January the 1st 2010

Elective

Time: 90 min

Musical Composition

Reflection

I made some music in Notion 3.

Resources

Notion 3

---

Elective

Time: 160 min

Musical Composition

Reflection

We watched the movie Amadeus, which was about the life and death of Mozart.

Resources

My Computer

Amadeus

---

January the 2nd 2010

English

Time: 20 min

Creative Writing

Reflection

I wrote a book review of The Slave Trade by Nigel Sadler.

Resources

My Computer

The Slave Trade

---

January the 3rd 2010

Elective

Time: 60 min

Art and Publishing

For my art today, I went through my Terror of Porridge book with my mom and talked about what options we can look at for printing it on Lulu.com, a self-publishing website.

Resources

Computer

My Mom

Lulu.com

---

January the 4th 2010

Elective

Time: 20 min

Economics

Reflection

For my economics today, I read part of a book entitled The Clipper Ship Strategy, which was very interesting.

Resources

Whatever Happened to Penny Candy? Economics Course

The Clipper Ship Strategy

---

Math

Time: 90 min

Basic Math and Geometry

Reflection

I started my math lesson today by watching and working on the lesson in the book for video 1 of my new math course, Mathematics from the Visual World. I also read the introduction to Designing and Drawing Tessellations.

Resources

My Math Book

My Computer

Teaching Company Mathematics from the Visual World DVD

Designing and Drawing Tessellations

---

Elective

Time: 30 min

French Language

Reflection

For our French today, we finished the second lesson of our new french course, Fluenz. It was very good!

Resources

Fluenz French

---

Elective

Time: 30 min

Musical Composition

Reflection

I played my piano and made some music in Notion 3.

Resources

Piano

Alfred's Basic Piano Library Level 4

Notion 3

---

Social Studies

Time: 100

A Study of Physical and Political Geography

Reflection

When everyone had arrived for our Geography lesson, we began by talking about the Get It! course and what it will be covering, and how it will help you to know what it would be like to be a consumer reporter. Then we started on the lesson itself. We beginning by filling in a survey on what we look at when we're deciding whether to buy a product, and who would be affected by us buying that product. After that, we looked at the top ten producers of bananas, coffee and flowers, which are all in south and central America. Lastly, we decided which group was going to study what topic, and got our notebooks.

Resources

Get It! Geography Course

My Mom

Other Students

---

Elective

Time: 60 min

Art and Publishing

For my art today, I worked for a bit in Blender 3d, and made stuff explode with particles!

Resources

Computer

Blender 3d

Tutorials

---

January the 5th 2010

English

Time: 30 min

Grammar and Writing

Reflection

For my grammar today, I worked in my Language is Served grammar book. I worked on an exercise where I rewrote food advertisements to show the food as it truly is.

http://www.freeunionschoolhouse.com/twiki/pub/Main/JackEduLogJan2010/RealismSquad.pdf

Resources

Language is Served Grammar Book

---

Math

Time: 140 min

Basic Math and Geometry

Reflection

I started my math lesson today by watching and working on the lesson in the book for video 2 of my new math course, Mathematics from the Visual World. I got stuck on one of the problems, which I had to go through with my dad. We're going to try and finish it tomorrow.

Resources

My Math Book

My Computer

Teaching Company Mathematics from the Visual World DVD

My Dad

---

Elective

Time: 30 min

French Language

Reflection

For our French today, we worked on the third lesson of our new french course, Fluenz. It was very good!

Resources

Fluenz French

---

English

Time: 20 min

Creative Writing

Reflection

Today we went for a cold, windy walk. It was blowing really hard today, as we could see from the cumulus clouds above, which were moving incredibly fast across the blue sky. It was bitter cold, and the snow on the ground had iced up around us. As we walked down the road, we saw that an old dead tree had come down in a storm, which was an interesting thing to see. That tree has been dead for as long as we've been here, and now it has finally succumbed to the wind. I had a nice walk.

Resources

My Computer

---

Science

Time: 120 min

Human Anatomy and Biology

Reflection

In our Human Anatomy and Biology Lesson today, we studied the human ear and our sense of balance. To start with, we watched a video lecture about the ear and our balance center, which filled me in on the details of these interesting areas. After that, I answered two questions about the ear and balance, and finished up. I also read some books on the ear and finished off Red Gold: the Story of Blood.

http://www.freeunionschoolhouse.com/twiki/pub/Main/JackEduLogJan2010/anatomycourse_Ear.pdf

Resources

My Computer

Teaching Company Human Anatomy and Biology DVD

The Human Body by Kathleen M Reilly

Atlas of Human Anatomy

Red Gold: The Story of Blood

---

January the 6th 2010

English

Time: 10 min

Grammar and Writing

Reflection

For my grammar today, I worked in my Red Hot Root Words Grammar Book, using the prefixes scop-, spec-, spic-, vis- and vid to complete some sentences.

Resources

Red Hot Root Words Grammar Book

---

Math

Time: 90 min

Basic Math and Geometry

Reflection

I started my math lesson today by working in my tessellations book, where I completed the first four exercises. I also had a look at the tessellation CD we ordered, which was very interesting as well. Lastly, dad and I solved the math problem we were stuck on yesterday.

Resources

My Math Book

My Computer

Designing and Drawing Tessellations

My Dad

---

Elective

Time: 30 min

French Language

Reflection

For our French today, we worked on the third lesson of our new french course, Fluenz. It was very good!

Resources

Fluenz French

---

English

Time: 20 min

Creative Writing

Reflection

Today we went for a cold, windy walk. It was blowing really hard again today, as we could see from the cirrus clouds above, which were being blown about and stretched until they were really wispy. It was still cold today, and I was still a bit cold despite my many layers. Anyway, we didn't get quite as far today, partly because of the cold and partly because of Mom's back. We did hear a bird, although it could have been either a red-tailed hawk or a jay doing a good impersonation of one.

Resources

My Computer

---

Social Studies

Time: 120 min

United States History

Reflection

I started my United States History study today by watching a presentation on the American Revolution. It was excellent, and it really helped to fill me in on this fascinating period of United States history. I also read parts of three books of American history on the revolutionary war, and answered some questions related to those.

http://www.freeunionschoolhouse.com/twiki/pub/Main/JackEduLogJan2010/AmericanHistory4.pdf

Resources

US History.org

American History Made Simple by Jack C. Estrin

American History: the Easy Way

Alistair Cook's America

My Mom

---

Elective

Time: 45 min

Art and Publishing

For my art today, I worked for a bit in Blender 3d and Unity, and made a monster for my game!

Resources

Computer

Blender 3d

Unity

Tutorials

---

January the 7th 2010

Elective

Time: 60 min

Economics

Reflection

For my economics today, I worked on lesson eight of my Whatever Happened to Penny Candy? Economics Course, where I learned about the velocity of money. I also answered some of the questions asked in the lesson.

Resources

Whatever Happened to Penny Candy? Economics Course

---

Math

Time: 45 min

Basic Math and Geometry

Reflection

I started my math lesson today by watching and working on the lesson in the book for video 3 of my new math course, Mathematics from the Visual World, which was on circles. I answered one of the questions.

Resources

My Math Book

My Computer

Teaching Company Mathematics from the Visual World DVD

Designing and Drawing Tessellations

---

Elective

Time: 30 min

French Language

Reflection

For our French today, we finished the third lesson of our new french course, Fluenz, and listened to the first podcast. It was very good!

Resources

Fluenz French

---

Elective

Time: 30 min

Musical Composition

Reflection

I played my piano and made some music in Notion 3.

Resources

Piano

Alfred's Basic Piano Library Level 4

Notion 3

---

Science

Time: 120 min

Physical Science

Reflection

In our Physical Science Class today, we started off (without Nathaniel, who was sick) by reviewing what we learned about work in the last lesson, and then looked at sound. In the last lesson, we ended by looking at different types of waves, including sound waves. This tied directly into our new lesson, which was all about sound and how it works. We learned how quickly sound travels through air, devised an experiment to measure how fast sound traveled through air in our kitchen, and learned about how musical instruments create sound that is pleasing to us. We created a string base, and learned about pitch and frequency, finishing up by looking at the pitch of different sounds on the computer. I really enjoyed today's lesson!

Resources

The Joy of Physics

My Science Book

Charts

My Dad

---

English

Time: 20 min

Creative Writing

Reflection

I wrote a book review of The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss, and wrote part of a Dungeons and Dragons adventure.

Resources

My Computer

The Name of the Wind

---

January the 8th 2010

Elective

Time: 20 min

Economics

Reflection

For my economics today, I worked on lesson eight of my Whatever Happened to Penny Candy? Economics Course, where I learned about the velocity of money. I answered some more of the questions asked in the lesson.

Resources

Whatever Happened to Penny Candy? Economics Course

---

Math

Time: 25 min

Basic Math and Geometry

Reflection

I started my math lesson today by answering one of the questions in the book for video 3 of my new math course, Mathematics from the Visual World, which was on circles.

Resources

My Math Book

My Computer

Teaching Company Mathematics from the Visual World DVD

Designing and Drawing Tessellations

---

Community Service

Time: 90 min

Community Service

Reflection

I worked at the Selah Adult Day Care Center, where I got down the Christmas decorations, played a game with one of the members, and did some coloring with another.

Resources

Selah Day Care Center Helpers

Other Volunteers

Members

---

Social Studies

Time: 60

A Study of Physical and Political Geography

Reflection

For my Study of Physical and Political Geography today, I looked up consumer reports on cut flowers and how they are grown, which is actually much harder than it sounds. I finally managed to find one that fit my criteria.

http://www.freeunionschoolhouse.com/twiki/pub/Main/JackEduLogJan2010/flowerreport.pdf

Resources

Get It! Geography Course

My Mom

My Computer

---

January the 9th 2010

Elective

Time: 90 min

Musical Composition

Reflection

I made some music in Notion 3.

Resources

Notion 3

---

January the 10th 2010

Elective

Time: 120 min

Musical Composition

Reflection

I worked with Mr Tom on my piano lesson for today. I showed him some of my songs and we worked on some scales and Waves of the Danube! I also did some composing in Notion 3.

Resources

My Piano

Alfred's Piano Library Level 4

Mr Tom

Notion 3

---

January the 11th 2010

Elective

Time: 45 min

Economics

Reflection

For my economics today, I worked on lesson eight of my Whatever Happened to Penny Candy? Economics Course, where I learned about the velocity of money. I also answered some of the questions asked in the lesson.

http://www.freeunionschoolhouse.com/twiki/pub/Main/JackEduLogJan2010/economicsChapter8.pdf

Resources

Whatever Happened to Penny Candy? Economics Course

---

Math

Time: 60 min

Basic Math and Geometry

Reflection

I started my math lesson today by watching video four of my new math course, Mathematics from the Visual World.

Resources

My Math Book

My Computer

Teaching Company Mathematics from the Visual World DVD

---

Elective

Time: 300 min

Local History Study

For my Local History Study today, we began by learning all about soil, and went on a website that told us all about soil, how it is formed and what it does for us. After that, we made small worm bins in the basement to hold the special Red Wrigglers, which are great for composting. We also learned how to care for them, and I worked on my homework for the lesson, which was to write about and illustrate how soil forms and how decomposition works.

http://www.freeunionschoolhouse.com/twiki/pub/Main/JackEduLogJan2010/SoilFormingandDecomposition.pdf

Resources

Computer

Other Students

My Mom

Website on the Secrets of Soil

My Dad and Mr Bill

Worms

Tools

---

January the 12th 2010

English

Time: 40 min

Grammar and Writing

Reflection

For my grammar today, I worked in my Language is Served grammar book. I worked on an exercise where I wrote some dinner conversation.

http://www.freeunionschoolhouse.com/twiki/pub/Main/JackEduLogJan2010/DinnerConversation.pdf

Resources

Language is Served Grammar Book

---

Math

Time: 15 min

Basic Math and Geometry

Reflection

I started my math lesson today by answering both of the questions in the book for video 4 of my new math course, Mathematics from the Visual World, which was on the centers of triangles.

Resources

My Math Book

My Computer

Teaching Company Mathematics from the Visual World DVD

---

Science

Time: 10 min

Physical Science

Reflection

For my Physical Science today, I read through the chapter we worked on last week, to revise my knowledge.

Resources

The Joy of Physics

---

Elective

Time: 30 min

Musical Composition

Reflection

I played my piano and made some music in Notion 3.

Resources

Piano

Alfred's Basic Piano Library Level 4

Notion 3

---

Elective

Time: 45 min

Art and Publishing

For my art today, I worked for a bit in Blender 3d, and modeled a really ugly helicopter-type thing!

Resources

Computer

Blender 3d

Unity

Tutorials

---

English

Time: 20 min

Creative Writing

Reflection

Today we went for a cold, windy walk. It wasn't blowing that hard today, but it was pretty chilly all the same. The sky was dark and full of foreboding cumulus and stratus clouds. As we walked down the road, I thought about how warm it was just two months ago, and how it is going to lighten up again soon. We saw some starlings flying around and perched on the telephone wire, heard some crows, heard a jay squawking and saw a squirrel who looked and sounded very angry.

Resources

My Computer

---

Elective

Time: 45 min

French Language

Reflection

For our French today, we worked on the fourth lesson of our new french course, Fluenz. It was very good!

Resources

Fluenz French

---

Science

Time: 60 min

Human Anatomy and Biology

Reflection

In our Human Anatomy and Biology Lesson today, we studied our memory and the myriad of things that can go wrong with our nervous system. To start with, we watched a video lecture about these two topics. After that, I answered two questions about memory and nervous system defects, and finished up.

http://www.freeunionschoolhouse.com/twiki/pub/Main/JackEduLogJan2010/anatomycourse_Memory.pdf

Resources

My Computer

Teaching Company Human Anatomy and Biology DVD

---

Elective

Time: 60 min

Art and Publishing

For my art today, I worked on some corrections to my Terror of Porridge book at Mr Pete's house.

Resources

Computer

Photoshop

Book-Editing Software

Mr Pete

---

January the 13th 2010

English

Time: 10 min

Grammar and Writing

Reflection

For my grammar today, I worked in my Red Hot Root Words Grammar Book, using the prefixes dic-, loc-, log-, loque-, ora- and test- to complete some exercises.

Resources

Red Hot Root Words Grammar Book

---

Math

Time: 40 min

Basic Math and Geometry

Reflection

I started my math lesson today by working in my tessellations book, where I completed the next two exercises. They were quite hard, mostly because the book doesn't have any answers in the back to check.

Resources

My Math Book

My Computer

Designing and Drawing Tessellations

---

English

Time: 20 min

Creative Writing

Reflection

Today we went for a cold, but less windy walk. The sky was at first full of cirro-cumulus or "mouton" clouds, which soon morphed into a flat gray stratus, which, by the end of the walk, had cleared up to reveal blue sky again. As I mentioned , it was less windy than it has been, but it was still windy. I had to pull my hood up once or twice. In terms of bird life, we saw a LOT of starlings around today. They really are the most ugly, annoying birds (in my opinion). We also saw some turkey vultures, a jay and heard a red-tailed hawk.

Resources

My Computer

---

Elective

Time: 30 min

Musical Composition

Reflection

I played my piano and made some music in Notion 3.

Resources

Piano

Alfred's Basic Piano Library Level 4

Notion 3

---

Elective

Time: 15 min

French Language

Reflection

For our French today, we worked on the fourth lesson of our new french course, Fluenz. It was very good!

Resources

Fluenz French

---

Science

Time: 120 min

Physical Science

Reflection

In our Physical Science Class today, we started off by reviewing what I had learned about sound last week (when Nathaniel was sick), and that helped me to remember a lot about sound as well. After that, we made a Cartesian Diver and used that to move on to liquids and gases, where we learned how the Cartesian diver works. We also learned about liquids and gases at rest, liquids and gases in motion, and recapped some more stuff on sound.

Resources

The Joy of Physics

My Science Book

Charts

My Dad

Nathaniel, my partner

---

Elective

Time: 75 min

Art and Publishing

For my art today, I worked for a bit in Blender 3d, and started to texture my helicopter.

Resources

Computer

Blender 3d

Unity

Tutorials

---

January the 14th 2010

Elective

Time: 30 min

Economics

Reflection

For my economics today, I worked on lesson nine of my Whatever Happened to Penny Candy? Economics Course, where I learned about the business cycle. I also answered some of the questions asked in the lesson.

Resources

Whatever Happened to Penny Candy? Economics Course

---

Math

Time: 40 min

Basic Math and Geometry

Reflection

I started my math lesson today by working in my tessellations book, where I completed the rest of the exercises for lesson three.

Resources

My Math Book

My Computer

Designing and Drawing Tessellations

---

English

Time: 20 min

Creative Writing

Reflection

Today we went for a warm walk. It was actually nice and warm today, at least in my winter coat. This would have, of course, felt freezing in last summer, but it's funny how your perspectives on temperature change throughout the year. Anyway, this morning we saw some little sparrows sitting in a bush, a jay fluttering overhead, a really cute little downy woodpecker and a great big crow (that might have been a raven). I had a great walk.

Resources

My Computer

---

Elective

Time: 30 min

French Language

Reflection

For our French today, we worked on the fourth lesson of our new french course, Fluenz. It was very good!

Resources

Fluenz French

---

Social Studies

Time: 105 min

United States History

Reflection

I started my United States History study today by reading some articles on the Boston Massacre and Thomas Paine's Common Sense. They were very interesting and I learned a lot from them. I wrote a paragraph describing what I learned from each.

http://www.freeunionschoolhouse.com/twiki/pub/Main/JackEduLogJan2010/UnitedStatesHistory.pdf

Resources

US History.org

Websites

My Mom

---

Social Studies

Time: 10

A Study of Physical and Political Geography

Reflection

For my Study of Physical and Political Geography today, I looked at the consumer reports that the other students found. It was very interesting to see what they had chosen.

http://www.freeunionschoolhouse.com/twiki/pub/Main/JackEduLogJan2010/ConsumerReports.pdf

Resources

My Computer

---

Elective

Time: 120 min

Art and Publishing

For my art today, I worked for a bit in Blender 3d, worked on my cartoon aircraft and a photo-realistic helmet, learning new UV mapping and texturing skills in the process.

Resources

Computer

Blender 3d

Tutorials

---

Elective

Time: 30 min

Musical Composition

Reflection

I played my piano and made some music in Notion 3.

Resources

Piano

Alfred's Basic Piano Library Level 4

Notion 3

---

January the 15th 2010

Math

Time: 30 min

Basic Math and Geometry

Reflection

For my math today, I had a look at the tessellation CD we ordered along with my tessellation course. I learned a lot about tessellations in the real world, in mosaics, sweaters and sculptures.

Resources

My Math Book

My Computer

Designing and Drawing Tessellations

My Dad

---

Community Service

Time: 70 min

Community Service

Reflection

I worked at the Selah Adult Day Care Center, where I did some coloring and played a game with the members.

Resources

Selah Day Care Center Helpers

Other Volunteers

Members

---

Elective

Time: 180 min

Art and Publishing

For my art today, I worked for a bit in Blender 3d, and modeled the front of an army truck. Next, I will try to texture it.

Resources

Computer

Blender 3d

---

English

Time: 20 min

Creative Writing

Reflection

I wrote a book review of Sojourn by RA Salvatore.

Resources

My Computer

Sojourn

---

January the 16th 2010

Elective

Time: 240 min

Art and Publishing

For my art today, I worked for a bit in Blender 3d, modeling a flying boat, and then used my graphics tablet to make a flying castle.

Resources

Computer

Blender 3d

---

Social Studies

Time: 120 min

United States History

Reflection

For our United States History Study tonight, we watched The Crossing, an exciting and tension-filled story of George Washington's famous Delaware crossing. In the beginning, a ragtag band of soldiers, the sad remnants of the Continental Army, march through a frozen woodland, pursued by the British. They make their way across the Delaware river, commandeering the boats of a man living by the river (who isn't to happy about that), and hurrying to escape their enemies, who aren't too far behind. They make it across the river to Pennsylvania, and Washington and his generals meet to discuss what to do next. Congress isn't going to help them, and has already abandoned Pennsylvania. Washington has two of his Generals bringing their armies in to meet his, but neither general is loyal to him and both want his position. The English and their hired Hessian allies are waiting for the river to freeze so they can walk over and fight Washington's meager force. Washington knows he must strike first, and hard. And when would be a better time to attack the Hessians than the day after Christmas Day, when they are drunk from their revels the night before? The fate of a nation rest upon this one battle, and Washington knows it. Can he succeed?

Resources

The Crossing

My Mom and Dad

---

January the 17th 2010

Elective

Time: 120 min

Musical Composition

Reflection

I made some music in Notion 3 and played my piano.

Resources

Notion 3

---

Elective

Time: 80 min

Theater Arts

Reflection

For my theater arts study today, we went to see A Wide and Lonesome Prairie. It was the story of two 13 year old girls and their families and friends who are making the journey west, across the prairies, to Oregon, where they believe there is space to build their own life and live off the land. At first, they seem to get on each other's nerves more than anything, but soon, they are good friends. Hattie is a very dramatic and often selfish girl, and Pepper is scared of all the things that might happen on the trail. Between the two of them, however, they seem to balance each other out. But the way west is not an easy one, and there will be loss and pain before the end, and these things could either cement their friendship or tear it apart. How they handle the trials before them will decide who they are, and whether they will survive.

This was an excellent two-actor play that really conveyed the trials and hardships people suffered through as they made their way to Oregon, and how these things could affect a friendship. I really enjoyed it, and I thought it was very well done.

Resources

My Mom and Dad

The Actors

The Growing Stage

---

January the 18th 2010

Elective

Time: 40 min

Economics

Reflection

For my economics today, I worked on lesson nine of my Whatever Happened to Penny Candy? Economics Course, where I learned about the business cycle. I finished off the questions and read two articles in the workbook. After that, I read the first two chapters of capitalism for kids.

Resources

Whatever Happened to Penny Candy? Economics Course

---

Math

Time: 50 min

Basic Math and Geometry

Reflection

I started my math lesson today by watching and working on the lesson in the book for video 5 of my new math course, Mathematics from the Visual World.

Resources

My Math Book

My Computer

Teaching Company Mathematics from the Visual World DVD

---

English

Time: 20 min

Creative Writing

Reflection

Today we went for a warm walk. It was actually very warm today, and by the end of our walk I had taken off my coat, hat and gloves. We went for a longer walk today, and we walked up the hill for the first time since mom hurt her back. She's much better now. Anyway, the sky was about 3/4 full of drifting, wispy cirrus and cumulus clouds, but mostly I just noticed the blue sky behind them. It's nice to have it not be raining or snowing. We saw some turkey vultures flying over head, some bluebirds in the field, a squirrel crawling up a tree and a woodpecker pecking away.

Resources

My Computer

---

English

Time: 20 min

Creative Writing

Reflection

I wrote a book review of Hive by Tim Curran.

Resources

My Computer

Hive

---

Elective

Time: 30 min

French Language

Reflection

For our French today, we finished the fourth lesson of our new french course, Fluenz, and finished the accompanying audio lesson.

Resources

Fluenz French

---

Social Studies

Time: 150

A Study of Physical and Political Geography

Reflection

For my Study of Physical and Political Geography, my mom and I worked on the next lesson of my Get It! Geography course, which was on the banana trade. We studied the origins of bananas (Asia) and how they got to Central America. Then we learned about different technological advances that had to happen in order for bananas to become widespread in North America. We also looked at advertising campaigns made by banana companies such as United Fruit, and watched an old video that was actually one big advertisement. We also learned about banana republics and how hard it is to sell organic and fair trade bananas. After the lesson, I worked on a survey to see whether people were influenced by slogans or mascots and made a mock 1900 banana advert. It was a great lesson!

http://www.freeunionschoolhouse.com/twiki/pub/Main/JackEduLogJan2010/SloganSurvey.pdf http://www.freeunionschoolhouse.com/twiki/pub/Main/JackEduLogJan2010/ILoveBananas.pdf

Resources

Get It! Geography Course

My Mom

---

Elective

Time: 90 min

Musical Composition

Reflection

I played my piano and made some music in Notion 3.

Resources

Piano

Alfred's Basic Piano Library Level 4

Notion 3

---

January the 19th 2010

Elective

Time: 40 min

Economics

Reflection

For my economics today, I read up to chapter 7 of capitalism for kids. It was very good, and really gave me an idea of how kids could start their own business.

Resources

Whatever Happened to Penny Candy? Economics Course

---

Math

Time: 30 min

Basic Math and Geometry

Reflection

I started my math lesson today by working in my tessellations book, where I worked on the first two exercises.

Resources

My Math Book

My Computer

Designing and Drawing Tessellations

---

Elective

Time: 90 min

Musical Composition

Reflection

I played my piano and made some music in Notion 3.

Resources

Piano

Alfred's Basic Piano Library Level 4

Notion 3

---

English

Time: 20 min

Creative Writing

Reflection

Today we went for a warm but overcast walk. The sky was full of drifting, gray stratus clouds, and it was a little bit chilly. Despite the slight slip back towards colder weather, the snow has almost completely melted away. The stream is now flowing almost completely free of ice. Anyway, we saw some turkey vultures and some crows in the meadow today, and some squirrels chasing each other around a tree.

Resources

My Computer

---

Elective

Time: 30 min

French Language

Reflection

For our French today, we worked on the fifth lesson of our new french course, Fluenz. It was very good.

Resources

Fluenz French

---

Science

Time: 180 min

Human Anatomy and Biology

Reflection

In our Human Anatomy and Biology Lesson today, we dissected a deer's heart to learn more about the anatomy of the heart. After that, we studied the mouth, esophagus and stomach. To start with, we watched a video lecture about these areas. After that, I answered two questions about them, and finished up.

http://www.freeunionschoolhouse.com/homeschool/HumanAnatomyAndBiology/DeerHeartDissection/ http://www.freeunionschoolhouse.com/twiki/pub/Main/JackEduLogJan2010/HeartDissection.pdf http://www.freeunionschoolhouse.com/twiki/pub/Main/JackEduLogJan2010/anatomycourse_Digestion.pdf

Resources

My Computer

My Mom and Dad

Deer Heart

Tools

Teaching Company Human Anatomy and Biology DVD

---

January the 20th 2010

English

Time: 10 min

Grammar and Writing

Reflection

For my grammar today, I worked in my Red Hot Root Words Grammar Book, using the prefixes aud-, phon- and son- to complete some exercises.

Resources

Red Hot Root Words Grammar Book

---

Elective

Time: 40 min

Economics

Reflection

For my economics today, I finished capitalism for kids. It was very good, and really gave me an idea of how kids could start their own business.

Resources

Whatever Happened to Penny Candy? Economics Course

---

Math

Time: 40 min

Basic Math and Geometry

Reflection

I started my math lesson today by watching and working on the lesson in the book for video 6 of my new math course, Mathematics from the Visual World.

Resources

My Math Book

My Computer

Teaching Company Mathematics from the Visual World DVD

---

Elective

Time: 30 min

French Language

Reflection

For our French today, we worked on the fifth lesson of our new french course, Fluenz. It was very good.

Resources

Fluenz French

---

Elective

Time: 90 min

Musical Composition

Reflection

I played my piano and made some music in Notion 3.

Resources

Piano

Alfred's Basic Piano Library Level 4

Notion 3

---

English

Time: 20 min

Creative Writing

Reflection

Today we went for a cool walk. By that, I mean that the air was chilly, not that it was particularly awesome! The wind was chilly but wasn't blowing too hard, and the sky was mostly clear, although there were some rather imposing cumulus clouds in the distance. We saw some crows in the meadow, one with a nut in his beak. We also saw some squirrels, one who was very annoyed and hissed at us from a tree branch.

Resources

My Computer

---

Science

Time: 120 min

Physical Science

Reflection

In our Physical Science Class today, we started off by reviewing what we learned about liquids and gasses in the last lesson, and then looked at more liquids and gasses! We started off by learning about the insides and outsides of liquids and gasses, looking at them macroscopically and microscopically. We then learned the equation for how a gas would behave in a perfect world, and how they actually behave. After that, we looked at thermodynamics, and how, as the temperature increases, things go from solids to liquids and then to gasses. Even though I was a bit sleepy by the end, I think I got it all and I enjoyed the lesson.

Resources

The Joy of Physics

My Science Book

Charts

My Dad

My Partner, Nathaniel

---

January the 21st 2010

English

Time: 60 min

Grammar and Writing

Reflection

For my grammar today, I worked in my Language is Served grammar book. I worked on an exercise where I wrote about a hamburger from different points of view.

http://www.freeunionschoolhouse.com/twiki/pub/Main/JackEduLogJan2010/HamburgerGrammar.pdf

Resources

Language is Served Grammar Book

---

Elective

Time: 20 min

Economics

Reflection

For my economics today, I wrote a book review of capitalism for kids. It was a good book!

Resources

Whatever Happened to Penny Candy? Economics Course

---

Math

Time: 40 min

Basic Math and Geometry

Reflection

I started my math lesson today by working in my tessellations book, where I worked on the next three exercises.

Resources

My Math Book

My Computer

Designing and Drawing Tessellations

---

English

Time: 20 min

Creative Writing

Reflection

Today we went for a chilly walk under the cloudless blue sky. There were no clouds, and thus no protection from the cold breeze. The birds were all puffed up to keep warm. Actually, I am wrong in saying there were no clouds. There were no clouds to begin with, but halfway through the walk some wispy cirrus clouds were coming over the horizon. They didn't offer much protection, though! We saw some crows and a mockingbird eating the berries off a bush.

Resources

My Computer

---

Elective

Time: 30 min

French Language

Reflection

For our French today, we finished the fifth lesson of our new french course, Fluenz.

Resources

Fluenz French

---

Social Studies

Time: 140 min

United States History

Reflection

For our United States History Study today, we watched the first part of PBS history series Liberty!, which is on the American Revolution. The first part, one of three, dealt with the beginnings of the Revolution, and how we can see that war looked inevitable now, as we look back, but it seemed impossible to the colonists, who regarded themselves as British, to have a war with the mother country. At the beginning, the colonists looked forward to a happy future after they had won the French and Indian war. But then Parliament imposed a new tax, called the stamp tax, which scared the people in the colonies, not because of the tax itself, but because of the idea that parliament could tax them as much as they wanted with no safeguards. After the Stamp Act came more taxes, each of which made the colonists more nervous. Then, at the Boston Tea party, a revolutionary group called the Sons of Liberty committed an act that made the British furious. A group of British warships sailed to Boston and put the city under martial law. After that, things steadily got worse, as people thought more and more about breaking away from Britain. (Of course, I'm missing out a lot here that was on the video!) The point where there was really no turning back was the battle of Concord and Lexington, where the first shots of the war were fired. After that came the battle of Bunker Hill, which the colonists only won because the British were marching uphill towards them (not the smartest tactical move). The first part ended with the signing of the Declaration of Independence. The video was excellently produced, and really put some perspective on my studies of the revolution.

Resources

Liberty!

My Mom

---

Elective

Time: 30 min

Musical Composition

Reflection

I made some music in Notion 3.

Resources

Notion 3

---

January the 22nd 2010

Community Service

Time: 75 min

Community Service

Reflection

I worked at the Selah Adult Day Care Center, where I played some games with the members, to keep them occupied while lunch was cooking.

Resources

Selah Day Care Center Helpers

Members

---

Elective

Time: 15 min

Musical Composition

Reflection

I played my song Waves of the Danube on the piano.

Resources

Piano

Alfred's Basic Piano Library Level 4

---

Elective

Time: 80 min

Theater Arts

Reflection

For my theater arts study today, we went to see Willie Wonka: The Musical (I don't know why they can't call it Charlie and the Chocolate factory, but maybe there is another musical called that) at the Great Meadows Middle School. Many people know the story, but in brief: It deals with Willy Wonka's fantastic chocolate factory that has been closed for many, many years. Charlie, a small boy from a poor family, hears about the Golden Ticket competition, where Golden Tickets are hidden in Wonka candy bars the world over. When Charlie manages to find, by a stroke of luck, a Golden Ticket, he finds himself entering the chocolate factory among five spoiled children who also won Golden Tickets. From there, he sees countless wonders, and as the number of children drops off one by one as they succumb to temptations, soon only Charlie is left. By why even have the contest in the first place? What is Wonka's plan?

The acting was mostly very good, although of course, there were some roles that required very little acting. There were a few people who shone out with the singing, and there were some very athletic dancers too! Over all, it was an entertaining production, and I enjoyed it immensely.

Resources

My Mom and Dad

The Actors

Great Meadows Middle School

---

January the 23rd 2010

Elective

Time: 60 min

Theater Arts

Reflection

I started my Theater Arts study today by walking into my Musical Performance Lab. We began by filling in a short questionnaire about our interests, abilities and personalities. Then we did some scales, singing as a group and in pairs with two people singing one note, two people singing another and so on. After that, we did some stretching and worked on some simple movements, including box step, grapevine, turns and scissors step. Then we put those movements together into a choreographed piece, which I botched up a bit, mostly because I was too slow on the scissors step and that threw everything else off.

Resources

My Teachers

Other Students

---

Social Studies

Time: 140 min

United States History

Reflection

For our United States History Study today, we watched The Devil's Disciple, a humorous movie with a serious point about freedom, religion and love, set in the time of the American Revolution. When Richard's father dies, he, the black sheep of the family, finds he has been left with all his father's property. After a hilarious scene in which, among other things, he tells everyone that their nickname for him, 'The Devil's Disciple" is not too far off the point, everyone departs the house, including his mother, who curses him as she goes. All is not well in the town, as the British have marched down from Canada and taken control of it. They are looking for someone to hang, someone who will make a fine example to the other townspeople, and many think it will be Richard. The vicar invites Richard to his house for tea, and gives him a warning that he should run away. Then the vicar has to go to be with Richard's mother, who is dying. This leaves Richard alone with the vicar's wife, who professes to hate Richard but in fact likes him a little too much. After another funny scene in which Richard and the vicar's wife sit at the table awkwardly and try to avoid speaking to one another, the British arrive. It turns out that they chose the vicar as their example, and they think that Richard is the vicar! He goes along with it to save the other man's life, and proves that he is much more than the Devil's Disciple in his heart. The vicar sets out to try and save him, but will he be in time? Or will Richard dance the hempen jig?

Resources

The Devil's Disciple by George Bernard Shaw

My Mom and Dad

---

January the 24th 2010

Elective

Time: 30 min

Musical Composition

Reflection

I worked with Mr Tom on my piano lesson for today. I showed him some of my songs and we worked on some scales on the piano. He also showed some of Chopin's work, including the Raindrop Prelude. It was beautiful!

Resources

My Piano

Alfred's Piano Library Level 4

Mr Tom

Notion 3

---

January the 25th 2010

Elective

Time: 40 min

Economics

Reflection

For my economics today, I read a short story called One Grain of Rice, which was based on the famous chess board problem, where one grain of sand becomes several billion thanks to doubling. This version used grains of rice instead of sand, and had a nice story about a greedy raja built around it. I also read a bit of Better Than a Lemonade Stand, a book of business ideas for kids.

Resources

Whatever Happened to Penny Candy? Economics Course

One Grain of Rice by Demi

Better Than a Lemonade Stand by Daryl Bernstein

---

Math

Time: 35 min

Basic Math and Geometry

Reflection

I started my math lesson today by watching and working on the lesson in the book for video 7 of my new math course, Mathematics from the Visual World. Today, it was on impossible geometry, including trisecting a 60 degree angle using only a compass and a straight edge, squaring a circle (creating a square with the same area as a given unit circle) and doubling a cube.

Resources

My Math Book

My Computer

Teaching Company Mathematics from the Visual World DVD

---

Elective

Time: 300 min

Local History Study

For my Local History Study today, we began by learning all about soil orders, and where the different soil types are located. We also learned, on the Dig It! website, about how soils affect our lives, through the effects they have on architecture and agriculture, among others. We also looked at some interactive displays on this topic, and watched a short (and silly) movie about how soil forms. After lunch, we looked at a book on how the Native Americans gardened, filled in some worksheets on worms, and read two more articles on the Dig It! website about soil and how we can preserve it. After that, I finished my homework for the session, on soil orders and wise choices we can make about the environment.

http://www.freeunionschoolhouse.com/twiki/pub/Main/JackEduLogJan2010/SoilOrders.pdf http://www.freeunionschoolhouse.com/twiki/pub/Main/JackEduLogJan2010/WiseChoices.pdf

Resources

Computer

Other Students

My Mom

Website on the Secrets of Soil

Worms

---

January the 26th 2010

Elective

Time: 40 min

Economics

Reflection

For my economics today, I finished Better Than a Lemonade Stand, a book of business ideas for kids. It was very good, and it gave me some ideas for businesses.

Resources

Whatever Happened to Penny Candy? Economics Course

Better Than a Lemonade Stand by Daryl Bernstein

---

Math

Time: 40 min

Basic Math and Geometry

Reflection

I started my math lesson today by working in my tessellations book, where I read chapter five and completed all the exercises. They were easier today because they were more artistic in nature, asking me to created motifs for tessellations.

http://www.freeunionschoolhouse.com/twiki/pub/Main/JackEduLogJan2010/tessellation.pdf

Resources

My Math Book

My Computer

Designing and Drawing Tessellations

---

Elective

Time: 30 min

French Language

Reflection

For our French today, we worked on the sixth lesson of our new french course, Fluenz. It was very good.

Resources

Fluenz French

---

English

Time: 20 min

Creative Writing

Reflection

Today we went for a chilly walk under an overcast sky. The wind was really roaring this morning, and my ears were getting chilly. Mom said my nose was bright red because it was so cold! Anyway, the sky this morning was almost full of a mix of stratus and cumulus clouds (I know, an odd mix, right?) but occasionally one of the cumulus clouds would open up and we would see blue sky. We saw some woodpeckers on our forest walk, but they were too far away to identify what type.

Resources

My Computer

---

Science

Time: 60 min

Human Anatomy and Biology

Reflection

In our Human Anatomy and Biology Lesson today, we worked in the kitchen (our lab) on some experiments. Before we began, we all did a reaction test where we tested the speed of our reactions on the computer. The first experiment was a taste test, where I tasted different flavors of ice-cream with a blind-fold, with my nose held and both, to determine how much sight and smell added to taste. I had to devise the experiment today, something I hadn't done for a while, but after some time to think and suggestions from dad, I made it work. It turns out that sight and smell are very important to being able to identify a food and enjoy it. After that, we did an experiment to test how well I can smell (the answer: not terribly well) by putting a piece of cotton with vanilla extract on it on the floor and seeing if we could find it while blind-folded. Oh, well. No one else did terribly well on that test, either. Lastly, we looked at some optical illusions and learned how they fool our brain.

Resources

My Computer

My Mom and Dad

Books

Tests

Materials

---

Elective

Time: 60 min

Art and Publishing

For my art today, I worked on some corrections to my Terror of Porridge book at Mr Pete's house.

Resources

Computer

Photoshop

Book-Editing Software

Mr Pete

---

January the 27th 2010

English

Time: 30 min

Grammar and Writing

Reflection

For my grammar today, I worked in my Language is Served grammar book. I worked on an exercise where I wrote a short story based on a story starter.

http://www.freeunionschoolhouse.com/twiki/pub/Main/JackEduLogJan2010/StoryStarter.pdf

Resources

Language is Served Grammar Book

---

Math

Time: 30 min

Basic Math and Geometry

Reflection

I started my math lesson today by watching and working on the lesson in the book for video 8 of my math course, Mathematics from the Visual World.

Resources

My Math Book

My Computer

Teaching Company Mathematics from the Visual World DVD

---

Elective

Time: 30 min

French Language

Reflection

For our French today, we worked on the sixth lesson of our new french course, Fluenz. It was very good.

Resources

Fluenz French

---

English

Time: 20 min

Creative Writing

Reflection

Today we went for a chilly walk under an overcast sky, just like the last few days. Hopefully it will warm up soon, but for now, its cold and dry. The clouds overhead are not foreboding, but they aren't light and fluffy either, just dull and gray. The wind is whistling through the trees, but it isn't blowing as hard as yesterday, which is quite a relief. As we walked down the road, I saw a big crowd of blue jays scattering in front of us and heard them calling loudly in the trees beside the road.

Resources

My Computer

---

Science

Time: 120 min

Physical Science

Reflection

In our Physical Science Class today, we started off by reviewing what we learned about thermodynamics in our last lesson, and then finished up that chapter. We looked at the three laws of thermodynamics, and learned a catchy way to remember their basic meaning: you can't win, you can't break even and you can't quit! After that, we began on electricity, where we learned about why, when you rub a plastic tube with a sock and hold it over some pieces of paper, they leap towards it. Lastly, we finished that chapter and worked on an experiment where we put strips of foil on a plastic cup and caused it to move with static electricity, whereupon it would transfer some particles onto another strip of foil on a wire, which was connected to two Leiden Jars in parallel, which were connected to a wire on the other side of the cup. This setup allowed the cup to keep moving for quite some time after we stopped charging it.

Resources

The Joy of Physics

My Science Book

Charts

My Dad

My Partner, Nathaniel

Materials

---

Elective

Time: 60 min

Musical Composition

Reflection

I played my song Waves of the Danube on the piano and made some music in Notion 3.

Resources

Piano

Alfred's Basic Piano Library Level 4

---

January the 28th 2010

English

Time: 50 min

Grammar and Writing

Reflection

For my grammar today, I worked in my Red Hot Root Words and Language is Served grammar books. First, in Red Hot Root Words, I used the prefixes cycl-, orb-, sphere- and rect- to complete some sentences. I then worked on an exercise where I wrote a short story based on a story starter.

http://www.freeunionschoolhouse.com/twiki/pub/Main/JackEduLogJan2010/StoryStarter2.pdf

Resources

Language is Served Grammar Book

---

Math

Time: 40 min

Basic Math and Geometry

Reflection

I started my math lesson today by working in my tessellations book, where I read chapter six and completed both the exercises. They were easier today because they were more artistic in nature, asking me to geometrically modify motifs for tessellations.

Resources

My Math Book

My Computer

Designing and Drawing Tessellations

---

Elective

Time: 30 min

French Language

Reflection

For our French today, we worked on the sixth lesson of our new french course, Fluenz. It was very good.

Resources

Fluenz French

---

Social Studies

Time: 120 min

United States History

Reflection

For our United States History Study, we watched the second part of the PBS series Liberty!, which today was on the darkest days of the revolution. On Long Island, the entire continental army was surrounded by a British force that outnumbered them two to one. At first, they managed to hold their ground, but after the British exploited a hole in their defenses half the British force was able to march around the Continental army and hit them from behind. The result was just as the British had hoped, their enemy, faced with unbeatable odds, broke and began a disorderly retreat, running for their lives as the Hessian and British soldiers gunned them down. They were chased to the edge of Long Island, and given a chance to surrender. George Washington seized that chance, and ordering the soldiers to keep their campfires lit, they were ferried across the river to safety. But it got worse from there on. After the British General, Howe, had defeated them at Long Island, he marched across the country, pushing the rebels back further and further. Soon, winter set in and the British and their hired Hessian allies stopped at the Delaware river, with the rebels on the other side. There, Washington struck his first real victory, when he attacked Trenton and won against the Hessians, who terrified the soldiers. To the British, this was a minor annoyance, but it went a long way in convincing the American people that the war was not yet over. After this, Benjamin Franklin traveled to Paris to try and win the support of the French, as the Americans realized they needed the support of another world power before they could really think about winning. The French king wanted a major victory against the British, to show him that the Americans could win, before he would even meet with Franklin. That victory came when General John Burgoyne marched his forces down from Canada, and thanks to the fact that he didn't talk to the other British general, Howe, some tactical blunders and his disregard for geography, he was soundly defeated. After this, the French signed a treaty with the Americans, and the British realized that this war was getting bigger than they could have ever realized.

Resources

Liberty!

My Mom

---

Elective

Time: 40 min

Musical Composition

Reflection

I played my song Waves of the Danube on the piano and made some music in Notion 3.

Resources

Piano

Alfred's Basic Piano Library Level 4

---

January the 29th 2010

Math

Time: 40 min

Basic Math and Geometry

Reflection

I started my math lesson today by watching and working on the lesson in the book for video 9 of my new math course, Mathematics from the Visual World.

Resources

My Math Book

My Computer

Teaching Company Mathematics from the Visual World DVD

Designing and Drawing Tessellations

---

English

Time: 30 min

Grammar and Writing

Reflection

For my grammar today, I worked in my Language is Served grammar book. I worked on an exercise where I wrote a short story based on a story starter.

http://www.freeunionschoolhouse.com/twiki/pub/Main/JackEduLogJan2010/StoryStarter3.pdf

Resources

Language is Served Grammar Book

---

Community Service

Time: 60 min

Community Service

Reflection

I worked at the Selah Adult Day Care Center, where helped the members make crafts and did trivia with one of the members, Joe.

Resources

Selah Day Care Center Helpers

Other Volunteers

Members

---

English

Time: 40 min

Creative Writing

Reflection

I wrote a book reviews of Canticle, In Sylvan Shadows, Night Masks, The Fallen Fortress and The Chaos Curse by R A Salvatore.

Resources

My Computer

Canticle

In Sylvan Shadows

Night Masks

The Fallen Fortress

The Chaos Curse

---

Elective

Time: 120 min

Musical Composition

Reflection

I played my song Waves of the Danube on the piano and made some music in Notion 3.

Resources

Piano

Alfred's Basic Piano Library Level 4

---

January the 30th 2010

Elective

Time: 180 min

Theater Arts

Reflection

I started my Theater Arts study today by walking into my Musical Performance Lab. We began by doing a short warmup, which involved some very simple stretches just to warm up our voices. We also did a few exercises to help with our breathing and singing. Then we stepped up to the piano and sang some scales as a group and on our own, in order to test our ranges. When we had done that, we got our songs. Mine is called Seize the Day from the musical Newsies. It's a really fun song! Lastly, the girls sang their group song and we headed out.

In my Actor Speaks class, which was two hours long today, we worked on a short story using three objects to warm up our brains. Mine was about a night in a "haunted" house, and involved a green piece of silk, a spoon and a roll of duct tape. After that, we looked at ways to grab our reader's attention, using the example of a fake news report about a body found in the river. We studied the questions that the story generated, and for homework, we will apply the same technique to our plays, unraveling our characters' backgrounds.

Resources

My Teachers

Other Students

---

January the 31st 2010

Elective

Time: 30 min

Musical Composition

Reflection

I worked with Mr Tom on my piano lesson for today. I showed him some of my songs and we worked on some scales and Waves of the Danube! I also got my new Elementary Harmony Book, and for homework this week, I have to complete the first chapter and do the quiz at the end.

Resources

My Piano

Alfred's Piano Library Level 4

Mr Tom

Notion 3

---

-- JackW - 01 Jan 2010