Monthly Archives: July 2015

Homeschool

What second grade and fifth grade look like at our house

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In years past I’ve done separate curriculum posts for Poppy and Pete. They’re working with the same publishers for most everything this year, though, so I’m consolidating.

Simplify, simplify.

History

We got off the one-book-a-year schedule in nearly every subject a few years ago, and I haven’t managed to get back on track yet. Seeing as the kids are in the same classroom every year, though, I don’t suppose that matters.

We’ll kick off this year by finishing “Story of the World: Volume 3“ — from Bonaparte all the way to the California Gold Rush — and move on to Volume 4 after that.

Math

2ndand5thPete is near the end of the second volume of McRuffy Math, and Poppy is a little more than halfway through Math 4. They’ll finish with those quickly, I hope, and proceed to the next level.

Poppy liked Teaching Textbooks well enough, but she didn’t seem to retain much of the information. I have it already, though, so I’ll probably have Pete work through TT3 just for a little extra review and practice.

Language Arts

The kids really enjoyed the Michael Clay Thompson “Grammar Island” books last year, and they seem to have retained some of the information. I haven’t decided 100 percent yet, but I think we’ll probably do “Grammar Town” this year.

Poppy was enjoying All About Spelling 2 last year, so she’s going to go ahead and finish that. Pete and I, meanwhile, will be continuing our hands-on, no curriculum spelling efforts.

Poppy will be doing some more Reed Novel Studies for her “formal” reading curriculum. Pete is going to have some assigned reading, too, but he’s a little young yet for the Reed offerings.

Science

There’s a place in town that offers after-school and homeschool classes, and I was thrilled to see science on the class listings this year. Pete will be in the K-2 class, and Poppy will be in the 3-5. Which means they’re both on the high end of the age group. I’m hoping the material is challenging enough to keep them engaged.

Handwriting

Poppy likes the McRuffy handwriting books, and Pete tolerates them. So that’s what we’re sticking with!

Art

Also outsourced! Pete will be in art class while Poppy is in science, and vice versa.

Physical Education

We’re taking July off, but the kids will be resuming their tae kwon do practice in a few weeks. Poppy is currently a blue belt, and Pete is a green belt.

The kids are also both doing soccer this year. Pete “retired” from soccer a few seasons back, but he’s decided to return to the field. Poppy is in her second season of the two-weekly-practices-plus-a-game-on-the-weekend league, which makes me very grateful to have a couple of other parents who are willing to carpool.

There are many, many ways to approach homeschooling. For a look at what other families are doing, check out Curriculum Week at iHomeschoolNetwork.com!

menu plan Monday

How far will $64 go at Harris Teeter?

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Pro tip: You can't spend sixteen dollars on a chicken if you're shopping on a budget.
Pro tip: You can’t spend this much on chicken if you’re shopping on a budget.
For the first decade or so of our marriage Rockford and I were forced to be frugal. Then he finished graduate school and moved on to a Real Corporate Job, and the need to clip coupons and buy dented canned goods became increasingly less dire. So I was a bit worried about meeting the demands of the 4 Hats and Frugal $64 challenge. And then I was a lot worried when I saw which store Amiyrah had given me: Harris Teeter. Not traditionally known as a haven for the frugal.

I had to feed a family of four for a week. On $64. At Harris Teeter. Here was my menu plan:

Monday: Sesame noodles with chicken
Tuesday: Potato and chorizo hash
Wednesday: Chicken tortilla soup
Thursday: Curried lentils with chicken and potatoes
Friday: BBQ chicken pizza

Did I stay on budget? Click over to 4 Hats and Frugal to find out!

Want more menus? Check out Org Junkie’s Menu Plan Monday linkup!

On the Road

A few fun things to do in DC

The kids and I hopped on the Metro and headed in to D.C. yesterday while Rockford worked. Our first and only planned destination: the International Spy Museum.

 

rockford would have loved the spy museum’s Bond Villains exhibit
Poppy loved it, but Pete was less enthusiastic. I think he would’ve been more engaged had we not been evacuated midway through for a fire alarm. The museum tries to be an immersive experience, and the alarm break broke his already wavering interest.

We went back later to check out what we’d missed, and the kids found a few more interactive bits to play around with. Poppy loved memorizing her cover story and being tested on it — I was impressed that she remembered it all even after the fire alarm interruption — and Pete thoroughly enjoyed crawling through the air ducts.

In a town chock-full of amazing free museums, it was pretty tough for me to shell out $54 for the three of us to go to the spy museum. It’s a fun spot, though, and I think it’s worth the cost for older kids. 

poppy & nam june paik’s “electronic superhighway”
 
We spent our brief exile from the spy museum across the street at the American Art Museum. Poppy and Pete did a fun little scavenger hunt, and I got in a really quick visit with some of the guys in the presidential gallery. Some of my favorite works were in the gallery of contemporary figures’ portraits. 

   

 Everett Raymond Kinstler’s portrait of Katherine Hepburn is on display with her four Oscars.

Poppy and I were both fascinated by Robert McCurdy’s portrait of Toni Morrison. It looks just like a photo, and it’s gorgeous.

   

Kehinde Wiley painted his portrait of LL Cool J for the 2005 Vh1 Hip Hop Awards. It’s ginormous and vibrant, and I love it.

We went to the Natural History Museum to visit the dinosaurs for a bit, and then we went back to the hotel for a swim before dinner. Today we’re going to stay around the hotel, because it’s hot out there and there are 200 billion other people also touristing the town this week.