New to Home Schooling-Days 1 & 2 Recap

I've created this blog for a few purposes.  One is to keep a record of all of our home schooling activities, another is to keep everyone informed on how the progress is going, and last, to get some feedback from others out there who may be home schooling.  I plan to mainly just record what activities Cameron and I do every day, but from time to time I may add other things going on.  Cameron is in the 4th grade and was publicly schooled until we moved to Houston near the end of December.  We started our home school adventure on January 2nd and so far so good!  Here is a recap of our activities on those days:

Friday, 1/2/09

11:00am-3:30p

1.) Write in personal journal (a log in one of Cameron's folders for his personal thoughts and ideas--enhances writing skills and creative thinking)

2.) Use BrainQuest 4th Grade Workbook to study irregular vowels/verbs.  Did 2 worksheets on this.

3.) Spelling from this link.  Used "Week One, White" list.  Cameron wrote out each word and then used www.dictionary.com to define each word.

4.) Used Scholastic 4th Grade Grammar Workbook to review types of sentences; did worksheet.

5.) Used Scholastic 4th Grade Reading Workbook to review the main idea of stories, did 2 worksheets.

6.) Had Cameron play this spelling game online.

7.) Used Saxon Math 4/5 to do a review--Test 1 out of workbook.  Also did the division practice out of his workbook.

8.) Used this link to begin typing lessons. Lesson 1, Lines 1-3

9.) Had Cameron write in his journal again about his school experience for the day.

Monday, 1/5/09

11:00am-2:45pm

1.) Personal journal entry

2.) Spelling review--called out the first 10 words from Cam's spelling list and had him spell them on the dry erase board.  Had Cam write sentences showing he understands the context of the first 10 words.  He used his previously written definitions to help with this.

3.) Gave Cameron a "Story Notes" paper that I created.  It contains blanks for "characters", "action/plot", and "setting".  As I read a story, he can record anything that fits in these categories during it.  There are also 3 "after the story" questions--"What was the main idea?", "What are some problems/conflicts the characters had during the story?", and "What was the most exciting part of the story to you?"  I read aloud "A Mad Tea Party", by Lewis Carroll.

4.) Division practice from Saxon Math workbook

5.) Explained 2-digit division using Saxon Math teacher's guide.  Also found an awesome game that breaks the process down step-by-step here.  What a lifesaver!

6.) Long-hand 2-digit division practice (12 problems)

7.) Typing Lesson 2, Lines 1-3

8.) Geography--used Brainquest workbook to do the "Continents" and "The Earth Covers" worksheets.

9.) Began a science unit on Cells, Tissues, Organs, Organ Systems, and Organisms using this site. In Cameron's science journal (spiral-bound notebook) I wrote out questions that go along with the site above.  I had him stop at "Cell Membrane."

10.) Wrote in journal about school day