Planning High School

Online Resources for Math Enrichment

2011-02-27T13:43:00.001-08:00

Interactive Algebra from the Regents Prep Center
Glencoe Mathematics site -- has algebra, algebra 2 and geometry

Update

2010-10-15T16:00:00.000-07:00

We lost our internet for over a week which threw us back on our home resources -- basically a pile of books to read and discuss, plus some Geometry and Latin. My high schooler enjoyed this and as I'm trying to decide how things should go in the second quarter, it seems to me that it might be good to cut back to 3 "Computer School" days and then the other 2 as "Reading School Days" (his terminology).

It would cut down on my online planning too, which was taking up a lot of processing units in my brain.

So that is where things are as we launch into the second half of the first semester.

Religion 9: Arguments for Existence of God plus other resources

2010-09-27T08:59:00.000-07:00

Peter Kreeft -- Can you prove God exists?
Twenty Arguments for the Existence of God
John Paul II -- Proofs of God's Existence are Many and Convergent
About Aristotle and the Existence of the Unmoved Mover (Adler's Page)
Aristotle, God and the First Cause

Lent with CS Lewis

Agape Catholic Bible Study -- Salvation History Course
Bible Archaeology

Ignatian Exercises

Figurative Language and More

2010-09-24T12:57:00.000-07:00

I was writing a lesson on figurative language for my 9th grader. Here are some overflow resources I didn't use but wanted to get off my toolbar.

Simile, Metaphor, Personification -- more suited to middle school -- a slideshow presentation, a bit silly.
Quizlet on Literature Symbols.

We are slowly plodding through our survey of paragraph types.   I really didn't want to have to make Kieron write stupid phony paragraphs demonstrating the types so I am relying mostly on analyzing pre-existing paragraphs.    But I thought of a good idea for using paragraph types in a fictional focus (which is our primary focus this year, writing fiction).

What we do is use the paragraph type for a plot starter. For example, for cause and effect -- write a story where something simple has significant consequences. For a process type -- write a story that is dependent upon a task (it could be like a task in a computer RPG).    For definition..... hmm... maybe I will have him make up some strange artifact or other and so the story will be centered around that.   He LOVES this -- some of my other kids would really have resented this much direction but it gives him a boost.    I give him these ideas as suggestions, not as tasks -- he is welcome to grab them and run in any direction he wants. He has come up with some nice pieces of writing that he is proud of, and he is learning.

While I'm still talking about English Studies, here is one more thing.   I decided I am going to try to have a Focus for every year and then spend the previous year exposing him to the theme of the next year.

For example, this year is Narrative -- narrative is at the heart of writing. So we'll approach everything through fictional narrative. Meanwhile I'm trying to get him ready for Logical writing next year so he's learning some logic and also learning to analyze words, sentences, paragraphs and whole works. But in a lowkey way, mostly based on exposure and some discussion and thought questions.

Logical Writing is where the writing helps you think things out -- Cause and Effect, Comparison/Contrast, Definition, Process, Classification, Example are all ways of thinking, and there are probably more.    I don't want to start having him write these until he has had lots of oral and reading exposure to them.    And we will approach it in the Progym way -- gathering wisdom through collecting maxims, comparing, etc. (Sort of like Classical Writing: Diogenes, with a commonplace book etc.)

If it is difficult to transition to this stage, then I will just have him retell various stories (narrative, fable, description, summary/condensation) then slowly work on fitting this into the larger argumentative format.

Then Junior Year the focus will be on research -- which means that in Sophomore Year, the "exposure" learning will be focused on how to gather and utilize information.

In Senior Year there will be some big project but I haven't really figured that out yet.   Ideally it would be good if he could pull together his own course in some subject -- this is what the older kids did at this age, in different ways.   This requires you to be able to use all the previous learning and synthesize it, which is difficult but usually very motivating if the student finds his own area of interest.

Manipulatives Online

2010-09-24T12:30:00.000-07:00

Most people have probably already seen this, but the NLVM Manipulative site is very cool for reinforcing math concepts. It's for Grades 3-5 but I find it helpful for my younger and older students, too.

A few quiz and review sites

2010-09-24T12:23:00.000-07:00

This PurposeGames site is neat -- you can play simple pushbutton games like Timeline of Ancient Mesopotamia and Map of the Fertile Crescent.

Aidan is big into online jigsaw puzzles, and we found this puzzle site where you can create your own.

While we are talking about it, here are some Art Jigsaw Puzzles.

And Garden of Praise has some online puzzles for Bible stories, art, and biographies of famous people.

Speaking of the Bible, here is a nice site: Genesis to Jesus, How a Catholic Reads the Bible.

Here are a few more quiz and flashcard-making sites:

Basically, I look for ways to repeat things in an easy, somewhat motivating, and non-pressure way. I find my kids generally need a way to interact with content -- they aren't too much into crafts and that kind of thing; so we do arts and crafts separately from learning content because it doesn't really sink in that way.

Chemistry of Life Unit

2010-09-19T17:18:00.001-07:00

Mystery of the Periodic Table
There are 18 chapters -- read 3 per week.
a review (and unit)

Study Questions

Comic Book Periodic Table

Periodic Table Game
Element Game (different levels)

Quizlet

First 20 Elements
First 40 Elements
Vocabulary: PEriodic Table
Periodic Table 1-86

Organic Chemistry

Scientists
Chemists

Scientists of the Periodic Table

Sources
Chemistry History
Chemistry Highlights

Chemical Reactions (BC science) -- lots of links

2010-09-13T09:34:00.000-07:00

Mentioned on 4Real Forums -- Treasure Chest of Fun and Fact -- a Catholic comic book publication now in public domain. Not exactly high school level but looks interesting anyway.

Faith and Science

2010-09-10T20:50:00.000-07:00

These are mostly too advanced for my freshman, but I wanted to list links to William Carroll's articles online about evolution and related topics.

William Carroll

Creation, Evolution and Thomas Aquinas

Free Will and Fruit Flies

Galileo and the Inquisition

Thomas Aquinas and Big Bang Cosmology

Stephen Hawking's Creation Confusion

These are about physics and metaphysics

Physics vs Metaphysics
The contingency problem
Much Ado about "Nothing"

Just for Fun

Back issues of a philosophy journal, Lyceum

Don't I just love the internet!

Music

2010-09-10T13:00:00.000-07:00

I haven't checked these out thoroughly yet but I've been looking for a way to approach piano with Kieron and found these.

Piano/Keyboard Lessons on Youtube

The piano series

Also, there are free keyboard lessons with PDFs at Garden of Praise

Some Links for Wheelock Latin Drills

2010-09-08T08:23:00.000-07:00

Magister Jerard White's Latin Page

Dale Grote Study Guide

Learning Biblical Latin

ELEaston Latin -- Wheelock's and More
A Beginning Latin site based on Wheelock's
Wheelock's Latin -- the Musical (cute -- but has some language)
Answer key for first 9 chapters of Wheelocks'

Latin for Beginners on Gutenberg

Ancient HIstory

2010-09-07T07:06:00.000-07:00

I was working on Ancient History yesterday and found various sites which I want to get off my bookmark toolbar.

Class Zone Ancient World
Ancient Egypt Kid Connection (probably too juvenile for my highschooler)
Egyptian Interactive Site
Interactive Sites for Ancient History
List of Sites to Do with Early Civilizations
Map Quiz (Ancient Middle East)
Quiz on Ancient Civilizations
Spielvogel Book Companion Site (World History)

Geography Quizzes (Ilike2Learn)

Ancient Kings Flashcards
Introduction to History flashcards

Tapestry of Grace Ancient Egypt Unit

Watch Videos on Ancient Egypt

Video Course on Western Civilization

Hoagies Online High School Courses

Language Arts

2010-09-07T06:56:00.000-07:00

Glencoe has a nice (standard) composition and literature site for middle school/high school.

Here is a SAT Vocabulary site -- quite extensive, arranged by year and unit.

Greek LIterature study guides

I have several Iliad sites bookmarked, so I'd better list them out in one place.

BookRags Free STudy Guide
Homer's Iliad
Study Guide
Another Study Guide
Study Questions
Outline
Librivox Audio of the Iliad (and text)
Listen in Greek!
Lots of flashcards

More Biology

2010-09-06T15:29:00.000-07:00

4Real Forums has a very informative thread on High School Biology.

One of the resources mentioned on there that looks really interesting to me is this Hippocampus. It has two introductory biology courses, one for non-majors and one AP. There's also an AP Biology II but I don't see us going there.

The AP biology course has audio-visual, the Bio for Non-Majors just has visuals and text. I am thinking that AP is actually high school level while NM is college-level, maybe?

Planning Journal #5

2010-09-06T08:23:00.000-07:00

My main project this weekend was working on Lesson Notes.   Hopefully this helps me with "checkpoints" for my highschooler's day. It took some time but I think it will take less time when I am doing it along with the actual planning, instead of almost a month later.

I also worked a bit on Planning for Primaries -- similar to this site but for my 2nd grader.   He is enrolled with a charter that has lesson plans already set up so my main purpose is to put down links to games and things that supplement his work.   His work goes better with a lead-in or warm-up type exercise and sometimes the game even accomplishes the same purpose as the lesson.

I worked a tiny bit on Latin -- I'm diverging from Henle -- and using Latin for Beginners and various Wheelock's support sites, since we have several copies of Wheelock's around the house and it covers verb conjugations MUCH sooner than does Henle.

Review of First Declension: Beginner Latin
Beginner Latin: Table to Memorize
Beginner Latin: Translation Exercise
Introducing Verb Conjugation -- Present Tense, First and Second Conjugation

I also worked a little on Ancient History.

Lesson 15: Early Egypt
Lesson 16: Harappa

World LIterature

2010-09-03T14:13:00.000-07:00

My friend Chari is building a World Literature list over here

While I was looking things up in relation to that, I found these lists of Catholic literature

Also:

I am so set now for where I can look for books after I finish The Brothers Karamazov.

Lesson Reviews

2010-09-02T10:43:00.000-07:00

I decided to have every 10th day be a review day. This will be in addition to normal unit reviews. Hopefully this will avoid the tendency to feel rushed through the material, and will help me assess how things are going for my high schooler, since he is doing most of the work independently. I patched together the first review quickly -- in future I'll probably put things down as we progress. Here's the reasons for reviewing that I wrote down for my high schooler.

Biology/Chemistry

2010-08-29T10:06:00.000-07:00

I am working on science, and taking way too long. The problem is that I start reading, and doing the quizzes myself, and just having a lot of fun. The perpetual student compulsion. But I got through the section on atoms and molecules.

Some links I want to remember:

General Chemistry Starting Points
(and these games to get someone started balancing chemical equations)
More Balancing Equations
Still More Balancing
Animated Elements
Interactive Biology Tutorials

Biology Textbook

If you have a standard science textbook, most companies now have web-based materials -- quizzes, tutorials, etc.

General Resources

2010-08-28T12:01:00.000-07:00

This looks like a good resource. Lots of core courses with videos and supplementary resources all for free on the web. HT: Sally at Castle in the Sea

Science and Math

2010-08-27T19:55:00.000-07:00

Today I worked on Rays and Angles. I think that's as far ahead as I want to plan for Geometry, since I don't know if we'll need to go slower.   When I was going through it I had the feeling it might be a struggle for him.

I also thought a bit more about science.   Here's a list of books I am thinking about

First Quarter

Science Matters (probably have him read the sections on atoms and chemistry, maybe the sections on biology)

Instant Biology (already mentioned)

Second Quarter

View from the Oak -- a children's book, but good to inspire the imagination.

King Solomon's Ring

Fabre's Book of Insects (or Insect World)

Third Quarter

Maybe John Muir's My First Summer in the Sierras, since that's our territory here.

I also have some Jim Arnosky and Clare Walker Leslie books about nature and drawing. Those might be good as the weather warms.

Fourth Quarter or whenever -- just for fun

The Dog Who Loved Too Much.    All my kids have enjoyed this.

Journey to the Ants. Another family favorite.

I am having trouble figuring out whether to put these under the "Reading and LIterature" category in his daily plan, or having them in the lesson itself.   I'm inclined towards the former.   I had wanted him to do a lot of "just reading" -- not studying or analyzing, just reading.

Resources for Gilgamesh the Hero

2010-08-27T13:56:00.001-07:00

10 Epic Conventions (flashcards)
Characters in Gilgamesh

Do some background research on Gilgamesh?

Reference Sites:

Teaching the Epic of Gilgamesh
Gilgamesh Study Guide (lots of links)
Notes on Heroic Poetry
Gilgamesh: Hero's Journey (discussion of Joseph Campbell's ideas on the hero)
Definition of Hero

Random LA resources, mostly quizzes

2010-08-25T16:16:00.000-07:00

Paragraph Essentials (Practice Tests)
Extensive list of Language Arts quizzes
Reading for Results (quizzes)

Figures of Reasoning (from silva rhetoricae)

Oxford Tutorial site

Grammar and Writing quizzes

10-week curriculum -- The Tongue Untied

Notes on Quizzes:

I guess you can tell I like quizzes. (see benefits of Prelecture Quizzes) (more on Quiz websites) They have a fairly noble tradition. The Jesuits made a lot of use of "repetition" -- which was not just drill but was fairly interesting and varied practice of key concepts. Montessori emphasized repetition through card-matching and similar things -- the game mechanic is similar on many online quizzes, only you don't have all those little pieces to lose.

My kids hate drill (and why shouldn't they, since drill bores me to death too?) but they like review games (again, why shouldn't they? It's always fun to repeat what you actually know pretty well, vs what is at the very edge of your ability).

I use them in 4 ways:

Warm-Up
Teaching
Review
Testing Proper

For warm-ups and teaching, it's not necessary that my student get them all right. It's an easy way to get exposed to some of the terminology and ideas before he meets up with them in the text.

It's also a good way to focus on some of the key points.
And finally, it's useful when I'm using a literary source rather than a textbook. I might not want to spend a whole lesson on what a textbook has to say about the Five Kingdoms, yet I want my student to know enough about the Kingdoms to make sense of the idea. So quizzes help me reinforce "standards" without having to spend lots of time on them.

A review at the end helps consolidate the information.

I rarely use online quizzes for actual testing -- I rely more on narrations and discussion and so on for assessing how the student is thinking about what he is learning.

Thinking about Writing

2010-08-25T11:23:00.000-07:00

Today I worked on Composition. But I'm getting myself into a knot. I was going to start with Jensen's Format Writing and then go to the Progymnasmata, using ideas from Composition in the Classical Tradition. It seemed to make sense to go from paragraphs to short narratives and fables, then to description and expansion, and then to the 3 paragraph and 5 paragraph forms of the argumentative essay. And perhaps it still does make sense. But I don't want to lose Kieron -- I want to keep my focus on his fictional writing.

Jensen's Formats are for the exposition or explanation paragraph -- they are actually forms of thinking skills -- analogy, example, classification, comparison, etc. It might be possible to approach it as logic/thinking skills and also do some analysis. And as far as fiction goes, use the ideas as ways to plan or brainstorm for fiction.

Just thinking.....

Seven Paragraph Types

2010-08-24T20:01:00.000-07:00

I worked some more on Grammar. I'm almost done with the first semester now.

I found this site that has the "seven types of paragraphs". On the sidebar are links to examples, writing exercises etc. I haven't checked it out thoroughly yet but it looks like it will be helpful in filling out Jensen's Format Writing.

The way I am approaching JFW -- I am not going to have Kieron write endless standard paragraphs, because we'd both drop out of the trees with boredom. I am going to approach it as study skills instead and as nonfiction analysis and only indirectly as it applies to his writing (maybe teaching exam writing skills and also ways to invent material for his stories).

Just getting those notes out there so I won't forget them.

Also

Found this "structure of a paragraph quiz"
A Quia quiz on identifying types of paragraphs!

Also, check out The Five Paragraph Essay Has a Negative Effect
Easy to predict, that's for sure!

Planning Journal #4

2010-08-24T17:28:00.000-07:00

I worked on Grammar today..... I started off using Daily Grammar because it's simple and orderly but when I switched over to Sentences I started using more of the KISS Grammar . I've always liked it a lot but had trouble getting it usable for my family. The blog format helps with that. Right now it looks like I have enough grammar material for about 15 weeks, which takes me almost to Christmas. I'm hoping to skim through compound sentences and introduce clauses before we take a break, and then after Christmas we can work on areas that need more practice or in-depth understanding.

Kieron finished Day 3 -- it still only takes a few minutes a day but on Day 5 he kicks into the full workload. Then we will see if I have to tone down or up. It's hard to tell ahead of time.

10-minute Review: Instant Biology

2010-08-24T07:35:00.000-07:00

I am calling it a 10 minute review because I just wrote my reaction off the top of my head. So take it for what it's worth.
-----------------------
For Biology I am really thinking of using a book called Instant Biology as a supplement. I put the reading schedule here.

On the bright side, it's readable and doesn't assume very much knowledge. It has a lively style that would probably amuse my 9th grader.    It covers all the main bases, from cell theory to genetics to classification to interdependence.

On the down side is a kind of irreverence and of course, the over-simplification that attends a popular book on a science subject.   It's like one of the Discovery Channel science shows (which Kieron really likes, of course).

The final chapter on evolution is a bit over-the-top in its glibness. But this is a flaw by no means unique to this particular book on biology. Almost every book or website I look at concerned with this field has some problematic elements.   I have no problem with discussion of evolutionary mechanics per se.   In fact it is one of those subjects that has fascinated me since childhood.   But it is very rare to find something written for the novice that does not go beyond scholarly research and make amateurish and often (honestly) incompetent judgments about the implications of the discoveries. I think I will call it the New Vitalism because the author pokes fun at early scientists who believed in Spontaneous Generation but then goes on in the evolution chapter to propose his own ideas of spontaneous generation -- get together the right chains of amino acids, add some lightning bolts, and voila, Life!

I don't think it's a disqualifier for the book however, because as I said you find the same type of information in a lot of biology textbooks, only disguised as objective facts.

Biology Lessons

2010-08-23T15:55:00.000-07:00

Biology Websites
Biology 4Kids
The Biology Web (lecture notes)
Online Textbook Natural History

2010-08-22T21:16:00.001-07:00

When composing a verse let there not be a hair's breadth separating your mind from what you write; composition of a poem must be done in an instant, like a woodcutter felling a huge tree or a swordsman leaping at a dangerous enemy. —Matsuo Basho

Day Two

2010-08-22T21:02:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow Kieron can do Day Two. I have it planned to take 4 days to get up to full speed.

What I did today:

Added more placeholder pages for Latin.That brings the index up to mid-November (estimating)
Set up a new category at Study Center -- High School Counseller (I hope to put up various things to get him in the picture with what to do for high school and college prep)
Put up a PE Log. He can leave comments on the post whenever he exercises.
Added placeholder posts for Geometry, which brings the index up to December.
Not reflected on the pages, but have been reading about Biology so that I have a general idea of what a high school course looks like.
I also listened to about half a lesson on Introduction to Formal Logic.

Took about 2 hours.... I'm trying to keep track of the time spent.

Logic Resources

2010-08-22T20:53:00.000-07:00

Traditional Logic Flashcards

Using Logic in Writing

English Studies resources

2010-08-20T08:22:00.000-07:00

I found this Mcdougal/Littell class zone. It has high school grammar, literature and so on.

Here's another site I've used: Glencoe Literature Library(study guides for classics meant for school-age kids)

Starting Tomorrow

2010-08-19T20:05:00.000-07:00

Today I was out of the house most of the day. But tomorrow I'm going to have Kieron start with Day One.

I'm glad it's so light that we can hardly go wrong!

We will start Morning Time next week -- hoping to include Paddy and Kieron together in that, despite the age differences, because the discussions are good. Challenging to find reading material though.

And Paddy can start doing Math, Music and Art again because those are still left on his K12 dashboard from last year. We won't be able to log attendance but we can progress and get back into the habit.

Planning Journal #3

2010-08-19T20:00:00.000-07:00

Life is very busy around here. Aidan has several specialist appointments, Sean and Brendan started school, Clare is returning to college this weekend, and CAVA for Paddy is gearing up.   Two boys in football which means driving anywhere within 120 miles of here every weekend. Plus my baby flying squirrels are getting to their adolescence and I have to figure out how to transition them back to nature.

I figured out a way to rough out my syllabi ahead of time by putting up blank posts and then linking them to the index, sometimes including page numbers in the post for reference.   Take a look at the Ancient History syllabus, for example. If you scroll down you see that the lower section is linked but marked "placeholder", and if you go to a post you see just page numbers.   I'm going to work on this and try to get the whole year basically roughed out *subject to revision of course*.

I have to say my main worry is February. Whatever we do always dies during that month. Even with K12 it was rough. There were some weeks we did the barest minimum to stay honest.    So either I want to plan Something Completely Different for February, or just have some minimum requirements to stay afloat. But either way, I want to be prepared.

Water -- Biology

2010-08-19T19:45:00.000-07:00

I am really enjoying Philip Ball's Life's Matrix -- a Biography of Water. I thought it was on MacBeth's High School Science list but I can't seem to find it now.

It is a bit steep for Kieron, I think, unfortunately, since it's very well written and rife with classical allusions that would tie in well with our focus this year. Since our biology is projected to take two years, one option is to have him read it in the 2nd semester of his sophomore year by which time hopefully some of the ideas would be somewhat familiar to him. It might be a good wrap up.

In fact, I may write down a list of things I think he ought to be familiar with before he starts reading, then introduce them in the months before. If I get that organized... lol.

Another book that just came from Paperback Swap is The Lives of a Cell: Notes of a Biology Watcher. I will let you know once I read it how I think it would work. (If anyone happens to be reading along here -- Hi, Sarah, thanks for the tip about the audio of Screwtape!)

Ancient History: Gilgamesh etc

2010-08-19T19:33:00.000-07:00

I found this ancient history for high school category at Rea's Book Blog. I hadn't seen this blog before, but it looks like a good resource.

Particularly of note: A review of Gilgamesh the Hero
I'm having Kieron read this for ancient history. I didn't really feel ready for him to read Gilgamesh straight from the tablets.

Resources For Papers etc

2010-08-19T19:26:00.000-07:00

Greek Philosopher Quotes -- for commonplace book
Quote Garden -- ditto

Ancient History Research Paper Topics
Student Research -- Interactive History
Ancient History topics
Blog

A Couple More Books

2010-08-18T16:26:00.000-07:00

I've been reading Gods, Graves and Scholars -- it's a very interesting book about archaeology, but I think it might be overload for Kieron this year unless he's just zipping through everything else. But I can revisit it in his senior year because most of the discoveries took place in the modern world even though they were concerned with the ancient world. And I do hope to review the classical world every year --- showing how it influenced different historical periods -- so it might fit in that way.

I've also started reading The Story of Art by EH Gombrich. He has an excellent style. This one I probably will have Kieron read (at least the first 100 pages about the ancient and classical world).

Planning Journal #2

2010-08-17T23:12:00.000-07:00

I got a lot done today.    I am basically done planning lessons up till Day 19,     I like the logic of the set-up and I like being able to think through the lessons in depth.   And when I'm researching I am so much in my happy zone. It's like self-medicating ;-).

On the down side, preparing this way takes longer than it should really. I love doing it, but it soaks up hours and I get behind in everything else.   I'm going to have to compartmentalize into a certain number of hours in a week, no more than I can justify to myself, and then stick to that time.

I CAN cut back -- the lessons don't have to be all written out in detail. My other kids got by with page numbers or with books handed to them.

I wanted to get things written out for a month in advance, and I succeeded in that (I expect to have to tweak it, but the way it's set up it won't be difficult to make adjustments).

With the lessons after 19, I may start just roughing out the hierarchy of links with simple page numbers so I can decide how to fill them out AFTER I get to them.

Grade 2 Thoughts

2010-08-17T18:25:00.000-07:00

I know this blog is called Planning 9th Grade but I need a place to put plans for my other 2 homeschooled kids, too.

Paddy is doing K12, of course. It actually fits in well with Ambleside's reading for Year 2, and since K12's reading is relatively on the light side (reflecting the focus on having the child read his own work, rather than have things read aloud) I may use some of the readings from AO. For example, it would be fun to have a Howard Pyle focus this year for his read-alouds. Charlotte Yonge is another good author for this time period.

Literature and Reading

2010-08-16T07:02:00.000-07:00

I have another "subject" that I haven't worked on -- a running list of readings across the curriculum It's called "Literature and Reading" on the lesson pages. It should be easy, though, since it's just giving him books to read -- I only need to figure out which ones.

Odyssey
Screwtape Letters
Fabre's Book of Insects

History of Biology and Evolutionary Theory

2010-08-15T22:27:00.000-07:00

Evolution and Catholicism
Evolution Theory and Science -- has a timeline of evolutionary theory, very interesting.

Plan for Writing Lessons

2010-08-15T21:41:00.000-07:00

Choose one subject at a time and write a week or two worth.
Time myself (to make sure it's not eating up too much time).
Make note of where I left off so I don't take too much time getting back into it (sidebar here has most recent posts)

Study Skills

2010-08-15T21:39:00.000-07:00

Study Skills -- effective listening to lectures --
how to listen to lectures

Planning Journal #1

2010-08-15T18:10:00.000-07:00

This will be quick notes to say what I did and what I need to do.

Today I did quite a bit of work over on the student blogs. Kevin had taken the teenagers and up on a mountain hike so I just had the little ones. Unfortunately, it takes me a long time to think through and write the lessons, so it's probably good that I'm planning to start going shorter on them as the year gets underway.

Web Lesson Planning Form

Some Biology and other resources

2010-08-15T12:19:00.000-07:00

College Biology -- reading list taken from favorites of professors
Supplementing High School Science
High School supplemental readings
High School Biology Resources (Home Learning Lifestyle)

A list of links for the homeschooler

On the Parts of Animals
A Handbook of Nature Study
Various books from MacBeth's high school biology page
Various online or video resources
An online Biology textbook
Another Biology resource center.
Another online Biology site.

English Studies

2010-08-14T19:35:00.000-07:00

Notes on Composition

Ancient History on one page

2010-08-14T19:01:00.000-07:00

Ancient History Outline
in Google doc form

Traditional Logic

2010-08-14T07:46:00.000-07:00

Week 1: Chapters 1-3
Week 2: Chapter 4
Week 3: Chapters 5-6
Week 4 -- chapter 7
Week 5 -- chapters 8-9

Go lightly on math and science during this time??

Logic Classroom

2010-08-13T17:42:00.001-07:00

Logic Course Online

Language Arts 9

2010-08-13T16:31:00.001-07:00

Language Arts Outline for first part of year

Theology 9

2010-08-13T16:20:00.000-07:00

Religion -- Our Goal and Our Guide

Latin 1 using Henle

2010-08-13T16:10:00.001-07:00

Henle -- first month

Geometry

2010-08-13T15:59:00.001-07:00

here

What's in the Homeschool Binder

2010-08-13T15:28:00.000-07:00

School Schedule
High School Overview (4 year -- update yearly)
List of Grade 9 Resources
Checklists for each subject
Daily Schedule
Subjects by Week
Lesson Plans (see sidebar)
Log for Extra-Curricular Activities
Log for Books Read
Writings Done

Homeschool Paperless Notebook -- Grade 9

2010-08-13T15:07:00.000-07:00

here

here

here

Geometry -- Month 1

2010-08-13T14:35:00.000-07:00

Basic Geometry Tutorial with some questions

16 chapters in Geometry book (skipping first, and last two, and spending time for semester reviews)

2 chapters/month

1. Points, Lines and Planes (7 sections inc summary and review)

2. Rays and Angles (7 sections inc summary and review)

Total: 14

Latin: Unit One

2010-08-13T12:33:00.000-07:00

Covers the first declension

pages 3 - 17 (including introduction)

Declension of terra
Rules for gender
Use of verbs
The accusative case
The genitive case

Rules for Vocabulary Study

Make sure you know the vocabulary well -- review every day before class.
Also, know well the variations. Study the essential exercises in particular, until it is automatic.

Memorize the grammar rules (in boxes)

There are 9 exercises. This Unit will take 1-2 weeks approximately.
(Design a test).

(Go through Latin boot camp -- one lesson every few days)

Homeschool Notebook -- Paperless

2010-08-13T09:46:00.001-07:00

Sierra 2010-2011 Schedule (PDF)

Audio Versions

2010-08-12T20:05:00.000-07:00

Odyssey
Free Audio Books Download

Odyssey -- lines in Greek

Taking Notes

2010-08-12T19:47:00.000-07:00

Taking Lecture and Class Notes
Taking notes from a textbook

Literary Devices (Odyssey)

2010-08-12T10:44:00.000-07:00

Literary Terms in the Odyssey
Literary Techniques in Gilgamesh and the Odyssey

Literary Resources for Classical Times

Study Guide for Odyssey

Some Notes on Method for Ancient History

2010-08-12T10:34:00.000-07:00

Each section will probably take about 3 weeks, maybe 4.

Have a notebook with:

printouts of excerpts from Carroll and Shamon (Gilgamesh, death; James Weldon Creation, etc)
Maps
List of Dates
Stories to use for progym
Books read (supplemental)
Topics Researched (start small, work up)
Notes on classes and other things used during the course (Homeschool Connections/ Online Quizzes/Teaching Company)
Some art exhibits to give visual idea of the time period

Variations

Start by making outlines on book along with Kieron, let him take over gradually over the course of the 4 years.

Keep it interesting.

REminders:

This course is integrated with literature, art, and religion (Old Testament)

Cumulative Booklist (SUpplemental)

2010-08-12T10:16:00.000-07:00

Some Sources

Books of Interest:

The Worm Ouroboros

The Magic World (Nesbit)
Ethics of Elfland (Orthodoxy)

Gods, Graves and Scholars

Gilgamesh the Hero

Path to Rome (Belloc)

History XI -- 301 - 201 BC

2010-08-12T10:11:00.000-07:00

10. The Fortitude of Rome pages 211-226

Kingfisher pages 104-111

GR ch 14, 15, 16, 17

Start Roman Readings (Davis)

Start Romans by Charles Morris?

and/or Plutarch

History X -- 404-301 BC

2010-08-12T10:09:00.001-07:00

9. March Across the World (Philip & Alexander) pages 192-207

Kingfisher pages 90-95
AGR ch 8, 9
GR ch 12, 13

Plutarch Alexander

GBA pages 57-59

History IX -- 499-404 BC

2010-08-12T10:08:00.000-07:00

8. Two Hopes pages 174-188

Early Centuries of Greece

Kingfisher pages 80-89

AGR pages 62-83

GR ch 2, 4, 5, 6

AGR pages 84-124

Persian Wars

GR ch 7
AGR ch 6

Golden Age

AGR ch 7
GR ch 8-11

OTR 499-517

Finish reading Odyssey, start reading drama and dialogues?

History --VIII-- 582-499 BC -- Greeks

2010-08-12T10:05:00.000-07:00

7. The Quest and the Chosen pages 148-167

Kingfisher pages 70-76
OTR pages 469-498

AGR pages 45-61 Persians

GBA pages 54-55

History --VII-- 721-582 BC

2010-08-12T10:04:00.000-07:00

6 The Holy City pages 118-136

OTR pages 415-469
AGR pages 20-44

GBA pages 51-53

History --VI -- Divided Kingdom

2010-08-12T09:59:00.000-07:00

5. The Divided Kingdom oages 101-114

922-721 BC

OTR pages 261-350 Kings

start reading Odyssey here
read Kingfisher 38-41
Myceneans

OTR pages 351-415 Prophets

GBA pages 44-50

History --V -- the Kings

2010-08-12T09:55:00.001-07:00

4 The Promised Land pages 81-95

OTR pages 144-194

(up to Samuel, BC 1115)
GBA pages 25-31

OTR pages 195-261

(Kings) up to 900 BC

GBA pages 32-43

History -- IV -- Moses

2010-08-12T09:54:00.000-07:00

3 Fire on Sinai pages 59-74

(1571-1451 BC)

OTR in Egypt pages 69-88
In the Desert pages 88 - 144

GBA pages 18-21

GBA pages 22-24

History --III -- Abraham

2010-08-12T09:45:00.000-07:00

2. Father in Faith pages 38-50

Kingfisher 46-57
Shamon ch 5 Abraham
OTR pages 13-28

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Shamon ch 6 -- Isaac
OTR pages 28-34 Isaac
--------------
Shamone ch 7 -- Jacob
OTR pages 35-42 Jacob
------------------
Shamon ch 8 Joseph
OTR pages 42-61

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OTR Job BC 1500

AGB Ancient Egypt 1-19
-------------------

GBA -- pages 14-17

History -- II -- early history

2010-08-12T09:43:00.000-07:00

1. A Darkling Plain -- pages 21-33

Neolithic/Agricultural Revolution

Mesopotamia -- first cities
Jericho -- 8000 BC
Eridu -- 6000 BC

Gilgamesh (read MacCaughrean)
2350 -- Sargon

Egypt -- 31000 Menes/Narmer
Pyramid Age -- 2600 BC
Akhnetan

Harappa -- on Indus
2500 - 1500

----
Kingfisher pp 12-37

---
Shamon chapter 4 Quicksand

OTR pages 6-12 (section VI)

other stories of the flood (print out from online)

GBA pages 12-13

Gombrich chapter 1

History -I

2010-08-12T09:39:00.000-07:00

Introduction and Prologue, "In the Beginning" --

Introduction
OTR pages 1-6
Humani Generis (print out, put in notebook)
read Gen, Book of Origins -- pp vii - viii, ch 1
read pages 1-10 Creation of the World

Kingfisher "What is History?" pp 1-8

Shamon ch 2 Man and Woman, pp 11-17
ch 3, Fall of Man

Gombrich, Story of Art, Introduction

Golden Bible Atlas pages 7-11

Creation and Genesis
Adam and Eve
Adam and Eve Q and A

2010-08-05T11:22:00.001-07:00

Herodotus of Halicarnassus
contains some interesting background information about the historian.

Index of High School Posts from other blog

2010-06-15T08:28:00.000-07:00

Here is where I'll gather my plans and thoughts for high school in chronological order. It's a work in progress right now. ... most of the plans are in draft form.

More Recent:
Kids' Schedules
Focusing on the 4Rs
Reading Good Books
Writing in Our Homeschool
Writing Continued
Resources for Ancient History
Resources for Greek Liiterature