Half Way

We have reached the half-way point in our curriculum this week! It doesn't necessarily mean we are halfway through the year, but it's an exciting benchmark. JT spent the week working on some lessons and completing test Lesson 80 for all the subjects, except math. Tomorrow he will take the Lesson 140 math test. We spent 3 days covering their material on fractions that was supposed to take about 2 weeks. What we covered will allow him to take the test that only expects minimum knowledge of the concept. After the holiday break, we will spend some serious time really covering fractions. The tiny glimpse they gave brought on plenty of questions that we can cover with our extra time. Since we are so far ahead, I will request the 4th grade math be ordered, but I'm not sure if we will actually do anything with it this year. The remaining sections for the 3rd grade math are decimals and working with larger numbers. We will probably dive into the decimals much deeper than the material provides and stretch that out. After that, I think we'll spend some time exploring ancient number systems.

As the break approaches, we are spending less and less time in our regular routine. JT is still learning new things all the time, but not in such a structured way. He has been reading a book about the seige of Troy. He designed his own strategy game to play with his brother. Today while taking a break from testing, he spent 45 minutes reading online about poisonous snake bites, what to do if you are bitten, how to survive a bear attack and other fun things. I'm sure they might come in handy some day.... I'm trying to let him explore a few of his own interests this week while I get ready for the holiday. We will still have school Monday and Tuesday of next week. We have been putting together a pile of "fun" things to do then. We are planning crafts and games. Isn't that what they do the last two days before break in the brick and mortars? :-)

One small change in our classroom. I decided the chalk board was way too much of a mess. I love the feel of writing with chalk. Chalk board paint is the coolest stuff. The chalk dust all over my carpet, molding and bookcases is not. My parents bought us a new dry erase board. It's 48" x 36". We will hang it up over the holiday. I also plan to do some classroom cleaning and organizing then. It's amazing what a mess things become in such a short period of time! I am also trying to come up with a plan for a craft area. Right now, JT just works on his desk for crafts. I would like to make a counter under one of the windows to allow room to stretch out and leave projects as they are in production. That might have to wait for summer and the next school year.

I will not be posting next week. I'm taking a MUCH needed break from all things schooling. But I will be back the following week with my plans for the second half of our school year.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

To Complain or Not to Complain....

When we started out with PA Cyber, I was especially pleased that they allowed us to choose between primarily virtual classes or the more traditional homeschooling option using Calvert curriculum. I am still happy that I have the choice to not use the virtual classes, but I'm starting to really despise the Calvert material.

This week we received the corrections from the Lesson 60 test for all subjects, except math, which was lesson 100. JT had all As. Personally, I don't really worry about the grades, more about if he is really learning anything. On these particular tests, there were a few things marked wrong. As I looked over the mistakes, I found that he actually had 3 of the 4 correct. One problem was on the math test. It was a matching question and two were marked wrong. I assume the answer key was probably wrong; they had just been flipped. I figured the teacher must have just missed it. Then we came to the Geography test. The test directions instructed the student to use a map from the text book to answer several questions. One section required the student to find a location on the map, then list something to the East, West, South and North of that location. JT had done it right, but one was marked wrong. From using this text book, I know that most of the answer keys are not very accurate. I have stopped looking at it and just grade the materials myself. I guess that the teacher must not have had a copy of the map available or the answer would have been ovbiously correct.

I have contacted the school about the problem. I emailed our IS and she forwarded the information to the head of the Calvert department and our teacher. It seems we are not easily able to contact the teacher. I am not sure what the reason for that is, but we need to go through the IS for most communication. I would like to press this further, but worry if I complain too much they will pull the option of using Calvert. Calvert is not the best choice of curriculum, by a long shot, but it gives us the opportunity to easily differentiate most lessons. I hate allowing faulty materials to continue to be used, but I'm guessing there would be no replacement for those who don't want virtual classes. So...do I just say, "Oh well!" and move on, or do I fight? I need to figure this out since the next math test has questions that defy logic.......

Bounciness

I think the thing that makes my days rough is the massive volume of movement JT can produce. I was never the kind of person who needed to tap my toes and twiddle my fingers. When I was really young, I chewed my hair and nails, but that was the extent of my nervous habits. This kid CAN NOT stop moving! The exercise ball does little to alleviate the problem. I send him outside to run around. I allow him to sit on the floor, lay on the floor, sit on his desk. If he's concentrating on reading a book he's really into, he stops moving. That is the only exception. If I could, I'd have him read all day! I just hope he grows out of this before his teen years, or I'll need new furniture every week.

With the holiday, we've had kind of a slow two weeks. Wednesday we put in almost a full school day and I felt like we had accomplished quite a bit. Today we had the morning in the classroom and then a friend of JT's that also cyber schools came over to play games. That was a nice break for all of us. The moms were able to visit and the kids got to play. I need to work a few more sanity savers like that into our schedule.

I'm hoping to get a full day in tomorrow. It's still difficult to get him to want to work on composition assignments. I haven't found any tricky ways to convince him it's fun. At bedtime last night we had a funny conversation. He was reading a non-fiction book about a bird rescue shelter. When he finished it he said, "I hate it when I come to the end of books like that one". I told him there are plenty of other non-fiction books at our library. "Plus," I said, "there are people writing more every day, maybe you could even write one". He said, "I'd love to write a report on fungus farms". Isn't that what every 7-year old would love to do?! This idea came because on Thanksgiving while channel surfing at my parent's home (we don't have tv, so it's always funny when the kids get access to it) he made my husband stop on the History channel. There was a show about fungus and mold. He bypassed all the cartoon channels, etc to stop on fungus and mold. Then he was irritated that everyone was talking and he couldn't hear what was being said on the show. We sent him alone to another room and he watched the whole program. Come to think of it, he sat perfectly still through the entire thing! If only I can find enough material to engage him at that level we might have peace in the classroom.