Light Wednesdays

Wednesdays are light on the curriculum because Wednesdays are always my husband's day off of work. When he's home, our daily routines are thrown askew. I accommodate the unpredictability of Wednesdays by keeping our workload light and focusing on adventure and relaxation. We do pick up Saturday as a school day so we end up doing even more work than the public school during a week. Just don't tell Reo that.

English Literature:
Reo began reading his Sunshine State Book, Tesla's Attic, Book One of the Accelerati Trilogy by Neal Shusterman and Eric Elfman and we discussed his first impressions of the book.

Mathematics:
Reo earned a couple new medals on Khan Academy for Pre-algebra. We call that an easy day. I take advantage of the Classroom/Coach features in Khan Academy to monitor and assist all my kids through their Khan Academy based learning. While it is not the core of Reo's curriculum, it is a great tool praised by public, private, and homeschools throughout the United States.

Music:
We began talking about the history of music on our continent with the original people on this continent, the Anishinaabeg, from the Great Lakes region. Instead of delving into the Classical composers right away, I wanted to give Reo a knowledge for how intimate and vital music is to cultural and personal identity. We outlined the uses of music for the Ojibwe people and the strength it gave them. We listened to some of the ceremonial music that is still performed today and discussed how it made Reo feel to listen to that music.

Creative Writing:
Yay! Journal writing! He was just as happy with it today as he was yesterday. Reo did find a subject to write about after a few minutes of thought. I haven't reviewed his journal but I know he contributed a substantial amount of words today.

The rest of the day was a Teacher Planning Day. Under normal circumstances, I would have launched Adventure Class for the remainder of the Wednesday, but last night after my daughter's softball practice, my right ear clogged up. I've been in pain and unable to hear out of that ear all day. Adventure Class will likely take place on Sunday when I drag everybody to the beach with me for an overdue and sorely needed Relaxation Day. In the meanwhile, I got a number of U.S. History quizzes ready for upcoming lessons and got us prepared for the remainder of the week. Allons-y!

New Student

After reviewing my posts, I am surprised that I have not mentioned this, yet. My fourteen year old has decided to homeschool. He is my child with high-functioning autism and there were a few aspects of this school year that were very difficult for him to connect and make work. Since I could see the pattern emerging where this turns into a downward spiral, I decided to allow him to remain home for his education and we'll see if we can work him ahead for the next school year.

To avoid the mess with a portfolio and remain in compliance with Florida's homeschooling laws, he is going to continue taking the FCAT. These scores will suffice for his academic achievement for the school year.

I have not consulted him for a blog pseudonym at this time so he will remain nameless until I do.

I've picked up a reputable Algebra I textbook and keep him working on Khan Academy for his mathematics. It is important to me that he completes and excels at both Algebra I and Geometry before the next school year begins.

He remains ahead in both history and science so I'm finding it difficult to challenge him. I have finally decided on an assignment for this quarter.

First Quarter Essay Assignment

Compare and Contrast two Nations geographically located on two different continents. These nations can be from different eras and do not need to exist during the same period of time. They should be superficially distinct from each other.

• Include a general review of history, culture, religion, political climate, and governments, then choose a specific aspect to compare/contrast for these nations, explain why your chosen aspect is significant for each nation.

• Cover the ways in which these nations are similar to and are different from each other in the chosen aspect.

• Include 3 graphic aids that are relevant and help illustrate the information of the essay.

• Minimum 4,000 words, Maximum 6,000 words.

• Spelling, grammar, and vocabulary will impact your grade. To get more information on how to write at a 10th grade level, use:

http://www.azed.gov/standards-practices/files/2011/09/grade10.pdf

• Cite sources using CMS. To reference how to use this citation style properly, use:

https://owl.english.purdue.edu/media/pdf/20110928111055_949.pdf

http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide.html

* access this assignment sheet through Google Docs to easily follow links.

To Build Your Essay Properly

Contributing work should include*:

• Notes of material to use with citations
• Outline with revisions through writing drafts
• First Draft
• Second Draft

* does not need to be included with essay assignment

Completed Essay Due: November 21.

Subject Credits:

History

Social Studies

Political Science

Geography

I was impressed with his interest and eagerness to begin. He was impatient while I typed out the requirements and details of the assignment for him. Giving a young teen with HFA so much freedom to learn and write will yield positive results. And, just to make sure he doesn't slack, I reminded him that I will fail him and he will end up repeating the nineth grade, if he does not do his assignments on time and as expected. That is a choice he makes, not me. HFA kids are not lazy. Sometimes they feel overwhelmed or exhausted by a project and will become slap-dash to be done with it. While this essay is not easy, he's well within his realm of ability. By providing him the ability to choose his own elements and focus for this essay, I've empowered him the ability to write well over 6,000 words. I know he will learn editing skills with this assignment.

Overall, I'm pleased with my new student. He's getting along with his little brother very well and is assisting in Reo's lessons, as well as taking a positive energy with his own education and work. This is becoming a tremendous homeschooling year!