Another one bites the dust! (Another week, that is)

Another week done of the school year. How did you do at your house? Here's how we did at mine.

 

My student had a conversation with older sibling, who reads this blog, and my student felt that I was not using an appropriate degree of tact with some of my posts. Student also wishes to be known, hereafter, by the code-name "Miner", related to his love of playing Minecraft. So be it. I will be going through my history, as I am able, to alter all entries related to Miner to change entries to reflect his chosen code name, as well as to make sure I am speaking about him with adequate tact so that he does not have to be embarrassed if he gets into a conversation with someone who has read the blog entries. So that was the first new thing this week (last week end).

Still in the throes of winter, I stumbled across this awesome video of 30 porpoises beached, being saved by the people on the beach. Awsome!

All in all, we had a very good school week, academically speaking. I wish I felt free to have a good week "Charlotte Mason-speaking", but I feel bound by the regulations in my state regarding home schooling. ::sigh::

Bible:

Regular daily Bible readings, but no school Friday (for all subjects) because Miner and I are both sick.

Mathematics:

We were able to do a lesson-a-day together, except Friday (sick). It is with a sigh of relief that we move into equations involving greater than and less than (that I don't know how to do the symbols of), such as: (the square root of x-2) , x - 4 - solve for x (where you have to square both sides to solve the "less than" than value of x). Don't try to solve that one -- I don't know how well it solves since I pulled it out of the air, not out of my book. (We're using Horizon's Algebra I.)

Science: 

Since we weren't making any headway in finding a different Science to be working on, I have gone back to working on Apologia Physical Science with Miner. I find the content, actually, to be quite challenging. It demonstrates why we are doing upper level lmath, because it is necessary in scientific conversions and all that. Yesterday's experiment and write up was regarding cubits (length from elbow to tip of fingertips) and inch (lenght from tip of your pointer to the next knuckle), and measuring the dining room table's length and width in cubits, and then converting it to inches. At one point, even with a calculator, the converted width was coming up as twice the length. I think Miner forgot to hit "Clear" between equations. 

We've had a lot of great bird feeder activity going on here this week! Hairy woodpecker doesn't want his photo taken.

I also had a group of starlings hit the feeder yesterday, but I didn't get the photo. Lots of chickadees and house sparrows, cardinals and titmouses, house finches and some mourning doves, dark-eyed junkos and at least one white-breasted nuthatch.

Social Studies:

We are working our way through Geography. This week we were looking at the way the world looks globally - the seven continents, the four oceans (that are actually all one big ocean), the seas, rivers and mountains. We looked at plate techtonics, and how the continents look like they may once have all been one great land mass. We watched part of the "debate" between Ken Hamm and Bill Nye (The Science Guy), but when we learned that it would not be following normal debate format we decided not to continue watching. It was formatted for each to present their side's perspective for 30 minutes. I didn't have that type of attention span than night, let alone Miner.

Language Arts:

Desiring to be able to give Miner credit for 9th Grade English, we have picked Bridgeway English back up to work on. He took a test in it (that I haven't graded yet). I also located the IEW writing workshop that he and I will watch together next week. We have been working our way through Arabian Nights stories, as well as the book Loefwine the Monk, and we started Men of Iron.

Miner had begun January with a preference for studying French (probably influenced by watching Dr. Who), but has again veered back to a preference for Spanish. Since I currently have the flexibility to permit him to study either (or both), I was fine with that. My goal is that he learn a foreign language, and that he do some work on it daily. He did a really good job at it this week.

Music:

The folk song for February is "Wade in the Water". We listened to it, but Miner didn't like it. It could have been the version that he found on YouTube was too depressing, or the song in general just depressing, but I let him turn it off.

Art:

Minecraft art drawings this week, nothing of particular note. No photos. I need to work on having photos to include in my weekly summaries. But frankly, I just don't feel well today and don't have the energy to bother about that right now.

Phys Ed:

Miner continued to work on his Personal Fitness Merit Badge for Boy Scouts. This involves running (can be running in place), sit ups, push ups, various stretches and strengthening, pull ups, etc., for 12 weeks.

Health:

Regular discussions about health issues. Miner recently took a one-day course for his First Aid Merit Badge that I might not have remembered to list when he did it in January. That counts, right?

Projects I am working on....

I am currently working on crocheting an off-white baby hat to donate to my charity, Online Angels, in Pottsville, PA.

Places we are going and people we are seeing.....
Between sickness and precipitation, just hunkering down. Come, Spring! Quickly! (Someone shoot the ground hog, please!)

Things I am cooking..... 

Made chili last night. Tonight will be French Bread Pizza. I started Minnesota Wild Rice Soup, but lost my momentum and put it away to do later. I also made chocolate chip cookies. I don't have my meals for next week planned yet.

Things I am reading....

It came! It came! I'm up to chapter 6.

Well, I need to go rest and get well. Have a great weekend!