School at Home

  Zadok reads extensively, so this is only a partial list: The Story of the World Volume Three Land Animals of the Sixth Day: Apologia Science Series Benedict Arnold: Traitor of the Revolution  Gentle Annie: The True Story of a Civil War Nurse The Bone Series Stuart Little Mystery on Pine Lake Series Around the World in 80 Days Detectives in Togas I Survived: The Destruction of Pompeii I Survived: The Sinking of the Titanic (He has read several other books in the same series) Never Say Die: A Biography of Gladys Alward Naya Nuki: Shoshone Girl Who Ran Multiple Books from Dog Man Series Captain John Smith: The Lad from Lincolnshire

  Both boys enjoy drawing, coloring, and learning about art and music. They completed a short art elective this past spring and did a lot of guided drawing videos on Youtube.  In addition to creating lots of sketches of interesting machines that might work, like this bird-shaped glider, Qorban created a twenty-page comic book called "The Mars Construction" with detailed images of the first Mars colony being established.  Zadok does a lot of drawing, too. His big artistic achievement for this year was his poster detailing the life of Toyotomi Hideyoshi. It was part of his end of year history presentation.

 This past year we reviewed Fire Safety protocols for the whole family, purchased a fire blanket (which is stored in the kitchen for potential kitchen fires) and taught the boys correct upkeep of the fire extinguisher.

In addition to a variety of topics covered at home, many special studies and weekly nature/world-themed documentaries, Zadok and Qorban both completed grade-appropriate science courses at the homeschool co-op. Zadok won quite a few prizes for exceptional work. I personally taught Qorban's grade level. This year, we focused on land-dwelling animals, with additional forays into topics like the human body, germs, parasites, and various kinds of plants. Each year, we grow a garden with a wide variety of plants and observe the insects, birds, and plant life in our neighborhood. Qorban has kept slugs, millipedes and woodlice as pets and subjects of observation, and Zadok (who hopes to have a pet snake someday) has taken over the responsibility of caring for his aunt's birds (who live with us.)

Zadok and Qorban both completed grade-appropriate history courses at our local co-op, including weekly reading and writing homework, and in-class activities. I personally taught Zadok's grade level. Our primary curriculum was The Story of the World by Susan Wise Baur, but we used a variety of supplementary materials and games as well.  To complete the course, Zadok wrote a paper and gave an oral presentation about the historical figure of his choice (Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the unifier of Japan) and Qorban created a History Lapbook with historical highlights from the year.

Zadok and Qorban are both actively involved in household activities and chores. They regularly clean the house and help in the kitchen. They can prepare simple foods with minimal supervision and understand the importance of a balanced diet.  Both boys receive payment for certain household chores and are learning how to manage their personal finances and keep track of their income and expenses in their ledgers. This past year they have also participated in soccer camp and other athletic activities. They are scheduled to start another soccer camp soon. Daily walks and exercise are an important part of our schedule, and we enjoy spending time outdoors when the weather is good. Rebuilding our rotten backyard fence was a project the whole family was able to participate in.

This year we've enjoyed going to our local library almost every week and visiting some of the other libraries in our area as well. In addition to trips to local parks and wildlife areas, our family visited the Statue of Liberty and Central Park and had the opportunity to tour a coffee factory. Zadok especially enjoys learning about other countries and cultures, and Qorban is really into understanding how things work. Both boys also participated in a charity 5k just a few weeks ago.

Zadok (Grade 5) This year, Zadok has continued with double and triple digit multiplication, and has started division. He's about halfway through Math U See's Division workbook. We plan to work on long division over the summer. Qorban (Grade 2) This year, Qorban has focused on addition and subtraction problems involving carrying and borrowing and has begun single-digit multiplication. Both boys enjoy math/number related games like Monopoly, as well as math games on the computer.

Zadok (Grade 5) In addition to many other reading/writing-related activities, Zadok completed the Excellence in Writing workbook for his grade in our homeschool co-op. In this program, he studied:      Paragraph structure      Outlines      Grammar      Punctuation      Creating multiple sentence/clause structures      Gathering information from multiple source texts     Writing essays Zadok has begun writing his own stories. He completed "The Neth Tales" last fall and is now at work on "The Sprite's Journey." Zadok continues to excel at reading and spelling. NOTE: Zadok's personal reading list is extensive, so I will include it on a separate page.  Qorban (Grade 2) Qorban has made a lot of progress in reading and writing this past year. He completed an English Studies workbook in his co-op class, as well as many writing and reading exercises at home. He does a weekly spelling test a...