Week 6

Language Arts: I did some vocabulary words. Came up with a list in my Writer’s Notebook for possible protagonists. My check out of the book Unbreakable ended but we did find the kindle so my mom bought the book so I can keep reading it. I reviewed when to use apostrophes. I did several lessons in my Workbook for Dyslexics.

Math: We didn’t have any special homework from Mr. Rosa, so we are just doing lessons in the Algebra 1 textbook this week. Lessons were on unit multipliers, absolute value, sets, and number lines.

Science: We learned about how wings make things fly. We learned that a drone can’t fly in a vacuum because it requires air, but a rocket doesn’t need air so it can fly in a vacuum (space). We flew our Star Wars drones which was really fun. In my co-op class we learned about the differences in the different groups and periods on the periodic table.

History: We listened to the next episode of the Podcast History of the World. This one was about the Neolithic Revolution and how agriculture changed things a lot for early humans. One interesting thing was that farmed food was not as nutritious as wild food, so people were shorter than the hunter/gatherer societies had been.

Makerspace (Tech):  We started working on our cement planter project. I am not sure if we will have a way to put a drainage hole in it but I guess we will see.

Programming (Elective): Worked on some of the missions at First Lego League. I also worked a little bit with tools on the workbench here at home. It was a pretty busy week so I didn’t have a lot of project time.

Other:  I am playing in a basketball tournament this weekend. One game on Friday and three on Saturday.

I'm #21

Week 5 Weekly Report

Week 5
Language Arts: I read more in Unbreakable but then I misplaced the Kindle I was reading on. Hopefully I will find it soon. I did writing exercises about the sounds of dinnertime and describing a painting of a mountain scene. I diagrammed sentences with adverbs and adjectives. I did a worksheet about identifying the different parts of speech in sentences, including noun/verb/adverb/article/preposition/noun/article. I started the Workbook for Dyslexia lessons. Hopefully it will help me build my spelling skills. I did TTRS.

Math: We did complicated fractions problems (addition/subtraction/multiplication and division all mixed into mega problems. We also did lessons 1-3 of Saxon Math Algebra. We also are memorizing the prefixes for the different scientific notation names, like giga, mega, pica, deci, centi, etc.

Science: We learned about the periodic table and the different groups of elements. We learned some about the different elements and are supposed to find some examples to take to class with us next week.

History: We listened to the Podcast History of our World episode 4 about the Stone Age. It talked about early Anatomically Modern Humans (AMH for short) and the things that have been found that they left behind, like sculptures and cave art. We looked up pictures of one of the oldest sculptures found, the Venus of Willendorf. My mom saw this one in a museum when she was in Austria. The archeologists don’t really know why these venus sculptures were carved, but a number of them have been found.

Makerspace (Tech):  We made silicone molds. The coloring we used got everywhere. It was fun to make, though. We are going to be making concrete planters.

Programming (Elective): I built a cool robot with the Lego Mindstorms set. It has tank tread sorts of things on the back for the wheels and regular wheels on the front. My friend and I decided we want to try and build a go-cart, so that will be fun to work on together.

Other: Basketball practice, also started working on specific skill drills with my dad. Guitar lessons.

Week 4

Language Arts: I went to the Dyslexia Center for an Assessment. We may do some tutoring there or we might just keep working on different things at home. My reading is at grade level but spelling is still really hard for me. This week I started reading Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand. I am liking it. I also did a writing exercise on words that convey sound. 

Math: This was the first week with our math tutor. We learned about the different kinds of numbers (real, whole, integer, natural, rational, irrational) and also reviewed some pre-algebra concepts. There are 3 other kids besides my sister and I meeting with the tutor. We meet at our house. 

Science: In chemistry we learned more about atomic structure and had to draw models of different atoms. I learned that isotopes have the same number of protons and electrons but different numbers of neutrons. 

History: We listened to the next episode of The Podcast History of Our World. It was about the early hominids that first used fire and also talked some about tools. One interesting thing was the part about how humans might have evolved to have lighter skin in order to get enough Vitamin D. 

Makerspace (Tech):  We worked on our notebooks for class. I am doing some paper weaving on my cover. 

Programming (Elective): I didn’t work on programming this week. At First Lego League we are still mostly focusing on building. At home my friend and I sanded a board really smoothly, stained it, and drilled holes in it to make a rope swing. We still aren’t sure where we will hang it up though. 

Other: I had basketball practice. At our youth activity this week we played broom hockey which was pretty fun. My twin brother and sister turned 6 on Tuesday and my cat Bandit turned 6 on Thursday. 

This is the podcast we listened to this week

Weekly Report, Weeks 1-3

Language Arts: I started my language arts coursebook. Reviewed some of the parts of speech. I finally finished the book The Martian. I liked it. I want to see the movie because I haven’t seen it. 


Math: I have been reviewing a few things, like fractions, before starting with my math tutor. Also just practiced math facts. 

Science: We went to the Natural History Museum of Utah. It was interesting. They had an exhibit about the mechanics and physics behind different animal adaptations. There was a cool thing where you could try flapping with two different wing shapes to see how they behaved differently. The short, broader wing got you moving quickly but took a lot of effort to stay going. The longer, more thin wing was slower to get going but stayed going with less effort. I am doing a chemistry class for co-op and we learned about matter. We also calculated density. 

History: We listened to the first two episodes of The Podcast History of our World. The first one was about creation stories and also the Big Bang. The second one was about the evolution of early humans and mentioned how human ancestors might have come down from the trees because of global warming at that time, which made the forests more sparse. I also have a co-op history class called We Didn't Start the Fire and we talked about communism, socialism, and Doris Day. 

Makerspace (Tech):  We made name badges at Makerspace with little lights on them. We also just did the introduction stuff because it was the first week.


Programming (Elective): At First Lego League we made the different missions. I also built a color sorter. I am helping TA a Lego Robotics class at our homeschool co-op. We cleaned out the workbench area in the garage so I can work on projects there. My first project is made out of PVC pipe and tee shirts--it is a cat bed/hideaway. Some of my projects will have programming involved, too, I’m just not sure what they will be yet. 

Other: We went on a field trip to the Young Living Lavender Farm and got a tour of the distillery. It was really smelly and kind of gave me a headache. It was cool to see how they get the oils out of the plants and bark though. 

At the Natural History Museum

At the NHMU

At the Young Living Farm

At the Young Living Farm

Out for ice cream after our field trip

My cat hideaway/bed. My cat Bandit approves!