Dereks Curriculum Pages

Our New Treat Shop

I simply had to do something.  My kids were constantly eating any special treats I brought home within the first day I bought them.  Then, I'd be heading out the door to the grocery store, and I'd hear, "Hey Mom, can you please grab some....(fill in the blank)".  And what's worse, when I was AT the store, my phone would ring, and low and behold, it's one of my kids asking for me to bring something else home!  It got so old!

And so, I had to implement a system for handling our special requests.  I don't want to be a mom who always says No to anything not healthy.  We all need to be able to enjoy treats and special meals out once in a while...but this was ridiculous.

After thinking long and hard, I created our very own Treat Shop.  I stocked up on some of the family's favorite treats, and put them in a locked cabinet.  I sorted the items out into bins according to price that we pay (I rounded up).  Sodas are $0.25.  Small bags of chips are $0.25.  Peach tea is $0.50.  Cookies are also $0.50.

Each person in the family will get $30 a month (we'll see if that's the right amount later) to use towards buying treats in the shop, or eating out.  This includes grabbing snacks at the ballgame, popcorn at the movies, eating lunch out at Chickfila, etc.  I think it's a decent amount that means we can eat out once or twice a month, and still have a little wiggle room for some junk food snacks...but not too much.

We will each have a jar with cash in it (kids learn better with real dollars in their hands!), and then we will have a Treat Shop Jar, where we pay into for our treats.  At the end of the month, I'll use the Treat Shop Jar money to replenish our snacks.  The kids can put in "Treat Requests" that I will consider when I go to the store ONCE A MONTH when it's time to replenish the stash!  I will not accept requests at any other time.  So they can write them down and stick them in the Treat Shop Jar anytime, but we won't discuss these requests until it's time to replenish the stash!

I am hoping this helps with 3 things here.  First, I am hoping it really cuts down our budget.  It's so easy to just grab something while we are out about town, or get a snack at the ballgame.  But at $5-10 a pop, for 5 people, that means we are paying $25 for everyone to get a snack at the ballgame...or about $40 every time we grab lunch out.  That's a TON of money to not be keeping a handle on!

Secondly, I hope this teaches the kids about planning ahead.  Sure, you can get a $5 treat at the ballgame, OR you can plan ahead and grab a $0.50 treat from our treat shop before you leave the house.  Also, if you hope to eat lunch out, you need to make sure that you are prepared for that and have cash in hand before leaving the house.  This will help teach them (and remind me!) that we shouldn't be buying on impulse!

And lastly, I'm hoping this helps us to eat healthier.  We have gotten into some bad habits lately, and I want to correct them now.  We eat out at least once or twice a week just because it's so convenient.  Also, with all the special requests I get when going to the grocery store, even though I try to keep track of my grocery budget, I don't track how much is going towards healthy foods, and how much towards junk food.  This will really put a limit on how much we are snacking on unhealthy foods.

I will add more later about what our meals and healthy snacks look like these days soon!

Math - Best Laid Plans

Math curricula has always been a struggle for our family.

Storyteller HATES math, although she's very good at it!  Since she's our oldest child guinea pig child, she's the one who gets to pave the way with all of my best laid plans.

When she hit algebra in particular, I wanted to make sure she was getting The Best High School Math education that she could get.  Why?  Umm....because.  Why not?!  She should have only the best education here, right?

Well, after MUCH obsessive research, I finally settled on Life of Fred for Algebra.  We had done all the previous books together, and my math-genius husband thought it was a VERY solid program!  So, it was a done deal!  Life of Fred for Algebra!

But then, we got half way through the book....and it bombed for us.  It was going so great too!  We were factoring polynomials with ease...and then it came crashing down for her.  It just jumped SO quickly from one thing to the next, that even when we used the extra practice problems, it just moved too quickly for her (and for me!).  I LOVED algebra in school...I loved ALL math classes in school, and yet this one just crashed and burned so quickly.  And so my dear 13 year old got so discouraged.

So we tried a more "traditional" math program.  I went with Jacob's Beginning Algebra.  It went smoothly for a bit, but she hated that one too.  It was just too much work, too much graphing, too little to do with her life.  So we finally bailed on that one too.

And then I found CTC Math, which I hoped would be The Holy Grail of Algebra for us.  And again, it went great for a little while.  But then that one too became too difficult for her to understand.  I tried helping her occasionally, but without watching his videos, I couldn't remember exactly what to do...and even when I did watch the videos, sometimes we still couldn't work through the answers correctly.

And then one day, she became very frustrated when working on negative exponents and square roots, and just asked me, "Mom, why do I have to know all this stuff?  When am I every going to use this in real life?"  And you know what?!  I had NO answer for her!  I mean, I'm 38 years old, and you  know the only time I've ever used this stuff?  When homeschooling her!  LOL!

And so, I decided that this wasn't worth it!  She wants to be a writer.  To create fictional worlds and allow people to escape reality through her written word.  She doesn't NEED to have super rigorous math programs through high school.

I thought back to our earlier homeschooling days.  When Storyteller first was pulled from public school after 3rd grade, her math skills weren't that great.  She could DO math, but she certainly didn't understand it.  And so we used Math-U-See for elementary school math.  She started at the very beginning, the Alpha level, in 4th grade, and quickly went through all of the elementary levels in a year or 18 months.  And it all clicked for her.  Math became EASY for her.

After rejecting Math-U-See for high school several years ago, after reading some reviews that said it was "too easy" and "not rigorous enough" I decided enough is enough.  For Storyteller, do I really care if her math isn't as rigorous as it possibly could be?  NO!  She's not going into math or science fields.  So, let her be!  Let her enjoy math again.  Let her do a math program that will teach her what she NEEDS to know, but maybe not EVERY POSSIBLE THING SHE COULD KNOW about math.  It will be ok!

And so today, we started Math-U-See's Algebra 1 program.  She flipped through the books and was astonished at how EASY it looks to her now, after the failures we've had in the past.  Could she skip through a lot of this book?  Absolutely!  But I figure if we go through it at a pace that works for her, that she can have the pride of completing the whole program.  Also, we will catch anything along the way that maybe didn't make much sense to her.

I think we're finally on a great math path for her again!  In fact, I told her she could probably finish Algebra 1, Algebra 2, and Geometry in the next year or so....so she could be FINISHED high school math by 10th grade....and she LOVED that idea!  And I think Math-U-See will get her there! 

I learned so much going thru basic arithmetic with Math-U-See.  I've always been great at math, but this program taught me to See math in ways I never had before!  I think it will be excellent for her (and for Ballerina)...and I'd rather them have a SOLID understanding of fewer math topics that they can build on later if they desire...than to have a very FRAGILE understanding of a vast amount of math topics!

Storytellers' Laptop Scholarship Essay

My husband is on the board of our local Tech Council and he knew they were offering free laptops to high school STEM kids in public schools in the next county over.  All they had to do was be in 10th grade, write a 300 word essay about how a brand new laptop would help further their education, and fill out an application.  Apparently this effort is too much for most kids in public schools around here.

Well, we got the go ahead for Storyteller to apply anyway, even though she's not a resident of that county, even though she's in 9th grade, not 10th, even though she's homeschooled and not in public school, and even though she wants to be a writer, not pursue a tech career.  Because apparently, even though they've had hundreds of computers to give away, only a handful of public school kids have bothered to apply!

And so, she wrote her essay (with an EXTRA 550 words!) in one night and submitted her application a day or so later.  The next morning she got a call saying she could come pick up her new laptop!  And just like that, she has a brand spanking new laptop!  She's so excited!

 And, they told her that her essay was THE BEST essay BY FAR that they have received!  They said most of them are "I could really use a new laptop to help me with my schoolwork".  But not Storyteller!  She wrote about her dreams of becoming a writer and creating worlds for kids to escape too!  If any kid works hard enough to deserve a new laptop, it's her!  I'm so glad they gave her one!!!!

I can't seem to upload this as a .pdf file...so here's a copy of her essay:

A Young Writer's Fantasy

In the pages of a story, people with impossible abilities live incredible lives,
majestic places exist, and magic is not only possible, but normal. Witches and wizards live
in communities, magical creatures roam in preserves, and humans with supernatural
abilities fight super villains to save the world. I want to be the person who lets their
imagination run wild and inspire others to let theirs do the same.
I've read Harry Potter three times. The first time, I was in it for the thrill, the
second time, I was in it for the story, but the third time was different. I fell in love with the
writing. I analyzed the descriptions and paid attention to how each character developed.
Since then, I’ve fallen in love with the art of putting pen to paper and creating an entirely
new world. I’ve started rewriting the last three Harry Potter books as a fan fiction for fun,
and I've finished eighteen chapters, consisting of two hundred and seventy-two pages, and
started eighteen more. I enjoy fantasy and adventure novels, but I love layers like romance
or mysteries on top of the main story line.

My passion is for writing and has been for years. I love telling stories, and even
though I’m focusing on fan fiction for now, I still occasionally write my own story ideas.
Writing is almost all I do in my free time, and being an author is all I can imagine doing
with my life in the future.

As terrible as it sounds, I’m constantly reading books, and thinking about how the
author could've described something better or how they use the word “said” too much.
Every time I read simple adjectives or verbs that could've easily been replaced with more
descriptive words, I cringe. I’ve written close to a whole book, then came back to it after
several months, and scrapped it because of how terrible I thought my writing was. The
story was fine, but I couldn't stand it because of how dull the wording was.

My deepest wish is to change lives for the better through writing, because I
believe the world as a whole could use a little more magic. A new laptop would help me
put my stories out into the world to inspire others and make my dream become more of a
reality. There are so many websites where aspiring writers can post their work and get
great feedback from others. At the moment, I'm using a ten year old E netbook that was
my mom's. It's really slow and the internet connection is sluggish at best. I can't use
Dropbox or Free File to save my writing on the internet, and I’m worried something will
happen, and all my hard work will be gone forever.

Here are a few paragraphs from my fan fiction. The point of view is through the
eyes of one of my characters: Sabbrina Snape. She grew up at Hogwarts known as the
Potionmaster's daughter with her twin brother, Shawn. She's in Ginny Weasley's year and
is best friends with Harry, Ron and Hermione. In her fifth year, she got the Dark Mark and
became a spy for Dumbledore. She and Shawn had to help Draco Malfoy with his mission
to kill Dumbledore, but in the end, they failed to stop Draco from finishing the deed.
Sabbrina and Harry started going out halfway through the year.  (Half-Blood Prince, Dumbledore's Funeral)


I wish the warm and beautiful weather were less perfect. It seems to mock our
grief. Harry guides me into a row of pristine seats on the perfectly manicured lawns. The
lake's surface is smooth as glass, and there's not a single cloud in the blue sky.

It starts with a single tear, but soon silent sobs shake my entire body. All my pain
surges up from where I shoved it deep down over the years. I think of Mum. Her loving
smile, her eyes, her encouragement. I think of Sirius, who I tried my best to save. His
barking laugh, the sparkle of mischief in his eyes, his arms embracing me, assuring me that
everything would be fine. Then finally, I think of Dumbledore. How I failed him, how it's
my fault he's being buried today. And of course thinking of all that brings up Dad. I hate
him with everything I have. I despise him.

That only brings up more pain. The kind of agony that cripples you and makes
you want to give up, even when you know you can't. The kind that makes you want to
wake up from a terrible dream, a wicked dream. The kind of dream you never forget and
paralyzes you with terror whenever you recall it.

Harry silently pulls me closer, wrapping his arms around me and letting me sob
into his chest. My thoughts suddenly derail and I’m overwhelmed with memories of Harry.
All those long walks around the lake at night. All those stolen moments only we knew
about. Those kisses in cupboards or closets or on the far side of pillars. All those times he
has stood by my side. I listen to the sound the soft breeze makes as it rustles through the
trees and the birds chirping their happy little songs.

We can't see what's happening at the front, so I concentrate on my friends. Harry's
eyes are closed and a half smile tugs at the corners of his lips. Shawn is gazing at the lake,
watching the merpeople who have poked their heads out of the water to listen. Ron is pale
and looks shocked. Hermione is crying nearly as hard as I am, her eyes trained on her
hands resting palm-up on her lap.

So this is who will save the world? Five upset teenagers who are on the very edge
of being broken beyond repair. At least we're trying. And at least we'll have each other, no
matter what. A warm feeling enters my chest as I consider what the future holds. Yeah,
we're the ones who will save the world, but we can't do it alone. We're in this together.

A little Peek into our Game Room

Just a quick little peek at our Game Library...though some new history and Vocabulary games have been added this past week!

End of July

End of July in Review

We've been back from vacation for just a week, and got back into our normal routine, whatever that is!  We spent some time reading aloud together and watching a documentary.

We began reading through The Story, which is a version of the Bible that tells the whole story of the Bible in chronological order, without repeating anything (as the Bible does....a Lot!).  This is the kid's version, which we will follow with the regular version.  This week we read all about Creation, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph.  It was all review, but a great review none the less!

We also started reading America's Story 1.  It's considered a textbook, but I think it tells American history as a great story and it's interesting to read!  It's also got gorgeous pictures inside!  We read about the Vikings, the Explorers, the early colonists at Roanoke Island and Jamestown.  Again, we've covered all of US history before, so this is all review...but we love revisiting our old "friends" in these stories of the past!  The kids wrote about what they learned about different Native American tribal groups.

We even did some math this week!  Julie and Derek did 4 chapters from Life of Fred and Belle did a few lessons of CTC Math.

And of course, we have played a ton of board games!  We reviewed our US Geography with 10 Days in the USA.  We visited early man and built a village in Stone Age.  We worked together to fight a house fire in Flashpoint.  We also learned a new game about building and running power plants that was awesome, called Power Grid!

We also watch 4 of 6 parts of a mini-series called Into the West.  It's FANTASTIC!  I just happened to run across it on Monday when I went searching for a documentary about Native Americans.  It was produced by Stephen Spielberg and it lives up to his reputation!  It follows two different families, one white, one native american, during the time of the Oregon Trail and the Gold Rush.  I'm amazed at the historical accuracy (as far as I can tell), about what it was really like to live during that time period.  The kids are LOVING it!  Finding great movies like this really brings history alive for my kids!

And of course, a week just wouldn't be complete if Storyteller wasn't working on her Fan Fictions!  She spent hours doing that this week, along with writing a 3 page essay to submit for a scholarship from the local Tech Council.  They are giving away 50 laptops from a 2017 Scholarship, and still have many of them left!  Apparently public school kids aren't too keen on the idea of having to write a 300+ page essay.  My girl wrote 3 pages, and it's excellent!  Now we're just crossing our fingers!

We wrapped up the week by watching Goodbye Christopher Robin, a movie about A.A. Milne, the writer of Winnie the Pooh and his son Christopher, who inspired the beloved books.  It was such a tear jerker, but the girls loved it!

Next week we will be doing our Monthly Charlotte Mason style exams and finishing the documentary.  We'll also be playing tons of board games, as if you had to wonder!

Derek was imitating a frog - the person who does the best imitation of one of the characters gets to go first....He went first!

 

Summah - Summah - Summahtime!

Outer Banks, NC

We spent a week with my husband's family down in the Outer Banks in North Carolina for our annual family vacation.  We all had a blast hanging out in the pool, playing games, and just relaxing!  I tore a tendon in my ankle the week before vacation this year, so since I was on crutches the whole week, I just sat by the pool and played some games...very relaxing!  We went to the movies to see The Incredibles 2, and the kids (and some of the adults!) went to a trampoline park one day too!

We even finally got to go see The Lost Colony production!  It's the longest running outdoor theater show in the country and it was fantastic!  It taught all about the Lost Colony of Roanoke.  We had learned about it a few years ago, so my kids still remembered about these poor people.  Funny thing though...in the play, it showed that the people finally left Roanoke Island to search for better land...but my kids knew better!  They knew that there was no record as to what happened to these people, and where they went or why.  In fact, the play advertises as "the mystery of Roanoke Island," and yet they didn't share at all that it was a mystery!  My kids caught that IMMEDIATELY!  It was still a great play anyway!