Daily Blog Themes for Melissa's Homeschool in 2020

Unfortunately, I caught a cold so I have been knocked out of commission for 3 days.  I hope everyone had a great Christmas.  In my effort to revamp this blog I have set up some themes for daily blog posts.  This does not mean I will post every day, as that is not probably going to happen.  But, I hope to do at least 3 a week.  I will do our updates in those posts as needed, as my evaluator reads this blog.  I will also be doing a post on goals for this blog for 2020.  There won't be a whole lot, but it is good to have goals.

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American Government and Civics

Friday starts our Winter Break and we are very much in need of that.  We have had a great school year so far, but are definitely ready for a break.  We take an extended break until January 6th.

When I did the American Government with DJ he loved watching the debates and all the discussion that went with it.  Caitlin, however, hates it.  She will watch but is not retaining much because she is bored.  So, I have switched it up for her a little bit.  I found, Founding Principles:  American Government, on PBS.  We just finished up the videos today.  They are short and easy to follow.   I will look for other topics on there after we come back from break. 

We are also working our way through the Bill of Rights, and the first 10 amendments to the Constitution.  We finished up with 7 today.  There has been some interesting discussion on some of the more controversial topics.  She writes each amendment in her notebook and then has to find Youtube videos to watch.  For some of them, I have chosen to have her read books.  Like for the 6th Amendment, she read, You Have the Right to Remain Innocent.  It was a short and easy read and she can never read too much.  I will be reading it this week, myself.  I don't really care what politic side they choose, my most important goal with this class is to make her aware of how important it is that every American vote. Not only is it our right, but it is also our responsibility as citizens.   My oldest child has already voted in several elections, so my goal was met with him.  How do you teach American Government and Civics?

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Whimsy on Wednesday: Winter Fairy Garden

We took an old broken wheelbarrow filled it with dirt and created a lovely Winter Fairy Garden.  This is still not done.  It sits on kind of a slant so I want the lower end to be a pond for ice skaters, and I need to find fake snow that won't harm my plants.  Maybe cotton balls will work.  I slowly add new plants as I find them.  Trader Joe's has tiny plants at various times of the year, and I can find some at Walmart.  The solar-powered fairy lights are the same ones as the ones below.  You get 2 of them, so the second set is on our front porch.  I will probably be buying more of these.  I just love them.  This can be an expensive hobby, but with patience and creativity, it can be affordable and fun.  We change it out for different seasons.  This one will stay until Spring when it is time to decorate for Easter. 

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Homeschool Tips on Tuesday

Now that I only have one child left to homeschool, and she is 15, I don't have a whole lot to blog about for her anymore.  She doesn't care for field trips, or letting me take cute pics anymore, so I guess I will just blog about other topics.  I don't want this blog to go away after all.  It can still be useful to so many people.

So my first, and most important tip is to find out what the Homeschool Laws are in your state.  Believe it or not, they are all quite different.  Some have very few to almost no laws governing homeschoolers while others are quite strict.  After you do that you can start to decide on what and how you are going to teach it.  Here in FL, our laws are not real strict giving homeschoolers lots of freedom to teach what and how they want.  It is a great state for Unschoolers.

Watch each Tuesday for new homeschool tips.  If you have any questions leave them in the comments and I will respond.  If you spam me I will block.

Puppy and Kitten Paw Advent Calendar Nativity

The kids and I have been doing an Advent Calendar for as many years as I can remember.  We have done many different fun and interesting designs.  This year I found at a consignment store this cute Nativity with a puppy and kitten.  I had a ton of shells, so I decided to paint them with the countdown numbers and paw prints.  They lead to the Nativity.  This is a big project so I needed the whole length of the table for it.  Caitlin really thought this was a cute idea.

Do you do an Advent, or countdown to Christmas?

End of First Quarter Grade 10 Caitlin

The Friday before Thanksgiving was our last day of the first quarter.  Overall I am impressed with the progress Caitlin has made so far.  She passed her big Science test with 70%, which doesn't sound real great, but she had to take notes and study something she has never really had to do before.  I am very pleased with that grade and will just build on better skills.  She has completed 35% of the Algebra 1 A on Aleks, with the goal of being done with it by the end of January so she can move onto Algebra 1B.  We are picking up the number of hours for Math and Language Arts from 3 hours to 5 hours.  All the other classes will stay at 3 hours.  She will begin FLVS in probably February, or March for her Driving Classes, so she can get her permit in May. Our last day before Christmas Break will be December 19th.  We take an extended Christmas break because we need it. 

I will be unable to post for Fitness Friday this week, as we have shopping and wrapping to do.  But, I have started a Plank Challenge on my Health Buddy Melissa blog.  Join in with the kids if you would like to get some easy fitness this month.