How could it not be the best homeschooling week ever when it ended on Thursday (Easter break finally!) and Austin finished that nastiest of geometry units that has been making us all crazy for the past 2+ weeks. He passed it, too, meaning we never have to deal with it again. (Insert huge sigh of relief here.)
But life is always full of that glorious opposition. While Austin's eyes were glazing over at every attempt to teach him how to calculate the volume of solids of various shapes, Carter was digging the 7th grade version of the concept. I mean, he was seriously entertained by the whole idea. He actually got up from the desk after finishing a math assignment this week, sat down on the floor with Oliver, and proceeded to calculate the volume of each of Oliver's shape-sorting blocks. He was so dedicated to the task, that Oliver had to come tug on me to intervene so that he could have his blocks back. Maybe I should have enlisted Carter's assistance in teaching his big brother, though that might not have done great things for the sibling relationship.
Looking forward to the week off, catching up on ornithology labs and finalizing curriculum decisions for next year.
Showing posts with label geometry. Show all posts
Showing posts with label geometry. Show all posts
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Best Homeschooling Week Ever: April 10 - April 15
One of my favorite things about homeschooling is the spontaneity. If you wake up in the mood for a field trip--off you can go. No advanced planning necessary. This past Monday was a gorgeous day--all sunshine and heat--and there was no way we were staying at our desks. (Although we often go outside to do schoolwork once the weather turns nice.) So it was a picnic at the beach for us. We also managed to squeeze in a little outlet shopping while we were at it (very educational).
Another thing I love about homeschooling is the flexibility I have to change course in midstream when the needs of my children dictates it. For the past two weeks, Austin's geometry course has been giving us both headaches. A math headache is not something I'm used to, since it was hands-down my favorite subject when I was in school. But I have become very displeased with the way the Monarch geometry course we are using is set up. There are too many complex or trick questions and not enough basic questions in each assignment. As a result, Austin does not get enough chance to have a concept reinforced before he is expected to deal with all sorts of complicating factors that confuse his fragile understanding of what he's learning. It's almost as if each question is an extra-credit style challenge for the student who wants to push himself. This late in the year, I'm not interested in jumping ship to a new math course if I can avoid it. But I can create new questions to accompany the lessons. The best part is, there are so many free resources on the internet, that I won't even have to create the questions myself. This way, Austin can still complete the course to get his geometry credit and I won't have to be stressed out everyday trying to teach him how to solve overly convoluted problems. Insert victory dance here.
Another thing I love about homeschooling is the flexibility I have to change course in midstream when the needs of my children dictates it. For the past two weeks, Austin's geometry course has been giving us both headaches. A math headache is not something I'm used to, since it was hands-down my favorite subject when I was in school. But I have become very displeased with the way the Monarch geometry course we are using is set up. There are too many complex or trick questions and not enough basic questions in each assignment. As a result, Austin does not get enough chance to have a concept reinforced before he is expected to deal with all sorts of complicating factors that confuse his fragile understanding of what he's learning. It's almost as if each question is an extra-credit style challenge for the student who wants to push himself. This late in the year, I'm not interested in jumping ship to a new math course if I can avoid it. But I can create new questions to accompany the lessons. The best part is, there are so many free resources on the internet, that I won't even have to create the questions myself. This way, Austin can still complete the course to get his geometry credit and I won't have to be stressed out everyday trying to teach him how to solve overly convoluted problems. Insert victory dance here.
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Best Homeschooling Week Ever: April 4 - April 8
Getting in the mood for Easter, we were all about eggs this week. Last week was human reproduction, this week it was the birds' turn. Austin's current ornithology unit is all about the structure of the egg and what birds must go through to produce, protect, and hatch them. With only 9 days left until quail-hatching day, we have been getting a taste of the work that goes into that process--humidifying the incubator, rotating eggs to aid in the chicks' development, and candling the eggs to observe the progress of the embryos.
We rounded out the week by dissecting a chicken egg. My father thought this was hugely funny. He had many guffaws at my expense, imagining me cracking an egg into a bowl and calling it a science project. Let me assure you skeptics out there, that we very scientifically removed the shell from the membrane, leaving us with a see-through egg. It was highly educational. And it's the only dissection project you can eat when you're finished.
In other news, I'm officially tired of teaching geometry. It was my least favorite math when I was in school, and it's no different now. It's taking all my energy to press on. To make matters worse, Carter is doing a geometry unit in pre-algebra right now, too. There's no escape. I wish pi had never been discovered.
We rounded out the week by dissecting a chicken egg. My father thought this was hugely funny. He had many guffaws at my expense, imagining me cracking an egg into a bowl and calling it a science project. Let me assure you skeptics out there, that we very scientifically removed the shell from the membrane, leaving us with a see-through egg. It was highly educational. And it's the only dissection project you can eat when you're finished.
In other news, I'm officially tired of teaching geometry. It was my least favorite math when I was in school, and it's no different now. It's taking all my energy to press on. To make matters worse, Carter is doing a geometry unit in pre-algebra right now, too. There's no escape. I wish pi had never been discovered.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)