World History: Armenia

Before I start the bit on Armenia, I would like to mention a few blogposts coming up within the next week. 

1-  What I have learned about maintaining a swimming pool.  I read an article about a woman who was very frustrated after buying a pool that she thought would be easy to maintain, and affordable.  I will give my top tips on how it is easy and while not really affordable, it can be manageable.

2-  Our vacation.  This one is a trip, LOL pun intended.

3-  Updates to the grade 10 portfolio for Caitlin.

4-  There will be posts mixed in as I start to research African American History.  As I stated this will probably be her 11th-grade History, topic, probably a 1/2 credit, and then she will do the World History in 12 grade as that one is taking much more time to prepare.  In Florida, a student only needs 3 credits in History, but it is an easy way to get in interesting electives.  Which reminds me I have to really take a look at what she has done so far and what she needs for electives.

5-  I also need to start creating a PE year-long credit course for her to prepare for the physical fitness test to be a cop.  She will repeat it in grade 12 as well. 

So, now to Armenia.  As I stated before I really need to pick up the pace of the number of countries I get ready in a week.  Right now I am only averaging one, as we are crazy busy this Summer with wedding preparations and a 3 week-long vacation.  I hope to get back to a more regular blogging pace. 

Of course, there is always the virus to worry about, and it is exploding in Florida.  With 15,000 new cases yesterday, ugh!  Anyway, back to Armenia.  For now, I am posting just videos, and reading material.  As I decide what other activities we will do I will update each country.  Right now cooking a traditional dish, is what I have decided on. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armenia

This video titled The Land of Noah is a full documentary on Armenia.

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Wednesday A Week of Current Events

Well, for whatever reason the debate only recorded for 1 minute last night.  So, I had to adjust our day by watching clips and post-debate shows.  This was actually quite boring, lol.  I also had Caitlin follow the candidates on Facebook plus a few news organizations.  Each week she will have to go through her feed to see what topics they are all talking about and discuss with me.  The first primary votes are less than 3 weeks away.

Next week, and possibly longer, we will be recording and watching the Impeachment trial of President Trump.  I forgot to add one important event to the list below.  The whole Russian Government just resigned after President Putin attempted to make changes to the Constitution.

A Week of Current Events

I was supposed to have posted this yesterday, but I had it all ready and then I didn't hit publish.  So, it is a day late.

Use these topics to discuss the week's current events and how they affect our society.  You can approach it any way you see fit.  I try during discussions to not try to sway their way of thinking, especially politically.  It is much better in my opinion for them to make up their own minds on various current event topics.  Tuesday is the last Democratic Debate before primary voting begins.  I will be recording that and watching it with Caitlin on Wednesday.  Now is when the real fun begins, lol!  Tomorrow, I work so there will be no Fitness on Friday post.  I will sneak one in the following Friday.

My other website Health Buddy Melissa

Crochet Soap Cozy for OCC or Other Charity

Here come the holidays, ready or not.  Our church does OCC every year.  At the last minute, I decided to use up unused yarn from other projects to make soap covers.  I like the soap covers because the soap goes right in, and frees up space in the box.  My husband travelled a lot for work this year so I have 48 bars of smaller soaps.  So my goal is to make 24 soap covers with 2 bars per cover.  I have 10 more to go.  I can't find the pattern I have been using, but you can use this one.  Next month I will try making pillowcase dolls for next year.  I don't sew, so we will see how that goes. See one of my finished covers below.  These soap covers or cozies as some people call them are fast and easy, and a great service project for youth.  You can donate these to any charity you love.  I do recommend you add a bar of soap to the cozy before donating.

This week we move on to the 3rd Amendment and I will post sources for that later in the week.  All other classes are progressing along.  She will be studying for a huge Science exam now until test day which is the Friday before Thanksgiving.  Her knee is still hurting at times, so she is only walking twice a week right now.

Throwback Thursday: Johnny Appleseed Day

Sept 26th is Johnny Appleseed Day.  When my kids were younger we used to have so much fun learning about Johnny Appleseed.  The keywords Johnny Appleseed were one of my most popular search terms for this blog.  Today, for Throwback Thursday, I am sharing a page of older posts on the topic of Johnny Appleseed.  Enjoy!

Johnny Appleseed

The First Amendment, High School, Promote Your Blog or Business

Today, we watched a video on Youtube about Civics 101.  It was about 40 minutes, and I shared it in a previous post.  It was concise and to the point which I like especially for High School.  After watching it, and some discussion, I had Caitlin write out the 10 Amendments that make up the Bill of Rights.  Next Monday we will focus on the First Amendment.  All of my posts may contain affiliate links.

The First Amendment affords us a lot of rights.  Freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, and freedom to petition.  But what do all of these mean, and how do they play into society?  That is what we will be focusing on next week.  There is a short video below, and then a book you might also be interested in.  This blog is not about right or left, secular or religious.  It is about information, facts and yes even opinions.  Which brings me to the image I shared.  That is actually a painting I did.  I am a Christian, so painting Santa Claus saying Happy Holidays can be a very hot topic of conversation, and free speech, plus the freedom of religion.  Caitlin will have to pick one of the rights covered in the First Amendment and make an argument for it, or against it, and why.   I am going into depth with her much more than I did with DJ.  Because, she doesn't tend to speak up, give an opinion, or use her voice.  I am hoping these exercises will be very good for her.  My other child is very good at arguing, lol.

I have focused so much this year on starting an online Health Coaching business, plus getting ready to do some Kidney Awareness classes, that this blog has gotten neglected.  Very neglected.  I am hoping to change that by increasing readership and engagement.  I will be starting a whole host of fun promoting, and link sharing posts for other bloggers, or small business owners. Other posts will be on fun topics for you to add your ideas to and get them shared.   There will be no rules as to what blogging platform, or where you sell.  The only rule is that you have to share other items or posts.  The first one will start tomorrow with a Twitter share.  If you are interested to be sure and follow this blog and check back in tomorrow.  I haven't decided yet for the other days, and it probably won't be every day.  I hope to see you tomorrow for the Twitter blog post share.

American High School Civics

Each Monday, I will try to do a post on either our History, or Language Arts.  Since the Science and Math, are not created by me, there isn't much for me to share about those subjects.

We will be studying American Civics and Government in Grade 10.  I chose this year specifically because next year is an election year.  Just like I did with my son, 4 years ago, we will follow the primaries, debates, and candidates with some hot discussion, and topics.  I can not find the book I used for my son, so I chose the video below.  If you prefer a book, the book below has the same title as the video.  We have not officially started back to school, yet, so I am getting ready.

Did you check out my new Health Coach blog, yet?  Click here, if interested. I am doing a live group session on, Better Sleep, in September, on my Health Coach blog. 

Photography Challenge: Flowers

This is a new series I have gotten Caitlin and myself doing.  It is not meant to make either of us a master photographer, but rather to get her interested in the outdoors.  So, on our walks, we both get a new thing to try to photograph.  This week was pretty easy, flowers, and next week is clouds.  The challenge does get a bit more challenging after that. 

We have finished up our 3rd semester of the 9th grade, and she is doing really well.  Aleks is working wonders for her Math.  I have started testing her on Language Arts, and I am pleased and satisfied at how well she is doing.  French is a work in progress, but I found a cool podcast for French next year.  I am already listening, and learning.  Science, and History, well I don't think she will ever love those.  Right now we are watching the Hatfields and McCoys on Netflix.  I know I went backwards but it is such a great series, and so much conversation can come out of it.  We will start WW2 after, and yes there is a ton of discussion topics for that as well. 

American History: War of 1812 and Reconstruction

OK, we got a little bit out of order on our timeline.  I forgot about the War of 1812, which obviously came before the Civil War.  We finished the video on Reconstruction, and discussion, last week.  So, now we have to back track to the War of 1812.  Of note, next year, for grade 10, we will be doing Civics and American Government.  I intend to do as I did with DJ, and follow all the 2020 elections.  There is already some movement on this topic, so I might squeeze in some of the important debates that go on over the spring and summer months.

End Of 2nd Quarter and A New Endeavor

I have spent much of 2018 reflecting, and researching.  No, not homeschool stuff.  I always do that.  I have been a nurse for 31 years, and as I get older it becomes more and more demanding.  I have researched all my options, and decided to start a new Health and Wellness Coach business.  This is both exciting and scary.  I will still work my 2 days outside of the home, and homeschool.  I am only accepting up to 4 clients, and that sounds reasonable to me at this point and time.  If you would like to check it out click here.     Who knows maybe you need a Health Buddy.

We finished our 2nd semester on Friday before Christmas.  I can tell you the changes I made at the end of the first semester are already showing progress.  One thing I discovered is Caitlin decided that wearing her glasses was an option, instead of a requirement.  I was wondering why her Math was good and then just fell of the cliff.  She improved in Science as well, and she really enjoyed the series The Men Who Made America, on Netflix.  I need to find some more interesting documentaries.  She is definitely a visual learner.

Are you ready for a New Year?  Do you make resolutions?  Drop me a note.  

Homeschool Week in Review 10/17-10/21

Well it was an interesting homeschool week, as it almost always is. I am continually learning about my children, and the strengths and weaknesses that they have. I feel truly blessed to be able to assist them in their teenage years. We have two major changes we are making, both for my oldest child. He was doing the Digital Media course through FLVS. However, we simply could not get the program we had to use to work. He spent hours, and still it was so slow and laggy that he fell behind on all his other classes. Due to that, we requested a withdrawal from the class. He had an A in that class, so felt rather discouraged. However, we will be replacing that class with a learning to read music class, for 1/2 credit, then after that a drawing class for 1/2 credit. He seemed pleased with these options. I am behind on grading, nothing new there, lol. We did not get in a Chemistry lab this week, other than discussion based, no hands on, but we did get in an Art project, related to our History studies. We have been learning about Africa. We did a map activity, and now today we all did an Art project. I printed the kids favorite native animals out, as they wanted to use colored pencils. Mine is hand drawn and then painted with paint pens, and Sharpies. The idea with African Art is that it is bold, and somewhat wild if you will. I picked a bear, yes there was a native bear in Africa. The Atlas Bear, which is now believed to be extinct. DJ picked the Ethiopian Wolf, and Caitlin picked a Leopard. You can read about the Atlas Bear, here, and the Ethiopian Wolf here.

 
Oct 17, 2016

DJ:
LA:  60 minutes
Chemistry:  60 minutes
History:  60 minutes
Geometry:  60 minutes
Digital Media:  60 minutes
Psych1:  60 minutes

Caitlin-  full day

All other days through the 21st the same as above, except for before mentioned issues with Digital Media.  DJ made up lessons at night.  Wed is our standard half day, when we walk with friends, 60 minutes Youth Band practice, plus FLVS for DJ.

Marine Ecology Field Trip and Learn an African Language and African Live Webcams

I told you most of my daily posts would end up as weekly, lol. Anyways, Wednesday our school day was a field trip out the Marine Research Facility, in Cedar Key. They were putting on a presentation to help the kids study for the Marine Ecology Event in November. This was my first time to the facility, but DJ went last year with that team. They were allowed to look at specimens in person, go over all the slides, and ask questions. We didn't get time to do the outside portion, we were on a very tight schedule.

If you have never heard of Clickschooling, Google it, it is awesome. They send me cool links everyday. I swear they know we are studying Africa, because I got two resources two days in a row, for learning about Africa. The first one is a live webcam to view African animals. I have also used Africam in the past. The second is to learn an African language. We will be using both of those resources in our studies. As a side note, since we are still following this election year, from our History lessons last year, we will be recording and watching the debates.  For another side note, I will be starting a weekly link up, each Sunday I think, for homeschool blogs, websites, or education related websites.  So, watch for that.

Daily Log for 9/22:

DJ;

Language Arts: 60 minutes
Chemistry: 60 minutes
History: 60 minutes
Geometry: 60 minutes
Digital Design: 60 minutes
Psych1- 60 minutes


Caitlin:

Math, LA, History, Science, Reading, Spanish and Bible

Daily Log for Friday 9/23:

This was a half day, as my husband was home from work, and we started our weekly bike path walk with friends. DJ did 60 minutes of Psych1, and 60 minutes of Digital Design, in the afternoon.

Frontier House PBS Series

While looking for some more fun ways to learn about the West, I came upon a PBS series called Frontier House. It is on Youtube, and I believe there is more than one season. We watched episode one, so far, and I was surprised at how realistic it was. It takes modern families and puts them in a Pioneer setting. Caitlin, and I both have enjoyed it so far. Check it out if you are studying the West, or Pioneers.

The History of Homeschooling

I have lots of information to share with you, but am limited on time. So, for now I will share this short video on the history of homeschooling. This is a very interesting topic to me, and I might just assign a writing assignment, as a final exam to my 10th grader, on this topic. The three named individuals would be a great place to start. Enjoy! I will hopefully be back in a couple of days, to post some of the more interesting things we have been up to. Our field trip to Payne's Prairie got delayed, due to vehicle conflicts, and we might have to wait until Fall now to get there, but there are plenty of other fun things to do.

A Change to 6th Grade History and Tests

While looking for construction paper, that I was certain was in the garage, I came across The Story of the World Medieval Times.  Now, Caitlin was going to do the Wild West, this coming up year for History.  But, now, I have changed my mind, and she agreed that Medieval Times sounded pretty interesting.  I mean who doesn't love castles, princesses, and dragons. 

I have started the very daunting task of putting our homeschool portfolios together.  Our evaluation is next month.  I am kind of picky, and meticulous, so it takes me a while.  Plus, it gives me lots of time to continue to evaluate and see where we need improvement.  I say we, because I need to constantly adapt, and improve as well as the children. 

I also changed the tests that I am going to give them, before our evaluations.  Caitlin is not super confident in computer testing, as indicated by her ck12 lessons that I went through with a fine tooth comb today.  So, she will be getting a printed paper test.  DJ will be doing a practice online SAT test.  We have been doing the question of the day, for sometime, and I think he is ready to give it a try.  It is free, so it can only be a great learning tool.

I want both of these tests done before our evaluations.  DJ will be doing his next week, and I will order Caitlin's probably next Friday.  We were supposed to go to the springs today, but unfortunately the weather, and both kids caught a cold, so we were unable to go. 

The Wild Wild West 6th Grade Homeschool History

Science, and History were the two subjects that I still had to decide for my daughter, who will be in 6th grade next year. So, I finally decided on the West. The Wild West, history of how the western states came to exist, and Geography of that area. Below you will find the resources I found so far, for this class. I am sure Little House on the Prairie would work too, but she hates it and doesn't want anything to do with it. Netflix has a streaming series called the West, which is a PBS show. We will be watching that. Now, I still have to decide for Science. I do have an older book I might just go ahead and use, not sure.

http://www.wildwesthistory.org/
http://www.historynet.com/magazines/wild_west
http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/lesson_plans/
http://www.educationworld.com/a_tsl/archives/04-1/lesson033.shtml
http://www.50states.com/
http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2014/06/50-u-s-states-got-names/

Finally Decided For Fifth Grade Homeschool

Because my daughter learns differently than my son, I had a bit of a time deciding what to do for her for 5th grade.  But, I finally decided.  Here is what she will be doing.

Time4Learning:  Language Arts and Science
Evan Moor:  History books shown below.  She really likes these and retains the info well.
Writing:  Creative writing once a week, to be posted to her blog.  Topic TBD by myself
Spelling:  AAAspell.com   This website worked wonders for her last year
Reading:  Even though reading comprehension is done on T4L I will probably have her read other books as well.
Math:  We will be focusing on Math a lot.  I have decided to do Saxon 54, Life of Fred, and the Math card game we are currently playing.  I will share that on Friday.

It seems like a lot of Math, but she needs a lot of Math right now.  That is my main priority and focus.  On Friday, I will also share the standards I want each of them to accomplish.  I still have to finish them, and update or change things.  I am not making a calendar this year.  The last few years we did not stick to it anyways.  We are doing Run Club every Wed, and that is all I am certain of right now.  Time 4 Learning does Ancient Civilizations for 5th grade.  Caitlin did this in the 4th grade.  That is why I opted for the Evan Moor books. There are a couple of extra books shared, that I am still considering, but have not decided.  Right now I am holding off on the 4H project books, until I know which book our group decides the group is going to be doing.  I also like this Florida Unit Study, and she will most likely be doing that a well for History.   We will also be doing an Art curriculum this year, on Tuesdays in the evening.  She will be doing a basic cooking class in the evenings as well.  Here is the link to the cooking lessons. 

Free or Frugal Friday Homeschool Lessons

This week I am sharing some Language Arts websites that are free, or frugal to use.  The first one, Coursera, is free, but not just Language Arts.  These are college level courses, that anyone can take.  My 8th grader just started his first week of lessons in the course Introduction to Forensics.  He loves it so far.  If it works out well, and is not too awful difficult he will do other courses.  You can get a certificate at completion, for a fee of 40 dollars. 

Help Teaching, offers both free and paid services, for all courses offered in a school.  So far, I have only used this website for Grammar and Language Arts.  It is a nice quality site.

Cengage offers free online grammar quizzes.  I have not actually used this site yet, but will be being used in the very near future. 

At one point, I had typed into my search browser, fun ways to learn Language Arts.  I mean lets face it, it is pretty boring, unless you love Grammar rules, bleh.  Well one of the websites that came up was, Many Things. org.  I have not tried this website yet, but my 4th grader will begin using it here at the end of the year to review. 

Homeschool Lessons and Games for Free or Low Cost

I have been a member on Pinterest for at least two years now, maybe three, and I have compiled quite a list of things on my Homeschool Board. Some of them I have used many times, others I have completely forgotten about. We are nearing the end of our third quarter in this school year. That means it is time for me to start planning for next year. Since typically I make my own curriculum, it takes me a long time. For DJ, who will be in High School next year, I have decided to buy some curriculums rather than trying to make my own credits for those subjects. I still have to decide for American History, Language Arts, and any elective he wishes to take. I really wanted to buy My Father's World, for Caitlin next year, but my oh my it is way too expensive. I have no idea if it is worth what they charge, but I am not in the position to pay that much money for fifth grade lessons. So, in the next weeks, and maybe months, I will be sharing websites from my Pinterest board, that actually work or are good for what they say they do. Caitlin loves the Evan Moor books, so I probably will buy the one shown below for her next year. The Astronomy web page is for us to try to follow along in the night sky with major events. My kids really enjoy this, and in April you should be able to see Jupiter. Hopefully by putting it here I will remember.

http://americanhistory.mrdonn.org/index.html

http://www.seasky.org/astronomy/astronomy-calendar-2014.html

http://www.gameclassroom.com/4th-grade

http://www.multiplication.com/games

http://www.teachercreated.com/free/interactive-whiteboard-activities/

http://www.thestorystarter.com/jr.htm

9th Grade Science and Math Books Purchased

We went ahead and bought some of DJ's books for 9th grade, next year. We knew we wanted these sets, so these ones are taken care of. American History will probably be online, and I found where he can learn Japanese, and the Ocarina online as well. Those are both his choices, not mine, lol. I just need to figure out for Language Arts, and what books I want him to read. He already read a bunch of 9th grade literature this year, for 8th grade, so I am probably going to give him 9th grade credits this year for Language Arts. He read The Outsiders, A Separate Peace, and is currently reading Romeo and Juliet, and I think I will have him read To Kill A Mockingbird for his last book. We will watch Romeo and Juliet first and discuss it in great length. He also does book reviews for each book, on his own blog. So, he can do 10th grade Language Arts next year, and I would really like it to focus on writing and research. So, that is what I will be looking for. Over the Summer we will be doing some Math, Geography and he wants to do a video game making class.Oh and the dissection kit shown is not the one I bought.  I can not find the link to the one I bought, but I assume any would be OK.

I am still undecided for Caitlin.