Homework

 Ramsey has had Zoom calls twice per week for the last half of school.  Afterwards, one of his teachers emails a workbook page to fill out.   We just had to chuckle at Ramsey's answers on the last question.

Yup, you're right, little buddy.... life goes on.  ha!!

Obsessed with Homophones, Homographs, Homonyms

 Ramsey and I had touched on homophones and such a while back, just because I am a grammar nerd.  Recently, in his 2nd Grade Language Arts that he's escalated to, they've introduced them to him again, but just a few.

He likes the idea of these fun words, so I decided to see what he knows.  I gave him examples of the homophones and asked him to give me the definition, use them properly in a sentence, and spell them for each instance.  We went through dozens.   I was astounded the he got them ALL RIGHT.  

Most astounding are that he was able to differentiate and properly use and spell "To, Too, and Two", "Your and You're", and "There, Their, and They're"!!  Drop the mic, kiddo, drop the mic.   Bravo to this First Grader!  Proud Momma Moments!

Now, each night, after he draws his Super Monkeys, he wants to practice homonyms, homophones, and homographs!!   I'm good with that.  :-)

E-Learning Update

 Ramsey's been enjoying his E-Learning.  And, since Eric retired and has been at home, he's had more of a routine, which is so nice!    

He has some online learning apps that he works in daily (for Math, Language Arts, and some social study type modules), an online library where he reads at least two books per day, plus he also does manual math and writing.

  

Some of the math that he is learning is crazy!  Before Eric took over as primary educator, Ramsey and I were working in a module where he was learning dividends, divisors, and quotients - and two-step story problems!   Crazy for First Grade, even if he HAD clepped out of some class steps.

We decided to make sure that Ramsey also reviewed or learned more of the basics in case the way he learned was different than how it's taught in the school.   So far, the E-Learning is so new for everyone, the expectations aren't exactly known.  So.... we just roll with it.  We hope what we're doing is how it's supposed to be done!  

We do know... that the kid loves math!  Recently, Eric taught Ramsey the "Common Core" way to add multi-digit numbers. 

Not shabby for a 6-year-old!

Final Days of School

Friday was the last day of school.   That really hit me, as I was driving home from town on Friday. 
It hit me that we have a graduating Senior and a graduating Kindergartener.  Talk about emotional! 

Eric had taken the day off of work, so I had run in to get what would be the last bags of food that the school would provide for the kiddos.  I got two; one for Ramsey and one for Connor.  Lots of tasty vittles!

Three times per week, the school prepared two days' worth of food for students.   These prepared foods (turkey sandwiches, hamburgers, chicken nuggets, hot dogs, fresh veggies and fruits, milk, treats, etc) were amazing time-savers for me, working my full-time [ridiculously busy] job, trying to home-school, etc.  I was very appreciative getting these types of food bundles three times per week. 

 Ramsey had his very last Zoom meeting.  On the last day, all three of the Kindergarten classes came together for a final call, where they chatted a bit, but also played a scavenger hunt game.

As the kids said goodbye for the last time, I may have been a bit more mournful than Ramsey was.  I suppose it was just another day to him, but to me, it was as another chapter was ending, and a new one would be beginning.

Connor had finished his schoolwork at 2:55PM the afternoon before.  (It was due by 3:00 PM - just made it!)   His Friday was 100% free.  That day, his summer started and his high school career ended. 

During this time of COVID-19, many days seem to just meld together.   This quite momentous one nearly seemed to do the same.   The emotionalism of it was bittersweet.  We no longer have a senior and a Kindergartener.  We have a 1st Grader and a college Freshman!

Not Shabby

I'm a bit of a proud Momma.   Ramsey and Connor have both been diligently doing their school work in the midst of this crazy pandemic.

Today, Ramsey continued in his Math workbook for Grades 2 and 3.   He did really well!   I don't know Common Core Math, so I'm still wondering if I should try to teach him the way I learned; how to "carry the 1" and "borrow" from the next column.  I might mess him up for the years to come!  Or, maybe the state will realize Common Core isn't cool and revert back to "the old ways".  *cheesy grin*

And, we continue to work on his sentence formation and learning punctuation.

I'm finding that he doesn't need my help with spelling, which is quite impressive.  If I try to help, he gets upset with me. :-/ 

As I came into my office from helping Ramsey this morning, Connor was doing his homework assignments.  His advanced math BLOWS MY MIND, but he is terrific at it!  Theorems, Rotational Symmetry, coplaner points... oh my!  

It makes me more relieved that my math class days are in the past!

The "last day of school" is May 15th.  

Online Art Class

Ramsey's weekly Zoom call with his class had a new spin on it.   Each child brought some art work that they'd completed during their home-schooling time.   Then, Mrs. K, his art teacher, taught the children, step by step, how to draw a butterfly.

 Ramsey listened and watched attentively.  Afterwards, everyone showed each other their butterflies and gave an update on what they've been doing.

Easter Art

During homeschooling, we have to take time out for fun things.... Art!

Watercolors and marker art on eggs was the topic of the day.  

 As a creative outlet, it also helps with his fine motor skills.

 As a secondary piece, to practice his writing, he wrote a note to his Kindergarten teacher, whom he adores.

Ramsey's explanation of the drawings that are on the egg with the blue background....

From top to bottom:

"Fratical of Strangeness"  

"Strange Element"

"Assassin's Creed Cyber Scene"

"Ordinary Ship Wheel"

"Lapis Lazuli"

"Orange Topaz"

"Heart of all the Precious Hearts"

I can't make this stuff up!  *wink*

Science Experiment and "How To Trick Your Child"

With the limited time we have, it is essential to be creative (and efficient!) with this homeschooling stuff.   Ramsey LOVES when we do "science experiments".   Because we are trying to do an even better job with cleaning overall, we have to do everything more often.... to include cleaning the toilets.   *Insert "meh" face here.*

So... being rather crafty, I told Ramsey we were going to do another science experiment today, to which he was thrilled!    I had all of the items ready for him for our lesson: a TOILET VOLCANO!

 I put the kid to work.   "Voila!", as Ramsey says.   Two-for-one deals that teach science as well as get the house clean are definitely a must!

A bubbly fizzy foaming cleaning party!

 Pure trickery.... and the kid loved it.  Ha.  ;-)

By the way, when I had mentioned in a different post that I would not be adding more homeschooling adventure posts... I lied.  Whoops.  *wink*  

COVID-19: Days Who-The-H-Is-Keeping-Track-Anymore?!?!

Last week, Eric went to the school to pick up Ramsey's schoolwork packet.  In it included "assignments" from his homeroom teacher, P.E. teacher, and Art teacher.  He also was given links to free online classes and assessments.   With the online links, his teacher can assign certain things for him to work on, in addition to the papers.  The "choice" board are things every kid needs to work on, check off, and then submit back to the teacher at the end of the week.

I'm not gonna lie... working my full time job AND trying to homeschool my child is quite a "challenge".  See above where they note that the child should be "working" 2.5-5 hrs per day.   They also sent home a structured synopsis of what a typical day should look like, complete with recesses, snacks, and classes.  Well... this is really "crisis teaching".  If I were actually able to focus and homeschool him properly, yes, we'd have a regimen.    As it stands.... we're winging it; there is no structure, but we're definitely getting it done!   And, he's learning, so.... 

Here's some writing and math (writing numbers to 100):

More math: We're working on learning to measure things.

After completing the workbook pages, I gave Ramsey a measuring tape and a ruler and he quickly possessed the need to measure a gazillion things in the house.

I'm not sure how impressed Riggs was, but he played along.

For Art, he colored... then I guess we could say added a bit of reading, as he read aloud every....single....one... of his set of 216 crayons.  

And... gotta write in the daily journals, so there's that.

Time for science!  I traced Ramsey's body on paper and then he drew in the major components of his circulatory system; his heart, arteries, and veins.

It's another crossover project.... it's "Art" too, now hanging on our glass patio door.

He's also been reading using free apps that have been made available to us by the school; Scholastic Weekly Readers, Epic book center, IXL learning, SeeSaw.   And, there is also a coding app where he can learn to code Minecraft.   We're just now diving into that.

COVID-19 - Day 6 No School (Stock Market Tips)

I promise I will STOP with the home-schooling updates after today.   I honestly didn't think things would get this crazy or linger a long time, but they have and looks like the coronavirus will be around for a while.   As of now, school will be off until April 14th.

That said, yes, Ramsey did some usual school work today (mostly writing today, as writing skills can always improve!).

Lately, he continuously asks to do science experiments.  I realized that I am going to have to go on Pinterest and find new things to do with him for STEM activities! 
[Mildly] panicking, I looked around for something "science-y" (that I could easily explain to a six-year-old) in the house.  I had just the thing: my diffusers! 

Maybe it helps, maybe it just makes me feel better, but I've been running three essential oil diffusers with anti-viral EOs for the last week and a half.  (It certainly can't hurt, plus it makes the house smell nicer.)

 I let him add the water to the diffuser.

 And drop in the essential oils we've been using.

Then, he turned on the diffuser, waited for it to heat up and watch the steam come out.   

The science in all of this: "States of Matter" liquid, solid, and gaseous.  Voila!

THEN... Ramsey's Daddy's influence came into play.  He started drawing [his own versions of] stock market graphs.  He started rambling about all of these stocks that "he owns".

According to his graphs, Nabisco (Oreo's parent company) went through the roof! ha!

And, according to the NASDAQ, Nabisco went up 13.14% today!  Dang, I guess we should have listened to him!!!!

COVID-19 - Day 5 No School

Another day of homeschooling.

So, really most of the day was time for Ramsey to play on his Kindle, with Legos, Little People, swords, etc.

But, when I was able to get him set up with his school work for the day (so glad we had stocked up on work books!), I put him to work on writing skills first.

We decided jump into some math and learn how to add three numbers.  (I was impressed at his ability to pick this up so quickly.)

Then, we moved into reading story problems and writing them out into math equations.

And then more reading and writing.

At the end of it all, snack time was probably the best!

Perhaps it was more like bribery.

COVID-19 - Day 4 No School

What was supposed to be the boys' first day of Spring Break actually became Ramsey's first day of homeschooling!   Connor and Bridger had left, so I couldn't have Ramsey just sitting on his Kindle the entire day.   So.. bring out the activity and workbooks!

We started with Art and colored for a bit, then learned how to draw ants, butterflies, and frogs.

 He likes "step-by-step" pictures/drawing.

 Then I gave him some math pages to do.  He finished them so quickly that I didn't think it posed much of a challenge.

 While I had to get on a conference call, I told him to do two more pages.  And, when he got them done, he could have a bit of  Kindle time.   I barely got logged onto my conference call and he was already downstairs showing me his finished pages for me to check!  Insane!

 After I was off my call, we had "P.E.", jumping on and off adjustable boxes.... (yes, in the kitchen)

 Balancing on the wobble/balance board...

 Ramsey did realize that it was a bit more difficult than it first appeared!

 Push-ups and sit-ups on the balance ball...

 And then we moved on to our Science experiment.

 This was to show him the importance of hand-washing and how soap affects germs.  I filled a plastic bowl with tap water, then added a ton of pepper.  The pepper sprinkles played the roles of germs.   I asked him stick his finger in the water to show what happens daily when we touch things;  germs attach and hang on tightly.

 Then, I had him stick his finger in liquid soap first and then touch the water.  All the "germs" scattered and were repelled.   I'm not sure if he was too thrilled about this experiment or learned much, as all he wanted to do was go wash all the pepper and soap off his hands.  If nothing else, he had one more hand wash today!

After our "lessons" he told me, "But Mom, we forgot 'Counseling'!"   Well... guess we can counsel tomorrow.  :-)
Or, our nightly chat after bedtime prayers would definitely hit the mark in that area.

We were informed that afternoon that the schools would have government-approved school curricula available next Tuesday for parents to pick up.   Hopefully that will keep senior graduation on track for May!