Litbox - We have been doing a history Litbox learning about Vikings and Medieval Times. We do a lot of activities including fiction, non-fiction, videos, craft projects, recipes (not done yet), writing, candle making, audio books, etc. We are also making a 9ft long cardboard viking ship with painted shields.
Math - Tom is in the new format for math - 2 days of geometry, 1 day of review, 1 day of Herpetology math, and 1 day for catch-up or a second day of review or herp. The review is going particularly well so far and I am glad we are taking the time to practice basic skills. But math in general continues to be a struggle for T - not the math itself but the opinion of math. I would love for T to see how cool math can be but we are not there yet.
Em did great with the transition back to Beast Academy. We finished the fractions chapter (adding, subtracting, mixed numbers, etc) then took two days off.
Language Arts - Em has working consistently through All About Reading 4 and has 4 lessons to go. We will finish next week. We will take a break from a intentional learn to read curriculum for a couple of months and focus on other Language Arts topics like spelling, editing, writing, etc.
Tom got some amazing feedback from his Writing club coach. He also crossed the 100,000 word mark for the novel he is writing. It is coming along great. He finished another chapter and is now taking a break from new writing for a week or two while he edits previous chapters.
Daily Double - We have started a new practice I am calling the Daily Double. It is the most "Schooly" thing we do because it uses worksheets (for the math part). It is basically 5 minutes of independent math practice and 5 minutes of free writing (idea/sentence formation for Em and handwriting for Tom). It has many goals including working independently for 10 minutes (a rare thing in this homeschool). So far, so good.
Science - Tom continues his extensive Herpetology course and Emily will begin her Animal Science course in 2 weeks (although she is watching lots of vet documentaries and learning to ride a horse (twice a week lessons).
Social Distancing is still a part of our lives in the second half of 2020 so we are not doing live playdates like we used to. The kids stay connected online with friends everyday and Emily sees a neighbor friend from a safe distance as often as possible.
Horse Riding - twice a week. Em has done some cool things like learning equitation, standing on a horse, 360's (sitting on the horse, then turning backward, then turning back to the starting position), collecting cones while riding, etc.
Not Back To School Day
August 17th is our official Not Back To School day. Public schools start back on the 18th. We used to go out on the first day of school and enjoy to lack of crowds. But this year, we are opening Not Back To School Boxes instead. I collected some of the items we will be using in our studies this year (drones, snake stick, jewelry making kit for snake skins, science kit, camera, etc) and the kids opened up their boxes as part of our Not Back To School day. It was motivating for them - Em wanted to jump in right away to do the Technology boxes and Tom wore his new "school uniform" aka frog pajamas for 2 days. I will definitelt consider doing the Not Back To School boxes next year too.
Minecraft
Minecraft continues to be a huge part of the kid's daily life. In Covid times, it is basically Tom's entire social world. He is a MC rockstar and a technical resource for helping others on MC. He is hosting Em's upcoming MC b'day party. Em plays a lot more too. She is creating more detailed designs and using some redstone and collaborating with a friend online.
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