Homeschool Update - Two Months into 8th Grade

Wow, it's been awhile since we've updated the blog! We've been busy this school year and I have to say, we are in absolute LOVE with our choice of using Oak Meadow's 8th grade curriculum! I dare say, it's the perfect fit for us. We are using Oak Meadow for everything except math this year, (we are using, and still are enjoying Math-U-See for math). As a parent, I appreciate that all of the lessons are laid out clearly and directed to the student. Each Monday, Zoey and I will sit down and go through what the weekly lessons are to be in each subject and talk about the expectations, discuss any problem areas or questions, etc. Doing it this way, we both are able to foresee what subject may need more time or we are able to plan ahead for special activities or projects that require supplies, etc. She then gets started in on one main subject, (Civics/Social Studies, English/Literature, Physical Science or Health) along with her math. She does math every day and is able to work on her other, chosen, subject in great length the rest of the day until she feels satisfied that it's complete. If she needs more time or is getting burnt out on something, she can allow for more time on that subject at a different time or day. This schedule is working out amazingly well for both of us. She is able to really dig into one subject and get the most from it using this block style schedule. 

Her days generally look like this:

Monday: Math, English, Literature, Reading, Grammar, Dance/Pointe, practice guitar

Tuesday: Math, Civics, Vocab (from English the day prior), Guitar Lessons

Wednesday: Math, Physical Science, Physical Science labs/experiments, Health, practice guitar, Youth Group

Thursday: Math, Vocab (from English), any Reading or Writing assignments that she may need to finish up from English or Science, Ballet/Pointe, practice guitar

Friday: Math, anything left over that needs completing, Spanish (Duolingo), practice guitar

Here are some snapshots of what Science looked like today. She is currently learning about Newton's Laws of Motion and these were some hands on activities suggested by Oak Meadow. I love that OM offers different ways to reach different kind of learners in every single lesson. It means that things are really sticking with Zoey this year well after a particular lesson is through. 

I love what we are doing so much, so very thankful we came across Oak Meadow in our search last year. We hope to share updates more frequently from here on out!

Where We're At...

With taking a bit of time off over December for our Winter Holiday studies we're technically "behind" a bit on our regularly scheduled curriculum schedules for Geography, Literature and Science. I'm surprising myself though in not worrying about it. We're already catching up and with our new block schedule for subjects it's easier than ever and doesn't even feel like we're cramming which is good. This is where we're at currently with things...

Science

Last week we finished up our studies on the brain using Guest Hollow's anatomy curriculum. We have since moved on to eyes and the sense of sight.  

Dollar Drop experiment (we just used paper) Gauging how the nervous system needs time to size up a situation to react appropriately.

Zoey started reading the book Follow My Leader by James B. Garfield this week and we are planning to hopefully get in a cow eye dissection before the week is over. 

Geography

Following Build Your Library's Geography curriculum, we're working on some map work for South America and Zoey is reading a few new books in addition to her regular spines for geography. They are The Well of Sacrifice by Chris Eboch and In the Land of the Jaguar: South America and It's People by Gena Gorrell. She's enjoying the The Well of Sacrifice but says that the other one reads more like a textbook which isn't so fun. 

History

New this semester, we're adding in some history specific studies starting in on ancient times. I think we can handle this now that we've gotten our feet wet with homeschooling. Zoey is the one saying to bring it on, so we're going to try it!

Math

As of right now Zoey only has four more lessons to go before she is finished with her math book! This is awesome because one of our (many) reasons for homeschooling was that she was experiencing some frustration with math and the things that were being tried at public school to help her, just simply weren't working or helping at all with the fundamentals and/or concepts that she struggled help with. I really wrestled with the decision initially to back way up in math, despite many recommendations to do so, as I was worried we wouldn't catch up to where we were supposed to be (I know...so silly to think this way!!). But, here we are, our first year isn't yet over and we're still on track and moving forward in math. At this rate and with her current enthusiasm for the Math-U-See curriculum we're going to be just fine. 

Writing and Grammar, as well as Spanish, Logic, World Religions and Music Theory are moving right along too. Art has been somewhat sporadic as of late. Perhaps because we're coming out of the holiday season and we did a lot of crafting for handmade gifts, etc. Zoey started a drama class at a local homeschool co-op and is enjoying it so far. I'm so happy for her, I just wish it wasn't right smack in the middle of one of our free days thus making it a bit tricky to stay on task before and after traveling to her class. 

This is where we're at! So far, so good...it's fun to see that we're making progress but most of all that I can see Zoey enjoying learning. 

Merry Christmas + Changing Things up a Bit after Break

We've been busy here lately planning and preparing for the holidays. Which has meant that in addition to our break from our regularly planned curriculum and working on a beefed up version of the Build Your Library Winter Holidays curriculum (which has been fun!), we've been working on special things that we haven't been able to share on the blog due to some of them being gifts that are to be given to family members. Some of whom read our blog so...we'll share about those items later!

I'm feeling a little bit excited and somewhat hopeful that changing up our class/subject schedule will help us feel like we're not so harried and all over the place when working through our school week. Lately Zoey and I have both agreed that it seems like we're taking on too much every day and there isn't the feeling of actually "getting into" any one thing to really enjoy and learn whatever it is that we're working on. We've agreed that math will still be an every day thing but we're thinking of something like this for the rest...

AT HOME
AT CO-OP
EXTRA-CURRICULAR
AT LIBRARY
INDEPENDENT 

Monday: Math, Science, Reading, Drama, Dance
Tuesday: Math, World Religions, Reading,  Geography & Language Arts @ library 3-6pm
Wednesday: Math, Science, Poetry, Art/Music, Reading
Thursday: Math, Geography, Reading & Language Arts @ library 12-6pm, Dance
Friday: Math, Science, Grammar, Spanish & misc. homework @ library 1-6pm
*Independent Projects (Zoey wants to work on nature projects led by her interests as she has time)

My thinking is that we'll attempt at covering multiple days of science, geography, and language arts on the days she has them so that we are still covering the same amount of content, just covering them in less days of the week. Hoping that will help Zoey feel like she's really getting into the meat of things and that she isn't hopping around as much from subject to subject.

We're still trying to figure out what it is that we'll be doing for music. I'm hoping to start that up on the same day as she begins drama which is January 9th. I think we're going to utilize this site and search out an electric keyboard that's somewhat inexpensive for practicing on and purchasing some of John Thompson's beginner piano books.

That's where we're at right now! Seems kind of funny that it's the day after Christmas and I'm busy planning away...but truth be told, we're kind of getting antsy not working on school stuff and want to get back into things. I am back to work tomorrow already and know that if I don't get these things worked out now it just won't get done.

Off to enjoy my family or a bit of reading now before bed! We hope your holiday was great! Here are some of Zoey's favorite gifts this year...lots of things for her interest in plants and botany and a funny STEM remote controlled car which has been an absolute hit! She also got some awesome Lego sets, books and some doll stuff. We're feeling very blessed!