Friday, February 26, 2010

Gotta Hit the Books Hard



Lately we have had a bunch of special things to come up, and they have moved our school schedule around. First, it was the new baby. Then a couple visits from my mother, then studying for the spelling bee, which btw oldest loss at the next level due to nerves. Next it was a couple of trips to Florida to prepare oldest for entry into Performing Arts high School, mingled in were a few trips to the Zoo homeschool academy and lastly the girls went to Shakespeare Camp for Homeschoolers last week. They have learned a lot about the Bard of Avon, Marsupials, Camouflage, Greek words, etymology, but sadly book knowledge in Spanish, Science, American History, and parts of speech has taken a back seat. Now it's time to hit the books hard again.

March is approaching and I've been getting emails about National Testing dates. All of the sudden I am like Yikes!!! Did they get enough book learning to be able to make the scores on their national testing. Does knowing what words Shakespeare created contribute to doing well on the Iowa Basic Skills Testing? How will learning about extreme adaptation translate into knowledge expressed through those blackened circles? Well, I don't know. However, we will be hitting the books until testing time, and maybe longer so long as we get through the work.

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Scripps Spelling Bee and Other News

My Eighth Grader won the Local Homeschool Scripps Spelling Bee!!!!!! Yea!!!!! Now we're on the Homeschool Spell-off in two weeks. It was a nail biter, she went to war with very smart 10-year old. I knew she would win, but I didn't know it would be that hard. Before going in, I thought my sweetie could spell anything that came her way. I was wrong. Now we are practicing Greek, Latin, Arabic, Scientific terms, etc. to win the next round.

This spelling bee is great because we are going over spellings and meanings, so she (and the rest of us) are learning a lot along the way. Like we discovered this guy, a Fennec Fox from Africa.




In other news, my little artist (4th grader) is doing a wonderful President presentation in keynote (mac's version of PowerPoint). She is actually computer designing an American Flag. Did I mention that my husband is a Graphic Designer, so she's got it honest. She also loves to listen to stories on CD. I am learning to go with the flow with her. I read somewhere and not sure where, that I needed to get the book Discover Your Child's Learning Style. I ordered it on ebay right away, and it has helped me immensely. I have changed my teaching tools and style when it pertains to her. I am seeing a difference already. It really really helps to know how your child learns.