What we are learning

(This is Olivia with her science experiment on density. If you look closely, you'll see the glass with 3 different colored liquids in layers. The bottom layer is honey. The middle layer is water and ear care liquid (dyed red) - because I didn't have rubbing alcohol on hand. The top layer is canola oil. Oil is less dense than water, thus it sits on top. Honey is more dense than water, so it sunk. Rubbing alcohol or ear care cleaner has the same density as water so it blended with the water.)

Wow, are we learning a lot around here!

Okay, did any of you know that Haiti was the first black republic in ALL of history? Well, if you didn't, don't feel bad, because uh, I didn't either. Such good company we make. But, seriously, the Latin American revolutions were not covered in any of my history classes. Nope. Nada.

I remember briefly learning about the French revolution, namely how Napolean was some sort of figure that did something over there. I did remember that he was short. Ha! So, that sums up his whole political career, right? Hmmm... in other words, the French Revolution wasn't really covered.

Can you tell what we've been learning about in History? Olivia's history course covers the American Revolution, French Revolution, Latin American Revolutions (that's where we are now), then the Industrial Revolution, Age of Imperialism (I don't really know what that means yet, but I will soon!), Breakthroughs and Enterprise, the Roaring 20s, WWII and Rebuilding a Nation. Whoa. cool. I'm excited.

Ethan's History course covers early civilizations (where we are now), ancient Greece, ancient India and ancient China. Huh. I know I've covered ancient Greece, but that was in high school. This is Ethan's first grade course. And I'm sure I covered ancient India and ancient China somewhere along the way, but I couldn't tell you what they are. I just keep thinking of Mulan. Whoops.

Needless to say, I'm impressed with K12's history course. The idea is to start covering all topics and start with the general concepts in the earlier grades and then more details in the higher grades. It's a good layering concept. I can see it being done with math as well. They start introducing algrebraic concepts earlier on, so it's not a shock when you switch over to algebra in middle school.

Other things I'm impressed with: Ethan is becoming quite the reader! I really like K12's phonics program. I was going to say that I like teaching him to read, but really, it's more like introducing the right concepts in the right order and then he picks it up naturally. It's neat being able to see him progress so quickly. He says that his 1st grade math is too easy. He doesn't have to think very hard at it. He really likes his science class. Science. Which he didn't get at all in public school. So far, we've been talking about matter and its 3 states - solid, liquid, and gas. Then we've talked about how the molecules act in solid, liquid, and gas. Again, cool stuff for a Kingergartner to know! (He is taking the 1st grade science course, though). And, I'm not sure that if I were doing this homeschool on my own, that I would even think to start teaching this stuff this young. If I were doing this on my own, I'm sure I'd be saying stuff like, "well, I didn't learn this when I was in 4th grade, so Olivia doesn't either. We'll wait."

So, I am overly impressed with K12's curriculum. I am confident that the kids are learning far more than they would be if they were at school. And we're getting it done in less time. And there's no homework cutting into family time. And the kids have time to do extracurricular activities that don't cut into family time (Olivia is taking art, sewing and piano) (Ethan is taking Spanish and Magic - yes, Magic. As in how to do Magic tricks. He loves it!) And the kids have time to play with each other and friends. And they are learning how to resolve conflicts with each other.

Homeschooling takes up my time, sure. But, man, I'm learning too! And, they are learning so much!