Little Professor Science Kits

One purchase from Convention which I am excited about is the Little Professor Science Kits from the Academy of Science for Kids. As I mentioned in my purchase post, the price of these kits caused me to hesitate. These kits run for $95 plus shipping and because of their size the shipping runs 15-20$. So why would I take the leap for these kits....

*No shipping at convention, even for the one that was not produced yet and they had to mail later.

* Just Add Water. That is it. No looking for cups, beakers, markers or crayons... everything you need for each experiment is included in the box. I love that!


*Each experiment is placed in a labeled baggie... I don't even have to dig through the box for the needed supplies. Talk about making it easy. Thank you!


*Besides supplies the box includes a journal with instructions and lab space, a small science fair display board, online assessment and credits you can earn to trade for science merchandise .

*A year subscription to Discovery Education!!! We do not belong to anything that gives us access to they pay areas of this amazing site. I have wanted to get a subscription for years but could not justify $265. For $95, I got a years subscription plus the kit. That is what really sold me.

The two kits I purchases were Matter and Food Science.

Books: Seedfolks

I read this lovely little book today while G worked on his school work. It is so simple and sweet. You could use it to study immigration, community, gardening, urban area, first person... Each chapter is written in the voice of a person in a Cleveland neighborhood. It is a depressed, drug ridden area. One day a girl plants a few lima beans in a vacant lot in remembrance of her deceased father. This small act causes a ripple effect resulting a huge community garden. I enjoyed this book so much and G was amazed that I could finish it before he finished his work.

Grammar-Land

It amazes me how much G enjoys this book. He asks for it to be read and applies what we have covered to other areas of school. You can buy a copy of this 1877 book from Amazon and other retailers as well as read it online at Google Books. I would like to thank Jessica, whoever you are, for creating worksheets to go with each chapter. You can find those sheets here.

Convention 2011:Purchases

I did not need a lot of new curriculum this year, we are going to be straddling years with what we have on hand. So I took this years convention as a chance to find some fun learning items.

We really enjoy the Opal Wheeler composer series. We are reading Bach right now and G is learning one of the included Minuets in piano lesson. I chose Brahms and Schubert to compliment our Story of the World studies.

I always stock up on Jim Weiss Cds that will enhance our history study.

We purchased these stop motion movies from the homeschool creators. I hope they will give G some new ideas.
I have had this book wish listed on Amazon for quite a while. I opened it up and really think it will be some real world fun. Zaccaro was the only speaker I wanted to see that I didn't get to this year.
I hope these EMA board games are as fun as they look... if not now them they will be a great resource later.
Daddy had never seen one of these chess sets... he wanted this more than G. giggle

I thought this simple game looked really fun but was worried G wouldn't think so. I was so wrong. He enjoyed it as soon as the vendor taught him how to play.

G loves look and find puzzles... this game fills that love.
Another game I hope it is as fun as it looks. I got it on good authority that it is great family fun.

The price tag of this science kit really threw me off but the benefits won me over. Won me over so much I actually bought 2! I plan on doing a post just on this product soon.


A bag full of OOOHS and AHHHHHS! We are putting up the chemistry text for the rest of the year and using this kit. 70 experiments! This one gets it's own post too. I got a great convention deal from Timberdoodle for $25!

Games Games Games

I just wanted to share a couple of new games that we are really enjoying.

1. Numbers League

Rainbow Resources had a free shipping special last week so I looked into a couple of math games. I bought Equate... which I don't think will be "please please can we play it!" type game but I hope it makes math practice a bit less torturous. The other game was Numbers League: an Adventure in Addiplication. Your goal is to create a team of super heroes to capture villains. G loves it! It's not even like doing math! he said. LOL I was really impressed with how his mental math improved after a few rounds.

2. Lego Harry Potter
We are a fan of the new build it yourself Lego Game boards. First we got Minotaurus this summer, which we play often. Then for Christmas, we've been having family parties for 2 weeks now, G got the Harry Potter version. It is a bit more difficult to build initially but it all stays together when you are finished. I always imagine those stair cases moving on me when I read the books and daydream... well here they do.

What are you playing in school this winter?

IEW: The Beginning

Ugh…. I did not expect this to be so hard! As I have written previously, I hopped off of the fence and purchased IEW Student Intensive A. I thought this video class would make learning to write so much easier. But I am not an 8-year-old boy who doesn’t like to put pencil to paper. G is awesome orally, which is how we do most tasks. So these writing lessons are as much about the physical act of writing as the process of composition.

I do have to say; he is enjoying the lessons and would have no complaints if I would be his scribe. Because of this I have had to alter MY timeline from two compositions a week to one. This seems to be a good compromise.

I have to say that Pudewa has picked excellent topics for the kids to write about. And if you have ever heard him speak, he is definitely reaching for those kids who would rather be building forts. The initial video lesson and subsequent practices are on the topics: Sea Snakes, Desert Tarantulas, and Pillbugs.

Pudewa walks the students (yours and in studio) step by step through the process; reading of the text, picking three words from every sentence to form a keyword outline, testing the outline to see if you can create a sentence, and finally putting away the original story and writing an essay from your outline.

G enjoyed Pudewa’s humor and trying to come up with same keywords he suggested. It was almost a game. He also liked the “help” hand signals Pudewa used for classroom management… quite funny since G is my only. I also got my first “That’s not what he said”. giggle

Shakespeare in Third Grade

This year we are starting the year by finishing up Story of the World 2. One of the final chapters is about William Shakespeare. I am using this chapter as a jumping point into a survey of his work.

I have to admit that I love to listen to and watch Shakespeare but cannot seem to read it. I cannot get the rhythm and stumble over the language. It is so laborious the meaning is lost. Thank goodness for children’s versions. I hope that gradual exposure will help G to understand the stories so that when he grows up and reads the originals it will be easier.

I started looking into Shakespeare after two blog friends posted about their chosen resources and studies.

Dana

Jimmie, here and here

I would never have thought of looking at Shakespeare in elementary school. But G is enjoying the stories and it is fun to see his face when he recognizes a phrase or situation that has become part of pop culture.

After sifting through all the resources I could get my hands on these are the ones we are using…

Shakespeare Paper Doll

Beautiful Stories from Shakespeare: here and here

Tales from Shakespeare

You Tube: BBC Animated Shakespeare

Curriculum: 3rd Grade

Ugh... is it time already?! It doesn't seem like we've enjoyed the summer yet but I really think we just lazied it away. So since we have turned into August it is time to get started. I tend to follow the basic public school schedule because G has close cousins and they tend to compare. He even wanted a report card and grades last year because they were talking about theirs. ( roll eyes)

So here we are 3rd grade, We will be adding a new subject: writing. I am not looking forward to this because G like most boys do not like to put pencil to paper. He doesn't mind narrating and thinking of stories as long as I scribe. Well that is about to change. I have chosen to go with the Institute for Excellence in Writing. I sat on that fence for a long time. I enjoy and am inspired by Andrew Pudewa when I see him live... he's a Rock Star! So this year I finally jumped off that fence and took the plunge. I am hoping G will like him as much as I do. If not the company has a money back guarantee. That helped me greatly in my decision.

A couple of other subjects, though part of our lessons last year, are getting make overs. Grammer: I was so excited to use the ever popular Intermediate Language Lessons by Serl. I got a like new copy on Paperback Swap... bo-nus. I thought it would be a great continuation to the Queen series we have used over the last 2 years. But as I started writing out lessons in our master plan sheet I was not thrilled. I wanted more parts of speech work and in the six weeks I planned there was little. So I erased it all and ordered a cheap copy of Evan Moor's Daily Language Review 3. I used it this workbook when I taught school and is gives a short but effective lessons. I really wanted to stick to the Charotte Mason-ish way to grammar but we'll see how this goes. I will also be adding in weekly Engish From the Roots Up cards. I purchased just a set of cards because I wanted more of a discovery of how roots work rather than a full on study.

Spelling: Last year I went through 3 books, organized and collated a master list, tested him orally and made weekly lists from the missed words. It went Ok, but just making the short vowel lists took forever. This summer I read one of my many blog favs, and she uses a similar method but uses the McGuffy Speller for her lists. Lightbulb... so I got a copy , again like new from PBSW. No more list making for me! Also at convention this spring, One of my favorite workshops was Pudewa's Spelling lecture. He talked about practicing spelling orally, a lot, before writing... like in the good ole days. Often, the script to the brain to the hand gets scrambled so spelling out loud before writing is helpful So we will be doing loads of oral practice before writing. Finally, by having the McGuffy lesson numbers it makes G feel impressed with himself. It took 4 lessons to miss 10 words. He was excited.

Our other subjects continue with companies I am really pleased with:
Science
Mr. Q's Chemistry
supplemented with Basher's Periodic Table, Tocci's Periodic Table, Inquiry in Action, and the Golden Book of Chemistry Experiments.

History
Story of the World 3
supplemented with Opal Wheeler books, American History Stories, Young Scholar's Guide to Composers, Jim Weiss CDs, Complete Book of Presidents & States and Complete Book of Maps & Geography

Math
MUS Gamma & Delta

Language Arts
Writing, Spelling , Grammar above
Reading: Book Adventure, Book Studies tied to history like Sam the Minuteman, Dewey Decimal System

Fieldtrips! I want to go on fieldtrips... we rarely seem to take the time. I want to take the time this year.

What's new for you this year?

Favorite Books: July 2010

We have been reading a lot this summer. Besides it being a part of our nightly rituals, our library has an amazing summer reading program! Here are some of our favorites:

Peter & the.... by Dave Barry
We have enjoyed both Peter & the Starcatchers and Peter & the Shadow Thieves. We have listened to both on tape. Which by the way are read by the talented Jim Dale.
Henry Huggins by Beverly Cleary
Seeing the trailers for the new Beezus & Ramona movie reminded me of how wonderful these books are and it is now time to share them with G.



Multiplying menace : the revenge of Rumpelstiltskin by Pam Calvert
Rumpelstilskin is back and wants the little boy he lost out on the first time. A fun math story.

William the Curious : Knight of the Water Lilies written and illustrated by Charles Santore
Gorgeous book with a great message.

Little Brute Family by Russell Hoban
Good old fashion sweetness.

The Shakespeare Stealer by Gary Blackwood
I am reading this for myself. I thought we might use it when we study Shakespeare. I am really enjoying it. It is the first of a set of 3.

Cheap Extras

I could not believe when I walked into Target this week and saw that school supplies are out! Ugh, with baseball finally over I just now feel like summer. I did not venture into the school zone (a big weakness) but I did check out the $1 bins at the front of the store. I was extremely excited with the selection of flash cards. I passed over the typical ABC & Math ones. I purchased the following sets: Landmarks, US Presidents, Flags of the World, and United States. All of the cards are double-sided, full color, decent stock for $1. The Landmark, States, and Presidents have a photo front and informative reverse. The Flag set is more like a path set with problems and answers on each side.

Landmarks

United States
Presidents (Washington- Obama plus the White House, Lincoln, Jefferson & Wahington Memorials)
Flags of the World
I also found pencils marked like rulers to the 1/4 inch.
And finally a Quick reference about the States and their flags.

New Resource: Xtranormal

Too Cool!
My friend Dana, over at School for Us, just posted about how her daughter used Xtranormal to create a report on President Garfield. It was a great idea and I thought I would check it out. There logo is

IF YOU CAN TYPE,
YOU CAN MAKE MOVIES

And that is it... you type in the text and the characters speak it. I see all kinds of potential for this. G and I have been playing with it since last night. Here is my sample.

Mr Q Science: Year 1 Earth Science

A few weeks ago I got a question on my feelings about Mr. Q's science after using it this year. I will tell you how I used it and my expectations.

I started the year approaching science as I had before: gathering my own books from the library, scouring the internet and trudging my own path. I am a trained teacher and I love researching and writing my own lessons so this was sort of joyful for me. Well, when I started this year of Earth Science I just could not find the flow of materials I wanted... in step Mr Q. I had never heard of this program and the $50 price tag for a PDF shocked me. After reading all I could on his site I decided to take the plunge. $50 might be worth it not to have to gather books and create an outline. It was. I liked it so much that at Christmas he had a 50% off sale and I bought both the Chemistry and Physics books. So I got 2 for $50. Bonus.

Now, I have to explain my goals for Science (and History). I truly subscribe to the Well Trained Mind ideal of placing pegs for learning. I am not expecting G to memorize or master this information. We are placing seeds of knowledge so when we cycle through this again it will not be totally foreign information. So with this in mind, I did not use all (hardly any) of the worksheets and I did not do an experiment with every chapter. For a 7/ 8 year old some of them were just to dull. Boys this age want OOOH AAAH science and those are the experiments we did. Right now I have a shopping list to get items to make rock candy- crystals & igneous rock I think... But I do not feel like I am wasting my money. As I said, I subscribe to the WTM 4 year cycle and we will cover this again in a few years and I believe I will use this same package again. This time with the worksheets and all of the experiments.

Price of Printing a PDF text: If you have a laptop you could read it off of the laptop. I could have done this but I like to draw on the text to further illustrate things (not something I would ever do to a bound book... oh the freedom!) But I did not just pull up the file and click print. There are a few blank pages and full color chapter title pages, so I would go in and say for example: print 101-109, 112, 121-124 and I would print 2 pages per sheet. I was a little time consuming to pick out all of the sheet numbers but well worth it in the end. And once I decided we were not going to do all of the worksheets I didn't even print those out. I would print 6 weeks at a time.

There are 36 chapters so enough for a typical school year. We completed 24. Our "official" 180 days are done (WOOHOO!!) but we will still be casually doing 4 more math times tables, history biographies, and the remainder of the science over the summer.

So my recommendation would be: If you can do Life Science start there because it is the whole 36 weeks FREE. Then you can try on his style. His chapters are short and to the point but he has a humorous voice. You can get on his mailing list and he sends out monthly lab notes which have an experiment and you will get notice if he has a sale. I think he had a 20% one this spring.

He is not a big company so if you send him and email he will personally answer you. I will say, Your access to the download links only last a month... I did not pay any attention to that when I first downloaded mine. Well, come to find out when we got to the rock chapters a few weeks ago I had not downloaded them... I remember having trouble before. I emailed Scott and asked if he could just send me that unit... he emailed right back and renewed my ES account for another month! It was so quick and easy. I appreciated his speed and response.

So yes, I still am glad I bought Mr. Qs science... I just tweaked how I used it.

Convention 2010

I love going to conventions. I did when I taught Public School and that hasn't changed now. My favorite is the Midwest Homeschooling Convention in Cincinnati Ohio. I have to drive 2 hours to the next state but it is well worth it. I have been going to this convention for three years, from its beginnings in a large church until now in the Duke Convention Center. This year there were 12,000 people attending, over 4000 families!

I spent most of my time listening to Andrew Pudewa. If you have not heard this man speak find a way. I love that he doesn't try to sell you his wares, he just educates and inspires. I listened to ...
4 Deadly Errors of Teaching Writing
Spelling and the Brain!
Fairy Tales and the Moral Imagination
Teaching Boys & Others Who Would Rather Make Forts All day
and I bought- Mastery Learning, Ability Development and Individualized Education

Other People I enjoyed
Dr. Carol Reynolds
Carol Topp, CPA
FamilyMint.com( We just started using this 5/19 and are really enjoying... G is hooked)

ANDDDDD

TIM HAWKINS!!!!!
Oh my goodness he is so entertaining!

I stuck to my shopping list
I bought...
Institute for Excellence in Writing A- I am still nervous about spending this much but I have faith
Math U See- Delta
English From the Roots Up cards
North America Map
Mineral Testing Set & Geode
Miller Pads & Paper
Basher Periodic Table
Ein-O's Molecular Model
A Cool New T-shirt for G
The Periodic Table by Salvatore Tocci
A few Easy Novels:
George the Drummer Boy
Sam the Minuteman
Small Wolf
Buffalo Bill and the Pony Express

I am very excited about the pieces I chose. And even more excited about the wonderful time I had in Cincy with friends and inspiration!

Favorite Books: April 2010

Here are a few of the Books we have been enjoying....

The Guardians of G'Hoole Series
We are on book 3. We cannot wait to read this each night. It is very exciting. Kidnapping, brainwashing, armor.... mwahahahahaha
The movie comes out this Fall! We cannot wait!

'Legend of the Guardians' Teaser Trailer @ Yahoo! Video

Wicked History Series

Biography for Boys I would call them. These little books deliver interesting biographical information on some of histories scariest people. We have studied Genghis Khan and are getting ready to read about Ivan the Terrible.

Marco Polo

Demi's telling of Polo's travels is interesting and beautifully illustrated. I have enjoyed studying Marco and learning more than I ever did in school. He is so much more than traveled to China and brought back spices.

Dr. Seuss
G is on a Dr. Seuss kick. He is sailing through the short ones and impressed with his own fluency. I hope he will start in on the longer books soon. But this is all him... I am staying out of it.

Books: Charlie Bone

G & I wanted to share a new favorite series with you: Charlie Bone by Jenny Nimmo.
Charlie Bone is a Fantasy Series of 8 books which takes place in modern times but is effected by an ancestor, the Red King, from the 12th Century. Many of the main characters are descendants of this magical Red King and have their own magical powers. Charlie, like another British, fatherless, boarding schooler we all know (HP), seems to attract trouble like a magnet and his "endowed" friends are there to help him out, if sometimes reluctantly. But those are the only similarities Charlie and Harry share. I don't even know how to describe them without resorting to plot summaries. We just love them! Magic, mystery, suspense, good vs evil, friendship, family.....

Both G and I find this series gripping and think it would make a great movie... if done right. I even have some casting ideas in my head,if any people in the know would like to hear. giggle

So if you are looking for a new series to dive into we suggest The Children of the Red King Series aka Charlie Bone. pssst Book 8 doesn't come out until May in the US. I am considering buying the British copy. So if you speed through them like we did you will have to wait for the ending.

Here is the author Jenny Nimmo setting up book 5 the Hidden King.

TV School- Science

We have watched some amazing science shows this week on TV. I just had to share incase you can catch them on replay.


Raw Anatomy: Inside the Elephant (National Geographic Channel)
We were mesmerized!


Hummingbirds: Magic in the Air (Nature/ PBS)
Slow motion is amazing!


(On DVR) Building Pharaoh's Ship (Nova/ PBS)


ANTS- Nature's Secret Power (The Science Channel)

Books BooksBooks

We have been reading a lot of great stories lately. I thought I would share some of them. The covers are linked to further information.

I saw Jotham's Journey on a new blog, The Architect & the Artist, along with the other two books in the series. I went to the library and it was sitting on the New Book display! Jotham is chapter/ devotional a day Advent story. It is a griping story. I would probably not read it to children under 2nd grade because there are some violent acts. I cannot wait each day to hear what happens next.

When we started studying multiplication, I scoured the library for storybooks to go along with it. I was surprised to find a chapter book. G enjoyed following Wilson's journey through the dreaded Timed Test. Other multiplication titles we enjoyed were: 2x2= Boo!, The Best of Times, and Too Many Kangaroo Things to Do.

Jack Stalwart, a pint sized James Bond. Jack receives a mystery country puzzle piece each night at 7:30. Placing this piece in his map whisks him off to his next assignment. These books are a similar reading level to Magic Tree House, in my opinion but are shelved with the next level up in our library. We devoured these books as soon as we could get our hands on the next one. There are 12 books in this series.


One Hen. Words cannot express how inspiring this book is. It gives me chills. Based on a true story, Kojo turns a few coins into a business which will, over his lifetime, change his country. It makes me want to do something somewhere.


My not so favorite books but hugely popular with our library friends. G goes to look at the selection every time we set foot in the building. The 8-10 year old boy set loves them. G likes the action and the "life risking" moments. Momma's not so much. I think the writing is a bit choppy and overly simple. They remind me of Goosebumps. Same storyline just change the name and location.

What have you been reading?

Grades

Homeschooling Mamas: Do you give grades to your elementary children?

G wants grades. I can thank this enlightenment to my beautiful nieces who ask him what his grades are. Before this he was living in blissful ignorance and I was enjoying the mastery lifestyle. Now we spend our days with "What'd I get? What'd I get?" Ugggh. Needless to say we will not be changing our mastery style of learning, one which I really believe in, but I can find some things to grade. Roll eyes.

One easy subject is handwriting. As G strives for a better grade obviously his penmanship improves. That one I am enjoying. I am also using the scores from MUS chapter tests, Book Adventure, and Explode the Code and soon spelling. But how am I going to organize these? I have EduTrack but couldn't figure out a simple encoding method so I Googled grade book. Tada! I should have know the homeschooler's friend Donna Young would have one. She has an Excel sheet that will do all of the calculating for you! I also looked up report cards, might as well go all the way. I found some with potential here and here.

So, Do you grade? What are your favorite forms?

Gamma Here We Come!

G finished the pages in Beta a few weeks ago but we have been reviewing and working on speed. Monday,we will start Gamma and spend the rest of the year in Multiplication.

I cannot wait to check out the resources listed by Jimmie & Dana.

Earth Science: Volcanoes

Our second hands- on activity in our Earth Science unit was volcanoes.
We read several books and watched some great videos (see list at the end).
We create one of each of the types of volcanoes out of homemade dough (not real successful) and made them erupted with vinegar & baking soda.