High school math OnTheRoad

C18 uses Math-U-See for Algebra2, but when we go on a road trip, he takes a break from Steve Demme's videos and workbook, and instead uses his free Khan Academy account to watch videos and do online math exercises.

Our road trips are usually 2-4 weeks in length. Homeschool continues on the road, though most subjects, like math, happen differently.

With four kids in the van, every cubic inch of space counts. Our family is more comfortable along the ride if we minimize the stuff we bring, so even three math books and a DVD usually get left at home. His iPad and my wireless hot spot are already coming with, so C17 doesn't need any extra supplies for math. 

For about 45-60 minutes each day of roadschooling, usually on a boring stretch of highway, he can get in some math practice and pick up where he left off with Math-U-See when we return home.

Last Fall he was still wrapping up Algebra 1 when the school year began, so he needed a new plan to cram Geometry into three months. In order to be ready for the SAT on May 4, we agreed he must begin Algebra 2 the first of January. With no time to waste, he used Khan Academy to complete Geometry, and I only added two "math lab" sessions at the kitchen table each week.

Our most recent week-long road schooling session was in DC, and he spent most of the van ride each way and the little kids' nap time each day to watch Geometry videos and answer online math problems on Khan Academy.

For our next road trip, he'll simply take a Math-U-See break and schedule 45-60 minutes each day on the road to continue reviewing Algebra 1 and 2 skills online. 

C16's 9th grade curriculum 2013-2014

Wrapping up our fourth year of homeschooling, I finally feel ready to share our homeschool curriculum choices and my position on different topics. I didn't want to lead anyone astray before! The truth is that every family is different and the beauty of homeschooling is that we don't all have to agree on the same curriculum, schedules, etc.

C16 has worked hard to get on track to complete high school in 3 more years and begin university studies. For example. In 2010-2011 he completed Gamma, Delta and Epsilon levels of Math-U-See. 

Science - Elemental Science: Biology for the Logic Stage He will take the final test of this 36-week biology program tomorrow. Though it is written for the 6th grade, the author shares ways to make it work for younger and older grades. I beefed up this program to make sure he can earn a high school credit for Biology. 

History, Geography, Literature - Tapestry of Grace We're starting week 22 of Year 2 on Monday. We're a little "off" a normal schedule because I found out about Tapestry of Grace during the middle of a school year and switched. We continued through the summer and will begin Year 3 in late-September. He does the Dialectic assignments and will move to Rhetoric in Year 3. There are so many reasons why I enjoy TOG and would recommend it highly, but I'll just share one feature here: it's so easy to adjust a child's level and workload within the program. You buy the curriculum per 9-week-long or year-long unit, and all four levels (Lower Grammar K-3, Upper Grammar 3-6, Dialectic 6-9 and Rhetoric 9-12) are included. This year he is completing each Government (at the Rhetoric level) and Fine Art. Next year I will probably add in the Writing assignments, or perhaps start incorporating IEW (Institute for Excellence in Writing). 

Math - He is currently on Lesson 24 of Math-U-See Algebra and, while higher level maths are a challenge for him, he only wants to use this program. Steve Demme is a great teacher! He watches the video for a lesson then we both use the teacher guide book when he has questions. 

Writing - This one was our biggest struggle, but each month is easier than the last. He is working through Voyages in English (I bought the program used from a friend) and completes loads of writing assignments for other subjects, like Tapestry of Grace and Biology.

 

100th day of 2014: April 10

It's the 100th day of 2014 and we're taking an hour away from our normal activities to celebrate. I modeled this after "100th day of school" festivities I have seen online. Do you remember doing 100th day activities as a kid? I don't, but why not try it? 

First up, for A3, a hundred pieces of cereal on a string.

He focused for a long time and did his very best laying out 100 pieces on the chart then stringing them.

What we're doing for Math

The subject we get asked the most questions about is definitely Math. Let me share what we'e using for Math curriculum at the moment:

C16 is continuing down the Math-U-See path with great results. Every once in a while I show him another curriculum that friends are excied about (like Khan Academy or Teaching Textbooks), but he is content with this program by Steve Demme. This is his fourth year of using Mth-U-See; four years ago we started with Gamma (typically a 3rd grade level) and he quickly got caught up to his same-age peers. He's on the 23rd chapter now. When he completes this level, he'll take a pause before beginning Algebra II or Geometry, and probably will join his twin in some math games.

The only trouble with Math-U-See is that we don't take a DVD player with us on the road, so when traveling I take the Teacher's Guide book.

N16 had started Math-U-See Pre-Algebra, but I just got too frustrated guiding him through problems with so many steps (ones where you use all sorts of operations and he often got mixed up). I still am a fan of Math-U-See Pre-Algebra, so I thought that maybe after another year of maturing and mastering basic math concepts he could try it again. If it doesn't work for us when I make a second attempt in the fall, we'll come up with a new plan for math.

Scoring a baseball game - Baseball Unit Study Link Up

The possibilities for math lessons based on baseball are infinite, but I wanted to start with learning how to score a baseball game in my homeschool baseball unit study. When I initially shared this idea with a friend, she confessed that she was the official scorekeeper for her high school's baseball team so she could watch and meet the cute boys on the field. Obviously she was far more clever than me. 

Cute boy watching aside, baseball scoring provides proof that math is everywhere, and comes in many forms. 

I didn't know the first thing about how to score a baseball game, but fortunately we live in the age of Google and resources are plentiful! Here's what helped me: 

The art of scoring

How to score a baseball game 

Official info from MLB

A free PDF baseball scorecard

A brief video about how to score a baseball game 

Take a score sheet to a local high school, college or minor league baseball game, or try watching a game on TV and following along with your score sheet. 

Math class dismissed! 

An InLinkz Link-up

Shopping at my first homeschool conference

I came home from my first ever homeschool convention road-trip with new friends made, ideas, to-do items and just a few purchases from the expo.

While it's entirely possible to homeschool for free or next to free, I just love buying curriculum. Some people have a shoe problem; I have a curriculum problem. If I won the MegaMillions jackpot, I would probably still drive my van with over 100,000 miles on it, but I would go on an enormous curriculum and school supply shopping spree. Then I'd need more storage shelves and cabinets. Then... Well... Maybe going overboard on school materials just isn't a good idea, regardless of funds.

Here's what I bought:

Math Detective A1 from The Critical Thinking Company
Though I didn't save much money buying it from the tradeshow booth, I did have a chance to meet a rep from The Critical Thinking Company who was extremely helpful. He recommended this series, and I'm excited to try it soon. We used Balance Math recently and even my husband and I worked out the problems. It might have gotten competitive...

What about math? Part 2

Rather than jumping right in to a math curriculum, I recommend to newbie homeschoolers that they first take a break to show their children that math can be fun and relevant. 

Then.... When you're ready..l have them take a no-pressure placement test like this one from Math-U-See or another program. 

When my should-have-been 7th graders took this test, it became loud and clear to me that they needed to go back to the 3rd grade level, Gamma, and catch up. Math is sequential and if you don't know the basics, like multiplication, life for mom and student is going to be very, very difficult. 

One of the good things about Math-U-See is that the levels are labeled with the Greek alphabet, so my 13-year-old struggling learners didn't have to see "3rd grade" on their books. Even if they had, I would have just explained that if they go back and review the lower levels, math in general will be much easier for them. Now we're in our 4th year of homeschooling and C16 has completed Gamma, Delta, Epsilon, Zeta, Pre-Algebra and more than half of Algebra. 

If you're worried about blowing the budget by purchasing so many levels, consider investing in a program with a strong resale value (like Math-U-See) or using a free curriculum like the Khan Academy. 

Baseball-infused math lessons for all ages

If you made me declare a "type" for our homeschool style, I'd say eclectic. We use (and love!) Tapestry of Grace, which I guess is a combo of Classical and Unit Study. Then we take breaks here and there and use a Unit Study (like we did in February for the Olympics, and a few years ago for a two month focus on all things baseball.

This year N16 and C16 won't have time to divein to a baseball unit study completely, but we will infuse baseball in our homeschool here and there.

I'm trying something different with N16 this year instead of continuing his Math-U-See Pre Algebra studies, and piecing together my own practical math curriculum. Starting next week we will try these three free math lessons from The Baseball Hall of Fame:

Geometry: Circling The Bases
There's an elementary and a middle school version of this lesson, and we'll post about the middle school plan after we complete it.

Statistics: Batter Up
This one has a high school level, as well as elementary and middle school.

Economics: The Business of Baseball
Economics is a topic that I only enjoy teaching when it relates directly to something the boys are interested in, and here's a lesson for all school ages that we'll use soon.

We won't do the videoconferencing or a field trip to the Baseball Hall of Fame this year, but their free curriculum still has great ideas for multiple-day lessons. Add a link to your baseball posts here!

An InLinkz Link-up

What about math?

Four years ago when we began homeschooling I wasn't sure of which math program to choose. My kids hated math, probably because they were so far behind. So, I made this declaration to my newly-adopted pre-teen sons:

"For the first month we won't touch a single math textbook."

During our first month we focused on finding our spot, exploring different homeschool options and showing our kids that school can be fun. 

As far as math was concerned, here are some of the things we tried that went well:

We read "living math" books, like The Adventures of  Penrose the Mathematical Cat.