2017-18 School Year

2017-18 School Year–Week Two

We made it through our first full week of the school year!

It was almost a completely normal week…but not quite, because on Monday, we were in the path of totality for the Great American Eclipse! We’ve been preparing for it almost since the end of the last school year, by learning about the science behind an eclipse, and even going to a special eclipse show at the St. Louis Science Center. We were very excited when the big day was finally here, and while we did some schoolwork in the morning, most of the day was spent marveling at and celebrating this unique event!

Other than that, the rest of the week was a typical school week. Turkey and Bunny had their first geometry test…Turkey got 100%, and Bunny only missed one. They moved on to the next lesson, which focuses on unions and intersections, and that’s been going really well, too! Ladybug has been reviewing math concepts from last year, and learning the order of operations. Chickadee is still working on left and right and counting.

Language arts has been interesting. Turkey and Bunny have a formal grammar curriculum for the first time in a few years, and Ladybug doesn’t (although I am planning on getting the new Peace Hill Press curriculum when it’s available). We’ve been working on a special creative writing assignment to start the school year, although Ladybug did begin her regular writing curriculum this week. And Chickadee is working on handwriting, letter sounds, and Get Ready for the Code!

In history, Turkey and Bunny have been learning about cuneiform and hieroglyphics, and the importance of written history. Ladybug has been learning about how early nomads settled down and became farmers, and Chickadee has been listening to just about everything, even though she’s probably not understanding too much of it. They’re all also learning early Old Testament stories in religion (from three different CPH series!), which is tying in well with history for the moment.

We also had our first science experiments of the year this week. Ladybug got to see how camouflage and natural selection work using m&ms (with a little help from Chickadee), and Turkey and Bunny classified a whole bunch of living things using a biological key. They’ve already finished up the first chapter of their science text, and will have a test early next week.

We also started our first literature studies of the year. I have never read either of the two books we’re going through right now, and I have to admit, it’s fun to have something previously unknown to me on the schedule! Chickadee is still enjoying our read-through of Ramona the Pest, and I’m enjoying all of the memories that reading it out loud yet again is bringing back.

Next week, I’m hoping we’ll get a chance to see a special exhibit at the St. Louis Art Museum.  And we’re looking forward to the first “Homeschool Day” of the year at the Missouri History Museum…it’s only a few weeks away!

Preparing for the Great American Eclipse

Unless you live under a rock, you’ve probably heard that on Monday, we are going to experience the “Great American Eclipse,” a solar (or lunar, I suppose), event that will literally stretch from sea to shining sea. The continental US hasn’t had such an event since before I was born, and St. Louis hasn’t experienced a total solar eclipse since before Columbus came to the New World! Seriously, it is going to be as DARK AS NIGHT in the MIDDLE OF THE DAY in places experiencing the totality!!! If that doesn’t stir at least a little something in your soul, I’m not sure you’re really alive. Of course, the reactions to the eclipse range from “Who cares?” and “I’m over the hype!” to “Science is cool, and I feel fortunate to get to experience this!” and “This is a religious experience!!!” not to mention everything in between!

As we live in the path of totality (and, let’s face it, are a pretty nerdy family), we fall at the “Science is cool!” end of the scale, and we’ve been preparing for the eclipse for months. Our preparations have focused on three areas:

  • The Science of the Eclipse–This has been a huge area of our focus as a family and as a school. In addition to the approximately one zillion books we have about space in our house, we have also been learning about The Great American Eclipse and eclipses in general at the St. Louis Science Center. They’ve been running a star show for months focused on the event, and not only was it very informative, we also received free solar filters with our admission. Which leads us to…
  • Eclipse Safety–Safe viewing of any eclipse is obviously a top priority. Because this eclipse is covering so much of the country (all 50 states will experience at least part of it!), and probably also thanks to social media, people are extra concerned about this event. It doesn’t help that there have been sales of counterfeit solar filters, so first of all, double-check and make sure yours are safety approved. Once you’re good to go, make sure you use them properly. Look down at the ground, put them on (and, in my opinion, keep holding them in place to prevent slippage), and then look at the eclipse. When you’re done viewing the event, look down at the ground again before removing them. They’re also not recommended for extended use, so keep your viewing times short, and remember, NO PEEKING! Please, enjoy the eclipse (safely), but remember, eye damage is real, and it is permanent…you don’t want to mess around with it! You can also make a good, old-fashioned pinhole viewer if you’d like.
  • The Story–This is the part of the eclipse that most interests me. I love thinking about how ancient civilizations, who didn’t have the scientific knowledge we take for granted today, viewed events such as this. We have read about some ancient myths that attempted to explain eclipses (many involved a story about a small animal such as a rabbit or a frog eating the sun!), and they are fascinating. But apart from the stories different cultures told, we’ve tried to put ourselves into the shoes of the individuals. What did they feel? Confusion? Amazement? Wonder? Certainly fear, and likely some had beliefs that the world was ending. This is a great opportunity to try to see things from a very different point of view!

So we have planned and prepared for the eclipse since before the summer began. In addition to the mandatory (safe) eclipse viewing on Monday, we also have some fun things planned for the day, including special foods (of course), and a reunion of our all-girl band to rock out “Total Eclipse of the Heart.”

What are you doing to make this once-in-many-lifetimes event memorable?

2017-18 School Year–Week One

The first week of the 2017-18 school year is already behind us! This year, I have two ninth graders, a fifth grader, and a Kindergartener!

We started on Tuesday, so it was a short, four-day week. And the first day of school is always mostly fun…finding out what’s in this year’s schultüte, handing out books and organizing desks, taking lots of pictures, and building a Lego set. The latter took several hours, as it is the largest Lego set (the Lego Ideas Saturn V), that we’ve ever built in school. It was a fun project that everyone got to help with (we intentionally started before Moose’s first day of school so he could participate), and was educational, thanks to the fantastic extra details in the instruction book.

On Wednesday, we had a pretty full day of school, beginning most of our subjects for the year, from high school geometry and biology to fifth grade math, spelling, and vocabulary, all the way down to reading Ramona the Pest out loud and Kindergarten handwriting. But then we took a break from our work on Thursday to go on our first field trip of the school year, to see The Discovery of King Tut at the St. Louis Science Center. It was a fantastic exhibit, full of extremely well done replicas from Tut’s tomb, and was also a great way to kick off our history studies for the year, as everyone is going to be studying ancient history in one way or another.

Today we finished off with another regular school day. The only subject we haven’t started yet is our various literature studies (Sir Gawain and the Green Knight to start for Turkey and Bunny, and The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe for Ladybug), which we will add to our schedule next week. I’ll close with something new for this year…I chose a Bible verse to be our theme for the year for the first time ever, and I think our chosen verse of Philippians 4:8 is an especially good reminder with all the chaos in the world right now:

“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”

Schultüte 2017

I really love finding special little things to put in the children’s schultüte every year. This year, I included some fun tape, stickers, and Lego minifigs. Chickadee also received her first pair of scissors and a pencil sharpener in hers!

The children had fun opening them, and also had a good time trading minifigs. In the end, I think everyone was happy with what he or she ended up with.

I love this tradition, and I always look forward to seeing the looks on the children’s faces as they go through their schultüte each year!

My Students

This is a year of beginnings and endings for my students.

Turkey and Bunny are beginning high school.

Chickadee is beginning kindergarten.

Moose is ending his time in elementary school…next year, he will move on to the junior high!

Ladybug is stuck in the middle…which is a good thing for me! No emotional beginnings or endings for her!

First Day of Ninth Grade

High school is upon us! Turkey and Bunny are now in ninth grade, and looking forward to studying ancient history, the Old Testament, biology, and geometry (among other things), as freshmen. It should be a very interesting year!

First Day of School 2017

Today was the first day of the 2017-18 school year!

We started with everyone’s favorite first day of school tradition…opening the schultüte:

Of course I took a lot of pictures:

After everyone looked through their new workbooks for the year (and put them away), we had a short Matins service. And then we started on our other favorite first day of school tradition…building our new Lego set for the year. This time, it was the Lego Ideas Saturn V rocket, the biggest school set we’ve built so far (it took about four hours!!!)! Since we started school before Moose this year, he got to join in the fun, too!

That’s about it. We didn’t do any real work today…that can wait for tomorrow. We’re looking forward to all the new and interesting things we’re going to be learning this year!