Homeschool Happenings

What we've been working on so far:

Thalia is finishing up Jacob's Algebra. I think there are maybe 2 lessons to go. We have all the bits for Jacob's Geometry ready to go -- textbook (bought a used copy from Follett's on the advice of a friend -- it was half price and looks new), Enhanced Teacher's Edition, and the Ask Dr. Callahan DVDs (that same friend highly recommended these, so I bought them even though they cost twice what we saved on the textbook -- ACK!).

And Annabeth is finishing up RightStart E. We have slogged through long division this week -- RightStart really does a crappy job of explaining long division, by the way, so I jettisoned their pseudo-script and explained it in a way that made sense, but using their example problems. Anyway, now we're to the fun bits in the back, like the Guyana flag problem and the Moebius strip.

Thalia is working on Biology, even though the class doesn't start until next week. She's taking it a learning center, and the teacher had assignments starting 2 weeks before the class began. I think she's pumped up about the course. She really likes this teacher.

She's also working on some Composition assignments for the same learning center. We've discovered that the teacher is a fan of IEW, which I associate with florid, overwritten prose. Whoops. The above-mentioned friend had said she's a good composition teacher, though, so maybe this will work out. Right now she's supposed to be finding articles (that is, magazine articles, etc.), outlining them, then writing a paragraph summation using the IEW "dress-ups". Thalia thinks this is stupid. I suggested she go meta and find an article on concise writing by a writer who disdains "dress-ups" and using that to sum up and dress up. She refused to see the fun in that, though.

And Annabeth is still working through Writing With Ease level 3. She's also starting reading one of the LIttle House books for a co-op class she'll be taking.

We have piles of books all over the place, ready to start co-op and learning center assignments, as well as "home" assignments we haven't plunged into yet. We still need to organize art supplies and the laptop Thalia needs to take to co-op.

Girl Scouts and musical theater classes have started. Voice lessons for Thalia started a couple of weeks ago. Irish Dance and piano never really stop.