Speaking from the Heart

We had a productive week, despite of my cold. The Inquisitor and I went to high school to register for his fall classes. Although he will have completed 5 high school courses by the end of the year, he is only allowed to transfer 2 credits, which will be algebra I and II. He will have to retake biology in the 10th grade. He doesn't feel too bad about it, because it will be one easy course for him.

In order to help The Inquisitor organize his thoughts, I am making him write an outline before writing his paper on a composer, He is 3/4 done with algebra 2.

Although Minnie is not happy with extra math problems, she is doing well. I have decided to let her finish Abeka math in the sixth grade. We will start pre-algebra in the seventh, and then algebra in the eighth.

I am still deciding if I want to join the co-op next year. Minnie will love it, but I am not sure if she will get anything out of it.

I have not been feeling well this week. Therefore, the kids are on their own. They have stayed on top their assignments. Now, it's my turn to grade the work.

To teach The Inquisitor and Minnie about accountability and responsibility, I assigned them writing assignments. Instead of reminding daily to work on their papers, I gave them a deadline. It doesn't matter when they work on their papers, as long as the final drafts are in complete by Friday.

Our week started with returning to the orthodontist to fix a broken bracket. On Wednesday, the kids an doctor's appointment. Somehow, we managed to have a very productive school week. As always, biology kept The Inquisitor busy. He is learning about quadratic equation and imaginary numbers in algebra 2. We are trying to finish Rod & Staff 7th grade grammar. I think it is so important to learn the material , because it will improve his writing. Since he will be taking Spanish at Southeast next year, we completely dropped the course.

Minnie finished writing her interpretation of The Princess and the Pea. I can't say enough about Pudewa's Writing Intensive Program. In the program Minnie learns how to pick out 3 key words per sentence. Using the keywords, she writes her story.

Just when I thought Minnie is not comprehending her science material, she surprised me by acing the test without any review. Way to go!! Minnie.

While public school kids are out on Monday, we will continue with school. I am afraid that if I take a break, it might last more than a month.

Both kids got their braces this week. Between trips to the orthodontist and constant pain, The Inquisitor and Minnie managed to complete their schoolwork. Instead of taking off on Monday, we took off Friday. A friend and I took our daughters to the pottery, while our sons stayed at the house and played games on Playstation 3.

Minnie continues with her work from last semester. She finished Daily Grams, and will be starting Shurley English on Monday. The Inquisitor has kept up with Apologia Biology Co-op. Although he will be retaking biology in the 10th grade (IB program), I am making him finish the course. He is halfway completing algebra 2. My goal is for him to finish the course before starting high school in the fall. Besides the two courses, he is doing lessons in Rod & Staff English/grammar. Sometimes I think I am not giving him enough lesson. However, when I see how much time he spends on biology, I realize he has plenty to do.

Things should show down some this week. Maybe we can get more things accomplished

After being off for more than a month, it was hard to get restarted. We didn't have school Monday, because we were still recouperating from our trip to Alabama. Since Prince Charming didn't have to return to work until Wednesday, I thought about not having school on Tuesday either. After thinking it over, and realizing that we have to adjust to the shock of being back in school, I decided to have class on Tuesday after all.

Like the kids, I am so burned out. A month off didn't help either, because we were so busy that I didn't feel like I got any rest (LOL, give me some bread with this whine). Regardless of how I feel, We are heading forward. My goal is for The Inquisitor to finish algebra 2 and biology, before he goes to Southeast High School in the fall. Besides algebra 2 and biology, he is also finishing up grammar. Three courses seem such a light load; therefore, I am adding a couple of courses to his load. Minnie continues where she left off in December. Her math skills have improved, but we're still need to work on spelling.

We are not running around as much this semester. My goal is to spend more time at home and less time on the road. For more Weekly Homeschool Report, click on the Clip art.

I started reading to The Inquisitor, when he was a month old. Although he didn't understand what I was saying, he laid there listening to my voice. When he entered kindergarten, his teacher taught him the joy of reading. Finally, I taught him to use his time wisely. When it was naptime for Minnie, I gave the 5 year-old Inquisitor a choice of taking a nap or reading. He took the latter. Today, he still takes an advantage of an afternoon reading.

We received his PSAT results. It is obvious that reading has helped his score in critical reading (68) and writing (53). For an 8th grader, he did well. In critical reading. he scored higher than 99% of sophomores. In writing skills, he scored higher than 86 % of sophomores. Considering that he only had algebra I and in the middle of algebra 2, he didn't do bad in math (46). He scored higher in 61% of sophomores.

By now, You are probably thinking that I am a slave driver or asking why he is taking the PSAT so early. As a homeschooled student in Florida, he has to be evaluated annually. Since he out tested k-12 exam two years ago, the next step is to start taking either the ACT, SAT, or PSAT. I chose the PSAT, because I think it is a good practice for SAT and ACT. His select index for 2008 is 171. Compare to college-bound juniors, he is in the 81%.

We usually take off in the month of December. This year, I had planned to home school the first two weeks of December. However, after being off for a week, the kids and I have no desires to resume school until after New Year. Although we're not officially having school, The Inquisitor is busy writing his 200-250 word essay on "Are Professional Athletes Overpaid?" for his admission to the IB program. He is also trying to keep up with biology and debate classes. Being off for a whole week for Thanksgiving, has left him behind in biology.

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I had planned for the kids to have school on Monday and Tuesday, but Prince Charming took the week off and decided to go to Alabama 2 days early. We packed and loaded the truck on Monday. Prince Charming went to bed early. I followed him a few hours later. Prince Charming and I allowed the kids to stay up all night watching TV, playing video games, or reading. By the time they got in the car, around 5:00 AM, they were ready for bed. This made their journey a little shorter. The drive was long, but I enjoyed the togetherness, something we don't do much at home. The kids enjoyed asking us about our childhood, as well as about theirs. When we were too tired to chat, we listened to Christmas music.

More than 12 hours later, we reached grandma's (my mom) house. She greeted grand kids with gifts, Prince Charming with a homemade Cheesecake, and me with my favorite Vietnamese food. We were spoiled by her hospitality.

After visiting grandma, we went to our next destination, Thanksgiving family reunion in the mountains with Prince Charmings' aunts, uncles, cousins, parents,etc. Afterwards, we returned home with my in-law. While the rest of the family will be watching Alabama vs. Auburn, Minnie and I will be shopping with Mom on Saturday. When Sunday comes around, we will be back on the road heading South to Florida.

I miss you all. I'll visit you next week.

Jean

A dear friend gave me an almost complete set of Saxon Algebra 2 curriculum. The only thing missing is the complete solution to the tests; however I do have the answer key. Being thrifty, I opted not to buy the solution book. For any problems that The Inquisitor misses, I would work out the steps. I have an electrical engineering degree. I took differential equations in college. Algebra 2 should be a breeze. Right? (LOL).

I usually have to solve a couple of problems. However, there were 9 problems this week. I had to looked through the textbook for examples. It took me more than an hour. It seems like I am retaking the course. However, this time I have a better understanding of how to approach the problem. I must be able to apply mathematical rules, before I can solve the problem. I didn't understand this concept the first time I took it. Take the following problem as an example:

Find an equation of the line that passes through point (7, 5) and is perpendicular to the line 2x-3y=6

Before I can solve this problem, I must remember that if two lines are perpendicular, the slope one line is the negative inverse of the other. Once I retrieve this information from my cobwebbed brain, I am able to set up the problem, and the calculation becomes a breeze.

Although we had a busy week, we managed to put in two full days of school. Our longest day was Friday. Both children had trouble with conversions. After spending an hour and a half on the metric system with Minnie, I spent another 2 hours with The Inquisitor teaching him how to convert a polar form to a rectangular form, and visa versa . Why did it take so long for each child? I continued to give them math problems to solve until I knew that they thoroughly understood the concepts. They didn't like the repetitious work, and thought it was a cruel punishment. Maybe one day they will look back and say "thanks mom" for teaching me perseverance.

The Inquisitor had his first debate forum. He and his partner argued that elevator music should be "new age", while their opponents stood firm on classical music. Both teams had to come up with a convincing argument to support their beliefs.

Minnie and her speech classmates had a ball experimenting with dry ice. Each child had to demonstrate an experiment and gave a speech on it. Minnie chose to make carbonated root beer (see below). With 14 drops of root beer concentrate (which can be found at Sweetbays), 2 teaspoon of sugar, 1 cup of water, and a small chunk of dry ice added, root beer is made.

I am still not spending enough time teaching Minnie. She is good at doing her work. It is me who gets behind in grading them. By the time I do check them, she is 3 or 4 lessons ahead. I completely missed the opportunity to teach her the concept. Speech, debate, and computer science classes will be done in December. My goal is to be home 3 days starting in January.

A child who is lagging in school wishes he was as smart as other kids. At the other end of the spectrum, an above average child wishes he is understood more by his peers. The Inquisitor is the latter child. His hobby is reading. Taking away his reading privileges rates higher than grounding. His constant desires to learn have resulted in an increase of his vocabulary words, and his knowledge in finances, science, history, sports, games, etc. Sometimes it is hard for him to communicate with his friends, because they are clueless . He tries not to let it bother him when his friends look at him as if he is was a geek.

I didn't realize he feels this way. As we were returning home from the IB orientation, he told me that he finally felt a sense of belonging. It will be good for him to attend the IB program for his high school years. He will be surrounded by peers, who are just like him. Some of his future classmates have strengths in history and English, while others like him have strengths in math and science. By the time they graduate, their areas of weaknesses will be in equilibrium with their areas of strength.

As a homeschool parent, I am so glad that I was able to minimize the feeling of being left out for a short while. Now it is time for me to let go of the string, and allow someone to prepare him for his college years. In so many words, The Inquisitor said it is best that his dad and I are around to give him support now, as opposed to four years from now, when he is away for college. What an awesome thought from a 13 year-old.

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It has been four weeks, since I created a weekly syllabus for each child. I am so burned out from teaching and driving around that my desire to teach is not present. The kids are pretty much on their own. I do go over their schoolwork. However, the quality of my teaching can be greatly improved. I need to get out of this mood.

After attending the informational meeting about the International Baccalaureate (IB) program, The Inquisitor is 100% sure that he wants to attend Southeast High School. Having an average of 2 hours of homework per night, and that the academic curriculum is rigorous did not deter The Inquisitor. He likes the fact that he will be earning up to 30 college credit hours, while he is in high school. This means that he will start his first college year as a sophomore.

Before he takes his first steps into Southeast High School, he must apply to the program. This means he has to submit a 200-250 word essay on one of the following topics: (1)Are professional athletes paid too much? or (2)Explain how televison has had a negative effect over the past few years. He also has to have two letters of teacher recommendations.

One advantage of homeschooling is I can prolong Minnie's childhood. If my fifth grader was in a public school, her days playing with Webkinz, dolls, dressing up, etc. would probably be over. She probably would be interested in boys, and would know more about the world, than I care for her to. Thank you Lord, for allowing my daughter to enjoy her childhood for another day.

Agent Minnie waiting for a report from Nancy Drew
Nancy Drew gives a full detail to Agent Minnie, as she observes the family from afar.

It is such a joy to see the girls using their imaginations.

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Because my mind was occupied with my bilateral ultrasound, teaching was not in my heart . I am so behind in checking their school work. Both kids did the minimum. Minnie worked daily on her math & grammar. She read science and history on her own. I need to do a better job working one-on-one with her. The Inquisitor's sinus was bothering him, due to cold weather. His headache prevented him to do his schoolwork. However, he kept up with his biology & speech.

I am going to to do a better job next week. If I don't have a good attitude about teaching, how can I expect the same from my kids?

I can't believe that We've been in school for 11 weeks. The kids and I are ready for a break. We have four more weeks before taking off a week for Thanksgiving. It has been a light week. Speech and debate classes were cancelled on Thursday. It was nice just to stay at home and didn't feel rushed to finish the assignment before 11:00.

It is such a relief to know that the PSAT Exam is done. We will know the result in mid December. In the meantime, The Inquisitor will return to his regular school work. On November 6, we will check out Southeast High School, and will find out what we need to do to enroll him for 2009-2010 school year. Dad still has some concerns about the location of the school , but he admits that the IB program is going to be good for The Inquisitor.

I am still recouperating from grandma's visit. I have allowed Minnie to work independently; however, I have learned that I need to work more one-on-one with her. She is excited about The Inquistor going to a public school next year, because she will have my undivided attention. On the other hand, she is not happy that I will be expecting more from her.

Minnie is busy preparing for the Christmas musical Aunt Hattie's Attic. The musical was going to be at a local church. However, The Singing Christmas Tree committee has asked her class to perform at the annual lighting of the Christmas tree. For the next 2 months, the kids will be practicing 1.5 hours each week. They must know their lines, so the class can go through the play each week without stopping.

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