Wings

The End (of this journal)

Wed, 21 Jun 2006 23:05:05 GMT

New information about the family can now be found back here:

Das Chaos Blog

And next year's homeschool journal will be located here:

WINGS: Real Life Learning

Thursday - Nicky

Thu, 08 Jun 2006 20:42:28 GMT

Warm-ups led by Nicky, journals. Ten minutes of pratice with flashcards followed by 4:00 timed math tests. Everyone scored their personal best today, which was very exciting. Nicky and I worked through his goals with only minor sidetrips to help Stormy and Khy on various assignments. Everyone stayed on task for the most part. Nicky was pretty flighty for a lot of the day, but after a while got into what we were doing and focused. From his goal sheet he did a scissor practice sheet, a drawing sheet and a letter sheet. Then we worked on an alphabet book together, where he made a page and drew a picture for each letter. Turned out great.

Monday - Two weeks to go

Mon, 05 Jun 2006 22:36:48 GMT

Well, despite the bad ending of last week, we all came through it okay. This week started well. We made breakfast together, with Stormy and Nicky doing the batter mixing and Khy getting his first shot at the waffle iron. Then we did the baby check for Jacqui, and listened to a CD of Peter and the Wolf. We discussed putting together a skit based on it later in the week. Then we had individual meetings, going over their work from last week and making new goals for this week. Everything went well, so we'll see how it goes.

Friday - Nicky

Fri, 02 Jun 2006 20:12:56 GMT

Today was pretty wretched. Because it was the last day of the week, Khy and Stormy suddenly realized that they had put off too much work earlier in the week, and were facing Hurculean stacks of work on their goal sheets which made them both feel overwhelmed. And Nicky was very flighty today, so it was hard to get him to stay focused. The multiplication worksheets that Shane made to help out turned out to be just awful. The font was too small and didn't leave enough space to work, plus it was 4 digit by 4 digit multiplication, which the kids can do, but already stressed by not enough room to work - well, it was a total meltdown. Aside from that, Khy and Stormy were constant in their interuptions, Nicky was trying to stay on task but not really succeeding, and I was having to go back and re-do Shane's worksheets before I had a complete mutiny on my hands.

Ultimately, Nicky and I worked on his own calendar, we read a book together, and then he made an "All About Me" book that's really cool. Stormy finished most of her goal work. But Khy spent over an hour in meltdown mode, and still has most of the multiplication sheet and a current events task to finish before the end of the day. He finally ate some lunch and seems to be feeling better. But all in all, not such a great day for any of us.

Thursday - Stormy

Thu, 01 Jun 2006 20:20:19 GMT

Nicky had a hard time sleeping last night, so as a result I didn't get much sleep either. He and I slept in until 10 this morning, and I left a note for Khy and Stormy to eat breakfast and work on their individual goals until then. They did this marginally well. Except Khy waking me up three times to ask where the eggos were and various other things. Anyway. Once I was up, Stormy led warm ups, we did journals, and then for ten minutes I had them quiz each other with flashcards to prepare for their timed math tests. Which was a huge help, it turns out - all three of them scored much higher today then ever before.

Khy and Nicky separated off to do their own thing while Stormy and I worked on Haiku poetry and did some stuff with topographical maps and Mt. St. Helens.

Wednesday - Storm

Wed, 24 May 2006 23:00:20 GMT

Up early, quick breakfast. Warm-ups led by Storm and then journals. After journals everyone seemed better prepared, mentally, for the dreaded timed math tests. After that the boys broke off to work on their personal goals, while Storm and I worked on poetry (rhyme scheme and meter) and mapped volcanoes in the Ring of Fire. (The one with the volcanoes, not the song) After that I got out my art set and together we played around with oil paints. Which I know almost nothing about, but we had fun. I'm really happy with both of our pictures, and I'm looking forward to trying something else with her next week. She's inspiring.

Tuesday - Khy

Tue, 23 May 2006 20:10:26 GMT

Today we woke up a little later than usual, so while Stormy and Nicky were still eating breakfast, Khy and I started our day. The new plan is that on Mondays we'll have our meeting and set our weekly goals and take care of general business. Tuesdays I work with Khy while Stormy and Nicky work on their own and together, Wednesdays I work with Stormy while the boys do their own thing, and Thursdays I focus on Nicky. Fridays we'll still do something as a group project.
So today Khy and I read over a poem that he had selected yesterday. At 10 we all met up for warm ups (led by Khy) and journals. I also did the first of many timed math quizes. Stormy felt VERY pressured, but in the long run did fine. Nicky was completely calm about it, and Khy mentioned later that he thought it was kind of a fun challenge. THAT'S quite a change.
Stormy and Nicky split off to do their own work, and seemed to stay on task reasonably well. Khy and I worked on the poetry unit, discussing meter and rhyme scheme. He caught on VERY quickly. Then he wrote his own version of Mary Had a Little Lamb. After that we worked on the volcano unit, as he mapped out volcanoes around the ring of fire, and then did some math to figure out percentages of various things. All in all it was a successful day.

Note

Thu, 11 May 2006 08:25:00 GMT

We're still homeschooling, but we'd reached somewhat of an impasse recently. No one was having much fun or really getting what they needed, so we've been doing some brainstorming and restructuring. Next week we'll be trying something a little new and radical with the schedule which will hopefully get things moving again through the end of the school year.

4 - Spring - Monday

Mon, 24 Apr 2006 19:01:10 GMT

1. Meditation
2. Journals
3. Current Events
4. Math problems
5. Nicky read ten minutes.
6. Current events - Khy read about a book that tells about the San Francisco earthquake (and then put it on hold at the library) and Stormy read about the President of China visiting.
7. Long division.
8. Nicky's math book - addition facts.
9. Assigned Khy and Stormy to come up with ten spelling words each.
10. A to Z Geography

2 - Spring - Friday

Fri, 14 Apr 2006 19:36:54 GMT

1. Meditation with Music: Ladysmith Black Mambazo
2. Journals
3. Current Events (Khy read about the value of whale vomit and Stormy read about the statue being returned to Easter Island)
4. Nicky read for ten minutes: Hop on Pop
5. Khy and Stormy practiced cursive
6. Library Prep
7. Grammar review - verbs
8. Poetry:
exercises on rate of speech & vocal emotion
wrote list poems called "I Can't Write a Poem."
9. Identifying Fractions worksheet, and Nicky did another page in his workbook.
10. Spelling test (Khy missed 4, Stormy missed 1)
11. Nicky's Phonics test for letter M
12. Introduction to long division

2 - Spring - Thursday

Thu, 13 Apr 2006 20:54:15 GMT

Today was frustrating. We got started late and got very little done.
1. Meditation with Mozart for Meditation. The kids were much more interested in talking about the man than in listening to his music.
2. Journals
3. When Love Speaks - Sonnet #29 - When, in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes - sang by Rufus Wainwright
4. Livejournals -
Topic: My favorite movie is...
HTML practice: nouns in red, pronouns in blue, one link.
5. Nicky drew "mom" for his phonics picture while I confused the other kids mightily on the subject of verbs.
6. Khy and Stormy did a worksheet reviewing what we've learned about nouns, pronouns and verbs.
7. Khy and Stormy did division problems on the dry erase board while Nicky read Hop on Pop to me for ten minutes.

2 - Spring - Wednesday

Wed, 12 Apr 2006 20:36:52 GMT

1. Meditation with music from R. Carlos Nakai
2. Journals
3. Current events: Khy read about two black holes that might collide, while Stormy read about the first Brazilian astronaut.
4. Nicky read Hop on Pop for ten minutes. He was much more focused today.
5. Math review - Khy and Stormy did addition with regrouping, subtraction with regrouping, multiplication and division on the dry erase board. Nicky did a simple subtraction problem and an addition problem with three numbers.
6. We watched Bill Nye the Science Guy - Volcanoes.
7. Spelling Bingo - Nicky won. While I still tell him how to spell the words, he's just started to find the words on the paper by himself.
8. Volcanoes: Lesson One: Windows into the Earth
Activity One: How Volcanoes Grow
Using Play-do, students build models of the three major types of volcanoes and see how the shape is related to the type of material it erupts. Students then observe a demonstration that simulates the nature of two volcanic materials – lava (chilled molasses) and tephra (old-fashioned kitty litter). Concludes with discussion of how shape is related to material. This was really fun and effective, and the demonstration couldn't have been cooler.
9. We wrapped up with Khy and Stormy working on spelling homework while Nicky and I read My "M" Sound Box. Or rather, for the first time, Nicky read it to me.

2 - Spring - Tuesday

Tue, 11 Apr 2006 20:38:21 GMT

1. Meditation while listening to R. Carlos Nakai and visualizing an animal dancing
2. Journals
3. Listened to When Love Speaks - Sonnet #128 - How oft, when thou, my music by Juliet Stevenson.
4. Livejournal
Topic: "When I grow up I want to be a ____________ because ______________."
HTML: change the font color to red for nouns & add one link of choice.
5. Nicky read Hop on Pop for ten minutes.
6. Nicky did two pages of his Math workbook with more review of number families.
7. Khy and Stormy and I reviewed nouns and practiced pronouns.
8. Lesson on fractions (concepts and definition) with activity.
9. Free time to work on homework until lunch.

2 - Spring - Monday

Mon, 10 Apr 2006 20:23:28 GMT

1. Meditation
2. Journals
3. 23 week baby check
4. Current Events: Stormy read about a pyramid in Mexico, Khy read about obesity in children
5. Nicky read 10 minutes of Baker, Baker, Cookie Maker
6. Math review - used flashcards to drill addition and subtraction
7. Phonics - Nicky did a letter M print sheet and read a book called Marcus and the Mail
8. Spelling - Khy and Stormy copied down their spelling list for the week
9. Geography A to Z letters C and D
10. Grammar - reviewed nouns - common, proper, singular, plural and possessive.
11. Everyone made their own lunch.

1 - Spring - Friday

Fri, 07 Apr 2006 19:35:13 GMT

Nicky has a stye, so we had to tweak today a little bit so that he could rest his eye.
1. Meditation
2. Journals
3. Current events - Stormy read about a fish fossil, Khy read about Laura Bush
4. Nicky helped me with library prep
5. Ender's Game
6. Nicky was excused from school, while Stormy and Khy continued with Math. We practiced division and multiplication on the dry erase board, followed by an introduction to fractions that went well. Then I assigned ten problems of math - 5 multiplication and 5 division.

1 - Spring - Thursday

Thu, 06 Apr 2006 18:57:09 GMT

1. meditation
2. journals
3. When Love Speaks - Sonnet #120, "That you were once unkind befriends me now" read by Paul Rhys
4. Nicky read from the Disney book for ten minutes.
5. Livejournal topic - "If I had three wishes..." HTML tag of the day - linking to web pages.
6. Poetry unit:
Emphasis: We took turns reading a poem, emphasizing a different word of the poem each time
Voice Characterization: Students took turns reading a different poem, using different voices to create characters. It was a little rough going at first because everyone felt self conscious, but eventually I think it was quite fun. Among other things, Khy did a southern accent, a mean voice and an opera voice, Stormy did a sassy voice, a mad scientist voice and a bored, and Nicky did a police officer voice and a Yoda that had everyone laughing.
Poem: Students filled out forms to write their first poems.

1 - Spring - Wednesday

Wed, 05 Apr 2006 19:22:34 GMT

Spring Break was a bust - two weeks was too long. It's good to be getting back into a schedule, even if we're all tired.
1. Meditation
2. Journals
3. Baby check 22 weeks
4. Current Events: Khy read about protests in France while Stormy read about the President of Liberia.
5. Nicky read from a Disney storybook that I'm too lazy to check the title on right now.
6. Math review - Khy and Stormy had 10 problems of multiplication that they both had some trouble with, while Nicky and I worked on fact families in his new math workbook.
7. Nicky played Jumpstart Kindergarten Math while Khy and Stormy did A to Z Geography sheets A & B.
8. Listened to about twenty minutes of Ender's Game.

Friday - W wk 11 - Last day of term

Fri, 17 Mar 2006 21:51:53 GMT

We made it! Amazing! I had to curtail a few of the lessons since we missed so much school due to illness/laziness, but all in all I think it was a very fruitful term.
1. Meditation with music from R. Carlos Nakai
2. Journals
3. Current Events - Khy read about how iPods are causing hearing loss while Stormy read about the Iditarod Sled Race.
4. Khy helped me with library preparation. I always love those Saturdays just after term when I can actually go to the library to browse aimlessly, instead of armed with a mile long list full of books I need for class.
5. Nicky read to me the rest of the Dick and Jane collection. He's been reading it on his own at bedtime for the last few nights, and I can REALLY tell he's been practicing. It's so exciting, how far he's come and how proud he is of himself.
6. Spelling Test - review words. Khy and Stormy both got 100%. Nicky practiced typing (he's ahead of the older kids on typing skills, I think that's kind of cool) and then took his phonics test for the letter L.
7. Paper airplane science. Each student made their own paper airplane, and each were given one paperclip to put wherever they chose. Then they took turns flying their airplanes, and we would measure and record the distance. Between each turn (each student got 5 turns) they were allowed to make adjustments to their planes, primarily through the placement of the paperclip. When it was all done we took their measurements and then I showed them how to find their average distance. Nicky and Stormy's averages were in the 8 foot range, and Khy was in the 10 foot range. We talked a long time about what variables were at work, what they could have done to improve their planes, why Khy's seemed to do better than the others. It was a great class.
8. Interviews - Based on the job application for Greek godhood they each filled out yesterday, I brought them in to "interview" for the positions. We had fun.
9. Music - We finally managed to get both Yellow Submarine and Maxwell's Silver Hammer videotaped on my camera and onto the computer, so I should be able to add them to the next Chaos Magazine website. Way cute.

Thu W wk 11 - Greece

Thu, 16 Mar 2006 22:02:23 GMT

1. Meditation with music from R. Carlos Nakai
2. Journals
3. Math - Khy and Stormy did a worksheet of long division, while Nicky finished the last two pages in his first grade math workbook. He was VERY proud.
4. When Love Speaks Sonnet #17 "Who will believe my verse in time to come," read by Richard Attenborough.
5. Livejournal topic - "For my next birthday I would like..." review of HTML tags - italics, bold and font color. (Stormy) (Khy) (Nicky)
6. Review of Greece and Ancient Greece. Kids looked up the flag and colored a picture of it. Reviewed map terms. Handout of the Greek alphabet, each of the kids used it to write their names.
7. Khy and Stormy filled out a Job application for Mount Olympus, pretending to be a god applying for a retiring god's position.
8. Nicky read Dick and Jane for ten minutes. The book we're reading from is actually a compilation of three Dick and Jane books. The first one starts very simply and gets progressively harder. The second one stays at about that same difficulty all the way through. And the third one is similar to the first, in that it's very simple in the beginning and increases the difficulty as you go along. So today we started the third book, and Nicky was actually making fun of how easy it was to read.

Wed W wk 11 - Aviation

Wed, 15 Mar 2006 20:01:15 GMT

1. Meditation with music from R. Carlos Nakai
2. Journals
3. Current events - Stormy read about the recent tornados, and Khy read about Saturn's moon
4. Nicky read ten minutes of Dick and Jane
5. Math problem on dry erase board - Khy and Stormy did division with remainders, Nicky did two pages from his subtraction workbook. We did more work on understanding the relationship between numbers, like the fact that 6+2=8 which also means that 8-2=6.
6. Wright tasks - Khy chose a task involving brainstorming goofy money-making ideas, while Stormy chose to write a newspaper article online about the first flight, but then she had a meltdown because she decided it was too hard to write three paragraphs. My children's insitence on not wanting to spend too much time or put too much effort into anything is VERY worrying. But then, because she would normally only be in 2nd grade right now, I chose to cut her some slack on it. Very frustrating, though, because I know she's perfectly capable of doing the assignment.
7. Nicky worked on a cutting, pasting and drawing assignment where he cut shapes out and glued them onto construction paper to make a house, and then decorated it.
8. We all listened to 30 minutes of Ender's Game while the kids did a basic drawing worksheet.
9. We played spelling bingo with a twist - I taped the bingo cards to the table and after each word the kids had to change places. It went over pretty well. Nicky won.
10. Free educational time - Khy and Nicky are both practicing typing on the computer while Stormy makes up the Wright Task she owes. I allowed her to choose a different one, so she's doing one involving looking up foods that contain certain vitamins. When she's done she'll email me her paper.

Tue - W wk 11 - Math and Music

Tue, 14 Mar 2006 19:18:01 GMT

1. Meditation with music from R. Carlos Nakai
2. Journals
3. Livejournal topic - "My favorite food is..." HTML tag of the day - italics. (Stormy) (Khy) (Nicky)
4. When Love Speaks Sonnet #76 "Why is my verse so barren of new pride..." read by Diana Rigg.
5. Ten minutes free reading, Nicky reads Dick and Jane
6. Practiced Yellow Submarine and Maxwell's Silver Hammer. I wanted to get them videotaped, but Khy's cough is still so bad we decided to wait and try on Friday.
7. Math worksheets all around.
8. Free educational time: choice of reading, math flashcards, typing program or spelling homework. Nicky is playing Jumpstart Kindergarten Reading again.

Mon - W Wk 11 - Greek Gods & Stuff

Mon, 13 Mar 2006 19:45:08 GMT

Last week we didn't do much. Lots more sickness, with a few educational movies thrown in. We watched some more Aviation ducumentary, and we watched Clash of the Titans which was fun. Today Khy is sick again - it's a regular Monday thing with him these days. But we're soldiering on, because I have two weeks of Spring Break scheduled and I, for one, don't want to miss them.
1. Meditation
2. Journals
Khy & Stormy:
3. Current Events
4. Finished final draft of Greek God report
5. Did division problem on dry erase board
6. Spelling (review words)
Nicky:
3. Read ten minutes of Dick and Jane
4. Reviewed letter sounds for A - K
5. Stormy read My L Sound Box to him.
6. Played Jumpstart Kindergarten Reading on computer.

Friday - W Wk 9

Fri, 03 Mar 2006 23:14:38 GMT

1. Meditation
2. Journals
3. Math problems - I gave Nicky an addition problem in the millions, which he did fine on. Stormy and Khy both multiplied 4 digit numbers perfectly.
4. Current events - Khy read about the nuclear agreement that Bush made with India that everyone is unhappy about, and Stormy read about the first female inductee to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Meanwhile, Nicky and I went over his word wall, and added a new word - "Sims."
5. Library prep.
6. Spelling Test - 6th grade level words, Stormy missed 0, Khy missed 3.
7. Nicky took his Phonics test for the letter K.
8. We watched the last flight documentary - this one was about how we went from flight technology to space technology. It ran a little long for the kids at times, but it was pretty interesting, and caught Nicky's attention especially.

Thursday - W Wk 9 - School Canceled

Thu, 02 Mar 2006 16:23:44 GMT

Nicky used his last coupon to cancel school. These kids are going to be hating next term, when days off will be completely within my control. Bwa ha ha ha. Now what am I going to do with myself today? And will I ever know if my new By Week schedule works if we never get through a complete week of school?

Wed - W Wk 9 - Aviation, Catching Up

Wed, 01 Mar 2006 22:05:07 GMT

Back in the game today - finally.
1. Meditation. Nicky led, was very cute. Kept looking at me for reassurance. (To group) "Imagine that you hear a sound, and picture what it was." (Aside, to me) "Do they look like they've pictured it yet?"
2. Journals
3. Math on dry erase board - Khy and Stormy simple division, Nicky I walked through his first addition with re-grouping problem.
4. When Love Speaks audiobook - today was my very favorite sonnet read by my very favorite voice. Discussion.
5. Spelling Bingo - Khy won the prize, but I gave out a Hershey's kiss to Stormy and Nicky because no one mis-spelled any words this week. I think I'm going to offer that regularly now.
6. Livejournal entries on the topic of "If I were President of the United States." I required Khy and Stormy to use HTML to change their font color and to bold something in their paragraphs. (Stormy) (Khy) (Nicky)
7. Another video from the Smithsonian Documentary on Flight.
8. Basic Drawing sheet. Nicky finished early, so he practiced Spongebob Typing.
Today is Nicky's first Wednesday at the Boys and Girls Club with the big kids. I'm sure in a few weeks I'll be delighted to have an afternoon to myself, but today he just seemed so young and small.