Weekly wrap UP 5/27/22 -- Graduation and Closing on our old home

We have officially closed on our house in the St Louis area as of this morning and tonight our youngest child graduates from high school.  Our new house is completed and we leave this Sunday to begin a new adventure in a new state!  

We have a beautiful RED door on our new home!  We are so excited to move to the new state and to our new home!

We took some pictures of MarioFan in his Cap and Gown at the local park a few weeks ago.  I won't have pictures of the ceremony as it is tonight, and my computer is packed away and on the moving truck.  

For his quote on his announcement card he choose the following:

 "Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than the ones you did....Explore, Dream, Discover"--Mark Twain

I can't believe my homeschooling days are over.  MarioFan has plans to study cyber security, IT or GIS.  He will be attending community college this fall.  

I have no idea what my days will be filled with after the moving and unpacking is completed! While you are reading this we are driving east to close on our new home in just a couple days

Weekly Wrap Up 5/20/22-- The End of 12th grade

It is official we are done today with all of school and my son's high school years have come to a close. 

The last few weeks we have been working on the following topics.  Graduation ceremony is next Friday

For Human Geography we read the following book and discuss world geopolitical maps around the world. My husband has taken over teaching this part of human geography since this is his area of expertise.  We are also using videos from the site History Matters which are short animated history lessons that helps to explain some of the geopolitical difficulties in the world 

In Social Justice we read the following book and also wrapped up our lesson plans 

we are also reading a few chapters in this book

The last book for Literature class completed and his last paper was completed 

His online Spanish class ended last week and he earned an A-.  Physics class ended this week and I am still awaiting his grade.

MarioFan is excited to start college in the fall and has already registered for classes and will be completing his online orientation this week.  Right now we are in the midst of a crazy pack out of the house.  Movers arrive next week.

Firedrake returned home from college and had a good year away.  So much growth shown since she has been away at college.  While I am super excited to see the kids spread their wings I am in a bit of a quandary of what to do now that this homeschooling ride is over.  I won't  have much time to dwell on it 

until we are settled in our new home!  

Weekly Wrap Up 5/6/22-- Final weeks of 12th grade

 We are wrapping up the final year of homeschooling for my son!  His graduation ceremony is set for May 27th which is the day we close on our house and the last weekend we will be in this state before moving.  Things are at a very hectic pace around here with the packing, schooling and picking up our oldest from college!  

Luckily MarioFan is just about done with all of his school subjects!  His online classes (Spanish and Physics) end in two weeks!  I haven't been around to see many of his online classes this year due to other things going on at home but he is doing well.  I regret not seeing the physics labs and getting pictures!

For Literature  we read a play. I always try to have him read at least one play a year and this one my oldest highly recommended as it was one she read in AP literature class.  I have never read it or seen the movie so it was one MarioFan and I could read together.  We watch the movie after reading the book and discuss the haze laws and why the movie ending was changed. 

we have been reading along and listening to this audio book on you tube.  the voice actors are very good.  

Social Justice we just finished a unit on Disability Inclusion/Justice.  The boys finished reading the  following book on this topic. 

For one of the lessons we had the boys do activities as if they had some impairments.  While researching for ideas we discovered that this type of lesson may upset those in the disabled community. I remember doing this type of activity while in college getting my OT degree.  I had to spend a day in a wheelchair roaming around campus to get a feel for how difficult things are for those who are disabled.  We did discuss not doing this activity as we are teaching Social Justice for this class but in the end we felt it was worthwhile so long as we explained why it might be upsetting to some in the disability community.  

using scissors on the non dominant hand

 

trying to tie shoe laces for those who might experience sensory deficits.

button a shirt 

exercising with a straw to simulate someone who might have breathing issues 

using a blind fold to figure out a room

MarioFan had his last piano lesson last week.  We have been going to the same piano teacher for many years.  It was hard to say goodbye.  I am hoping he will keep up with his piano while in college but since his sibling didn't I am prepared for him to stop playing.  While both kids are very good pianist neither one had the passion for it as I had hoped.  Maybe one day they will return to the piano :) and thank me for insisting the practice every day for 30 minutes.  

Firedrake is finishing up college.  It is finals next week and then she comes home!  Next few weeks will be busy as we are packing out the house and finalizing our move.  

Weekly Wrap UP 3/18/22-- 12th grade update

 MarioFan is plugging away at finishing 12th grade strong.  He has already finished a few classes so his work load is decreasing.  Goal is to be finished by early May as we are moving out of state the end of May.  

The Topics that Mariofan has completed are Cybersecurity, vocabulary, driver's ed and Personal Finance (I highly recommend the program Beyond Personal Finance--it was very eye opening for the boys to do weekly budgets and see just how far money goes and how choices they make today can affect savings for their retirement in the future!) 

For Literature MarioFan is reading Ready Player one, which he has been dying to read all year!  He watched the movie a few years ago and wanted to read the book so it was put on our list for this year.

I thought the book was so much better than the film.  I am looking forward to seeing what MarioFan thinks after he is finished reading the book

For Human geography and Social Justice we have been learning about immigration.

The boys were learning about the Push/Pull dilemma of what many immigrants face

I was able to find an activity that put it in perspective for the boys.

For Social Justice they are watching the series "Immigrantion Nation" on Netflix which is about the turbulent period during the Trump presidency.  We have also discovered that Obama deported more immigrants than Trump.  While many claim in all Presidential administrations that they are targeting only immigrants with criminal backgrounds we discovered that this is simply not the case.  More non criminal immigrants are deported across the board.  I also find it absolutely deeply disturbing and horrifying that we deport men and women who served in our Armed forces, something I believe should never happen.

Physics and Spanish classes continue online and are both wrapping up mid May.  

Weekly Wrap Up 2/11/22-- 100 school days

 We have reached the 100 days mark and MarioFan is getting closer to the end of his Senior year of High School, yikes:)

At around this time period I do a quick recap of everything accomplished and see if we are ahead or behind in any areas.  this allows me to make adjustments to our schedule to make sure we get our required hours in for every class.

Literature and Comp (grammar and vocabulary) 1 credit -  We have complete 5 books (Things Fall Apart, Lord of the Flies, Outsiders, Slaughter house Five and Great Gatsby) and 2 papers this semester.  He is also doing a lot of reading in his other classes so I haven't overloaded him with as many books this year as I have in the past.  I just realized I haven't done any poetry this year, oops! Since MarioFan is doing a lot of writing and research in his other classes I have allowed a huge reduction of writing after reading each assigned book.  There are plans to do at least one more writing assignment before the end of the year! We have plans to read at least 3 more books before the end of the the school year (I am Legend, Ready Player One and the play A Street Car Named Desire). I wish we had more time as there are so many books I wish we could read, oh well, hopefully MarioFan will continue to read on his own.  We are more than half way done with his grammar and vocabulary books -- On Target except for poetry which I will try to fit in

Cybersecurity  1 credit - MarioFan is on lesson 10 of 16 lessons (each lesson is several weeks long) -- On target

Pre Calculas 1 credit - Again progressing very nicely in this area and about 3/4 of the way through the book -- On target

Physics 1 credit -- Online class and progressing -- On target

Spanish 1 credit -- Online class and progressing -- On target 

Personal Finance .5 credit -- Online video class with a friend and we are on lesson 18 out of 20.  We had hope to be done before Christmas as this was only to be a 1/2 credit class but we had had to miss a few weeks due to varying things that have come up and it is the easiest class to push back when we have needed too. -- Slightly behind but will finish well before the end of the school year

Social Justice was a .5 credit but now upgraded to a 1 credit -- class taught with a friend.  In this class he has also read 3 books (Stamped, Broke in America and Just Mercy).  We had anticipated this class to only be a half credit but the boys are really diving into these topics and the Moms decided to make this a 1 credit class due to the amount of hours the boys are putting into it.  -- ON target with adjustments

Human Geography 1 credit -- Class taught with a friend We are progressing nicely with this class as well and are well into the needed hours for this course that we are thinking of upgrading to an honors level.  We are using the book "The Cultural Landscape" by Rubenstein and a great course video lectures series called "Understanding Cultural and Human geography"  by Professor Paul Robbins.  He is also reading Guns, Germs and Steel for this class -- On target 

Drivers Education .5 -- Continues his weekly driving lesson with the goal to take the exam in March.   His driving instructor thinks he is more than ready to take the test, but I still want a little more time to prepare to have another driver in the house -- On target or behind depending on who you talk too:) 

Piano .5  -- Continues his piano lessons and daily practicing and music theory.  Has not been able to paritipate in music festivals or recitals due to the pandemic -- On target 

Mariofan will be participating in a Homeschool graduation ceremony the end of May and then we will be leaving and moving to our new home in another state.  Exciting times are ahead for the whole family 

Weekly Wrap up 1/14/22-- 12th grade update

 12th grade started back up this week after about 10 days of holiday break.  Poor MarioFan had a little bit of school work over his break for a couple of his classes and a test that needed to be completed:(.  But he had plenty of time to rest and relax with his sibling who came home from College for Christmas break!  It is pretty quiet around here now that my Mother and oldest kiddo have left.  I so enjoyed having everyone home.  Although I have to say our oldest is definitely wanting to spread her wings and be more independednt and is enjoying her freedom at school.  I guess I must be prepared to be without her very soon.  

We are nearing the 100 day mark of his last year of high school.  I usually do a post at that point to summarized what he has accomplished and if we are behind or on schedule for things.  That post will probably be in February 

Literature and Composition -  He is reading "The Great Gatsby"

I remember reading this book in high school and not liking it.  I am enjoying it so much better this time around.  

For Social Justice we are reading the book "Broke in America" and discussing how poverty works in America.  Again we are also looking at this book very critically and making sure the authors are backing up their arguments with good data.  

For Human Geography we finished up the topic of agriculture and moving on to learn about Diseases and how they spread.  

The boys were reading agricultural different vignettes and deciding whether it was a type of subsistence or commercial farming was being done around the world.  

We are really enjoying the video series form Great courses that supplement our learning.  I highly recommend this video series.

I use these videos to introduce our topics and then we spend a week or two delving a little further into them using other resources that I find.  

Physics (which is an online class): recently had a lab on Newtons 2nd law of motion.  They are using the homeschool science physics lab which includes all the supplies. 

Directions

looking how fast a cart moves when weight is added

keeping time

recording his results.

Driving:  His driving instructor has begun teaching parallel parking and is already talking about Mariofan being ready to take the driving test.  I am so not ready for that yet!  Every time we need to go anywhere, MarioFan is wanting to do the driving!

He is well past his 60 hours of driving which includes at least 10 hours of night driving. 

We are plugging along in all other subjects: spanish, Pre Calculus, Personal finance, Cyber Security and Piano (still no piano Christmas recitals due to the virus--never thought I would miss those, lol)

Weekly Up date 11/19/21 12th grade update

 MarioFan is plugging along with school and we seem to be hitting a pretty good stride but we are incredibly busy.

For Social Justice we just finished reading the book Stamped and while good and eye opening in some areas it does require looking at it with a very critical eye as it can be very biased is some areas.  We had some excellent discussions about the book and we agree with some things,  we also didn't think some of the arguments were well researched or they were written from a very biased point of view.  As with everything you read these days you must look critically at it and recognized what is well researched and what is not.  Race relations in this country are very divided and while we are making progress we have a long way to go.

Next topic in this class will be voting rights/gerrymandering, which is a very current event in todays world.

For Human geography we are reading and looking at very critically at is Jared Diamond's book Guns, Germs and Steel.  There are some very public and angry critics of the book as well as some very strong defenders of the book.  Chapter 3 seems to be the cause of where most of the angst comes from.  Again we had some great discussions and learn to look very critically at what was in the book and also what the critics were saying.  WE finished up talking about the Anthropocene era and climate change next we are learning about land changes and population changes which we hope to finish up before Christmas.

For Literature we have begun reading the novel Slaughter house five.  

On line physics class is going well, I was out of town for the second physics lab so no pictures to show, hopefully I will catch the next one.

Cybersecurity is at the half way point in finished the online curriculum.  MarioFan is enjoying it and learning quite a bit.  After doing a GIS class with his Dad he wants to investigate this area as a possible career path so I am researching resources that we might be able to use to give MarioFan insight in that career option.  

MarionFan just completed his slide presentation about codes and  plans to explain it to his grandmother when she comes to visit for Thanksgiving!

Spanish is going well.  Recently he sat through a spanish cooking class with a friend of the tutor who was doing a cooking class for college students.  The entire 90 min class was in spanish.  He said he could follow along fairly well. 

the Spanish chef  showed the the students how to make patatas bravas and spanish tortillas and gave all the students the recipe so we may be trying this pretty soon.

Mariofan is loving driving and always wants to drive these days.  I am actually getting better at being in the car with him while he drives.  He is doing highway driving now and loves hitting higher speeds.   He is still meeting up with a driving instructor every other week to assist with learning or fine tuning his driving skills.  

I am taking next week off from blogging as Firedrake is coming home from college and my Mother is arriving to spend the Hollidays with us.  I plan to enjoy some family time and take a break form all things school related.  MarioFan however has a few school days to do before he can take a holiday break.  He decided to work a little now so that he can take a longer break at Christmas!  

Weekly Wrap UP 10/15/21 -- 12th grade

 This week I am away visiting my Mother, but MarioFan is at home with his Dad and is continuing with his studies and online classes on his own. MarioFan and his Dad took a weekend away to visit Firedrake at college while I was away. 

He is now reading the book Lord of the Flies by William Golding for Literature

For Human geography we are learning about the Anthropocene era and have begun reading the book Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond 

For Social Justice we are learning about race, racism and reading the book Stamped by Jason Reynolds and Ibram Kendi

MarioFan is doing a lot more driving and doing well.  However I am very much a nervous mother in the care which is driving him crazy.  He prefers to go driving with his Dad because he says I make him nervous!  

Still working on all the other school stuff but nothing too exciting to report on.  :)  Maybe when I get home I will have a few pictures of their visit from college.  Mario fan is excited because his Dad said he could drive on the highway part of the way and go 70 miles per hour!  I am so glad I will miss that trip as I have a heart attack if he drives above 40 at this time lol

Weekly Wrap Up 10/01/21--School and family update

 We are now at full load for MarioFan's Senior year.  All online classes have started and we are working out all the little kinks that come with a new school year:)!  All additional activities have started which means I am running around like crazy getting MarioFan to various activities.  we have late nights 3 nights a week and since everything is back open that means I am driving to places.  I actually missed MarioFan being able to do his extra activities online.  So much easier for me;) 

For Literature are reading:  Things Fall Apart

For his writing assignment he is looking at writing a research paper on the Igbo people.

Physics class started last week and seem to be going well.  First  lab was completed!

MarioFan participating in the online class!

The Spaghetti Lab -  looking at the weight spaghetti noodles can hold 

They did this using 3 strands up to 9 strands of spaghetti noodles.

then weighed the amount it took to break the spaghetti strands.  

Spanish tutoring class began last week as well 

it is a small online group that meets weekly and they are concentrating on speaking more Spanish 

We are meeting every Friday with a friend to do three classes together; Personal Finance, Human geography and Social Justice!  Afterwards the boys get to have some fun time together to socialize because we have all heard how homeschoolers don't get any of that, right;)

For Social Justice watching a Great Course video on anthropology and race.

which was a homework assignment 

We have been enjoying this program from Beyond Personal Finance.    If you are looking for something different than Dave Ramsey I would recommend this program.  The instructor in the video is very engaging and the weekly budgeting is eye opening for the kids.  

For Human Geography we have just wrapped up our unit on Maps and understanding the five themes of geography and absolute and relative location.  We have also identified many different types of maps and how each of them are distorted in some way.  We watch the very funny "West Wing" clip on the Mercator map:) 

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Firedrake is doing well at college feeling much more relax overall which is good.  She is required to work a 4 hour volunteer job weekly which is a condition of her scholarship which is throwing a slight hiccup into her schedule but she is figuring it all out.  I think I should have done a little more time management skills with her before sending her off as she is definitely not finding it easy to balance everything even though her parents think there is more than enough time to do what she needs to do and have down time to relax with friends.  Some things they just need to figure out on their own and learn from mistakes made (not that any mistakes have been made yet)

I have resumed going to the gym (I am up and out of the house by 6:30 am) and trying to talked my husband into joining as well so we can both get healthy.  He is off the supplemental O2 (from his covid nightmare) but still needing to build up his overall endurance.  

Weekly Wrap UP 9/17/21- - We have another driver in the house:)

 MarioFan passed his driver's permit test several weeks ago.  Both of my kids needed a little bit of a push to learn to drive.  I didn't mind waiting till they were older as I think 15 is way to young to get a permit.  But at 17 it is time to conquer that adult skill!

Happy Kiddo 

We went on our first outing at the local high school parking lot to get behind the wheel the first time.  

Learning all the parts of the car:)

and then practicing driving and stopping without causing whiplash;) Actually Mariofan did really well.

Learning to put gas in the car:)

We have hired someone to help with driving lessons.  It is a retired police officer who owns a driving school.  I like this as he has an extra set of brakes in his car which after teaching Firedrake to drive we all decided was worth paying someone for this :).  Firedrake is actually a great driver but my anxiety goes through the roof teaching kids to drive on the highway.  So, I am relinquishing this responsibility to someone else this time around!

This driving specialist wasted no time getting MarioFan on the road and said he did just fine.

Hubs and I will also be taking him out on the road in-between lessons to give him as much practice.

In our state kids must remain on their permit for a minimum of six months before taking their final driving test.  However they can wait up till one year before needing to retake the written test.  Our goal is to get the driving test done before the year is up.  I am more concerned that MarioFan is a safe driver then how fast he obtains his license.  I was the same way with Firedrake and she is now a great driver!