Read a fun book

I just finished a book called Schooled by Gordon Korman.  Great story!! 

Capricorn Anderson had never watched a television show before. He'd never tasted a pizza. He had never even heard of a wedgie. And he had never, in his wildest dreams, thought of living anywhere but Garland Farm commune with his hippie caretaker, Rain.

 

Capricorn (Cap for short) had lived every day of his life on Garland Farm growing fruits and vegetables. He was homeschooled by Rain, the only person he knew in the world. Life was simple for Cap. But when Rain falls out of a tree while picking plums and is hospital-ridden, he has to attend the local middle school and live with his new guidance counselor and her irritable daughter. While Cap knew a lot about Zen Buddhism, no amount formal education could ready him for the trials and tribulations of public middle school.

 

Cap doesn't exactly fit in at Claverage Middle School (dubbed C Average by the kids). He has long, ungroomed hair, wears hemp clothes, and practices Tai Chi out on the lawn. His weirdness basically makes him biggest nerd in school. This is great news for Zach Powers, big man on campus.  He can't wait to instate the age-old tradition in C-Average School:  The biggest nerd is nominated for class president--and wins.  So when Cap becomes president, he is more puzzled than ever.  But as Cap begins to take on his duties, the joke starts to turn on Zach. 

 

Will Cap turn out to be the greatest President in the history of C-Average School?  Or the biggest punchline?  

 

Not much new on the curriculum front and we are taking a short break from school for now.  I am working at getting back to posting as often as I can with new and fun stuff to share.

Using something new

I have found a new math product that we are testing and so far my oldest who is the one using it, likes it quite a bit. What I like is that it works in the areas of need, so while he almost has algebra down pat he needs quite a bit of work in Geometry, so the program covers more in that area. The program is called Aleks - check it out here - http://www.aleks.com/homeschool.

What I really love is I can see how much he is doing daily without being over his shoulder. He learned recently that I get reports bi-weekly and it shows me exactly how much time he has put in each day and how far he has progressed and what he has mastered and what is left to master. He has tried many different programs and seems to enjoy this process the best.

After a long break

I am back. I have missed writing. So many things have happened, it has been a busy year. This year I am homeschooling 3rd, 5th, 10th and 11th. I can't believe I am nearing our first senior year. We went through our many shelves of books and educational materials and I had the children choose what they were interested in. How nice to have the shelves cleared quite a bit and only books of interest remain. For a brief time I was worried about my oldest, have I given him everything he needs to succeed in the world, did we cover everything, you know all the "right" subjects. Then it hit me I have been teaching them how to learn this whole time and 90% of what I know I learned after high school and a large amount of that I learned in the last 10 years. So even though I still worry a bit I know they will be just fine. They have not been taught in a box or to meet a certain test, they have been taught to think outside of the box and to follow their interest. I hope this leads to them finding joy in their life in what ever path they choose.

Peace