LaPaz Home Learning

We are just about two weeks into our new year and things are going so very well.

This year we have a nice mix of the familiar and the new.  We are keeping much of Superboy’s routine the same, with some Bravewriter, some projects, and lots of science and nature. Much of it is a continuation of what we had been doing before (like tuesday tea and morning read-alouds), just with a new twist or two.

Here are a few of the NEW things we are liking so far:

Superboy’s math DVDs  from The Learning Company. Though he would likely tell you otherwise, these are working quite well. He is able to get the majority of it done in 2 days, leaving the remaining three open for math projects, living math books, and his geometry studies (beginning next week).  So, I would call them a hit. Its just that right now the DVDs are reviewing long division and that just isn’t fun. Necessary, but not fun. He actually has a pretty good attitude about it, though and would be the first to admit he needs the review.

The Bill Bryson book for science and history is a BIG HIT! We are going through it slowly together with MUCH discussion and really, really enjoying it. I can see lots and lots of projects spinning off this book!

JBug has started doing her Draw.Write.Now books and they are a good fit for her. At this point she still needs help following the step-by-step instructions for the drawings, but I can see her gradually becoming independent with them soon.

Here she is doing lesson 1 of book 1. She does the drawing on one day, and spreads the copywork out over the rest of the week, as she still needs help with letter formation. It seems like the right pace for her.

Next…

Montessori math. I have to tell you, I wasn’t sure at first, but I am sold on this stuff!

Math is a joy with these shiny golden beads and all of the accompanying materials. Just this week we have practiced counting to 100 in 5 different ways: using the intro to decimal system golden beads, using the 100 bead chain and arrows, using the 100 board, and using the number tiles. And all of them hands-on and  interesting and holding her attention all the way to 100! What a fun way to learn!

Our botany cabinet and related materials.

In 2 brief lessons Superboy has already learned all of the nomenclature for the entire cabinet including leaf shapes, margins, and venation. Thats 24 terms. Plus a half dozen or so terms that are on the cards but not in the cabinet. So, maybe 30 terms altogether. And not easy terms! We are talking words like orbiculate and sagittate, not to mention pinnately sect and palmately partite.

In order to see if he could apply what he had learned (Mom can be sneaky, you know) we went on a “leaf-shape treasure hunt” today,  hunting for as many leaf shapes and margins as we could find. Results: we found all but two or three and THE BOY KNOWS HIS STUFF! He kept saying things like “Hey Mom, look! I found an obovate!” or “Would you call this linear or ensiform? It looks pretty parallel to me.” I just smiled. That’s my boy!

We have also been doing some drawings of leaf shapes in our nature journals and adding illustrations to help us remember the names. For sagittate (arrow-shaped) Superboy added a drawing of the constellation Sagittarius, the Archer, which has the same root, and we read all about Sagittarius in our Book of Stars, and found it on our star charts. If we ever have a clear night we hope to spot it, but we don’t have a good southern view (mountain in the way), so we may not be able to. But after all that word association I can bet he will never forget the meaning of that term!

There is more, but this post is getting (has gotten!) long and it is late. Tomorrow is another day!