Week 6: Exploration, Mad Libs, and Eggsperiments

Oh my goodness, homeschooling is difficult!! Einstein has been a little toot this week- just refusing to do work, and challenging my authority as a teacher. Trying to strike the balance between housework, doing non-school related things, and juggling all the other kids and responsibilities... Whew! 

But we keep on keeping on the best that we can! We took a day to go to the zoo and be amazed at the animals in our world!

Math
We are still working on those long subtraction problems with lots of borrowing, and long division. Einstein really doesn't fight me on math, he enjoys it, and a little bit (about 20 minutes) each a day adds up quick! He really likes me quizzing him on math facts as we run around at the park or are in the car.

History
We finished up the early exploration period of America, and Einstein is eager to move on, especially since we just had July 4th and discussed the importance of Independence Day. He is eager to move through this time period and get into more things!

Science
This was far and away the favorite for both of us this week! We looked up a bunch of experiments about eggs, and had a BLAST! The favorite was the "burping egg". 

We got our idea for this week's experiments from the DadLab. Our goal with science isn't specifically to teach specific things and then test on cloud formations or photosynthesis. Our goal is to learn to love learning and discovering.

English
For English, we still did some Mad Libs to target the parts of speech. Einstein really understands noun/ verb/ adjective, and has come up with a wide variety of words he uses!

Reading
I was all excited for us to read Stone Fox together, to carry Searchlight across that line together, but Einstein snuck the book off and read it all by himself in an hour or two on Sunday, so we started in on Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone instead.

Harry Potter is one of my favorite books, and it is slow at first, but once we get to Harry's 11th birthday, it should pick up. Ideally, I'd like to finish it by July 31st, because I have an epic Harry Potter day planned for then. 

Extras
Einstein loves all the extra things we are learning. His favorite motivators are playing chess and going swimming and spending time with his baby sister.

He also likes his art class with his Grandma. And I taught him to tie his shoes (which I have been meaning to do for ages, so it was good to finally do!)

Weeks 4 and 5: Conquistadors, Scientific Method, and Subtraction

We fell behind these last couple of weeks. We had a minor flooding incident, so some 1st story ceiling and 2nd story flooring had to be ripped out, and my older daughter was home from school, so that complicated things, as well as having a teething, not sleeping baby.

BUT- we still did the best we could!

Math

Einstein hit his first struggle in math. I say struggle, but that means that he only got 80% on these questions, as opposed to his usual 100%. He is having a hard time with the correct way to borrow when there are multiple 0s in the minuend. 

So 20,000 - 4,962= ___

He has been very frustrated about it, even though I told him we can go as slow as we want. Einstein has grown so accustomed to everything coming so easy for him that when he doesn't understand a concept the first time through, he melts down. 

But on the whole, math is his favorite subject. Besides chess. 

History

We moved on to the Spanish conquistadors. Einstein has a bit of a dark flair, so is drawn to the villains in history. He loved reading about Hernando de Soto and how the Alabama area native tribes lured him into a trap. 

We kept up with our US history timeline, and the water mitigation man who came to assess the damages left with his measurements and a full understanding of de Soto's evil plan to enslave or slaughter natives while searching for gold. 

Geography

For geography, we traced the route that de Soto took while searching for gold in southeastern United States, and quizzed each other on the capitols of the areas he visited (though they obviously weren't constructed at the time)

Science

We had a lot of fun these last couple weeks! We are working on learning the process of the scientific method, and so would look up fun experiments, then Einstein would write down in his research journal his questions, hypothesis, etc. as we conducted the experiment. We made and used a solar oven, created elephant toothpaste, and attempted ice cream in a bag (and failed at that one).

English

We are working on the parts of speech (adjectives, nouns, verbs, etc), so I got some mad libs books, and we have been doing mad libs. I really liked the junior version, because it gave a bunch of ideas for words, and it is nice to have examples when first starting out so we don't end up with a constant barrage of simple words like "happy, walked, man" 

Reading

We read James and the Giant Peach, and Einstein loved it! He really likes Roald Dahl, and we had a great time reading this one together! He finished the reading program at the library already, and one of his prizes was a new book. He picked out Stone Fox, which I had given him a brief run down on as a bedtime story months ago, and he wants to read that one next. 

Extras

Still working on piano (which he HATES practicing), and art (which he LOVES), and we finally found a way to get Einstein to do his chores each day! I told him that if he isn't finished by 2:00, then he gets my chore of the day (floors, bathrooms, laundry catch up, whatever). I haven't had to remind him to do his chores once since starting that policy! He pops out of bed and does it first thing after breakfast. I love it!

He also finally broke through his chess barrier. He had been stuck on a certain chess lesson on his chesskid account, and I had no idea how to help him. But he kept at it, and finally beat it! He then leveled up about 15 levels right after. No idea why he struggled so much with coordinating a battery, but he is all set now

Week 3: Germs, Early Explorers, Charlotte's Web

This week was mainly a continuation of last week's units. We struggled on Thursday and Friday with Einstein's sisters needing a lot of attention (teething baby and special needs older sister), and there were a lot of appointments I had made. 

So we didn't get nearly as much done as I had hoped, but we still covered significantly more material than Einstein would have covered at public. Here is what we targeted this week:

Math
We are working out of the A Beka curriculum, level 3. This is roughly a 3rd grade level, so challenging for Einstein, but also doable. He learned multiplication with carrying very quickly, factors, we introduced long division, and we reviewed subtraction with 0s in the minuend. I also had him count out his change when he wanted to make a purchase.

Math is far and away Einstein's favorite subject- he will request multiple pages a day for fun! So I feel like he is moving very fast (I certainly didn't pick up concepts this quickly when I was his age!), but he is comfortable with this pace he has set for himself, so full steam ahead!

History
We studied the lives of Juan Ponce de Leon and Jacques Cartier this week. My husband read the bloody battle scenes between the Spanish/ French to Einstein at bedtime, and they both seemed to really enjoy that! Einstein kept asking for more and more. 

Geography
We went over all the state capitols this week again. Einstein knows 85-90% of all the USA state capitols, and loves quizzing me on them. He has a church friend who is every bit as gifted, and they like to size each other up by shooting off math and geography questions. It is hilarious!

Science
The mold and germ unit went so well last week that Einstein wanted to continue it. He watched mold growing each day on his wet/ dry bread experiment, and read several books about germs, strange medicine, and "tiny killers" that he checked out from the library. 

He would follow me around while I cooked, listing off gross remedies (like cockaroach brains) that people would use to "cure" all manner of ailments. We did a few experiments just for fun, like seeing how candles need oxygen to stay aflame.

English
As much as Einstein loves math, he despises writing. I don't know why gifted kids hate writing so much other than that their brains go so much faster than their pen, so everything looks sloppy, and then the perfectionism sets in and melt downs begin.

This is the area that becomes a power struggle between us, and we are trying to figure out a balance between learning to love learning and actually fixing his pencil grip/ handwriting. Right now, I am requiring some difficult work, and if he wants to write notes or journal or whatever (cursive or print), then I am okay with that, as long as he is writing.

During English time, we work on reading comprehension, spelling, and the parts of speech. So we defined and gave examples of adverbs, verbs, nouns, adjectives, etc. 

Reading
We finished Charlotte's Web! Einstein loved the book, and his favorite character was Templeton. 

We acted out the book using toys, and when I asked Einstein what his favorite part of the story was, he said that it was when Templeton brought back the word "Crunchy", and then Einstein tossed the toy Wilbur up onto the barbeque grill. 

We also watched the 1970s video, and I really liked that one because it stayed so true to the book. I know there is a more recent movie, but I hadn't previewed it, so I didn't attempt a comparison. Einstein kept yelling "Mom come quick! Templeton's egg is about to get smashed!" or "Mom look! Templeton is so fat!"

Extras
Einstein's grandma is teaching him art and piano, so he is in charge of practicing piano each day, and he likes drawing by himself, so I let him have all the paper and writing utensils he wants. 

Einstein studies chess each day. I learned to not challenge him to two chess games at once. He beat me twice in a similar amount of time.

We are working on our garden too. Some days we don't make it out in the 100 degree weather, but we try to get out when we can!

Week 2: Mold, Exploration, Charlotte's Web

Another week down!!! We are still trying to find our rhythm with homeschool. I had planned that 9-1 would just be homeschool time, but life keeps getting in the way, so we rocked the checklists this week. Tried to get done as much as we could, then made up what got dropped on other days. 

But this has been an AWESOME week!!! 

Einstein trying to make a rabies vaccine (salt, food coloring, water)

Daily
Each day, we try and fit in:

• Chess practice
• Piano practice (we just started this)
• Exercise (this can be on our indoor trapeze, riding a bike, playing at the park, swimming, hitting a ball outside...)
• Chores
• Something fun!
• Sustained Silent Reading- 20+ minutes quietly reading anything you want. I make sure to do this with him to model good reading habits and because it is the only break I get!

Reading 
We started our new reading unit- Charlotte's Web! I loved this book as a kid, and it is a great read aloud! I had forgotten how many fantastic vocabulary words are in there. 

We used our fisher price toys (that I played with when I was a kid!) to mimic the book's settings-  the Zuckerman farm, the Arable house, and the fair. So Einstein can play with everything while I read aloud.


History
We are finished up our Columbus unit, and began getting into other explorers. We really hit on how diseases such as smallpox and measles came from Europe and wiped out about 8 million of the indigenous population. 

Einstein then asked a bunch of questions about how vaccines were created, so we had a tangent day where we looked up all about Louis Pasteur and his work on chicken cholera and his development of the rabies and anthrax vaccines. 

There is an awesome video about it on youtube if you look up "Louis Pasteur cartoon". It is about 25 minutes long. 

Science
Since we began the exploration/ Spanish conquistador unit in history, it was only fitting to do an experiment involving germs and mold!! 

We have been growing mold (one dry piece of bread, one damp piece of bread) to show that germs are in the air. Mold just started appearing on Wednesday. I guess this will be a good time to talk about penicillin too! 

For fun (and to work on the scientific method of hypothesis, experiment, etc), we did a few other experiments too, like freezing a balloon to see that things shrink when cold.

Math
Worked on identifying roman numerals, time, place values (and where to place commas/ decimals), and we started doing multiplication with carrying, such as 87x5. I was surprised how quickly Einstein caught on! 

And I was thrilled to find that the chapter headings in my copy of Charlotte's Web had roman numerals, so it all worked out!

English
In English, we worked on what proper nouns are, and how to capitalize them. These are extremely easy for Einstein, but the writing part is the difficult part for him, so we power through these just so he gets the writing practice.

We also have been doing reading comprehension outside of the Charlotte's Web reading unit and our sustained silent reading. In comprehension, I want to make sure he understands what is happening. So we read a couple Pecos Bill stories, sequenced events, did some vocabulary discovery, and answered comprehension questions. 

We also quiz spelling in the car, but again, this seems so easy for him. He certainly didn't get that from me! Spelling was far and away my worst subject in elementary school. But my husband is a brilliant speller, so thank goodness Einstein takes after his dad there!

Geography
Every time we learn about something in history, I go over the related maps. But Einstein wanted to learn the state birds this week, so we would quiz each other on states and their capitols, then we would look up what that state's bird is. I had no idea so many states all had the cardinal as their state bird!

Week 1 of Homeschooling

We survived the first full week of homeschooling!!!

I was surprised on the first day of homeschooling that wasn't a trial- I expected to feel excited and eager to get started, but instead felt like a weight had been pressed down on my chest. I suddenly realized that I am fully responsible for Einstein's education!

I took a deep breath and remembered all the reasons I pulled him, and dove in. 

Monday
 Monday was all I had imagined for homeschool. Everyone was fresh and happy, we did math and all the English worksheets, used manipulatives to demonstrate time, all that jazz. Einstein even spelled all his spelling words correctly the first time! (maybe setting him words 2 years ahead isn't enough!)

We read the first few chapters of our new reading unit that would carry out over 3 weeks- Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and discussed it together. I planned out fun activities and crafts to go along with each day's reading.

I read some of a biography of Christopher Columbus to Einstein while he constructed a ship out of recyclable materials, and we plotted out on a map events in his life, AND reviewed our family ancestry. 

We finished the day with our science unit "Sink or Float" which I thought would tie in nicely with the Columbus and his ships history. 

That was a good day!

Tuesday

Tuesday was a good day too! We continued our unit on Columbus, making more progress on our ships and discussed why the Queen of Spain agreed to finance Columbus' trip, we had many other things float and sink, and Einstein was eager to do his math, as always. That kid LOVES math!

When I went to read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Einstein kept saying "I read that already" over and over as I was reading him the next couple chapters. When I asked how that was, he said that he smuggled the book up to his room and had read about half the book before he fell asleep last night. 

I was pretty disappointed; I loved that book as a kid, and I had really been looking forward to reading it together and doing fun projects. But that was okay, we would just keep reading from where he left off. 

Wednesday

I had meant for Wednesday to be a catch-up day, but we had stayed on top of everything for the first two days, but it all worked out. We went to a story time at a local book shop, then to the park with friends, and then I got a call from someone asking for a ride to the hospital, so that was what we spent usual homeschool time doing. 

Which I was totally okay with- one of my reasons for homeschooling Einstein was so that he would be available to help others and develop a heart for service. 

I did a little review of Columbus and quizzed him on some math in the car, but we really just worked on helping others that day. We picked tomatoes and gave many to several neighbors, baked cookies, and then went to a splashpad with more friends.

Thursday 

I wasn't prepared on Thursday. The baby was awake until midnight the night before, so I hadn't cleaned my house or prepared for homeschool, or anything.

And it showed! The kids fought for a lot of the day while I tried to play catchup on the dishes and laundry, Einstein had a meltdown about not wanting to do any writing or reading comprehension, and had awful behavior most of the day. 

I wondered why on earth I would wish this upon myself, and ended up sending him to his room frequently throughout the day, where he finished reading a lot of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by himself because he liked the book. If I had told him to go read it, he would have refused. He was just plain ornery that day!

From a different day!

My poor husband came home to a wife that was frazzled, no dinner, the house a disaster, and fighting kids. Luckily, very little phases him, and he assured me that we just have 3 very difficult kids, and I was up to the challenge. 

Friday

Reassured from my husband, I tackled Friday with a vengeance! I made sure to clean the house and prep for homeschool Thursday night, and so Friday turned out to be an excellent day! Einstein begged for more math, and was picking up new concepts at the speed of light.

Einstein was able to give an account of Columbus' life leading up to the discovery of America, showed places he lived on a map of Europe, and we sailed the boats we made this week. 


We finished Charlie and the Chocolate Factory together and watched the movie. Einstein was enthralled with it, and even though he was shocked that the movie didn't match the book exactly, liked the movie overall. 

We finished the science unit of float/ sink and Einstein came to his conclusion about how the amount of air inside something helps with floating. We tested this out by swimming at the pool while holding in a big breath versus expelling our air before swimming. 

Einstein studied chess for a few hours, and it was a perfect ending to the week! 

We did set up the science experiment that will be for next week, since it takes several days- how fast mold grows!

Now I just need to scramble and plan another reading unit before Monday comes!

Behavior Management

Einstein is difficult to manage at the best of times. Sometimes, he is outright unruly and obstinate. I knew that going into homeschool, I would need a consistent way to reward his positive behavior and discourage his negative behavior.

Before we started homeschooling, Einstein was obsessed with his behavior chart at school. That was the first thing he would talk about when he got home- what color he got each day. 

So I simply made a similar one. During the day, if he starts to whine, I tell him "Strike 1/2/3" Once he gets up to 3 strikes for a minor misbehavior, he has to move his clip down. If it is a big misbehavior, it is an automatic clip down. 

He can also earn moving his clip up with good behavior, helpfulness, sticking with a hard task, etc. 

I also put up a Family Rules Chart, with the punishments for each negative behavior so everyone knows what will happen. 

While he still had his fair share of tantrums, I can also see that the clip chart is very rewarding for him. When he gets up to pink, he gets to select a prize for the day- something from the prize bucket, riding his bike with mom, or going swimming. These are all very motivating things for him.

On the flip side, though, if he gets down to red, he gets a punishment. That is either going to bed early, losing a special stuffed animal, or half an hour of cleaning. 

The important thing here, I think, was that Einstein helped with making the chart, as well as coming up with rewards/ punishments. So even if he is upset about it, he did agree to those terms and respects them