This year in school we are using Layers of Learning year 4. Weeks eighteen and nineteen of school we did unit 11. Our arts topic was war art.
We looked at and discussed several war-related art pieces.
We learned about propaganda and examined several propaganda pieces.
We learned about protest art.
And more about propaganda.
We studied the painting The Thousand Yard Stare.
This year in school we are using Layers of Learning year 4. Weeks eighteen and nineteen of school we did unit 11. Our science topic was the chemistry of air and water.
We watched a really old film on YouTube about air and water.
We watched an experiment on YouTube demonstrating that fire needs oxygen to burn.
We heated a soda can with water in it and then crushed it in ice water. It was so cool we did it a second time with a different can.
We watched a YouTube video of water being a solvent and then tested it out ourselves.
We tested hard and soft water by blowing bubbles.
We played with water droplets on wax paper.
We used capillary action to move water from one cup to another.
This year in school we are using Layers of Learning year 4. Weeks eighteen and nineteen of school we did unit 11. Our geography topic was Symbols & Landmarks.
We learned about the Pledge of Allegiance.
We learned about the National Mall.
We learned about the US Capitol building.
We watched a YouTube video of the Changing of the Guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
We learned about the Great Seal of the United States.
This year in school we are using Layers of Learning year 4. Weeks eighteen and nineteen of school we did unit 11. Our history topic was World War II.
We did the timeline with a little “help” from the foster toddlers.
We attempted to save as many men as possible at Dunkirk.
We watched speeches by Winston Churchill and FDR.
We watched a Crash Course video on World War II.
We learned about the Bataan Death March.
We learned about rationing and made ration card booklets.
We learned about World War II medals.
We did mapwork.
We listened to some World War II music.
A couple weeks ago Fritz decided to wear the dice tie he got for Christmas to church.
It’s a regular tie that needs to be tied.
Fritz had never worn a tie like that before.
All his other ties have either been clip-ons or bow ties.
So Cameron walked him through tying a tie for the first time.
Cameron had to help quite a bit for some of the steps.
But in the end Fritz had his first ever properly tied tie.
Fritz has been going to Code Ninjas for over a year and a half now. A couple weeks ago he finished the requirements for blue belt and moved on to purple!
In blue belt he learned Lua using Roblox. He really enjoyed that one. He liked it better than JavaScript. He spent about 100 hours working on his capstone project. His game ended up pretty cool.
In purple belt he’ll be learning C# and Unity 3D. His first few times, as he was with JavaScript and Lua, have been a bit overwhelming, but he’s slowly catching on and getting it figured out.
The coolest thing about him getting his purple belt? He was the first kid to reach it in San Antonio and the second in all of Code Ninjas!
I’ll only have two kids homeschooling in the fall. Fritz will be in 9th grade and Adrian will be in 7th. Foster kids have to go to public school and even if we adopt kids, I’m planning to send them to public school for at least the first few years in case any issues pop up that need to be addressed (kindergarten/1st grade is often when they do).
Fostering takes a lot of time. Babies take a lot of time whether they are foster kids or not. So do toddlers and preschoolers. Add the paperwork of fostering and my available time has shrunk significantly. So doing a lot of mom-intensive planning just isn’t the best idea for next year.
Jamie joked that we could just send them to public school. Fritz said that would be his LAST choice. Seriously, half a year in second grade scarred that kid for life.
Anyway, I’ve been looking at options where they could get a high school diploma through distance learning. I think I’ve narrowed it down to either Calvert or Keystone. I think. A whole lot less of me needed, an excellent education… sounds like a win-win to me!
That would be a bit different from what I’ve done with my other two high schoolers, but I think at this point in our lives – whether we are fostering or adopting little ones – this makes the most sense.
This year in school we are using Layers of Learning year 4. Week seventeen of school we did unit 10. Our arts topic was kinds of art.
We did some mixed media art (Adrian’s qualifies because the N is colored pencil and the O is crayon).
We watched YouTube videos of different kinds of sculptures.
They designed candy bar wrappers.
They designed their dream vehicles (flying car for Adrian, teleporter for Fritz).
They did a bit of collaborative art.
This year in school we are using Layers of Learning year 4. Week seventeen of school we did unit 10. Our science topic was mountains.
We folded a piece of paper as many times as possible.
We used Play-Doh to demonstrate how rock layers can fold into mountains.
We learned about types of mountains.
We watched YouTube videos on mountain formation, Mt. Everest, and how we know the age of the earth.
We learned about delamination.
This year in school we are using Layers of Learning year 4. Week seventeen of school we did unit 10. Our geography topic was the heartland states.
We did mapwork.
We learned about the Great Lakes.
We learned about Chicago’s Great Fire.
We learned some facts about Indiana.
Jamie told the story of how he had to go on a business trip to Indiana four days before Adrian’s due date and I wouldn’t let him stay overnight just in case so he went for about an 18 hour day. It turned out Adrian wasn’t born until 12 days past his due date so Jamie could’ve spent two weeks in Indiana and still made it home before the kid was born.
Adrian identified all of the Great Lakes on a blank map from memory.
We added the flags of Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to our passports.
Smaller on the Outside 