The school books and curriculum are rolling in and there are books everywhere. I am so thankful for this! We are blessed with much to help us learn at home.
We have a lot of new curriculum coming in for the new school year so I thought it only fitting to feature some of our new books and curriculum for the school year. I do have a full post of everything coming soon (still waiting on everything).
As I was going through and organizing some of Alex's new (7th grade) curriculum books I got most excited about this one today: Intro to Filmmaking from Filmschool for teens. This one looks so fun. We used a different course by this same vendor last year, and that one was good so I had no worries about getting another course from them. We actually got 2 this year (my 9th grader is doing another one this year too, YouTube for teens).
A glimpse of the table of contents for some of the topics he'll be studying...
He gets to watch some films and do a report on it...
We'll see how this course goes. It looks pretty cool looking through it. We'll be using our phone cameras for any recording he'll do for now, but maybe in the future if he likes it enough we'll get something more pro. Excited to see the possibilities and how it all turns out!
Life this week...
It was a week of making plans and ordering curriculum for the new school year. This is the best part of the new school year. Everything is so exciting and starting fresh gives us a good start. Look for a post about our curriculum for the '23-'24 school year coming soon.
Homeschool this week...
We have been using this math book for a supplement for a few years now so it's not getting used very fast, but I noticed this week looking at it that it's about halfway through. I love to see well used books like this in our homeschool. This particular one I found it easier just to tear the pages out and put them in a binder as he works on them. This week he is doing the assessment for lessons 1-28.
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| The Good and the Beautiful Math 5 book |
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| Sometimes our books look like they've been through the ringer. Love it when they look well used! |
Mom-school this week...
Not a lot of time for Mom-school this week as I've been getting our new school year organized and going. I am thinking about starting up Mission Driven Mom again. We'll see.
Helpful homeschool tips and advice to share...
If you're looking for good books to read for all ages I have been loving Everyday Reading dot com. She has some great lists and posts about reading.
Places we're going and people we're seeing...
We started classes at Village Home (a local-ish homeschool resource center with various in-person class offerings). Alex is taking a science STEM wizards class, a teen meet-up class, a 3D art class, and a strategy game class. He seemed to enjoy the first week of classes as he told me about them.
Things I'm working on...
I decided to rebuild my Harry Potter LEGO castle. It has been a tough job as all the pieces are in one big pile. It takes so long to find pieces, but I'm persevering and hoping to have it built by October 1. I want to decorate it for Halloween. Oh and I'm also watching the movies while building.
Random things the kids worked on...
Alex took on a dog sitting job for the whole week. He was so tired by Friday (his last day), but he did awesome. Mid-week he wanted to buy a ball throwing thing for dogs so it would be easier on his arm. He says it made a huge difference in how hard he had to throw. So, now he has this ball thingy for anytime he dog sits the neighbors dog.
This is Alex's paper art project from his 3D art class. He says he doesn't know what it is, he just made something. So glad he at least gave it a good try.
Something I accomplished...
I accomplished a whole lot of planning and thought about school this year. I have to make what's called an ILP (individual learning plan) for each of my kids for the charter school. It's a lot of work getting things laid out in those, but I really love doing them. It gives me a vision and goals for the school year. So yes, that's my accomplishment for the week.
What we're reading...
Not a lot of reading right now. I posted on Monday how we were reading some books about Sept. 11. That's about all the reading we got done this week.
Movies/TV we watched...
We have watched the first 2 Harry Potter movies so far for our Harry Potter movie marathon. I was hoping to watch them all this weekend, but we just aren't wanting to sit that much. Our "marathon" might last through the week.
Outdoor time...
We went on a nature walk on Monday with our newly started nature group. It was nice. We found this fun stick and named him "stick man."
Games we played...
We got a few new ones this week with our curriculum orders and Alex has been obsessed with playing them. The first is Pop Darts. This is a fun physical game where you throw the pop darts and score points.
The other game is this one called Quoridor. It's a fun little game where you have to block your opponent from getting to the other side using the wooden planks. Reminds me a little bit of chess but with just one character.
LEGO...
Alex is building this Arctic Explorer Ship during reading/listening time.
Other thoughts from the week...
I love origami.
I'm grateful for...
Water Bottles. We use them daily (when we don't forget to bring them). It's amazing the difference having a water bottle makes.
We started reading these books today. What Were the Twin Towers by Jim O'Connor and I survived the attacks of September 11, 2001 by Lauren Tarshis. Just a few chapters into each today, but it was enough to get us started on this topic. I'm pairing these with a "What was mini unit study" from Wadlock Way.
Life this week...
This past week and a few days was a doozy. It was the start of a new month, a new school year, a camping trip, two special field trip days to homeschool events, and lots of back to school preparation. I'm still getting some things ready to go for the new school year, but I feel like we do have a good start so far.
Homeschool this week...
It has been fun getting new classes and curriculum organized for the new school year, but also hard on the brain so that was most of our focus for the week. We did get some math, history, and reading done.
Mom-school this week...
I colored this during our camping trip. Coloring can be so therapeutic. It slows you down enough to think and ponder things. I am working on being better at seeing colors too.
Places we're going and people we're seeing...
As I said earlier we had a lot of outings this week. Aside from the ones I shared already here are the other ones.
We rode to Dutch Bros on the "first day" of homeschool. Got some PE, a break, and some fun to celebrate a new school year.
We had a "back to school" park/picnic day for Village Home. It's exciting to be joining VH at the beginning of the school year. We are looking forward to the adventures it will bring.
A few of our favorite things this week...
I am starting on the fall/halloween decor! I love it. Makes the house look so festive. I can't wait to get the rest out of storage!
What we're reading...
I am reading this book Oregon Myths & Legends, and I decided to read the chapter about Bigfoot while we were camping one night around the campfire. I found it interesting as I have never really known the official origins of bigfoot or sasquatch so I learned a lot. I thought it would be good for the kids to hear too.
Movies/TV we watched...
I am currently watching Once Upon a Time on Disney +. We watched some Stranger Things too (I am watching that with Alex).
Outdoor time...
Our camping trip put is well over 400 hours!
Games we played...
Alex taught me a new way to play tic-tac-toe. It was a fun new twist, and I still lost!
LEGO...
One of the build challenges I gave Alex this week was to build a number 7 for his 7th grade year. I also built a 16 for my 16th year of homeschooling kids.
I'm cooking/eating...
Date night I got to eat delicious Curry Beef at Chen's Family Dish. It was delicious and a nice break from cooking this weekend.
I'm grateful for...
Service projects. Big or small, I think helping others or the community is such a blessing to all.
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| Alex is in 7th grade this year |
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| I have been a homeschool teacher for 16 years! |
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| First day dutch run |
We finally have our Christmas tree up! It's super late this year, but I'm thankful that it's finally here.
