Goodness! This was a stressful month. Frankly, it flew by like a blur.
I taught four science classes during August. The first focused on the properties of air, the second focused on static electricity, the third focused on sound and the fourth focused on rockets.
For the properties of air, we spoke about matter. I demonstrated that air has weight and occupies space.
For static electricity we covered what matter is made out of: atoms. What atoms are made out of: protons, neutrons and electrons. We covered how electrons can leave the atom, and how free electrons can jump (shock). We talked how we can protect ourselves from static electricity: by using special clothes and boots, by touching metal when leaving a car, by being inside during a storm, or making ourselves into a small ball if we are outside. I demoed how charged balloon attracts another balloon, or pieces of paper, or pieces of salt and pepper, or dripping water, or a can of soda.
For sound: we build a popper, a whistle, a popsicle kazoo, a straw kazoo, a paper flute and noise makers with balloons. We talked about vibrations, how sound waves travel, how our ear works and how to protect it.
For the rockets we reviewed the forces that need to be overcome for a rocket to leave Earth. We made rubber rockets, balloon rockets, straw rockets, and skewer rockets.
We also benefited from some classes that we offered by other people working in my company. S. took an improvisation class, a painting class, a song writing class and a book club. B. took a Lego class.
We also went on a week long vacation to Michigan. It was very pretty and we needed that vacation very much. Bryant Park is great. Haserot Park on the Old Mission Peninsula is possibly the only public park there. It is very pretty, and not busy on the weekends. The Empire Beach was my favorite in 2010 and 2014, but the beach portion has shrunk substantially. I am not sure why but I was unpleasantly surprised. I do not recommend it.
I starting reading a lot of books, and did not finish any. Grit, It's even worse than you think, So you want to talk about racism, Just Mercy(we also watched the film)(I recommend this TED talk by Bryan Stevenson), The New Jim Crow, Port Chicago 50, Stella by the Starlight, Bob. I need to read Roll of Thunder, Hear my cry and The Birchbark House.
We also continued to homeschool. We are somewhere a third of the way in 5th grade and 7th grade.
August 2020 Homeschool Update:
5th Grade:
Math: PreAlgebra Ch 1
English: IEW 10, 11, 12, EIW-Lessons 1-8, Novel - Front Desk
Portuguese: Simple Past Tense, Simple Present Tense, Lessons
7th Grade:
Math: Geometry-polygons, Competition Math - number theory, Counting & Probability - tricky counting and probability
English: IEW 6, 7 ; Novel - Lu, Hello Universe, Just Mercy
Portuguese: Simple Past Tense, Simple Present Tense, Lessons
Here are our 5th and 7th grade curricula:
5th grade Curriculum:
Music: Daily Piano and Cello practice
Arts: Paper & Scissors recreation of battles
English Writing: IEW- Medieval History and Essentials in Writing 5
English Spelling: All About Spelling 5 & 6
Literature: One book a month (three novel studies - Old Yeller, The Giver, Hatchet), one month focused on non-fiction texts, one month focused on fiction short stories and poetry.
Math: AOPS Pre-algebra and Geometry
Portuguese: Brasileirinho, reading, Gramatica Ativa 1
Social Studies: focus on American history from perspectives of Native Americans and Immigrants, critical look on American history and traditional look on American history.
Science: We will focus on hands-on science using books such as: Explore Gravity (Physics, Forensics, Blood Bullets and Bones, Rocketry, Exploring the Solar System, Beyond the Solar System, The Apollo Missions, Scientists in the Field Series (The Manatee Scientist, Sea Turtle Scientist, Inside Biosphere 2, Eclipse Chaser, Mission to Pluto, The Mighty Mars Rovers, etc.)
PE: workouts at home, bike, play outside, basketball, swim, hike, walks
7th grade Curriculum:
Music: Daily Piano and Violin practice
Arts: Whatever she finds on the internet
English Writing: IEW- Modern History
English Spelling: All About Spelling 6 & 7
Literature: One book a month (three novel studies - Roll of Thunder Hear my Cry, The outsiders, The Westing Game), EIL 7
Math: AOPS Algebra, Geometry, Counting and Probability, Competition Math, ACM prep, and MathCounts prep
Portuguese: textbook, reading, Gramatica Ativa 1 & 2
Social Studies: focus on American history from perspectives of Native Americans and Immigrants, critical look on American history and traditional look on American history.
Science: We will focus on hands-on science (making observations, taking measurements and drawing conclusions) using books such as: Explore Gravity (Physics, Forensics, Blood Bullets and Bones, Rocketry, Exploring the Solar System, Beyond the Solar System, The Apollo Missions, Scientists in the Field Series (The Manatee Scientist, Sea Turtle Scientist, Inside Biosphere 2, Eclipse Chaser, Mission to Pluto, The Mighty Mars Rovers, etc.). We have a subscription to MEL Chemistry and will follow the experiments for an introduction to chemistry.
PE: workouts at home, bike, play outside, basketball, swim, hike, walks
