Saturday, October 31, 2015

Happy Halloween



We went out and had a nice night trick or treating with some friends.  It rained halfway through... and everyone was glad to see the cars!  Esme got a good haul of candy, not too much :)  She went in her watermelon costume and had her face painted by her friend's mom.  Esme said it was the best Halloween ever, and was super-excited about everything.

 Who me?
A watermelon zombie candy pirate?

Friday, October 30, 2015

Friday

8.30a    - spelling - we are through the first 14 lessons.
9a    - minecraft
--She was trying to build Hotel Transylvania with me.  I had to leave for work at 9:30.


 She figured out how to put zombie door knockers on each door...



10.30a    - Dirty Jobs: "Alaskan Fishing boat"
11.15    - minecraft

11.45    - tumbled rock jewelry making - she made a necklace with three pendants and a ring with the rocks they have been working on for several weeks.
1p    - done

We watched 'Blast from the Past' tonight before bed and read all but the last chapter of the first book of Droon.

Thursday, October 29, 2015

Thursday

8.30a    - Spelling (through #11 2nd grade) and English irregular past tense on IXL
9.15a    - break

9.30a    - research: Roman clothing and daily life, food and architecture (bath house, amphitheater, coliseum)
We used History for Kids website and she learned a few things she didn't know.  We looked up mosaics the Romans had in their houses, and statues of dogs from Roman times.
10.15a    - break

11:15a  - Minecraft Romans
//She built some of the architecture she saw in the Romans information.
(I'll post some screenshots later that we took- she built a few arches, a pool and a garden with a sundial)



12.15    - math : visual division and more piggybank math.
--3 worksheets, dividing using a number line, dividing using groups and also another of the sheets where they tell you how many coins, the total, and ask you to work out which coins were used.  The numberline was the hardest for her...she had trouble deciding what they wanted her to show ie: 4 groups of 2 or 2 groups of 4, they're both 8, Mom...what does it matter which I show?  Especially, as she already knew the answer easily and just wanted to go on to the next problem. 

1p    - Rome ep 4 "Forest of Death" Veras and the defeat in Germania.  Caesar Augustus and Tiberius.  The rise and downfall of Arminius.

2p    - done - I finished all my paperwork today!  Homeschool is fun, kind of... *heh*

//We had a theatre party to go to in town, free showing of a Halloween movie.  Esme had a great time with two of her friends.  In the car and at home tonight she was telling me a lot about both division and the Romans today off and on relating what she had learned.  

Wednesday, October 28, 2015

Wednesday

We had another dental appointment this morning, so  we started late.

12p    - Grade Spelling: (we are up to list #6 on 2nd grade) + 2 definition exercises
---IXL English exercise on making 'ed' form words
12.30    - break

12.45    - Rome ep 3: "Julius Caesar"
1.30p    - seed research, ordering this year's seeds, organizing her greenhouse folder from last year
We compared prices at several places, did research, had her read reviews on one company that looked cheap but the customers were complaining about the seeds etc.  We finally found a company selling what both of us wanted to grow this year, in good quantity, and made an order.   Her order was for Alderman blue petunias.

//Some new shirts came in the mail about this time, and she tried them on.  Daddy and I reconstructed a bookcase for her school books that had broken on one level.  She found several books on Eagles in the books I was sorting and started to read of her own volition, finishing two whole books in the time we were working.
2.30    - reading: Eagles and Eagles World

3p    - minecraft
4.30    - math worksheet : division and piggy bank math
5p    - done

Notes:  Esme is eating snow pea pods, carrots, whole baby corn and water chestnuts.  Not bad for vegetables considering her track record.  We've had several talks about nutrition and she has been trying new things.  I had her do a very simple reading level test and she came out somewhere between 4th and 5th grade level, missing one out of ten and then  two out of ten on each list.  She couldn't do even half of the words on the 6th grade list.  I've been having her read tops 4th grade level  or LEXILE 600-800 books so this makes a lot of sense.

This is her finished Halloween costume for the Theatre Party tomorrow, and for trick-or-treating.


Reading: We've been reading 'Hidden Staircase and Magic Carpet' the first book of Droon by Tony Abbot... we had started somewhere in the middle of the series and are now reading the first few books.  We had Misty of Chincoteague checked out,but I think it will have to be at a later date sort of thing... continue with the series while she likes them.  Saw a recommendation for Diane Duane's magician series to remember to check out.  I'm reading the Wildwood series by Colin Meloy and just started reading Hoot (Carl Hiaasen), which I read the first chapter to Esme at the dentist today to keep her from working herself up about the dentist chair while she was waiting for the dentist to come in.

I'm trying to finish an old stuffed toy pattern in time for next week... it just needs some legs and features, and lots of teeth :)  The day of the big '8' is coming up soon.

Tuesday, October 27, 2015

Tuesday

8.30a    - reading: "Farmer Cap" (lexile 630)
8.45    - worksheet: adjectives and word order
9p    - english site: spelling audio test and identifying articles
9.30    - khan math: division
10a    - craft project:  sewing: Halloween costume
//She threaded a needle, practiced making end knots and sewing black felt watermelon seeds on top of her hat for the Halloween Theatre party coming up.

11a    - break

11:30   - Minecraft Halloween Party, statue and other projects


1.30    - done

Monday, October 26, 2015

Monday

9a    - research: "How can rain fall from clouds"
--She gave me a decent explanation of this after they picked me up at 3,so she understood what she read.
9.30    - multiplication table
10.45    - break

11.30    - town; practical math price comparisons etc
12.30    - break

5p    - Rome ep 2: "Spartacus"
---We compared similarities in American History and Rome again, and how slavery was involved in both histories.
5.45    - reading: "A Good Day's Fishing"
6p    - reading: "The Mightiest"
6.15p    - done

Friday, October 23, 2015

Friday dentist

10a    - dentist
--The dentist showed her all the tools and materials they would be using, and discussed how the fillings grow hard under the light.  She asked LOTS of questions, got a filling and a silver crown.
11    - Library
11.30    - break

12.30    - documentary: Rome  : The Barbarian Wars episode
-----------We also discussed that American forms of government were based on the Roman tradition in some ways, and understanding the Romans and what they did right and wrong were an important part of our own history - and warnings to watch out for in our future government as well.
1.30    - break

2.45p    - outside; frisbee, 1 mile walk
---We walked to the lake, made observations of insects, the water going down with the recent drought, plants, seeds, rocks etc.  She saw a massively large grasshopper with purple legs with white spots on them.  She had thought it was a tiny bird flying and wouldn't believe that had been a grasshopper until I had her come up close to see it on a bush branch.  We also saw deer tracks and skipped rocks across the lake.

3.30p    - new app: oscilab (music creation and visualization software)
4p    - sentence ordering (expandyourvocabulary.com), 2 sessions

4.15    - done

Thursday, October 22, 2015

Thursday

9a    - worksheet: Scrambled Sentences -- we need to do more of this
9:15a   - fraction cubes
9.30a    - wkst: multiplication
10a        - break



We had some lunch and watched the movie 'Song of the Sea'.

12p    - rock tumbler: change grit, clean and examine rocks
12.30  - minecraft -- She built a pool and volleyball area while I was home, and did some other things after I had to leave for work.

2p     - bicycle riding
2.30   - diary writing
3.30p  - done

Wednesday, October 21, 2015

Wednesday Dinosaur Vendor

9a     - English worksheet, types of sentences +IXL practice
--------We practiced the sentence types again on IXL
9:15   - Balancing equations worksheet + MATIFIC
---------We did work on fractions and also on weighing unknown items and using them to solve questions
9:40   - Vending machine project
10.45  - break




This is the Jurassic World vending machine, by Dinosaur Miracle Inc.  It costs 1 cent to get a dinosaur from the shelves inside.


11.15a - geography review
---We've started studying the Near East, Middle East and Balkans area

11.30a - free reading: alice in wonderland -- She got to the part about the caterpillar and the pig baby.
12.15  - .5mi walk
12.30  - PE, 150x jumping jacks, walking w/ 12lb weight
12.45  - art: drawing the outside world
1p     - break

2p     - tablet: weather app, google earth exploration
2.45p  - done

Tuesday, October 20, 2015

Monday Tuesday

 I had a couple of oddly scheduled days, and after the weekend Monday night was gone before I knew it...and an early Tuesday shift after that.  Esme and Daddy have been busy at home and I've done a little with her each night when I get home.  I have a late shift tomorrow so we can do some things before I have to go in.  And - Halloween plans are shaping up. Looks like we'll have several events to go to :)

Tueseday
8.15    - researching games and writing about them
9a    - free reading: Alice in Wonderland, pg 1-40
9.30a    - break

11.15a    - art
11.30a    - G&T workbook: capitalization, adjectives
11.45    - workbook: number flower
12p    - .5mi walk, pulling 40lb wagon
12.30p    - break

1p    - chess app lesson
--She said she got down to 'he had two pieces and I had one - so he won, but he only had two pieces left!'
1.30p    - break

6.30p    - khan math, English worksheets, geography quiz
----Khan 3rd grade math to 33%.  We have a lot of review and multiplication drills to go over, though - before we can progress too much further.  We will be getting fraction towers next month to use with that idea and explore that in more depth, as well.

7:15 - reading aloud : Volcano palace by Tony Abbott (finished)
7.45    - done

//She cleaned her room tonight, aiming to make it 'more grown up looking.'  She started writing in a diary she found and was making very good progress with her thoughts and trying to spell phonetically on the ones she was unsure of.  This is really big progress.
---------------------------------------------
Monday

8a    - school of dragons
9    - new game: "Crystal city 2"
10a    - writing: report on new game
10.15    - multiplication table
11a    - break

11.30a    - canned goods inventory; sorting by date
12p    - .5mi walk
12.30p    - break

7.30p    - Nova: Lightning
//She said she learned that lightning causes more deaths each year than tornadoes.  Also, in the U.S. the most lightning strikes happen in Florida, so she is glad we don't live in Florida.  She was surprised about not standing near a tree in a storm, and about the lightning being a branched bolt with several directions not just one line.
8.30p    - done

Monday, October 19, 2015

Watermelon backpack pillow

 Esme drew a picture for me, and we bought some supplies and made this!

It has a pocket in the back and it is a soft pillow as well.

She is going to wear it for Halloween for a costume, too :)

Sunday, October 18, 2015

bits and pieces

Sinus headache hit me hard this weekend- just when I finally get a day off.  The stiff problem with my one foot was a really good reason to want to just sit for the day...but the sinus headache means nausea and headache and can't sleep, can't read etc etc....  I ended up cutting off three inches of my hair again... and a big dose of Alka Selzer, and then we went to town for some supplies.

Esme had wanted me to make a watermelon backpack pillow she had drawn a picture of.  We bought some backing fabric and ribbon for it at the store.  Onion rings and some spicy soup allowed me to sleep once we got home.  After crashing for a serious nap we watched San Andreas (the movie) and I made the pillow.  It didn't turn out half-bad.  It could double as a Halloween costume this year, actually...with a crocheted green hat to match.  I can probably pull that off in time.

Reading : In the Night Garden by Valente.  Wow.  The tapestry of stories is still spinning in my head, as she weaves them in and around and back through themselves as she goes...so it all ends up being the same characters although you were sure the cast was larger as you were reading it at first, it all ties up into the same small handful of people-- you just didn't know the 'King' was that father AND also the son from the other story, and the brother of the princess in the other story, and the evil wizard is the same guy all through his life young and old etc etc.... I'm really only halfway through it and it is spinning.  I wouldn't doubt if she ran some more threads through the second half here... we'll see.

Friday, October 16, 2015

Friday

Wasn't it Friday just a few days ago?

7.45    - school of dragons -- She is doing some sort of whispering death quest...
8.30    - multiplication drill
8:45    - English worksheets, IXL : verbs, adjectives, proper verb for pronouns.
9:00    - reading : Volcano Palace
9.15    - school of dragons
9:30    - break

10    - town; bank visit, claw machines, price comaprisons
10.15    - break

1p    - Life in Cold Blood: - ep4 "Sophisticated Serpents"
2p    - "      - ep5 "armored giants"
3p    - done

Thursday, October 15, 2015

Thursday

8:45    - math worksheets: Equality Equations and Arrays +Khan
9:25     - English worksheets: Adjectives and Nouns +IXL
9:45     - Minecraft
11.15    - break

(1.5hr left)

12p    - rock tumbler, cleaning machine, change grit, wash and examine rocks
12.30p    - .5mi walk
12.45p    - Reading: On Kiki's Reef, & Just the Two of Us
1p    - designing Brain Slug sewing pattern
1.45    - done

Wednesday, October 14, 2015

Wednesay

7.45    - math worksheet : three digit subtraction with borrowing
8.30    - English: Action Verbs, online practice and worksheet
8.45    - break

9.15    - library, looking up books by specific authors
//She read some of the Volcano Palace by Tony Abbott on the way over to the park from the library.
10    - park
//We met some homeschooled kids from Knoxville today, up visiting relatives.  Esme got to play with a whole family for quite a while.  I felt bad having to split it up but we ha to get back home so I could get ready to go to work for the closing shift.  I really wish there were other families around here to have meetups with, like there used to be years ago.
11    - break

11.15    - math worksheet, balancing equations
11.45    - break

12    - writing: falcon simulator review
12.30    - reading: Feathers not Just for Flying
12.45    - microscope examination of peacock feather
1    - done

Tuesday, October 13, 2015

Tuesday Brain

7:30    - Documentary: Inside the Brain + discussions
9.15    - .5mi walk
9.30    - Khan math
----multiplication through 4s (need more practice), mastery challenges, perimeter and graph reading
----3rd grade to 25%
10.30    - reading aloud: How To Train Your Dragon
----we finished the book, in time for the due date tomorrow
11:00   - reading book: Just in Case
11.15    - goegraphy review
11:30   - done

//She has begged us daily for some new simulator about falcons, because she wants to fly.  We did get it today- on condition she shapes up a bit more. Math was tough today, but she got through it.  She hates so much to use the scratchpad for borrowing and carrying...but makes mistakes when she doesn't.  So she has despairs about it when she sees she will need to borrow.

Monday, October 12, 2015

Columbus Day Non Parade

We have a dog named Columbus...but we couldn't get Esme to walk him on parade.  Spud came to town with us, instead.  We had given Esme the day off of school, as the local district also had it as a day off.  She had a nice sleepover with Grandma, and spent a lot of time playing games on the new tablet that is sort of  pre-birthday, part clearance-deal and Mark's way that we can all use one if we need to now and she won't be hogging the only one for the entire day. 

We watched Nanny McPhee Returns, and the Secret of Moonacre, from Grandma's Netflix.  They were both quite good.  Esme enjoyed the first one quite a bit.  I've been reading more : Sarah Prineas' Magic Thief series, and more Septimus Heap, and a few others thrown in there.  Tomorrow is school, again.  Since Esme got to go to the roller rink on Saturday, I reminded her that she can't just fall off into bad attitude now that she doesn't have a special thing planned for the end of the week - or we will doublethink next time she asks for a special outing etc.  She was slipping into one tonight while I was reading with her - after she begged for me to read because I had spent an hour or more playing a Farm game that Mark downloaded to the tablet and she had already tried and not thought very interesting. It was a bit of jealousy...she didn't like the tables turned when I am playing a game that she doesn't like (Stray cat simulator and Goat simulator on her part) for a long time. 

We are almost done with Hiccup, though, book one.
I work all this week.  It might be a long one.

Friday, October 09, 2015

Friday week 9

8a    - dragon city; new game reports
9a    - PE, 200x jumping jacks, 50x rvs situp, 50 situp, 50x 10lb
      bench press, 10x 20lb bench
9.45    - outside: constructing acorn storage bucket that can be pulled up with the pulley system and tied out of reach of the goat.  She collected acorns and practiced putting them in the bucket and pulling it up and tying it off.
10.45    - break

11.30    - washing and building out water dish from a new dish and the old one's water feeder valve
12    - outside exploration
12.30p    - break

4.30p    - America: Story of Us ep 4: "Division"
Discussions about slavery and the changing roles of working women, abolition, Abraham Lincoln and the start of the Civil War.  I stopped the film many times to answer questions and talk about issues.
5.45p    - done

We have the Tale of Desperaux she really really wants to watch.
//We are getting close to the end of How to Train Your Dragon book one which we have been reading before bed, a chapter at a time.  She is getting a lot more of the big words and her rhythm and understanding are much better than at the beginning of the school year.

Thursday, October 08, 2015

Thursday

8a    - dragon city
8.45    - multiplication table (12x12)


9.45    - break

11a    - excersize outdoors (.5mi run, 50x 10lb deadlift, 10 squats)
11.30    - rock tumbler setup
12p    - break

12.15    - video: Egyptian Engineering
//She said there were lots of Pharoahs, and one Pharoah wanted to build a dream house, for after he was dead.  We put the date on the timeline with a picture of the Pyramids.  One Pharoah was eaten by a hippopotamus.  She said Imhotep built things for the Pharoahs.
1.45    - done

//6pm - She is building a dragon temple with columns made of some cardboard tubes I brought home from work.  She says it is like the Egyptian tombs, but not a tomb - it is a dragon temple for Violet and Bumpy.  They seem to like it very much.





Wednesday, October 07, 2015

Wednesday explorations

giant spider web 

9    - dragon city
9.30a    - game research: writing summaries on two games she tried.
10.30    - excersize outside 100x jumping jacks, 30x 10lb deadlift
      50x 10lb bicurls, .25mi run, rope climbing
11    - microscope exploration - dog hair, tomato section, acorns, rocks, flowers
11.30    - break

12p    - multiplication table: 1-12 x 1-6
12.30    - quadcopter flying
12.45    - break

3.30    - giant spiderweb construction
4p    - break

5.45    - quadcopter flying
6p    - quadcopter cleaning - taking apart with jeweler's screwdrivers, cleaning the rotors, putting back together, flies again!
6.15p    - done

She had today with Daddy...as I had to work early.  We had talked about her being 'very good' to go somewhere fun on Saturday.  She asked to go somewhere specific and I told her she would have to be 'almost an angel' to get that this close to her birthday when we were saving money for that...  Tonight when I get home from work she said 'I was good today...was it enough to say I was an angel, or was it just good?'  *heh*  Nice try.... one day is all fine and good, keep going for the rest of the week ;)  Am I turning into a cynic?

Mom Notes //I'm reading Math Girls by Hiroshi Yuki in tandem with Palimpest (beautiful language....hard for me to read at times, but still entrancing visual images).  I took an hour or so tonight to reacquaint myself with sin and cos so I could figure out what they were talking about in the omega waltz section!  And yes, I'm still teed off at Miruka for knocking Tetra out of the chair, too...maybe they get on better terms?

Tuesday, October 06, 2015

Sulking Tuesday

There was a bucketful of bad attitude today - starting out with her complaint that the Goat simluator quest was unfair and could not be solved.  She had a full meltdown during chicken feeding time about 3:30, but it had been building since the very minute she came upstairs this morning.

10.30    - Writing: Blog post about Goat MMO Simulator
11    - break

11.45    - America: Story of Us ep 3 : Westward
12.45    - break

1:30     - Khan Math 3rd grade to 24%
2p        - break

2.45    - Lifting with pulleys
3.15    - designing toy cable car system in her room
3.30    - break and emotional meltdown which ended with very serious talk

4    - building cable car
4.45    - history timeline
10 billion years BC to the present day. Although, nothing really happened before 4.5 billion years ago with the creation of Earth?  Hmm...

5.30    - done

Goat mmo simulator: Portal to riches: Android version

by EML, age 7

I went to every place in goat mmo simulator and no demon. 
I looked in Old Goat Mountain.  I found the old goat and no demon.  In Android version, there was a blue portal near a tent.  I went in and I was in a stone room. It wasn't fair to send me on a quest to get a demon horn. I couldn't find the demon. The portal to riches isn't true.

If we find out more at a later date, we will update this post. If you can help answer this question, please leave a comment below.

update: by EML age 8
 
I did find the answer.  I was looking in the wrong place, or I missed it the first time.  On Garblage Beach, there is a blacksmith place, near the gold hammer statue.  On the right of it is the demon horn - no one has it, it is just laying there.  When you find it, go back to Dumbledore and give it to him.  And the portal of riches quest is done.

Monday, October 05, 2015

Cosmos and Vampire Dragon Monday


speckled three, all in a pile 
from top clockwise, Freckles, Lucy and Hunter
8    - dragon city
8.45    - break

9    - Cosmos (1980) ep 1 and discussions
---She said that the man spoke in poetry.  She was very interested in much of it.  We also talked about the gaining and loss of scientific knowledge throughout time (Library of Alexandria).  She said she would go to the place where they didn't know or care about science and math and use boxes and balls to prove to them that 3 x 3 is 9.   Then, when they saw it for themselves, they would want to learn more.

We discussed the 'big idea' of calculating the circumference of the Earth so long ago - 2200 years - and how the math worked when he was showing the props of the obelisks in Egypt.  //note- need to cover 'degrees' soon..she kind of got my hand gestures to show what they meant.. but it would be good to go over it in reality -and even maybe measure a sundial outside.
10:15   - break

10.30    - dino digger app.  Really cool, and after you find all the bones it puts them together in video for you from bones to an articulated skeleton, covers it with muscles and skin, and lets you see the creature walk with a pronunciation of the name and more.

11.15    - writing assignment and dictionary use: vampire dragon.  She added lots of details and made a picture.  We went over the capitalization before I let be entirely done.  But, she is writing - dragons are a good topic for her creativity.


12.30    - break - shopping at grocery store and at Lowes (we found clearance pulleys to make a clothesline with!)  Daddy just couldn't wait to get it put together and working!



We still have some Khan math (at least a half hour) to do for the day, Spaghetti Pie to help make for dinner and a new Percy Jackson movie to watch tonight.  I was going to point out on the map where the Library of Alexandria used to be so she identified with it a little bit more. I'd like her to read some more How to Train your Dragon with me tonight.  We made a list of 'to do' today instead of just counting four hours (because she loves to linger over the writing and take up more than an hour doing just that).. and those are the only two things we haven't done yet.

4:45-5:15 - Practiced about eight skills on Khan 3rd grade math.  Perimeter, area, fractions and rounding.She is 10,000 points away from unlocking her 100,000 point avatars.

Mom notes:  I finished reading the Maze Runner, and the Girl who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of her own Making.  I've downloaded Palimpest (online library card rocks still...awesome) to read next as everything else is out (don't like the waiting, but hey it is free and emails me when it comes back available).  // Have went through Netflix's history documentaries and added things on Japan, Rome, Egypt, the Mayans, Dark Ages Europe and Knights to Esme's history lineup.  We have more of the 'Life in Cold Blood' series coming, and a docu about the brain as well.   We do need to do a timeline soon - and we will have so much to relate finally on it that I think it will be a good thing now versus before.  She has been asking me when 'the year 1' was, what BC and AD mean and comparing the dates she is hearing in the Universe documentaries trying to do math on them.  

Peering into the Future : She asked me what the word 'geek' meant, and I told her it was a name that people called smart people to mean it wasn't good to be smart.  I said it originally meant someone who was really good at something odd .. and that sometimes people were scared of them for being that good at an odd thing.  She said we shouldn't be scared of the smart people, we should ask them questions so we can learn from them.  And then, when we grow up, we won't be dumb and live in a dump because we don't know things and can't do anything.  I related that to why we were homeschooling her- because we wanted to make sure she knew things they wouldn't or couldn't teach in public school right now.  And that she would have to keep working to know the important things, her entire life.  She said she would, definitely...  I said I would have to remind her of that when she was a teenager and she found everything hard and didn't want to work just play all day long.  She said I would need to remind her of that when she was 11, and every two years after that, because she might forget otherwise.

Saturday, October 03, 2015

Friday, October 02, 2015

Friday week 8

8a    - Minecraft
9.30    - 1/2 mile walk
9.45    - reading: Owl Moon, by Yolen
10a    - online research: how to make firecrackers
10.30a    - Chemistry: making firecrackers (ping pong ball cherry bombs)
11.45a    - break

12.30    - testing firecrackers
12.45    - break


Making spaghetti and watching the movie Volcano.

6:00 - History review with map.
6:30 - done

Thursday, October 01, 2015

Thursday


7.30a    - attempting to run new game on tablet
8a    - break

9a    - History Review of Episode 1
    - frisbee (some review while playing,as well)
9.30    - America : Story of Us, ep 2
10.45    - break

11.30    - khan math - 3rd grade to 19%
12:00      - Riding bikes - observing right side of road rules
    - cooking: waffle with nectarine and ice cream
12.30    - break

1    - writing: "Son of ultimate dragon"
1.30    - history review of Episode 2
2p    - done



She helped Daddy cut up the steak pieces for steak and cheese sandwiches for dinner.