His eyes with or without glasses never worked very well with the microscope. We were pleased with the curriculum overall.
It did not have the human body component, so we're doing that this year along with health. I'm drawing from a variety of sources for that - basically putting it together on my own. We are not going on to chemistry until next year.
Lisa
We have a friend who is putting together a human body component for her 10th graders. It sounded really interesting using a book created by the same guy who wrote The Way Things Work. It sounded really interesting.
I will be looking what to do with Michael for the second half of the year since he will probably be done with his Bird Biology the middle of the winter. He is starting Beyond Lebanon High School beginning in the winters. So, he might be able to register for LBCC's anatomy and physiology course.
I thought you were not going to homeschool Caleb this year. I must have misunderstood when we visited in the summer.
Oh, yes, we're still homeschooling for the academic subjects. He goes to our district's vocational/technical school for 2 classes: applied technology and computer technician A+. I'm teaching him language arts (big emphasis on composition), world history, algebra, health, and Spanish. We also workout with Lance at his school's weight/fitness room 3x a week for PE.
I have Usborne's science encyclopedia with internet links. We've put that together with high school health(Lifepac) and some other resources to cover the human body and reproductive/sex education, healthy living, safety, etc. We're doing that every other day over the whole year. With Usborne's internet links, I'm letting him explore any other interests he has in science.
His greatest interest currently is what he's learning in his tech classes: animation, special effects, CAD, robotics, and computer hardware/systems. He really likes it there, and thinks he's found real career possibilities.
They offer academic classes for 11th and 12th grade. So, we're considering that he may go there full time next year. It's a nice, small environment that focuses on building up the individual student and guiding them into their future - not so much of the typical public classroom that just keeps on going with their curriculum no matter where the student is! Hopefully, they'll accept our health and PE credits. Otherwise, they'll make him go to the big public high school to take those - they're required for graduation.
It's going well for us this year! I wish we had a group to be with sometimes, but now he has the vo/tech school. We had parent/teacher conferences last week. He has A's in both classes and the teachers really seem to know him. We like that! And, he's slowly, but surely making friends. Thankfully, he's being very cautious and discerning!
Lisa
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