Update On Using Notgrass History

Last school year (2016-2017), we used NOTGRASS HISTORY:  UNCLE SAM & YOU for our History/Civics/Government curriculum. JJ was in 8th grade, and EL followed along with us for her final year of school as well. (It is geared towards middle school students, grades 5-8). We all enjoyed the curriculum. It is easy to use, and covers many different areas of interest. Each chapter covered 4 days worth of topic. Then, on the 5th day of the week, there is an optional lesson on a holiday of your choice (included at the back of the textbook), along with a recommended family activity.

On a typical day, I would read the day's text out loud to both of the kids, so we were all learning together at the same time. Then, at the end of each chapter, there were suggestions for activities to do such as Bible study questions, additional reading from The Citizen's Handbook, vocabulary and writing assignments, and a page or two in the corresponding workbooks.

The workbooks are optional, but we found them to be helpful for reviewing the material. There are two workbooks to use or choose from. The Lesson Review is for those who just want to answer review questions (written or oral), and The Student Workbook is for those who prefer fill in the blank types of activities, crossword puzzles, and drawing assignments. We used a little of both, but mostly used the Student Workbook.
 

A Literature Package is also available, and it includes 8 books that correspond with the time period/topic being studied. We did not read ALL of the books, but chose a few that best suited our needs and interests. I read these aloud also, and our favorites were "Basher Five-Two" and "Lost On A Mountain in Maine."

What is nice about this curriculum is that you can order just what you need/want, or order the entire curriculum package. If you use the entire package and included activities, you will be covering the subjects of Bible, Civics, Vocabulary, Creative Writing, and Literature. You can also buy most of the books used if you find someone who is selling them, and then re-sell them yourself, making it a more economical choice.

We are not continuing with Notgrass this school year (2017-2018), but not because we didn't like it. We have decided to go in a different direction for now, covering IL History and US Geography (We will begin our school year on August 21st!) However, when the time comes for us to jump into World History or US History at the High School level, I will definitely be looking into Notgrass again.

Thumbs up for Notgrass!

May 2017 Field Trip: Horse Farm & Sheep Farm

Here it is, the end of Summer 2017, and I am just now getting around to posting about the field trip we took in May. I don't really have any excuses. Life has just been busy and blogging here hasn't been a priority. But, I'm hoping to get back into it as we finish up the Summer and get back into a new school year.

On May 23rd, we took a field trip to a farm where they train horses, then also to a 4-H sheep farm. Here are a few pictures, followed by a short report from each of the kids.

A horse in the ring

JJ riding a horse (EL did not want to ride)

JJ Petting a horse

Shearing a sheep

FIELD TRIP REPORT FROM JJ

WHAT I LEARNED:   It takes a horse a long time to have a baby. For a human, it takes 9 months. A horse takes 11 months. It takes a sheep 5 months. A horse gets freaked out when he goes to a new horse farm. It is just like when a kid transfers to another school - they don't like it. I learned that sheep want to die every day but, if you care for them, they will live longer. A sheep gets shaved once every year.

WHAT I LIKED:  I loved riding on the horse!!! And, I liked watching the sheep get shaved. I liked playing with the dog and cat. I liked mostly the whole day.

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE: I did not like the dust. Other than that, nothing really. Like I said, I liked the whole day.

FIELD TRIP REPORT FROM EL

WHAT I LEARNED:  A horse has white legs. The horse is big and brown. The mule runs fast with 4 long legs. The mule has long ears. The mule has a tail like a horse. It's a mule tail. I saw a black horse and some white horses. And, I also saw a black and white horse. I pet the horse. Horses make sounds. I saw a girl riding a mule. I saw a saddle on the mule's back. I saw a black and brown cat. The cat meowed. I just watched the kids ride on the mule. I saw a gray and white cat. I pet the cat. The cat says hi.

WHAT I LIKED:  I like the black sheep, just like the song. I saw a little white lamb named Sunny. Don't forget the ram with horns. I saw 2 dogs, a gray and brown dog, and a black and white dog. The dog sniffed my hand. I pet the dog.

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE:  I didn't like the loud noise of the man shearing the sheep. The sheep makes a loud baaaing sound.

Quick Update

This school year is going by fast. I haven't taken many pictures this year, so I haven't had a whole lot to share. The kids are older now, and we just aren't doing as much "fun" hands on types of things. But, I did end up making a few curriculum changes that I want to tell you about, and also want to share what has been working for us. Be watching for these future posts.

SEPTEMBER 2016 FIELD TRIPS: Apple Orchard & Ray Hanna Stables

Lost Creek Apple Orchard 

This was our 5th year attending this orchard. They always give a nice, informational tour with friendly service. 

JJ walking through the orchard with friends

EL picking apples

JJ on an old tractor

EL running to the finish line during a race through the corn

Walking through the corn maze

Ray Hanna Horse Stable

The U of I Extention Office set up this tour. We were able to meet the trainers and caretakers of the race horses, see the equipment the horses wear during a race, and interact with the horses up close.

One of the trainers with "Cole Heat."

EL with a sweet dog named Casey

JJ's favorite horse was "Fox Valley Dandy"

Cole Heat wearing his racing gear

JJ's Star Wars Limerick

Part of JJ's Language Arts curriculum this year is to do one lesson each day in LANGUAGE LESSONS FOR THE SECONDARY CHILD - VOL 1. This volume is written for a child between the ages of 10 and 15 and includes lessons in grammar, punctuation, copywork, narration, dictation, picture studies, letter writing, and learning how to write different types of poetry.

Last week, he had two lessons about a type of poetry called a Limerick. This is one of the most fun types of poetry - not really meant to be insightful or thought-provoking, but just written for fun. It consists of only 5 lines, with lines 1, 2 and 5 rhyming with each other and lines 2 and 3 also rhyming. Here's an example of a limerick (Author unknown):

There once was an old man from Peat

Who had an affection for feet.

He found them so cute

He would not wear a boot

And his tootsies were pretty soon beat!

JJ was required to write his own limerick, so he chose a Star Wars theme (What else!?), and this is what he came up with. He did this completely on his own, with no help from me, except I did correct his spelling:

There once was a man named Darth Vader,

And he was a very big hater.

He wanted more power

So he could devour

All the people he thought was a traitor. 

Back to School 2016

Monday, August 22nd, was the first day back to school for us. JJ is in 8th grade this year, and EL is in 12th. I kept things light this first week back, and just wanted to get us back into a routine.

For the past 7 years, we have used My Father's World for our main curriculum (which included History, Science, Bible, Art and Music). I loved MFW but, this year, we are trying something different. I wanted to focus on Civics/Government for our History lessons this year, so we are switching to Notgrass History: Uncle Sam & You (which includes Civics/Government, Bible, and Language Arts). We will be starting this curriculum on Monday, with all of us working and learning together. It looks like it will be a fun and interesting year.

For independent work, JJ will be using:

Apologia Science, with a focus on Astronomy 
Queen Language Lessons, for the Secondary Child-Vol. 1
ACE Math

We will see how things go with these curriculum, and may need to tweak things here and there if they are not working for us.

I am also going to be working with JJ one-on-one with a new Spelling program. About three years ago, JJ was evaluated at a Speech-Language-Hearing Clinic, and it was determined he has developmental delays in the areas of Reading and Spelling. He seems to have several symptoms of Dyslexia, although there was not enough information at the time of testing to make this type of diagnosis. Since that time, we have continued to work with JJ and he has made great improvement with his reading. However, he continues to struggle significantly with Spelling. So, over the Summer, I did some research on different ways to help him with that, and decided on using All About Spelling. We are going back to the basics (starting with level 1), and hope to see some results.

As for EL, this will be our last year of formally educating her. Besides the Notgrass curriculum, she will be using: 

ACE Science 
Queen Language Lessons, for the Very Young-Vol. 2
Explode the Code
Spectrum Math

As I am able, I will try to update on how things are going with our curriculum. 

Have a great school year!