Today marks the beginning of the Experiment. Initially, my plan was to start after this week, because I knew it would be a busy one. But hey, why not begin a life-altering project in the midst of chaos?
The Healthy Communities / Healthy Youth national conference is held this week in Minneapolis, and we’ll be exhibiting there. It’s an excellent conference for communities promoting the Developmental Asset Approach, and it always brims with empowered youth participants. So on the one hand, we’re starting off our homeschooling with a “bang” of opportunity. On the other hand, I’m insane.
Here’s my nutshell lesson plan for the week:
Every day:
Journaling
Read-aloud (me): Collection of Newberry Award author short-stories
Mon-Tues (at home):
Spelling – week one spelling list (2nd and 4th grades)
Phonics/Language — 2nd grade workbook
Math — chapter tests (2nd and 4th) to figure out their levels in new books
Reading — 2 Fossils stories, (2nd grade) and “Earliest creatures” story (4th grade) — stories and activities completed together
Wed
Science Theme hodgepodge of Dinosaurs (Curt wants to see the bones) and Elephants (current omni show). Create question list and scavenger hunt based on library books about Dinosaurs and Elephants. Visit Science Museum of Minnesota while we’re in the cities for the conference. Venn diagram comparing/contrasting elephants and dinosaurs.
Thurs-Fri (at conference):
Writing — interview another exhibitor, and one youth participant — write about it. Attend at least one conference session, write observations.
Do you have a favorite activity related to dinosaurs or elephants??
Remember to visit Kailani’s Carnival of Family Life at Everything Under the Moon. My introduction to the Experiment is featured, along with many other excellent posts.
Other Homeschooling Experiment milestones:
The Beginning
Week One – Starting with a Frazzle
Five Steps to Drive Yourself off a Cliff
Week Two – Just when I thought I knew what I was doing
Week Three — Let there be CRAFTS!
One-month Review
D’s Review at One Month
Week Five – Stress and frustration
Week Seven – Flip-flopping curriculum
Note to self – Consider having low expectations some weeks
Two-Month Review — Some aha moments
Three-Month Review — Not all peaches and cream
Four-Month Review — Loving ancient history
Five-Month Review — What I underestimated
Six-Month Review – Let’s Just Skip this Month
Seven-Month Review — Curriculum Review
D’s research paper — Save the Earth Saturday series
Tales of a Fourth-Grade Guinea Pig
All posts about the experiment — including WAY-COOL FIELD TRIPS!
HOMESCHOOL EXPERIMENT RESULTS SERIES:
WHY WE STARTED
the JOYS
the STRUGGLES
the FUTURE for us
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6:29 am
I have no suggestions for you, but wanted to wish you LOADS of luck this week!!!!
8:40 am
Thank you SOOO much, Meredith!
9:28 am
You’ve an entire internet blogging group that will keep you on task. If you tell us what you’re schedule is, someone is going to ask how it went.
so, I’ll be back Wednesday night to talk about Dinosaur bones. Hee Hee
10:20 am
I better keep my act together, huh?? Just so you know, we’ll be in Minneapolis for the museum and conference Wed-Fri, so my blogging access will be sporadic. I’ll post my evaluation of the week on Friday.
10:27 am
I don’t think I’ve asked this already, but here it is: what did your children think about this homeschooling idea? That sounds like fun though, museums and everything?!
11:30 am
One of my favorite vacation memories as a kid was going to see the dinasour bones being excavated at the museum in Vernal, UT. I know that travel isn’t possible, but knowing how much my kiddos love treasure hunts, maybe you could bury some toy dinasour bones or the like somewhere and let them “excavate” them. It might be a fun way to discuss the processes that are done to preserve and uncover, etc. I’m a simpleton so this is what popped into my head – hope it’s not as lame as I’m thinking now it may sound! LOL
Hugs,
Holly
Holly’s Corner
11:59 am
Kelly, Holly already suggested my dino ideas. What about making fossils out of plaster of paris? Also, you know the story of the “Blind Men and the Elephant”? I posted about it recently but can’t remember if you commented on it. Anyway, that’s a FANTASTIC tale for young ones, they can imagine all the things the blind men “saw”. Perhaps you could blindfold your children and have them feel different parts of the same object, anything large enough would do (You don’t need an elephant). Then, have them describe what THEY saw. Imagine their surprise to realize they were talking about the same thing. (For whatever reason, a pole sander comes to mind…one child would feel the long, thin, wooden handle of the the pole; the other would feel the rough, scratchy boxy end of sandpaper…I think I’m thinking about that b/c of our bathroom renovation, now underway
).
Okay, this is probably enough from me! Hope you have a great week doing ALL those things you have to do! (I’ll be praying for you
).
12:30 pm
Your ideas are fantastic! Holly – I love your idea for the excavation. I know we did that once at a museum – it’s possible this is the museum we’ll attend on Wednesday. But if not, I’d like to do it here at home after the conference. And Robin, I remember reading that story, and I’ll go back today and print it off. THANK YOU!
WAYA – thanks for asking about how the kids feel about all this. They have been really excited about it ever since we told them it might be an option. But I’m sure this is mostly because it’s a new school we’ve pulled them out of. They haven’t really connected with the kids there (which is one of the reasons we’re doing this.) They don’t fit in very well. We’ll see if their enthusiasm continues…
Thank you all again for your kind and thoughtful suggestions.
So far, so good today! Deena said she’d like to blog about it, so I may create her own page here. I’ll keep you posted!
2:36 am
It all sounds exciting Kelly. I’m glad your kids are excited too.Hope all goes well this week.
11:45 am
[...] After reading Kelly’s post about her Experiment, I got inspired to post pics of the crafts I do with my kids. Since my main blog Are We There Yet is about the places we go. For my son who’s 6, I thought after his homework, I’d have a little craft for him to do. Since he loves dinosaurs, this craft would be perfect. [...]
7:57 pm
[...] I’ve told you how Curt is a human Google search. Likewise, Deena’s my compass. Our second day at the HCHY conference two weeks ago, we left the convention center to walk to our $4 per day parking lot. This, of course, would evidence, my cheapness, my unwillingness to pay for valet parking (all that was available in the adjoining parking ramp) and the gorgeous October weather that blessed us that week. [...]
6:52 pm
[...] Curt and Deena approached an exhibitor at the HCHY conference last month, to ask her questions for their lesson (they were gathering statistics about the exhibitors.) The woman looked at Curt and recognized him, but couldn’t figure out why. She asked herself, “Was he here yesterday?” “Have I met him before?” [...]
1:55 am
[...] I’ve told you how C is a human Google search. Likewise, D’s my compass. Our second day at the HCHY conference two weeks ago, we left the convention center to walk to our $4 per day parking lot. This, of course, would evidence, my cheapness unwillingness to pay for valet parking (all that was available in the adjoining parking ramp) and the gorgeous October weather that blessed us that week. [...]