Our Homeschool
Progress Report

Gypsy/Quincy
"Gypsy and Quincy"-painting by Kevin
Kappa-Epsilon Academy
21 September 1998

We are starting our second year of school. Following are the activities we have done throughout the month of September:

Math: Kevin and Erin are finishing up their Saxon books from last year, before beginning their new studies in Algebra 2 & pre-Algebra.
Kevin has been studying uniform motion w/unequal distances, square roots of large numbers, rounding numbers, factorable denominators, graphing absolute value, rational equations, equation of a line, variables and function reviews, radical equations, and slope functions..
Erin has been learning order of operations/signed numbers, number families, fraction/percent equivalents, sum of angle measures in a triangle and straight angles, equations with mixed numbers, signed numbers, sales tax, percents greater than 100, two-step equations, and simple probability.

Vocabulary, Language Arts: In Vocabulary we are continuing our weekly lists of 15 words. We look up the definitions, use the words in sentences, and then have our Test each Friday. We find synonyms and antonyms using last year's vocabulary lists and try to include these previously learned words in our sentences as well.
In Language Arts we are using the Easy Writing workbook by Wanda Phillips. Our beginning Lessons have been in finding & combining more than one subject in sentences, and the different methods of combining multiple subjects.

We are also continuing Greek and Latin root words-to help with our vocabulary skills-the words we've learned are--

  • quinque- five
  • sex- six
  • septem- seven
  • octo- eight
We are supplementing our G/L root-words with a fun workbook called Word-Wiz by Cherie Blanchard. Each lesson focuses on one root word, showing how you can combine it with other prefixes, suffixes and roots to make new words.

Writing Strands: This year we have selected Writing Strands Series(Level 5 & 6) from the National Writing Institute to help with our creative writing. Our first lesson was on using the Subjective/Objective narrative point of view. We are now learning how to make more interesting sentences, by adding details and descriptive words, and how to alter the subject/verb pattern to make paragraphs more exciting to read.

We have also learned orginazation in arguments and how to support an argument.

Reading: Kevin and Erin will both be turning in one Book Report each month. The books they have chosen are-
    Kevin- Watership Down by Richard Adams
    Erin- The Wayside Series by Louis Sachar

The requirements for each Book Report are--

  • Title & Author
  • List 5 unfamiliar words: define & use in a sentence
  • Main Characters
  • Setting
  • Plot
  • Type of Book
  • Opinion
  • Expected Schedule---
    • Outline-Due first Friday of month
    • Rough Draft-Due second Friday of month
    • Corrections-Due third Friday of month
    • Final Draft-Due end of month

Social Studies: In Social Studies we have begun our study of the American Revolution.

  • King George III
  • Government of the Colonies
  • Stamp Act
  • Townshend Act
  • Sons of Liberty and Protest groups
  • The Boston "Massacre"
  • The Boston Tea Party
  • Coercive (Intolerable) Acts
  • The Continental Congress is formed
  • War begginings- Lexington and Concord
  • The Battle of Breed's (Bunker) Hill
  • George Washington
  • The British and Hessian troops
  • Declaration of Independence
  • Patriots, fence-leaners, and loyalists (Tories)
  • Fighting in New York and New Jersey
  • Medical care on the battle field (Yuk)
  • The British surrender at Saratoga

We visited Minute Man Park in Lincoln, and watched a short film about the causes of the Revolution.

Science: This year our science course will be Biology. We have been studying cells, including the difference between plant and animal cells, the parts of cells, and simple one celled organisms. We have also discussed living and nonliving things and organic versus inorganic substances. Other lessons include; finding the definitions to a list of important words, drawing a typical plant cell, animal cell and a paramecium and identifying the different organelles found within a cell. We also have a microscope, and are having great fun examining many different objects.

Bible Studies: We are discussing the Book of Matthew as a family Bible study. Dad is leading our study group. So far we have learned:

  • Matthew 1-16 - general overview
  • Matthew 1 & 2 - in-depth discussion
  • Matthew 3 - in-depth discussion
  • Matthew 4 - in-depth discussion
  • Matthew 5 - the Beatitudes in-depth discussion

Computer: We will be studying more advanced HTML this year as well as some experiments with javascript. Kevin and Erin continue work on their homepages.
Kevin -- Paladin Castle
Erin -- Erin's House

The Fine Arts: In Art Kevin has finished his painting of Gypsy and Quincy. (show above)
This year our Art studies begin with origami-which is why we've chosen this background. We have read the story of Sadako Sasaki who tried to fold 1,000 paper cranes before she died from leukemia (caused by radiation after the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima). The crane was a symbol of long life and recovery, but is now known as a symbol for world-wide peace.
We are also studying musical drama this year. We have watched the movie Guys and Dolls , starring Marlon Brando & Frank Sinatra.

Sign Language: We have decided that rather than continue French (which Mom was not totally comfortable teaching), we will learn American Sign Language. Kevin and Erin attended two courses in Sign Language last year through a local church and they really enjoyed it. So far we have reviewed:

  • The manual alphabet
  • Numbers
  • Family
  • Colors
  • People & Pronouns
We have found an excellent resource book Signing Illustrated by Mickey Flodin.

Future Plans: In October-- Our origami project, our first book reports, and a trip to Philadelphia for Harvest Crusade.

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