Thinking of Next Year : 6th Grade A Bit of Unschooling

Next year, I will have a 6th grader, and a 10th grader. My 10th grader, believe it or not, is easier to plan for than my 6th grader. I am going to try some Unschooling with her next year, which simply means interest led schooling. Not all her subjects will be interest led, but a few. First off, she has been saying she wants to be an animal groomer, walker, own business type thing when she grows up. She has a rabbit, and we have two dogs. She has been doing rabbit grooming for years, but is not comfortable nail trimming. I will have to work on that. Plus with the book below, she can begin learning about grooming in general. After she completes that book, I will look for others. She also has 4H horse project book, for next year. I was going to start a 4H horse group, but that has been sidelined at least for now. I just don't have the time to dedicate to it right now.

She really loves Life of Fred, so I will continue with that series. I will also continue with CK12 Elementary Math, to supplement Life of Fred. Learning Language Arts Through Literature, is also my choice for her. I have not decided for History yet. I also will probably supplement other Science. She will begin Spanish next year, using the free Duolingo app.  I do often change my mind, but this is looking pretty set in stone right now.  I would love a great deal on some of the books shown.

A Quiet Week

It has been a quiet week, this week.  No Run Club, because it was raining, and then medical appointments, so we got quite a bit of school in.  Today was the last day of Bio-fuels class, for DJ, and they finished their project books.  This was done through 4H. 

DJ had his first real paid job this week, also.  He got to detail my mother's car.  Now if you think big deal, he worked for his grandmother.  His grandmother is not easy to work for.  She is a perfectionist and she expects things done the right way.  He did very well, and earned 50 dollars.  We do not have much time left before Summer break.  Like six weeks and that is it.  We are right on track and I am so happy with that. 

Yet, I am antsy.  Antsy because DJ will be in High School next year, and Caitlin will be going into Middle School.  I think I have DJ pretty much set up with his curriculum and choices of class for next year.  Just have to plan out how the day will run.  Caitlin is a different story, however.  I have decided to focus on Reading, Writing and Math and that is basically it for her.  She will get Science through 4H, and she is doing Geography over the Summer months withe her brother. 

I am really leaning towards Life of Fred, and the Abeka Math book we already have.  There is a Language Arts Life of Fred also.  It is new, and I had no idea.  It is for high school only.  DJ did 9th grade Math this year, so he won't do a formal Language Arts next year, but in 10th grade, I am considering Life of Fred.  I really love, My Father's World, but I can not see me ever paying that much for a curriculum no matter how much I love it.  I also really like Learning Language Arts through Literature, and that is always in the back of my mind.  DJ is also using Free Rice, to strengthen his vocabulary, and it helps feed the hungry.

Caitlin, for the past two weeks, or so, has been using Easy Peasy Homeschool.  I have noticed that it is very boring for her, and she does not particularly like it.  So, we will be phasing that out, though I really like the format.  For the remainder of this year, Caitlin will be using the websites below, for learning games, and her two Math workbooks. 

We will also be making some other changes, next year.  I love Run Club, but it just eats up too much of the day twice a week.  So, we will cut back to once a week.  Also, we are at the end of our second year running Earth Kids Club.  I run the club, and meetings.  This too has become too time consuming, and we only have four active children.  I will be changing it to a Facebook group only, with maybe a field trip here and there.  We have 19 members on the Facebook group, and hopefully they will be able to be more active. This is completely free, and a great way for your kids to learn about the Earth and living creatures on it.  You can find the group page by clicking here.   We would love to have new members to join us.

http://www.math-play.com/

http://www.abcya.com/fourth_grade_computers.htm

http://www.turtlediary.com/grade-3-games.html

http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/

http://writingfix.com/traits_primary.htm#forkids

http://www.storyit.com/Starters/ststart.htm

http://www.manythings.org/

It Was A Good Math Day!

We had Run Club, but we mostly walk these days, this morning. So, I had to squeeze in an hour of lessons before and then regular schedule after lunch. It went OK. Caitlin did Easy Peasy days 102 and 103, minus the Math, because she is not quite ready for that yet. However, the Reading and Writing went very well today, on Easy Peasy. She says she doesn't like it, but I don't believe her. For Math she did her addition flashcards, which she did very easily today and I am glad for that. I want her to be faster, not just right. She did a page of 3 and four number addition problems, which went smoothly. She got a few wrong, but she is getting the hang of it. She did Psalm 23 copywork, and played a fraction game from Easy Peasy just earlier in the 4th grade school year.

I have pretty much decided, that for this Summer, I will be getting Life of Fred for Caitlin, and Rummy Roots for both kids. Both of these are fun ways to learn, and I have friends that use them, that say they have so much fun they don't even know they are learning. We always do Math, and some other lessons over the Summer, but this year I am getting specific. Our evaluations are set for July 16th. If anyone needs an evaluator, mine is awesome, and looking for more kids to evaluate. She is in Levy County, so if you are in the area, and need an evaluator, message me.

Tomorrow we are going to the new Train Museum in High Springs. It is not very long, but expect lots of pictures, and a trip report on DJ's blog.


DJ got all his assignments done, even with the shorter class times.

Learn Money With Dice Game

Do you have a child that is reluctant about Math, or counting money more specifically? I originally saw something similar to this on Pinterest. The other day we were at a consignment shop, and they had a bin full of these plastic craft squares already completed. Perfect, now I didn't have to worry about making the squares. I just simply hot glued different denominations of coins, and combos, to each side of the cube. Now, we can start playing and learning. The idea is obvious, the child rolls the dice and adds up the coins. You can make prizes for correct answers, or so many right and you get to stay up late or have extra dessert, whatever would be fun for your child. I can't wait to give these a try, with Caitlin.

I am looking at Life of Fred, for Caitlin next year. I think she will actually enjoy Math if it was more fun.