Food Choices - A Documentary and Handout

On Monday, we will be watching a 2016 documentary called, "Food Choices" in place of science. The documentary is very biased towards carnivorous and even omnivorous diets, but in a non-threatening, tolerable way. It includes a lot of scholarly and/or celebrity speakers discussing facts about dietary needs and animal welfare.


In my own personal notes, I wrote down some books that I wanted to investigate after hearing the guest speakers - "The China Study" and "The Starch Solution." I also wrote down the name of a movie (see question 30) that I'd like to preview and possibly share as a classroom assignment - "Earthlings." I'm not sure I'd like to expose my child to inhumanity, not knowing the extent of the film, but I also don't want to shield him from the world. I have to think about that one.


I wrote up an easy worksheet to go along with the documentary. If you'd like to use it, please feel free. Just highlight the text below and paste it to your favorite format. That way, you don't have to print the rest of this page. 

 

Food Choices

1. Having a diet rich in _______-based food is the best diet for human beings.
2. ________ and ________ are good for you. We all know that.
3. In history, rich people could afford to eat _______, which made them very fat and sick. The only difference today is that we have more kings and queens.
   “The best diet is the diet that you Do/don't know you're on.”
4. Humans do/don't need protein.
5. In healthier parts of the world, very _______ meat is used to add __________ to a dish, which makes the population much healthier than we are in the USA.
6. White meats, like chicken and fish are better than/worse than/equally as bad for us as red meat.
   Consuming Animal Products
7. Milk is made for ________, with natural (and sometimes chemically added) hormones that help them grow.
8. Binders for cheese are as addictive as _________.
9. Eggs are the highest dietary source of _____________.
10. Which Omega fatty acid is in eggs (3 or 6)? ____
11. Essential means, “must come from ________
12. Instead of supplementing Omega-___, we should be lowering Omega-___ sources from our diet.
13. NutrientFacts compares fish oil supplements to selling ________ oil because that was a completely fictitious oil sold by peddlers as a cure-all for ailments.
    Health Concerns
14. Erectile dysfunction (when your penis no longer functions properly) is an early warning sign of __________ arteries.
15. Portion control and 'make yourself sick' diets do/don't work because they trick us into ignoring when we're hungry. All of these diets are replicas of each other.
16. Julie referred to herself as a 'fat vegan' until she removed _________, __________, and ________ from her diet.
17. Carbohydrates don't make us sick; simple carbohydrates do make us sick because the body doesn't have to do any work to process them. Some examples of simple carbohydrates are (List at least 4 foods/drinks): ________________________________________________________

Can we choose?

18. Who dictates what fast food companies will sell? ___________
19. Chemical medicines create more/less medical problems.
20. Its more profitable to ________ a medical illness than it is to _________ it, so that's where all of our medical funding goes.

Why should we eat healthier?

21. You do NOT have to sacrifice __________ when you eat healthier.
22. Because of the way nutrient-dense foods make your body feel, you will eventually _______ them.
23. Healthy foods are cheaper/more expensive than processed foods.
24. In addition to being thinner, children the consume plant-based diets tend to be taller/shorter than other children.
25. To encourage children to make healthy choices, parents should:
    - “_______ your _______.” Another words, we need to practice what we preach.
    - Let kids be __________ in what kind of groceries and ingredients the family uses
    - Appeal to their interests by showing them new gadgets/ingredients. For example, a parent could make a ________ version of a burger.

The Treatment of Food Animals

26. Meats contain _____________s that cannot be washed off, like we can do with plants.
27. Bi-catch or bi-kill are the ________ life that are harmed during the process of catching desirable species.
28. _________ is a belief system that allows us to treat some animals as family and consume other animals as food.
29. Peace on earth is for _________ living things; not just human beings!

LAST QUESTION (to make it a nice even 30):

30. Would you like to watch a documentary about what happens behind the scenes in businesses that profit from the marketing of animals? The documentary will show the treatment of animals within pet shops, animal shelters, factory farms, the sports/entertainment industry, and in medical science. You may have to watch the documentary regardless of your personal choice, but your opinion does matter.
    A. Sure, this was the easiest science lesson I ever had! I'd be happy to watch another movie as classwork.
    B. No way, mom. This movie was uncool and irrelevant to me. I care about animals...in my belly.
    C. Meh, I don't care either way. You pick.

How to Glencoe

Today, I'm going to show you how to get free printable McGraw-Hill workbooks through the Glencoe website. The workbooks are grade based and easy to build lessons around. We often find videos of silly songs or stories on YouTube to compliment our workbook units, but you can apply them however you choose.

First, go to the Website:

http://www.glencoe.com

You will be greeted with a page that asks your state. It doesn't matter if you choose teacher or student/parent. Don't bother choosing a subject

When you log in, you'll see your state's specific guidelines. On the far left, there is a column of subjects. I'm going to show you two examples for getting to the free workbooks, one for Language Arts and the other for Math help. 

If you click LA, you'll be taken to a page like this:

Notice the far right column. Under Student, the last link says "Workbooks." Click it and you'll see this page:

Click your grade and Fire up that printer.

Now suppose you want math help instead. Just click the math subject on the left column of subjects and you'll get this page:

Again, on the far right column, under the word Student, we see "Student Workbooks." Click that and see this page:

As before, we choose our grade and prepare the printer.

We have a toner printer, which I strongly advise you acquire when printing workbooks. These aren't the tiny, 25 page Spectrum books; they're for big kids. Some of them are 170 pages long. The LA workbooks are jam packed with exercises, crossword puzzles, proofreading paragraphs...They're really good! Dollar tree has 1" binders for $1. I go to town with the hole puncher and store our workbooks in files unless we're actively working on them. As with all handouts, just be sure that you're actively instructing and not just depending on the page to do the job by itself. Check youtube for songs and stories, make posters and flash cards, make games to apply the words, encourage your student to use words in a story or say them throughout the day with a high-five reward, give a verbal mini-quiz of yesterday's lesson before starting today's...apply them.

Thus far, I've only used the Language Arts workbooks because that's where I feel my student needs extra attention outside of our everyday lessons, but I may add other subjects before the end of this year. What do you think about the free printable workbooks? Would you use them? Have you used them? 

A Gentle Reminder to Give

As the school year begins for public students, we all start to chuckle at the sound of bus brakes squeaking by. It's that time again, the time when the news showcases parents embarrassing their children in creative ways, celebrating, as they give up their parental rights to an institution of strangers. As this time squeaks upon us, I want to send out a gentle reminder for all of us to consider the less fortunate. By less fortunate, I mean those that are not blessed with the ability to receive personalized academic instruction.

When we prepared for our first year of homeschool, I found so many unopened supplies. Untouched folders, pencils, scissors, crayons, markers, packages of paper...I found barely used binders and dividers that I simply would not send my son in on the first day with. As an instructor, I know what my own classroom and my own student needs for the year. Let me tell you, it's not another new standard calculator. I can't believe how much money I wasted on 'the list' of standard supplies. I can't believe how materialistic I was about sending in only brand new supplies. With this in mind, I stock up on what I feel is important to our instruction and scavenge for sales. Public teachers need things like tissues, sanitizer, pencils, folders, and everyone needs line paper. I keep my eyes peeled for sales on these things, so that we can donate them to the public. For example, Dollar Tree has 1" binders, which seems to be the cheapest right now. I'm waiting for 10 cent line paper.

Why should you care if public kids have supplies? We're forced to pay taxes for them to have what they need. Oh honey, if they had what they needed you probably wouldn't be home educating right now. God knows you're not homeschooling to save money. Of all of the things that public children must worry about every day, tools shouldn't be one of them. These children, albeit not yours, are your own child's future society. By investing in them when you can, you're investing in your own child's future. It's important.

I hope you'll consider public kids when you find that special sale on that special item, you know, the one that makes you gleeful. I hope you'll walk right past that store donation box and give the items directly to the school or your church so that they can give it to the school. Whether you're doing God's work or just looking out for children because they're children, I hope you'll join us in giving whatever we can to secure OUR future for ALL children. This is just a gentle reminder. I need to remind myself more often of this. Tis' the season of giving...tools; not toys. Time to make some wise donations. 

Click-free Mock PSAT tests

Oh, McGraw-Hill, you've saved me once again. The link that I'm sharing with you today comes from McGraw-Hill. The page has 5 free printable mock PSAT's, with both a simple and detailed answer section. It's timed and so organized. The best part of all is that these tests require absolutely no clicking or Internet access while taking the test. They're completely paper tests, with a bubble sheet and everything. They are self-graded, which is a little complicated, but the directions are clear enough to understand, even for me. 

http://www.mhpracticeplus.com/psat.php

Oh, this is so exciting for me to share. I printed test 1 tonight. I plan to take Austin to the library (as we do with all of our tests) on week 9 of homeschool, which will be the first Friday in September. Afterwards, we will go over the test together at the library. Test 1 will take him 2 hours 10 minutes for 5 sections, plus two to three 10 minute breaks, and I expect anywhere from 1-2 hours of engaged grading, so it will count as a school day. 

If this goes well, I will use more mock tests and administer them on weeks 18 and 27. Our standard yearly test is on week 31. I'm hoping that we can take the PSAT 8/9, but that is still in the air. I'm not 100% sure that it meets state standards. Never assUme, you know. I did ask the HSLDA on their Facebook page. Our local high school may not offer it and/or they may not let Austin sit in. I know that I must contact them by mid-August to find out and darn tootin' I'll apply for a waiver. (And here goes the rant.) Heck, I might stop in at the school, since they've ignored my email inquiry. It's only about 3 miles up the road and they cannot hide from me during school hours. I'll never understand why my local schools continue to act so clueless about things like 504 plans, IEPs, and student aids for mental health. They sure know about Ativan for adolescents. *eyes rolling* Don't you just love a good rant?! Lol

Enjoy the link! 

Free E-Books

Let me save you the hassle of signing up for an email list and give you the direct link:

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/content_link/snWgZGHZNhB0EpFtwprHn5QqoUje8vac8UWc5oHIwH85IGqOLc8TAp0u2MeADxJ4/file?dl=1

If you don't have E-books, you can just read it on your computer. I haven't read this yet, but it's in my e-library. If Austin didn't have doctors and councils, Id never read e-magazines or e-books. I'm saving this book for his first City Youth Council meeting on August 1st...which is also the day of Youth Ministries pool party and our first day of school. Isn't that always the way, a million things in one day and nothing else throughout the whole week?! Bah, enough complaining about life being life. I just wanted to share this e-book with you all. This will be our second year of home education (grade 9), but I'm still very much open to new ideas, methods, and techniques. The fact that it's free is just another bonus. 

I hope you enjoy the free Homeschool Tips book. I cannot wait to click it open! Reading helps me relax when I'm worried about what in the world my son might be saying/doing without me by his side. Fly little bird, fly! Lol

PS

If you're enjoy e-books, here's another freebie e-read:

This is the email I received for download instructions:

*********

Great Homeschool Conventions is committed to equipping & encouraging homeschooling families. Our regional conventions attract tens of thousands of homeschoolers each year. We hope you’ll be able to attend one of these events in 2017.

Another way we seek to equip and encourage homeschool families is by providing free resources such as this ebook giveaway, as well as other special offers for homeschool families. We hope you enjoy this outstanding book from John Taylor Gatto.

Download your copy of The Underground History of American Education, Volume 1 or use the links below.

If the link above does not work, copy-and-paste into your browser:

• All formats (compressed): https://cdn.greathomeschoolconventions.com/free/Underground-History-of-America-Education-all.zip
• ePub format: https://cdn.greathomeschoolconventions.com/free/Underground-History-of-America-Education.epub
• Kindle mobi format: https://cdn.greathomeschoolconventions.com/free/Underground-History-of-America-Education.mobi
• PDF format: https://cdn.greathomeschoolconventions.com/free/Underground-History-of-America-Education.pdf

Note: free Kinde app (https://www.amazon.com/gp/digital/fiona/kcp-landing-page) required for the Kindle mobi format or ePub reader (http://calibre-ebook.com) for the ePub format.

If you have a Kindle device, download the mobi format on your computer and email it to your “Send to Kindle” address (more information here: http://www.amazon.com/gp/sendtokindle/email) 

**********

JULY 22-25 Digital Homeschool Convention

Many thanks to the Homeschool Humorist for sharing this amazing FREE opportunity to participate in an online homeschool conference. They do not require any special downloads or credit card information. You just sign up with an email and wait for the videos to air starting July 22nd. These videos will be available for free for 5 days after their release date. Thereafter, the entire collection will be sold for $25 as a download. That's still an awesome deal compared to conference download costs.

Here is the link to sign up:

http://digitalhomeschoolconvention.com/

I'm SO thankful that people who are more seasoned than I are willing to provide their insight and knowledge to us for free. I already have the site bookmarked. I'll be the nerd with the notepad, writing things like, "Ballistic learning IS for my boy" and "The fundamental building blocks of (bullet notes)." I'll share if I learn anything cool that relates to our needs. 

If you will/have signed up, what courses are you looking forward to or interested in? I'm really interested in the writing lectures and high school preparedness information. I can't believe it's free. SO cool, SO kind! 

2016 2017 is Upon Us

Welcome back, my friends! Are you ready for another year of top notch, personally tailored teaching? Blah ha ha, me neither. Austin caught me with my files spread across the floor and asked, "Ooo, can we start early?" Um, no! Still, it's nice to see hm be so eager to get back to learning.

This year, we're still using a lot of Lifepac by Alpha Omega. I made the mistake of not reading the fine print in my used box sets because LIKE NEW CONDITION does not contain teachers manual, although you'd think like new means like all of the original pieces *_*. AOP was super nice about helping me get the correct edition via the publishing date on my used units. They were so nice to my cheap self and even informed me of a discount that was running at that time. How cool?! My package arrived timely, in its shiny respectable box. I'm not used to newness. Oh, I loved it. I definitely recommend shopping with this business! 

The only core subject that didn't really work for us last year with AOP was their Language Arts program. Last year, we used Barron's 1,100 words with AOP. Austin's really enjoyed 1,100 words, but their new edition is almost identical to the previous edition. I went to Glencoe dot com. I entered my state and choose teacher. On the far right column, you'll see "Workbooks" for whichever subject you choose. These are FREE PRINTABLE WORKBOOKS! Get your toner printer ready. 

Side note: One of the workbooks caused a paper jam by page 115 (a hefty print) because Austin delighted me with vomiting up dinner as I was printing it. Apparently, he's one of the 5% of people who get headaches from the Hep A vaccine, which probably caused his vomiting. Have you gotten your students wellness checkup and immunizations? Now would be a good time to get that out of the way, before the BTS crew floods the offices.

Field trip!!

After that heart blessing over-share, I want to share something VERY cool: The AAF Tank Museum! It's located in Danville, Va. Admission is $12 for adults and $10 for children under 12 or adults over 60. It's literally the coolest thing I've ever seen. I wasn't allowed to go the first time because it was "Guy's Day." We got a family pass for $50, which included the day's admission price, so $26 extra. 2 people going twice is the cost of a yearly pass. Today, they had a raffle for 3 chances to ride a real tank. They're operating a flame thrower on September 3rd and showing off their amazing model tanks on the mini battlefield on Septwmber 17th. Today, we met people from Russia, Georgia, and even (our birth state) Maryland. They have 3 huge rooms of tanks, a maze of uniforms and weaponry...oh, it's amazing. Austin was with his people and I was in awe. They don't offer a teacher discount, but (as educators) we need to support one of the few tank museums in the nation. Their gift shop is pretty sweet and the owner is always present. Fabulous place!

This year's school supply list includes:

*Binders - The puppy binder is duct taped and needs an upgrade. Also, our printed workbooks need a fancy cover to appeal to Austin.

*Post-It's - I don't even bother buying the tabs anymore. We use the standard square sticky notes for secure bookmarks, notes, and to quickly share phone/email information

*Filler Paper - Get it while you can! By November, all we could find was the reinforced pages, which are about $5 for 80 sheets. Nope, we resorted to cutting out our old spiral notebooks. It worked well, but I don't want to have to go there again.

*Composition books - I need at least 3 of them and one that is graphed. We use the graphed composition book for math. The lined books are great for storing a specific subject work or journal entries about a current novel. I love to tape/glue printed photos or thinking questions on the back of the last page he wrote on. Composition books seem to be cheaper than a pack of lined paper and they never blow around or get jumbled. Love them!

*Chalk - For some reason, we go through a lot of chalk. Austin loves to share his lessons with those who walk through our neighborhood. We've drawn a walkable digestive tract, all kinds of elements, maps, Pangea...I might be able to get him to write an essay if I call it a blog post and proofread the street lol

*A new Whiteboard - Our old one is a little grey from use. We put the family schedule on our whiteboard, which is very comforting to Austin. I update it every 3-4 weeks, even in the summer.

*A Planner for Austin - I live by my planner. Yes, I'm one of those people and Id like Austin to be one of those people as well, especially as we prepare him to be (early) College Ready.

Most of our supply purchases will come from Dollar Tree, maybe B&N and Walmart. I don't really see a need to travel an hour to Greensboro or Danville in hopes that Office Depot will respect me as a teacher on the rare chance I show up on their Teacher Appreciation day. God only knows when that is *^*. Their manager says it's July 30th for Danville, but even she wasn't 100% sure. 

Tax free weekend

I've gotten into a lengthy debate trying to explain to friends that sales tax off of $300 in singular supplies is the same as the sales tax off of a $300 singular item. North Carolina doesn't do Tax Free Weekend, but VA does. Their tax rate is 6%. It'd cost me about $10 in gas just to get to/from Danville, so I'd have to buy $60 worth of stuff just to break even for the day. I could do it in clothes alone, but do I really want to go all Black Friday for a 6% off sale? No thanks, I'll wait for 20% or more. Really, if a store that's an hour away from you offered you a 6% off sale, would it make you bum rush their front door? Nope. Tax Free weekend is a nice gesture, but it's also a splurge plot. Don't fall for it! 

2016-2017 Academic Goals

**This year, Austin will be in 9th grade. That means that he will be able to begin early college in the 2017-2018 school year. North Carolina offers the "Career and College Promise" program to all NC students, both public and non-public. Our main goal is to prepare Austin for independent learning. 

- Limit questions until the end of a lesson unless they relate directly to the lesson

- Be responsible for completing work without teacher reminders

- Take notes that are important to you, include page numbers with notes

**We will be focusing on different forms of essay writing. Austin does not enjoy writing unless it is by his own choice, which is not always possible. I hope to entice Austin to write by calling these essays blogs, blurbs, spoilers, and using other forms of technologically enticing keywords. 

**We will also be focused on PSAT practice, which means that we will be practicing to take the practice SAT. I would love for Austin to take the PSAT instead of the placement test, but I'm still investigating whether or not it will meet our state's yearly testing requirements and, if so, our local high school needs...um, a less than gentle push to include him. #MamaBear

We're SO ready for homeschool 2016-2017! That's a good thing because the family calendar is jam packed right up until July 30th, with church that Sunday, and we will be starting our school year on August 1st. Bring it, grade 9!

What are you doing to prepare for the new school year? Are you "so ready?" Also, how was your summer? Welcome back! 

THE LAST DAY APPROACHES

We are approaching the last week of the school year. In some lesson sets, Austin is on Unit 8 or 9. In other sets, I've started instructing the next grade level, so we're only on Unit 3. I have bookmarked sections, so that we don't stop mid-section. I sure do love my sticky tabs. We're doing double vocabulary, so that we can test on a Wednesday and smaller sections in places where he is a bit ahead. Austin has worked really hard this year, so we will stop on day 180. On August 1st, I will do the "Remember last time, we were reading about..." and continue our lessons as usual.

I've been considering ways to organize our documents. Right now, they're in a filing cabinet. Each subject has its own folder. Have you ever priced those ridiculously large binders? They're like $8 a piece! I'm thinking that maybe I will store Austin's work in folders, each box curriculum or workbook in its own folder, and title the folders with the subject, materials, and year. I think I'll store them in one of the shipping boxes. Maybe I'll just store the files in the filing cabinet and still mark the folders this way. I'm not sure yet. I wonder how other people do store their homeschool years of work.

We have all that we will use for 2016-2017 except Language Arts. I'm scouring my sources for an alternative English program. Someone said, "Poetry for young people," but the books are selections of poetry, by specific poets, in less than 10 super colorful pages. I could print these myself...if I had a printer. We're planning to purchase a toner printer ASAP, but it'll take a month or so considering that there's no promotional pay,net plan for an item under $200 at Office Depot. Btw, Office Depot finally signed me up for their Star Teacher program. I think, once we have our printer, I'll select free lesson plans from other teachers/instructors to match the books I choose for us. We're also starting cursive lessons as soon as Austin finishes the remaining 12 weeks of "1,100 Words." The cursive will constitute our vocabulary lessons, which are seperate from Language Arts.

I've been borrowing a lot of books on tests, like ACT, PSAT, SAT 1 & 2...If I see an acronym, I pick it up. I was so shocked that the placement test was so easy for Austin. That's because it tests memory instead of knowledge. I found it interesting that the ACT is very vigorous on time and the SAT essay is not as optional as you'd think. I would like to start giving Austin a subject in Testing by rotating the mock tests of different kinds. Our library portal has mock testing for everything. As much as I detest computer learning, I have to come to terms with that. I can't print everything, you know.

Austin wants to do something special to celebrate completing his school year. It has been suggested that we go to Celebration Station, which we probably will do. I'm timid of spending money because I've planned to go to my sister's while he is at camp in the last week of June. Camp is $185 for us because the church was generous enough to grant us $100. $50 of that will go towards my train ticket to my sister's. I want to surpass my $185 total, if I can. I also have to get Austin some shorts (he doesn't own a single pair) and odd things, like a flashlight. Don't worry, I have my Xanax ready. Remember, last time he left for the weekend I popped an eye vessel. I think staying with my sister will keep me occupied. She's very well-grounded, so I won't get into any trouble. It makes sense for me to be in Spartansburg while Austin is in Greenville. I'll take the train down the day after him and take it back the day before he returns. It seems very smart. I keep reminding Austin that camp usually costs well over $1,000 for just a weekend, so we better plan to write a lot of thank you notes. A lot of sacrefice a are being made for this experience and we must be sincerely thankful for that. 

I have three months to organize our files, get the toner printer, fine tune the lessons, and gather the most perfect lesson plans I can find for the upcoming school year. For right now, the goal is to celebrate our last day of school and then worry about planning camp. One step at a time...I have to say, I'm quite impressed with how much we've accomplished. Austin has worked his tail off and enjoyed the heck out of it. He's a different child...more of a man. I don't know if his maturity is from puberty or the immense relief of stress that home instruction has given us. Either way, homeschool works for us. Everyone says Austin has changed for the better. He is way more active than he every was in public school, he wants to try new things even if he's not good at them, and I trust him more on his own. We have a better understanding of each other and a tight bond, even though he can't wait to wriggle away from me all the time. I'm trying to respect his wishes for freedom. 

In closing (yes, this scattered post has a closing), I have some questions for you:

- What kind of English curriculum would you suggest for a high school student that doesn't like to write?

- What tests are you using for college readiness?

- How are you storing your completed homeschool work?

If you cannot leave a comment, please email me or contact me on Facebook. Id love to hear feedback. A lot of times I feel like I'm just writing for my own benefit, so it'd be nice to know if you find me entertaining or helpful or even a hot mess. Tell me if you think I'm doing something wrong.

Your fellow instructor,

Karen Burke

**UPDATE**

This actually makes sense to me! I'm separating our curricula by box set or workbook and labeling folders for storage of completed work. Some of our curricula will have one or two units left to complete after August 1st, which will be marked as 2015-2016 even though they will be instructed in the 016-2017 school year. 

With this system, I'll be able to pull X box set's notebook work as a whole section. The folder cover will say the year, grade, subject, publisher, published date, and ISBN. I'm storing completed folders in the back of my cabinet and active sections in the front. That way, when we complete them, I'll just follow my system and put the folder in the back where it belongs. 

I also have folders of expenses, immunizations/Dr info, my school records, testing (Which will include Austin's Book List and Transcript), and our daily schedule. Gym will actually be completed over the summer, so that folder is in the middle right now. By George, I think I've got it. What do you think? 

Reading your Terra Nova Results

We finally got our test results back from Bayside School Services. I will be using them again next March because I like how they managed things. I was so nervous, with this being our first test, but it was actually very easy.

Ordering -

I chose the Terra Nova complete Battery Plus because Austin has the patience to take lengthy tests. Otherwise, I would've opted for the survey, which is said to be much shorter.

Administering - 

Once it arrived, I took Austin to the library for testing. It is recommended (but not required) that a non-family member that lives outside of the household administer the test. I didn't know anyone outside of my family and I felt funny asking a complete stranger, so I felt that administering it in a public place was sufficient. 

I sat Austin at a table within my sight, but not with me. We quietly went over the samples together, I started the timer, and walked away. I kept his start and end times on my own page. When he had completed his test, I copied the bubble sheet and sent the originals, with the test materials, back to Bayside School Services.

Results -

I found a very good video of a teacher explaining how to read the Terra Nova results. She also explains grades 3 & 9.

https://vimeo.com/71537495

Our test results show that Austin needs more study in Language Arts. He received a 68 percentile in Spelling, which was only a 15 minute section (Language mechanics 74, Reading 76). 

We had been using an SAT-level vocabulary list and LifePac Language Arts. I LOVE LifePac, but we found it to be very...draggy, wordy, and unnecessarily lengthy for our personal needs. I'm not blaming the curriculum. Language Arts is consistently Austin's least favorite subject. He goes through phases of disliking other subjects, but his feelings towards writing in general are very negative. 

On the performance objective page, I can see where Austin only had a difference of 15 for identifying reading strategies, 16 for analyzing text, and 17 for basic understanding. He scored a difference of 21 for evaluating extended meanings, which is his high point. For spelling, he scored a difference of only 4 for consonants, 7 for vowels, and 12 for structural units.

My conclusion -

I certainly do want to strengthen Austin's spelling and language arts skills. I believe this will be best handled through an English program that is specifically tailored for him. After all, the goal is to master skills that will guarantee us a high ACT and SAT score; not to master 15 minutes worth of spelling questions.

I will continue to impliment McGraw-Hill workbooks. He did two this year, but I wasn't aware of the many other free options among their workbooks and I didn't really know how to instruct materials in-depth back then. I know that we can get more out of these worksheets if I fully instruct them instead of blindly administering them.

I will select a list of literature for Austin and myself to read, hopefully things that neither of us have previously read. Austin will have a choice of several books, but he will not exclude himself to only novels. Also, manga is not an acceptable academic reading choice. He will take hand-written short notes in his composition book, with page numbers, and use those notes to type an essay on the book that addresses the highlights, conflicts, comparisons...and so forth. 

I will also be teaching Austin cursive writing on the 12th week of school next year. We have 11 more weeks of the SAT book that he must complete this August before we begin cursive. He will practice letters, words, and finally sentences. Most importantly, he will master his signature and numbers in word-form. Hopefully, this will strengthen his hand joints (hyper mobility) and build his confidence in me that I am not going to make him write until it hurts.

Bottle Biosphere

IIn science, we moved from single-called organisms to plants cells, which moved us to the organ development of a plant. Our textbook asked us to make a terrarium, so that we could watch the plant organs develop. Being that it is planting season anyway, we made a biosphere out of bean plants. We're currently learning about the organs of the body, which is quite nice to pair with our plant growth.

I browsed a bunch of how-to's for "terrarium" and "bottle biosphere." This is the one I chose to print for our use:

http://weirdsciencekids.com/ecosystem.html

Smaller children may prefer to make a box-like scene of plastic plants in a circular glass jar from the Dollar Tree. That way, they can see the plants and critters and explain their purpose without the fragile, messy parts that require patience or long-term focus.

On 3-25, we followed a print of the website's directions to build our bottle biosphere. We kept a log every 2-3 days. We also named our terrariums as a way to personalize them. Mine was "Mom Bean" and Austin's was "SUPER BEAN (not actually super)." Lol, my kid.

- By 4-1 (day 7 or 8) our seeds began to sprout.

- Quickly after the plant developed sprouts, Austin noticed roots crowding the edge of the bottle and decided that we should re-pot our sprouts.

- Today (4-4-16 and day 11 of growth), we examined the roots while re-potting our sprouts. 

By "we," I mean I because Austin is phobic of buzzing insects and demands to examine at the kitchen table or through the kitchen screen. That's ok. I respect and empathyze with his phobias. I have some myself. I often carry our plants to him for inspection. 

Gardening has provided us with fabulous opportunities to discuss The Lord's plan, creation, and even parenting. God is perfect. He makes humans in His image, yet we are imperfect because of our free will. No matter how perfect we are at gardening, the seed has its own free will as well. Does God watch us with the same hope that we have for our garden? We discussed how we are giving the seed opportunity to grow and how philanthropy shouldn't always have to yield the fruits of labor. Sometimes, just watching that seed grow is reward enough. That's where the parenting conversations start. The process of growing things is amazing to watch. I've had great luck with growing and saving seeds from jaguar marigolds, but this is the first time I've tried to grow a popular edible food. I think my enthusiasm is making this even more interesting for Austin. Thanks to our lesson, we know the complexity of what is going on in the bottle/plant as it grows. Imo, it's so much better than an ant farm. 

(Side note) I also planted sunflowers this year. Yesterday, the wind knocked over my egg carton planter. Luckily, the plants were ready to be re-potted and I believe that I was able to save 5 of 6. Austin says it's the equivalent of "the great flood," but with plants and wind, "Sometimes, God's will is to make you move a little quicker and you can't mess with God's will, ma." 

I showed Austin a video of a Kiwi-Nana, where someone spoofed cross-planting. We went back to our dichotomous key to discuss why these plants cannot interbreed. That lead to a big ole sidetrack about tomatoes. 

You may also enjoy this HGTV playlist of videos, with recommendations:

http://hg.tv/3tb05

I'm going crazy wandering this site now.

Here's a chart or scientific names for the parts of a bean plant:

Ours are developing their trifoliate leaves and one plant's cotyledon has started to wither off mid-stem. Most of the cotyledons are plump and bean-like. I just want to take pictures every single day. They're such rapid growers!

Plant Cells

We've moved from fungi to cells, particularly plant cells. I found a very nice, FREE, colorful labeling worksheet for plant and animal cells here:

https://d3jc3ahdjad7x7.cloudfront.net/gipdZMUwwOrAePlgbMIXyulrEfbSaqVjaOsjjvhVdQuJdIHA.pdf

We took a little bit of time to discuss cellulose, which I recognize as a newly utilized ingredient in starchy, commercialized foods. Livestrong and Mayo Clinic describe this as a healthier alternative to heavy carbohydrates. Other pages describe it as the paper industry's enconomic solution to the decreased need for paper products now that technology is increasing and encouraging the use of paperless information between customers. Cellulose is located within a plant's cell membrane and acts as a skeleton-like structure to protect the cell. It can be visually recognized in stacks the way that cell structure resembles cork chambers. I find cellulose to be very interesting. It is such a teany tiny structure, yet we are utilizing it for food sources as we do with the soy bean. It's very cool!

I will add more tidbits about the study of plant cells as we approach them in our unit study. I did get a glance at some different types of plant stems (which we studied in our dichotomous key research). 

Radical Expressions Calculator

Today, Austin's math lesson included the last of adding and subtracting radical expressions, which meant we had to simplify radicals. Here is one of the many problems that gave us issues today:

(Unit 7, pg 57 of "Math gr 9" LifePac, by Alpha Omega Publishing)

Now, when I look at this final answer, I think that 38 should be subtracted from 12. Austin thinks it should be looked at as (2 r5) - (3 r2) and then squared, which (as Austin protested) certainly does give a simplified answer of 18. I'm not even sure who is right, him and/or the book.

I tried our table calculator and a scientific calculator. Then I found this bad boy, a radical expressions calculator on math portal.org 

Here's a link to a radical expressions calculator:

http://www.mathportal.org/calculators/radical-expressions/simplifying-radical-expressions.php

It took us forever to fully understand trinomials, which may be the problem with these perticular problems. Dude can do trinomials in his sleep, but doing them with square roots is a new problem for us. Before we move on to dividing radical expressions, I need to find some similar practice work with radical expressions. I'll share my free worksheet findings here:

This website offers attractive free practice worksheets. I printed the 'operating system with radical expressions' a few days ago and dividing radicals today under the radical expressions section:

https://www.kutasoftware.com/freeia2.html

Has anyone else experienced these kinds of 'simplified' math problems? I'm not sure if it's a 'trinomial radical expression,' just a complex radical expression, an incomplete simplification...WE definitely need more practice with this one before we move on to dividing radical expressions.

Fun with fungi and microorganisms

We're learning about microorganisms in science. It can be very thick text, so I try to seek out ways to make it fun and engaging. 

I found a nice printable worksheet for labeling a Light Microscope here:

http://biol104.weebly.com/uploads/6/0/6/1/6061714/microscope_worksheet_1.doc

I also found a worksheet that offers labels as well as fill-ins for definitions here:

http://sciencespot.net/Media/microparts.pdf

Mooshrooms

If you don't know what Mooshrooms are, they're cows in Minecraft that are covered in mushrooms. I don't see how that could be related to the phyla, but it keeps the kid interested.

I just happened to be taking an interest in making homemade bread as we started this section. It's incredibly easy with Rapid Rise yeast and only takes about an hour. The recipe is a great short-span way to explain how yeasts feed on sugar. Of course we discussed the difference between rapid rise and dry active. We trapped the finished loaves in a rubber bread bin as well as our regular method in which we store bread (cut-side down, covered with a paper bag). Then we waited a few days for the obvious smells and textures to occur. We chewed some of the bagged bread, but the sealed bread became too stinky and alarming to ingest. I'd suggest trying this recipe/experiment with each kind of yeast, dry milk,honey versus sugar...and using just an end of one loaf so that the rest of the bread can be enjoyed. The recipe for RR or Dry Active bread can be found here:

http://www.breadworld.com/recipes/Beginners-White-Bread

When we tried the same experiment with commercial bread, Austin found it alarming that there was no offensive smell from the sealed loaf. However, the bagged bread became stiff and crumbly. I'm surprised he still wants to eat commercial bread.

Flagellum 

These are microscopic organisms that move via a propeller or tail-like appendage. We remember it's transportation by relating it to flagellation. We compare its creation of a cyst to Ray's story of saving a fart in a coffee can until it could be fully 'appreciated' by others aka find complimentary living conditions. How's that for personalized learning?! My boys love a good fart joke, so it might as well be educational. 

Maps and Road Trip Planning

Today, Austin and I studied relief maps. Our book recommended that we build a 3-D clay map, which I found to be messy and unnecessary. I found a store online that offers a textured relief map of our county for $55 +SH, but I did not buy it. Sometimes, local interest points will have relief maps on display, but I was unable to find one on the bus line. Instead, we used 

www.MapHill.com 

MapHill lets us use a topographical map, which shows shading to imply the raised bumps for mountains that a relief map has. We compared the topographical map to the satellite map of our current city (by looking up the county and zooming in) as well as our old house in Maine. We noticed that industrial areas have a leveled valley-like appearance in NC, which we assume is a man-made result or a result of man working with the land. The undisturbed trees mimic the topographical shading only in some cases. Our current house is on a hill, which is not represented on a topographical map at all even though it appears to be quite prominent to us on foot. We viewed a topographical map of our state and noticed that many of the mountain edges merged together on the larger scale. 

To demonstrate mountains and valleys, we started to explore the Blue Ridge. Did you know that you can order FREE maps and brochures of the Blue Ridge Parkway from BlueRidgeParkway.org ? I should've known their travel and tourism would provide this, but I just found out for sure myself. I've also been secretly promising myself I'll get Austin to go camping and get a Ranger Explorer badge with me. We promised the in-laws we'd come up pre-winter for Dh to help winterize. Hopefully, we can coordinate our Maine trip during a peak foliage time and shove him in a hotel while we explore the mountains.

When I was a kid, we'd go camping every year during summer break. There are so many great memories, like when mom commented that her feat were so toasty and dad informed her that her shoe was on fire, when a deer scaled the table to eat a fresh hamburger right off of a plate, when I begged my parents to take me to Dinosaur Land...I remember that day so well. I was wearing a purple Shera t-shirt and we posed with King Kong. That's how cheesey it was. I loved it! Austin is not much of a hiker, but he loves animals just about as much as he loves impressing us with his knowledge of them. He'd have a great time if we could just weasel him into going out there with us.

Here's a link to the ranger programs and FREE printable forms:

http://www.nps.gov/shen/learn/kidsyouth/beajuniorranger.htm

When our brochures come in the mail, I want Austin to plan a road trip for us including respectable pit stops. I think it'd be a fun break from our History textbook. It'll be a nice mini exercise before planning a trip to Maine. I've decided to be nice and give him the option of choosing 81 as the long way or 95 which includes to-date toll calculations. Austin doesn't like big projects because they stress him out and there's no listed tasks, but if it's something that's important to him he's all on board. I think he'll be more excited about going to the woods if he can boss us with directions and a schedule the whole way there.

It's important to me that we plan trips and execute them, so that Austin can practice for when he's an adult. I learned from Ray's business trip to Allentown that the GPS is not always a reliable source of directions. Sometimes the gas station you want to stop at ends up not having a bathroom or being closed for quite some time. As we study types of maps and how to read them, I want him to apply his knowledge. I want him to call places to check their hours before we depend on them, check reviews of hotels, and plan fun things to do with backup plans and a budget. Who knows, when he grows up, maybe he'll travel the world. It'd be comforting to know that he can depend on his preparations if the GPS goes out, you know.