The year that will go down in history as a crazy year thanks mostly to the Covid pandemic (and my health challenges) is almost over. But we still have some great learning to do.
Language Arts
Tom - Huge news here. Tom finished the first and second drafts of his Zandor novel. It reached 150,000 words. He has worked very hard on it for two years and writes up to 2 hours every school day. This month he has been putting the final touches on his second draft - edits, revisions, writing the prologue, synopsis, and about the author sections. He created a website for his book too. Next week, he will begin working with an editing coach. He is so excited about this opportunity and I am one very proud mama. Tom printed some recipes from his Lost Cities books and we started a new tradition LitTreats (we already have Litboxes and LitComs)
Emily - Em's LA schedule for this year is smoothing itself out. we do one week of Bravewriter Dart program (literature-based grammar) and 1 week of Logic of English Essentials (an in-depth phonics-based reading/spelling program that I wish I had when I was a kid. It teaches the rules of the English language. She finds it boring for now because we are only in unit 2 and she knows a lot of the info already. But we are going to stick with it as it has plenty of new nuggets thrown in. The third week consists of rotating between Editor In chief and All About Spelling. The fourth week in the month ends up being a week of whatever of the other programs we didn't finish or do enough of - a catch-up week basically, or a second week of Logic of English. Em's reading has improved tremendously and it is wonderful to hear her master difficult words and use intonation in her voice when she reads. Although she says she doesn't like to read, she is enjoying 3 book series right now - Sassafrass, There's a Dragon in My...., and an audiobook trilogy that starts with The Dragon with the Chocolate Heart. We seemed to have dropped the ball on writing lately and need to get back into it.
Math -
Tom - He finished a 12-week Statistics and Probability class on Outschool recently. He is doing algebra review about once a week and we haven't picked up geometry again after a 2-month break. Hopefully next week.
Em - Em finished Beast Academy Level 4 this week after a marathon effort to complete the last chapter. She wanted to reward herself with a night of staying up late after finishing the level so she did a ton of math in one day to finish up. Next week we will go back to Pet Math until we finish the book, then do Vet Maths, before starting Beast Academy level 5. Em works through math with a good attitude and has a good number sense. Memorizing math facts is not something either kid mastered quickly but their understanding of math concepts and ability to problem solve is great. I am thankful we are a math and science family (with writing for Tom and creative play for Em thrown in too).
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Technology - a big month for Technology. Tom accomplished great things with Google sheets, continues to learn Premiere Pro, and started Photoshop.
Em taught herself Microsoft Paint 3D and has been enjoying it. She has taken 5 weeks of YouTube/Public Speaking classes recently as part of her Tech studies.
Animal Studies
Tom - starts 2 photography classes for Herpetology this week. One is a documentary-making class for 6 weeks and one is a DSLR camera class for 5 weeks. He has decided to do Photography as his Fine Arts credit for High School, so these classes will count towards that. His Herpetology 2 course that I put together is fabulous and several of the pieces count towards other high school credits (like ecology and zoology count towards his Biology requirement). I have been working on adding to the Herpetology 2 list and have a fabulous collection of resources - experiments, books, dissections, classes, etc line up. Tom still wants to pursue a Herpetology career and I love helping him follow his passions.
Em - EM finished her Veterinary Medicine level 2 course this month. She has now done 30 weeks of Vet Medicine and is enjoying it. She signed for another 10-week session starting after the holidays. I have a great collection of animal/vet/equine resources for her to work through. Em has been walking the neighbor's dog for a couple of months now and has been sticking with it 3 times per week. This week we fostered a dog from the Humane Society for 2 days over thanksgiving. I am glad to be able to provide animal-related experiences for my aspiring vet. Horse riding hasn't happened for a few weeks so it is time to move to our winter riding stables. We have pre-paid as part of Em's homeschool co-op so it is time to schedule her weekly lessons.
Other Learning this month
Tom - Tom is still participating in a Minecraft "social club" online.
Emily - Em continues her weekly online social club about How To Train Your Dragon (she won the trivia game 2 weeks this month) and a social club called Girls Just Want To Have Fun. She is courageous in new experiences and volunteers for things.
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