P is currently officially registered with the local school system as a third grader. She is, however at varying levels in her skills so that will explain why her reading assignments may seem off or her math is a bit advanced. For "PE" she has been in gymnastics since she was two. She loves it and is on the pre-team this year so that will be continuing. She also loves to run and has completed many 5ks and a 4 miler. She'd really like to try an 8k next year so she and I will continue to run together and she will continue her Saturday mornings with her personal trainer for strength and speed and simple fitness. In addition to that, she plays golf (camper of the week this year, won the putting contest and longest drive contest, thank you) so she will continue to play golf and we are actually going to start playing as a family as we have a foursome all together (Merlin, Endora, Me and P). Her "socialization" is well covered through her sports but in addition to that she will also be attending Cotillion again this year as she loves dressing up and going to the classes and dances.
As to the arts, we take her to shows and performances at the Kennedy Center, concerts, and art shows/exhibits. We also do regular "art class" together as I have a background as an artist and have actually taught in the schools before as a guest.
We break her academics out as such:
Endora handles math for the most part and uses the Saxon Math curriculum. P is currently working through the fourth grade material (having started several weeks ago because she was so excited and didn't want to wait any longer). She also handles the basic mechanics of English language such as parts of speech, spelling and sentence structure etc.
Merlin is the History and Science Wizard. He is the one that teaches her to blow things up, make big messes to learn and he spends significant time with history (he studied that in college). Merlin and Endora actually just returned from taking P to see Jamestown and she had a blast and learned so much. He is huge into field trips and getting out IN the field and seeing or touching history. We are so fortunate to live here in the Nation's capital with all sorts of opportunities to see history up close and personal.
My job is to put together the framework for the year based on the Standards of Learning but ALSO based on what I think she needs to know and learn. I get significant feedback and suggestions from Merlin & Endora (and P as well) so we do teach the Standards but then go way above and beyond.
Because I work a full time job as a Senior Executive, I essentially work on projects or "reinforcement" types of things. So I look at what Endora is teaching her then I will come home from work and sit down with her and we will do something to reinforce that concept or idea. Think of me as a tutor or homework buddy type of person only I come up with and assign the "homework". I also handle a majority of the culture and social studies and religion as Merlin and Endora both defer to me being the expert in those areas (compared to them).
So, with no further delay, my September lesson plans for me and P are as follows (this is above and beyond what Merlin and Endora are doing with her during the day while I work):
Monday nights are tough because I lift with Captain Awesome those nights and do not get home until about 2030. Therefore, I wanted to go with an "easy" hand out type of thing where we could mostly just do something and chat but there is no real "work". So, on Mondays, I will hand out her Creative Writing Photo Prompt. I have created a Creative Writing Photo Prompt Album on my Facebook page for those who wish to use these pics to work with their kids. She will tape it on the left side of her interactive notebook and then on the right she will write a one page story that is inspired by the picture.
Tuesdays are usually more relaxed and I can get home straight from work. That leaves us more time so Tuesday night is poetry and running :)
One of the things I love about Thomas is how much he has taught me about poetry and I would love to pass that along to her. She loves the poetry of Shel Silverstein and some others and last year we did a thing where she copied one poem a week for handwriting practice and she loved some of those from Sandburg, Wadsworth and Cummings. The three poems for September 10th, 17th, and 24th are:
Phenomenal Woman by Maya Angelou
Dream Within A Dream by Edgar Allen Poe
The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost
We will read each poem together and discuss it. She will tape it on the left side of her interactive notebook and then on the right she will draw a picture that is inspired by the poem.
We will also start to read the book:
Princess: A True Story of Life Behind the Veil in Saudi Arabia by Jean Sasson
"Sultana is a Saudi Arabian princess, a woman born to fabulous, uncountable wealth. She has four mansions on three continents, her own private jet, glittering jewels, designer dresses galore. But in reality she lives in a gilded cage. She has no freedom, no control over her own life, no value but as a bearer of sons. Hidden behind her black floor-length veil, she is a prisoner, jailed by her father, her husband, her sons, and her country.Sultana is a member of the Saudi royal family, closely related to the king. For the sake of her daughters, she has decided to take the risk of speaking out about the life of women in her country, regardless of their rank. She must hide her identity for fear that the religous leaders in her country would call for her death to punish her honesty. Only a woman in her position could possibly hope to escape from being revealed and punished, despite her cloak and anonymity.Sultana tells of her own life, from her turbulent childhood to her arranged marriage--a happy one until her husband decided to displace her by taking a second wife--and of the lives of her sisters, her friends and her servants. Although they share affection, confidences and an easy camaraderie within the confines of the women's quarters, they also share a history of appaling oppressions, everyday occurrences that in any other culture would be seen as shocking human rights violations; thirteen-year-old girls forced to marry men five times their age, young women killed by drowning, stoning, or isolation in the "women's room," a padded, windowless cell where women are confined with neither light nor conversation until death claims them.By speaking out, Sultana risks bringing the wrath of the Saudi establishment upon her head and te heads of her children. But by telling her story to Jean Sasson, Sultana has allowed us to see beyond the veils of this secret society, to the heart of a nation where sex, money, and power reign supreme." ~Amazon
I think it is terribly important for P to understand people. Of all races, cultures, creeds, genders and religions. I want her to learn to appreciate what she has and has access to and recognize that not everyone else has that same life. This is an excellent book and both my step sons read it as well. We will read the book together and discuss it as we do.
Wednesdays are often busy as every other week I see my psychologist that night. For the Weds nights I see him, I get home too late and it's just cuddle and a show time. But for those I don't, we will be holding a production meeting for our BIG science project that will take all year long to do. This one is a secret though so I can't tell any more.
Thursdays are a hodge podge so we will alternate a "Hogwarts" topic, a science experiment or some other small assignment. For September we have:
6th - Hogwarts - Learning about the concept of Chakras and Qi.
13th - Synonym Sun - a small craft project using paint swatches from the hardware store to reinforce the concept of synonyms.
20th - the glow in the dark bottle of Mountain Dew experiment. This is actually a dud. When I Googled the "why" as to how it worked so I could teach her that, I learned it didn't work and was a "fool's errand" according to Snopes. I almost cancelled it but then thought it would be a good idea to teach her not to believe everything she reads and about Snopes as a reference.
27th - I have a nifty word search puzzle for the states of matter. Essentially, it is a regular word search but she will have to FIRST determine what state of matter the word is (ie fog, ocean, chocolate, vapor, soda) THEN she will have to find the word and highlight it with a certain color (blue for liquid, yellow for gas, green for solid).
Fridays are also busy and I train and get home late so we have a simple "Think Math" problem only. I made up some cute strips of paper with the ANSWER to a word problem on them (with cute little pictures) and she has to make up the problem. It's short and sweet but fun and ties back into the math she is doing with Endora.
Her Think Maths for September are:
9 Cupcakes
3 Milkshakes
36 French Fries
2 1/2 Pizzas
Saturday is a busy day. We both go to the gym first thing in the morning but the afternoon is usually open enough to allow us time to watch a movie or video that goes with a theme we are working on.
8th - The Greeks - Crucible of Civilization - The Revolution
15th - The Greeks - Crucible of Civilization - The Golden Age
22nd - The Greeks - Crucible of Civilization - Empire of the Mind
Sundays are nice. We do make a huge family dinner together and she and I like to cook and plan and shop for that. It's also arts and crafts day so each Sunday we will do a little something fun together:
2nd/3rd - Back to School Apple Cupcakes
9th - Crayon Hearts (a crayon and wax paper stained glass project)
16th - Drawing Prompt: Draw the fanciest most expensive dessert you can imagine!
23rd - Drawing Prompt: Put together your own still life and then draw it.
30th - Bird Seed Wreath for the fall to put out for the birds.
Every day: P's vocabulary is immense. She tested about 11th grade level for reading on her last test through the school system. I came up with the idea of a word jar and Thomas actually suggested we use BIG words. SAT words in it. So, we did. Pulled the list of top 100 SAT words and sat down and wrote them all out on little bright neon slips of paper. She love love LOVES her word jar and we had to start it early as she kept BEGGING to do a word a day. I finally caved. She runs and sticks her hand in and pulls out a paper and unfolds it. Then she tapes the slip on the left side of her interactive notebook and looks up and writes down the definition of the word. At the end of the year, I will pull all the slips out and put them BACK in the jar. Then we will start all over again. If she pulls the slip and knows the word, pass, no further work. If she has forgotten it, she will simply look it up again and redefine it.
And there it is. September Homeschool for P. I have already started to plan October so will share that when we get to it.
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