Homeschool Week 32: Chinatown Post Quake

Language Arts: Phi read another 25 pages of the book "The Earth Dragon Awakes". The quake has hit San Francisco. What I really love about this book is how descriptive it is. Phi had no problems imagining what the scene was like right after the quake struck. The assignment was to make another diorama but after the quake. I like this one even better than the last one...

Math: This week we looked at different angles. We had a big issue this week again with tutoring. Phi did one page with her tutor on Friday about using equal parts of a circle to figure out word problems. The issue was that 5 of the 6 problems were done completely wrong. I really love the opportunity to send her to tutoring at her school for free, but this time it doubled our math workload. If you have been following along the last couple years you know that math is our toughest subject and set backs like these are hard. The rest of the week was not too bad. Phi seems to grasp geometry concepts better than algebra Just like her Momma. We also made good use of the division flashcards we impulse purchased at Target.

Social Studies: This week was all about how during the early 1900's people in California were demanding change. They were tired of the Big 4 rich dudes taking over everything and people started to ask for reform. We talked about how women fought and won for the right to vote in California as well as fought for a minimum wage and an 8 hour work week. We looked over the posters in my office break room and talked about how minimum wage has been increasing over the last few years.


Science:  This week was about sound energy. We talked about pitch and volume and how we can determine what a soundwave sounds like by looking at the frequency and wavelengths. We looked at a few soundwaves and tried to determine what it sounded like.

A note was sent home with some information about next year and some minor changes they are making with the program. They also asked for parent feedback. So after a 3 page (front and back) rough draft I sent over an email to the teacher and the principal. Over the last couple years there are lots of things that I see could use some improvement and ideas that I think would be beneficial to students and make the program more project based. I hope that my email was received as friendly feedback and not as complaints. We really love this program and feel really lucky to be a part of it.

Next week is the big school play! We are so excited to see Phi in Seussical the Musical!