School Happenings

Bible:

We are doing a combo of devotionals and Proverbs (with verses and reflections written in journals) and watching The Chosen.

This is the only class the kids will do together this year.

English/Reading:

Lorelei and I are loving her English I curriculum. This combines reading, writing, grammar, spelling and even some geography and memorization. It is very well organized for Lorelei to work independently.

Makin will be reading various books of our choosing and using his reading journal for comprehension questions to go with each book. He will continue with IEW Writing (we have done since 2nd grade) and we are going to incorporate some spelling and handwriting as well. Grammar is Shurley Grammar which we have used since first grade. :)

While he is doing a variety of styles of books, his top choice will always be Fantasy. This book pictured was a series I couldn't get him to try out until putting it on the list for reading books...and then he absolutely loved it and it is now one of his favorite series. Win! (Even bigger win, he got his sister to read it and they area reading it together!)

Labeling Sentences For Grammar

Math:

Lorelei will meet with Mrs. Buman twice a week and work independently the other two days. This worked very well last year and I cannot even explain what a blessing Mrs. Buman is to us!!! Last year is without a doubt the least amount of math tears we have had since Kindergarten.

Makin is using an online math course (for the teaching portion) and I think its going to be a great fit! This curriculum is designed to work an hour each day and then stop, and that boundary keeps us both sane! :) I'm also very relieved he likes this online teacher as there are high school courses that continue with this same teacher that we hope to use.

Science:

Lorelei will be taking TWO science courses this year.

Biology, which she will take at HOPE Prep...this mama does not want anything to do with dissecting a frog thank you very much.

and

Animal Behavior...if you hadn't guessed this is pretty much a dream come true for this girl. She has the opportunity to take a hands-on positive reinforcement class! Such an amazing adventure for our girl!

(Pics below are from when we toured the ranch back in March.)

Chickens going through an obstacle course trained through positive reinforcement.

Makin is taking General Science. We are trying out a new curriculum and overall enjoying it. It is a bit heavy on the experiments for me but that helps make learning more fun so I try to oblige as much as I can!

His face in this picture as he takes his first look at his student workbook..."It's bigger than the Bible!"

History:

Lorelei is taking World History. We chose a curriculum we have enjoyed in the past. She prefers to read it independently and I plan to check her work weekly. The sticky note pic is from when I told her to start looking through the book and find items she would like to include special projects/online field trips...and she wasn't even done going through the whole book yet. :) Love this girl's love for learning!

Makin is taking on Texas History as well as Geography this year! I plan to use the book we already have from Lorelei's year of Texas History and come up with our own activities. He claimed he couldn't tell you where all 50 states were located on a map, so that will be our focus for Geography this year. The first day he took a pre-test and only missed 11 states on the map...so that portion of the year should be pretty simple!

Organizing Texas Explorers

Art:

Lorelei will be taking Art History at HOPE Prep. She is so excited to combine a couple of her favorite subjects!

SAT Prep:

Lorelei will be using a free online test prep in order to prepare for the SAT tests.

Typing:

This didn't happen over the summer as I'd hoped...so typing class for Makin in 7th grade it is! :)

Yearbook:

This was an unexpected class Lorelei is taking at HOPE Prep as you have to apply to be on the yearbook team. They meet over lunch on various days and will be working on putting together the yearbook for the school. Of course, this yearbook mom is thrilled she gets a small dose of what I was able to experience in my high school days!

P.E.: Makin's favorite subject this year is probably P.E. We are thrilled to have a homeschool PE class only a few minutes away from home once a week. Each week it is a variety of games and keeps the kids challenged and excited.

Other:

Lorelei absolutely loves the idea of tracking her hours for HS and earning credits. We got her a special HS planner and she uses it to keep track of her hours.

Lorelei and Brad went to do work/school work out at a coffee shop.

Makin and I worked out of a coffee shop during Lorelei's class.

We call Wednesdays "Whirlwind Wednesday" because we have quite a full day when you put together Hope Prep, a golf class, and Animal Behavior. While we won't have the golf class the entire school year, it has brought us some very full Wednesdays!

Math Video In The Car

Field Trip! The Animal Behavior teacher organized a field trip to Window To The Wild which is a bird rescue sanctuary that also includes educational programs. We had a great time learning about their birds!