Church Bulletin Board

Planning High School Part 2

Well, yesterday was finally the day to get some of my plans down on paper or should I say computer.  Last year I discovered homeschool tracker.  I have opted to use the free version of homeschool tracker and so far it does everything I need it to do.

On their website this is what they say about the basic homeschool tracker:

• Basic Edition Never Expires
• Upgrade to PLUS at any time
• Easy Setup
• Track Attendance and Hours
• Manage, Copy and Reschedule Assignments
• Track Resources
• Generate Reports

I love how easy it was to set up and after you have put in the books you will be using for each subject and determined your school year it is really very easy and quick to plan out for each week.  I also like the fact that I can print off the assignment sheets for each week.  Every Saturday I check to see if I need to add anything to the lesson plans for the next week and then I print off the assignment sheets.  Abbie will put this in the front of  her notebook and then everyday check off her assignments.  I will then take the assignment sheet to the computer and after I have graded all of her work I will put all of this into homeschool tracker.  It is easy to generate reports and also keep up with her attendance record.

I-Pod Arm Band

 I discovered Pinterest and I found the best thing that I can't wait to try.  Here's the link to the amazing design to hold my i-pod while I jog.  I-Pod Armband

Planning High School Part I

In just a few short weeks our youngest daughter will begin high school!  Okay, first of all I have to say where did the time go????  And then after I have a small little breakdown I have to sit down and start planning 9th grade.   Back in April I joined The Homeschool Magazine and let me say that was one of the best decisions I ever made!  I was able to download a planner for the high school years which looks like it will be great and very user friendly!

 I also have access to so many e-books from The Homeschool Magazine website which have proved very helpful.  I had actually signed up to receive a tote bag as my free gift when I joined The Homeschool Magazine but they were out of stock and they graciously offered to let me have all of the e-books in their library as a gift instead.  It took me just a little bit of time to figure out how to download the e-books from my computer and put them on my Nook Tablet but it really wasn't that hard and if you want to know how just leave me a message and I'll write a post on that.

The Homeschool Magazine also has lots of different teacher led courses ranging from sewing to Hebrew to geography and many many more.  I can't wait to utilize many of these classes during the next year.

I have only scratched the surface of what The Old Homeschool Magazine website has to offer.  But I do know that joining this year has been one of the best decisions I have made so far in our high school journey.

Please stay tuned to my next post on how I planned 9th grade.

Getting Started With Spanish by William Linney and Antonio Orta

We are almost finished using this wonderful Spanish curriculum called Getting Started With Spanish by William Linney and Antonia Orta.  After ordering the book you can go to their website and download the audible MP3 files which will enable you to be able to listen to a native speaker so you are able to use the correct pronunciation for each word.  The book consists of 177 short lessons which make it great to use during one year in your homeschool.  In the back of the book you have the answer keys for each school day as well as a pronunciation guide and a glossary.  Every day Abbie would learn the new word or words for the lesson and complete the exercise questions for the lesson.  The lessons were easy to implement as they averaged about thirty minutes time for each lesson.  I highly recommend this book for beginning Spanish lessons.

9th grade school plans

Wow, the time has flown by!  I can't believe that Abbie will be in the 9th grade next year.

I have been trying to plan for next year and here is a tentative schedule:

Literature............                                                 1 credit
English..............                                                  1 credit
History.............                                                  1 credit
Math ..............                                                    1 credit
Science.............                                                   1 credit
Foreign Language (Spanish)............                      1 credit
Elective: Art                     ...............                      1 credit

Elective Bible ..........                                         1 credit

Elective Computer Science ..................................... 1 credit
 Codecademy             

Total credits.................................................... 9 credits

Course Description:

Literature:   Here is a list of the literature books we will be using this year:
                 

• The Scarlet Letter (Nathaniel Hawthorne)
• Narrative of the Life of David Crockett (David Crockett)
• Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass (Frederick Douglass)
• Uncle Tom's Cabin (Harriet Beecher Stowe)
• Co. Aytch (Sam Watkins)
• Little Women (Louisa May Alcott)
• Humorous Stories and Sketches (Mark Twain)
• In His Steps (Charles Sheldon)
• Up From Slavery (Booker T. Washington)
• Mama's Bank Account (Kathryn Forbes)
• Christy (Catherine Marshall)
• To Kill a Mockingbird (Harper Lee)
• The Giver (Lois Lowry)  

Text:  Exploring America History, Literature, and Faith by Ray Notgrass

English   

Daily lessons provide students with a firm grasp on the basics of grammar: capitalization, punctuation, grammar and sentence combining (with an emphasis on expository writing) are all covered. Designed as an introduction to the important concepts students will need to know, Easy Grammar not only introduces new topics, but teaches them throughout the course. Using the same building-block approach as other Easy Grammar books, students will build upon their knowledge in only 10 minute increments, leaving ample time for literature, writing, and other important high school coursework.  Topics covered include the differences between an independent clauses and dependent clauses; about fragments, sentences, and run-ons; and the structure of compound and complex sentences.
Text:   Easy Grammar Ultimate Series:  180 Daily Teaching

History 
The curriculum presents history from the perspective of faith in God and respect for His Word.  This study will begin with Columbus and will finish with current events.
Text:  Exploring America History, Literature, and Faith by Ray Notgrass

Math

Science 
Exploring Creation with Biology is a college-prep biology course that provides a detailed introduction to the methods and concepts of general biology. With a strong emphasis on the vocabulary of biology, the course provides the student with a strong background in the scientific method, the five-kingdom classification scheme, microscopy, biochemistry, cellular biology, molecular and Mendelian genetics, evolution, dissection, and ecosystems.
 Exploring Creation with Biology  by Jay Wile 

Spanish   
We plan on using this site for our Spanish this year:  Spanish 1

Electives:  

Art:   Manga Drawing.  This course will provide an opportunity to learn about the history of manga drawing and actually creating some manga  art. This course expands drawing skills including but not limited to focus on facial expressions, human figures, and hair, eye, ear and hand details. Design techniques to include character development and creative costumes. Also covers scriptwriting, visual storytelling, and presentation.
Text:  Manga for the Beginner by Christopher Hart.

Bible:    A comprehensive curriculum that will study the issues in American Christianity.
Text:  The Bible and also Exploring American History by Ray Notgrass

Computer Science:   We will be using this website for our computer sciencecourse.   This curriculum will cover HTML, CSS and the basis of the Java Script.   During the year several websites will be built with HTML and style them with CSS.  The final lesson will consist of making a small game in Javascript.

Chili

Ingredients

1 onion, chopped 

1 bell pepper, chopped  

1 (14 ounce) cans stewed tomatoes  

4 (8 ounce) cans tomato sauce 

1 (14 ounce) cans ranch style beans  

1 (14 ounce) cans pinto beans 

1 (14 ounce) cans kidney beans  

1 (10 ounce) cans Rotel diced tomatoes 

1 (1 1/4 ounce) packages McCormick mild chili seasoning  

2 lbs ground chuck

Directions

Brown Ground Chuck. Add all canned items, including juice, into large pot. 

Cook until onion and pepper are tender.  Freezes nicely! 

I made this chili today and it reminds of the chili that you can get at Wendy's.