---

September 1st 2009

Elective

Time: 60 min

Art and Publishing

For my art today, I worked on correcting any errors on my Terror of Porridge pictures on the computer, and put them into my art teacher, Mr Pete's, book editing program.

Resources

Computer

Photoshop

Book-Editing Software

Mr Pete

---

September 2nd 2009

Elective

Time: 30 min

Life and Survival Skills

Reflection

Today we cooked Quinoa cookies, which were delicious!

Resources

My Mom

Ingredients

Recipe

Kitchen Utensils

---

Community Service

Time: 120 min

Community Service

Reflection

I ran the life cycle table at our Monarch Butterfly workshop at the Washington Township Library.

Resources

Students

Materials

---

September 3rd 2009

Elective

Time: 30 min

Life and Survival Skills

Reflection

Today we cooked Teff cookies, which were delicious!

Resources

My Mom

Ingredients

Recipe

Kitchen Utensils

---

September 4th 2009

Elective

Time: 30 min

Life and Survival Skills

Reflection

Today we cooked chocolate chip cookies, which were wonderful!

Resources

My Mom

Ingredients

Recipe

Kitchen Utensils

---

September 5th 2009

Elective

Time: 30 min

Life and Survival Skills

Reflection

Today we cooked carrot slices, which were wonderful even though I forgot the sugar and had to sprinkle it over the top! In fact, maybe it was even better because of that!

Resources

My Mom

Ingredients

Recipe

Kitchen Utensils

---

September 6th 2009

Elective

Time: 30 min

Life and Survival Skills

Reflection

Today we cooked teff cookies, which were wonderful!

Resources

My Mom

Ingredients

Recipe

Kitchen Utensils

---

Elective

Time: 45 min

Music Practice and Music Theory

Reflection

I worked with Mr Tom on my piano lesson for today. We finished Swinging Sevenths and went on to a new song in the lesson book! We also did some composing, and I did a bit of composing on my own.

http://www.freeunionschoolhouse.com/twiki/pub/Main/JackEduLogSep2009/BattleoftheRidge.mp3

Resources

My Piano

Alfred's Piano Library Level 4

Mr Tom

---

Elective

Time: 60 min

Art and Publishing

For my art in Blender 3d today, I worked on getting the bump map from a high detail mesh onto a low detail one, so that it would look good without taking up too many polygons. Although I didn't entirely succeed, I learned quite a lot.

Resources

Computer

Blender 3d

Tutorials

---

September 7th 2009

Elective

Time: 30 min

Life and Survival Skills

Reflection

Today we cooked oat cookies, which were wonderful!

Resources

Ingredients

Recipe

Kitchen Utensils

---

Elective

Time: 30 min

Life and Survival Skills

Reflection

Today we read through a chapter of Go Wild!, that was all about shelters. I learned quite a bit about constructing your own outdoor shelter. You need a lot of leaves!

Resources

My Mom

Go Wild!

---

Elective

Time: 60 min

Music Practice and Music Theory

Reflection

I worked on my piano lesson for today, and did some composing.

http://www.freeunionschoolhouse.com/twiki/pub/Main/JackEduLogSep2009/infiltration.mp3

Resources

My Piano

Alfred's Piano Library Level 4

---

September 8th 2009

English

Time: 10 min

Grammar and Writing

Reflection

For my grammar today, I worked in my Red Hot Root Words grammar book. I worked on an exercise where I used the prefixes en-, em-, in-, im-, intro- and intra- to complete some exercises.

Resources

Red Hot Root Words Grammar Book

---

Elective

Time: 20 min

Economics

Reflection

For my economics today, I read an article in Economics: A Free Market Reader called A King of Long Ago, which was about the government and when it should intervene in the lives of its citizens, if ever.

Resources

Whatever Happened to Penny Candy? Economics Course

Economics: A Free Market Reader

---

Elective

Time: 30 min

Life and Survival Skills

Reflection

Today we cooked chocolate chip cookies, which were wonderful!

Resources

My Mom

Ingredients

Recipe

Kitchen Utensils

---

Math

Time: 60 min

Basic Math and Geometry

Reflection

I started my math lesson today by watching lesson one of my Geometry Course, where the presenter talked about the principals of geometry, points, lines, planes, rays and segments, and discussed theorems and postulates to that effect. I learned a lot of the basic foundations of geometry, and found the presenter to be engaging and understandable.

Resources

My Math Book

My Computer

Teaching Company Geometry DVD

---

Elective

Time: 20 min

French Language

Reflection

For our French today, we worked on the first 2 pages of French for Beginners, using the cassette to hear the words being spoken.

Resources

French for Beginners

---

English

Time: 30

Creative Writing

Reflection

For my Nature Study today, I looked at a blog about nature and thought of exciting ways to print my findings!

The Blog:

http://handbookofnaturestudy.blogspot.com/

Resources

My Computer

A Blog

---

Elective

Time: 45 min

Music Practice and Music Theory

Reflection

I worked on my piano lesson for today, and did some composing that Mr Tom asked me to do. I finished a song!

Resources

My Piano

Alfred's Piano Library Level 4

---

Science

Time: 105

Human Anatomy and Biology

Reflection

In our Human Anatomy and Biology Lesson today, we studied the human heart. To start with, we watched a video lecture about the heart, which filled me in on the basics of the heart and how it functions. After that, I answered two questions about the heart, and finished up.

http://www.freeunionschoolhouse.com/twiki/pub/Main/JackEduLogSep2009/anatomycourse_Heart.pdf

Resources

My Computer

Teaching Company Human Anatomy and Biology DVD

---

Elective

Time: 10 min

Life and Survival Skills

Reflection

Today we read through a chapter of Go Wild!, that was all about foraging. We learned about when you should harvest wild plants and fungi, and when you shouldn't.

Resources

My Mom

Go Wild!

---

Elective

Time: 60 min

Art and Publishing

For my art today, I worked on correcting any errors on my Terror of Porridge pictures on the computer, and put them into my art teacher, Mr Pete's, book editing program.

Resources

Computer

Photoshop

Book-Editing Software

Mr Pete

---

Elective

Time: 30 min

Art and Publishing

For my art in Blender 3d today, I worked on my Jack O' the Lantern model, which I will have in a game as soon as I can.

Resources

Computer

Blender 3d

Tutorials

---

September 9th 2009

Elective

Time: 45 min

Economics

Reflection

For my economics today, I read an article in Economics: A Free Market Reader called A King of Long Ago, which was about the government and when it should intervene in the lives of its citizens, if ever. I also answered almost all of the thought questions.

Resources

Whatever Happened to Penny Candy? Economics Course

Economics: A Free Market Reader

---

Elective

Time: 30 min

Life and Survival Skills

Reflection

Today we cooked carrot slices, which were wonderful!

Resources

My Mom

Ingredients

Recipe

Kitchen Utensils

---

Math

Time: 50 min

Basic Math and Geometry

Reflection

I started my math lesson today by working on the lesson in the book for video one of my Geometry course. It was easy and fun (well, it was the first lesson) and I breezed through it. Afterward, I watched a bit of lesson two, which was on angles.

Resources

My Math Book

My Computer

Teaching Company Geometry DVD

---

Elective

Time: 15 min

French Language

Reflection

For our French today, we worked on the third page of French for Beginners, which on le and la with nouns and asking what something is, using the cassette to hear the words being spoken.

Resources

My Mom

French for Beginners

---

Elective

Time: 120 min

Life and Survival Skills

Reflection

Today we went to a fantastic workshop on mushrooms, where we learned all about fungi in their many shapes and forms. We also went on a walk, where we saw lots of fungi, although not as many as we had hoped, because it has been so dry.

Resources

Presenter, Dorothy Smullen

Mushrooms

Slideshow

Other Participants

---

English

Time: 30

Creative Writing

Reflection

I wrote a review of the mushroom workshop we went to.

http://www.freeunionschoolhouse.com/twiki/pub/Main/JackEduLogSep2009/reviewMushroomDay.pdf

Resources

My Computer

---

Elective

Time: 30 min

Life and Survival Skills

Reflection

Today we read through a chapter of Go Wild!, that was all about fire. It talked about fire safety and what you need to start one.

Resources

My Mom

Go Wild!

---

September 10th 2009

Elective

Time: 180 min

Life and Survival Skills

Reflection

Today we went to a fantastic workshop on Planning for an Unplanned Night in the Woods, where we learned how we might survive if we got lost in the middle of the woods.

Resources

Presenter, Fred Gast

Quincy, his Dog

Materials

Other Participants

---

English

Time: 30

Creative Writing

Reflection

I wrote a review of the survival workshop we went to.

http://www.freeunionschoolhouse.com/twiki/pub/Main/JackEduLogSep2009/reviewUnplannedNight.pdf

Resources

My Computer

---

September 11th 2009

Elective

Time: 10 min

Economics

Reflection

For my economics today, I read an article in Economics: A Free Market Reader called A King of Long Ago, which was about the government and when it should intervene in the lives of its citizens, if ever. I finished all the questions.

http://www.freeunionschoolhouse.com/twiki/pub/Main/JackEduLogSep2009/KingofLongAgo.pdf

Resources

Whatever Happened to Penny Candy? Economics Course

Economics: A Free Market Reader

---

English

Time: 25 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 looked up words in the dictionary to see what category they were in.

Resources

Language is Served Grammar Book

---

Elective

Time: 30 min

Life and Survival Skills

Reflection

Today we cooked Teff cookies, which were delicious!

Resources

My Mom

Ingredients

Recipe

Kitchen Utensils

---

Math

Time: 60 min

Basic Math and Geometry

Reflection

I started my math lesson today by watching almost all of lesson two, which was on angles. I learned a lot about angles and their properties.

Resources

My Math Book

My Computer

Teaching Company Geometry DVD

---

Community Service

Time: 60 min

Community Service

Reflection

I started my work at the library by sorting out all the DVDs, by checking their little cards to the DVDs. I finished checking all the movies!

Resources

Librarians

---

Elective

Time: 270 min

Life and Survival Skills

Reflection

Today I went to Mr Bill's house and learned all about preservation. I peeled, cored and chopped up pears, learned how to preserve them using a pressure cooker, and made jelly using juice from the cores and peelings.

Resources

Mr Bill

Pears

Utensils

---

Elective

Time: 60 min

Economics

Reflection

For my economics today, I watched a movie called Mr Deeds goes to Town, which was very good and was about an ordinary guy inheriting a ton of money, and finding out all the troubles that go with it.

Resources

Mr Deeds Goes to Town

---

September 12th 2009

Elective

Time: 30 min

Life and Survival Skills

Reflection

Today we cooked chocolate chip cookies, which were wonderful!

Resources

My Mom

Ingredients

Recipe

Kitchen Utensils

---

Elective

Time: 60 min

Economics

Reflection

For my economics today, I watched a movie called Mr Deeds goes to Town, which was very good and was about an ordinary guy inheriting a ton of money, and finding out all the troubles that go with it. We finished it today.

Resources

Mr Deeds Goes to Town

---

September 13th 2009

Elective

Time: 45 min

Music Practice and Music Theory

Reflection

I worked with Mr Tom on my piano lesson for today. We finished Left Hand Blues in the technique book and went on to a new song in the lesson book, called America the Beautiful! We also did some composing!

Resources

My Piano

Alfred's Piano Library Level 4

Mr Tom

---

September 14th 2009

Elective

Time: 15 min

Economics

Reflection

For my economics today, I answered some questions about the movie Mr Deeds Goes to Town, about what I thought of the movie and the points it brought up.

http://www.freeunionschoolhouse.com/twiki/pub/Main/JackEduLogSep2009/MrDeedsAnswers.pdf

Resources

Whatever Happened to Penny Candy? Economics Course

Economics: A Free Market Reader

---

Math

Time: 30 min

Basic Math and Geometry

Reflection

I worked on my math lesson today by watching all of lesson two, which was on angles. I learned a lot about angles and their properties.

Resources

My Math Book

My Computer

Teaching Company Geometry DVD

---

Elective

Time: 150 min

A Local Study of Mountain Lake

Reflection

Today we went to a fantastic class on the ecology of Mountain Lake, which gave me plenty of food for thought and taught me a lot about Mountain Lake.

http://www.freeunionschoolhouse.com/twiki/pub/Main/JackEduLogSep2009/MtnLakeExplorationClass.pdf

Resources

Presenters, Liz and Jessica

Materials

Other Students

---

English

Time: 40

Creative Writing

Reflection

I wrote a review of the Mountain Lake Exploration class we went to.

http://www.freeunionschoolhouse.com/twiki/pub/Main/JackEduLogSep2009/MtnLakeExplorationClass.pdf

Resources

My Computer

---

September 15th 2009

English

Time: 45 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 looked up words to see what they meant and then used them in sentences.

http://www.freeunionschoolhouse.com/twiki/pub/Main/JackEduLogSep2009/DictionaryStew.pdf

Resources

Language is Served Grammar Book

---

Math

Time: 30 min

Basic Math and Geometry

Reflection

I worked on my math lesson today by working on the lesson in the book for video two. I got almost everything right, and what I didn't I understood why.

Resources

My Math Book

My Computer

Teaching Company Geometry DVD

---

Elective

Time: 30 min

French Language

Reflection

For our French today, we worked on the next 2 pages of French for Beginners, which were on asking where someone is from and asking someone's age, using the cassette to hear the words being spoken.

Resources

French for Beginners

---

Elective

Time: 45 min

Music Practice and Music Theory

Reflection

I worked on my piano lesson for today, and did some composing.

Resources

My Piano

Alfred's Piano Library Level 4

---

Science

Time: 75

Human Anatomy and Biology

Reflection

In our Human Anatomy and Biology Lesson today, we studied the human heart. To start with, we watched a video lecture which went into more detail about the heart and how we know when it has gone wrong. After that, I answered two questions about the heart's phases and measurement, and finished up.

http://www.freeunionschoolhouse.com/twiki/pub/Main/JackEduLogSep2009/anatomycourse_Heart2.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 correcting any errors on my Terror of Porridge pictures on the computer, and put them into my art teacher, Mr Pete's, book editing program.

Resources

Computer

Photoshop

Book-Editing Software

Mr Pete

---

September 16th 2009

Elective

Time: 30 min

Life and Survival Skills

Reflection

Today we cooked chocolate chip cookies, which were wonderful!

Resources

Ingredients

Recipe

Kitchen Utensils

---

Elective

Time: 30 min

Economics

Reflection

For my economics today, I read an article in Economics: A Free Market Reader called Not Yours to Give, which was about the government and whether it should use its money to help others, and when that should be left to the people passing the bill.

Resources

Whatever Happened to Penny Candy? Economics Course

Economics: A Free Market Reader

---

Community Service

Time: 120 min

Community Service

Reflection

I worked at Long Meadow farm, picking up good apples that had fallen to the ground, so that they could be given to food pantries around the area by Grow-A-Row. I collected six baskets of apples.

Resources

Other Workers

Apples

Long Meadow Farm

Grow-A-Row

---

Elective

Time: 20 min

Music Practice and Music Theory

Reflection

I worked on my piano lesson for today.

Resources

My Piano

Alfred's Piano Library Level 4

---

English

Time: 15

Creative Writing

Reflection

For my creative writing today, I wrote a Haiku about the Monarch Butterfly for Cricket Magazine.

http://www.freeunionschoolhouse.com/twiki/pub/Main/JackEduLogSep2009/monarchhaiku.pdf

Resources

My Computer

---

Math

Time: 60 min

Basic Math and Geometry

Reflection

I started my math lesson today by watching all of lesson three, which was on inductive and deductive reasoning. I learned a lot about using these two types of reasoning to solve problems.

Resources

My Math Book

My Computer

Teaching Company Geometry DVD

---

Elective

Time: 50 min

Music Practice and Music Theory

Reflection

I wrote many songs on the piano, and recorded them so I could remember them for later.

Resources

My Piano

Alfred's Piano Library Level 4

---

September 17th 2009

Elective

Time: 30 min

Life and Survival Skills

Reflection

Today I cooked carrot slices, which were wonderful!

Resources

Ingredients

Recipe

Kitchen Utensils

---

Elective

Time: 30 min

Economics

Reflection

For my economics today, I read an article in Economics: A Free Market Reader called Not Yours to Give, which was about the government and whether it should use its money to help others, and when that should be left to the people passing the bill. I answered one of the thought questions.

Resources

Whatever Happened to Penny Candy? Economics Course

Economics: A Free Market Reader

---

Math

Time: 30 min

Basic Math and Geometry

Reflection

I started my geometry lesson today by working on the lesson in the book for video three, which was on inductive and deductive reasoning. I used inductive and deductive reasoning to solve problems.

Resources

My Math Book

My Computer

Teaching Company Geometry DVD

---

Elective

Time: 30 min

Music Practice and Music Theory

Reflection

I worked on my piano lesson for today, and did some composing.

Resources

My Piano

Alfred's Piano Library Level 4

---

Elective

Time: 30 min

French Language

Reflection

For our French today, we worked on the next 2 pages of French for Beginners, which were on your family and your house, using the cassette to hear the words being spoken.

Resources

French for Beginners

---

Social Studies

Time: 120 min

United States History

Reflection

I started my United States History study today by watching two LecturePoint? US History narrated presentations, on the pre-European settlement America, which included a study of the Native Americans, and the colonists who came to America from Europe. For each of the periods, I read passages from three books, which were very helpful, and did some quizzes in American History: The Easy Way. Lastly, I went on another website and read an article about the European settlement of America, and answered some thought questions on it.

http://www.freeunionschoolhouse.com/twiki/pub/Main/JackEduLogSep2009/AmericanHistory1.pdf

Resources

LecturePoint? US History Presentations

A History of the American People by Paul Johnson

American History Made Simple by Jack C. Estrin

American History: The Easy Way by William O. Kellogg

My Mom

---

September 18th 2009

English

Time: 15 min

Grammar and Writing

Reflection

For my grammar today, I worked in my Red Hot Root Words grammar book. I worked on an exercise where I used the prefixes mega-, multi-, poly-, semi- and hemi- to complete some exercises.

Resources

Red Hot Root Words Grammar Book

---

Elective

Time: 30 min

Life and Survival Skills

Reflection

Today we cooked Teff cookies, which were delicious!

Resources

Ingredients

Recipe

Kitchen Utensils

---

Social Studies

Time: 40 min

United States History

Reflection

I started my United States History study today by listening to a program by Living Books for the Ears on the women suffragettes. It was very good, and it gave me an idea of what it was like to live in a time where not everyone could vote. Of course, I can't vote anyway when I reach the voting age, because I am not a citizen!

Resources

My Computer

Living Books for the Ears

---

Community Service

Time: 60 min

Community Service

Reflection

I started my work at the library by sorting out the DVDs, by checking their little cards to the DVDs. I finished checking almost all the movies!

Resources

Librarians

---

Elective

Time: 240 min

Life and Survival Skills

Reflection

Today I went to Mr Bill's house and mowed the lawn. I used his mower to go back and forth and cut his grass down. When I had emptied the bag into a wheelbarrow a couple of times, I used it as mulch in the garden. I got the job about halfway done.

Resources

Mr Bill

Mower

Headphones and Gloves

---

September 19th 2009

Elective

Time: 30 min

Life and Survival Skills

Reflection

Today I cooked oat cookies, which were wonderful!

Resources

Ingredients

Recipe

Kitchen Utensils

---

Elective

Time: 210 min

Theater Arts

Reflection

I started my Theater Arts study today by walking into my dancing and singing class, which today was led by Miss Lori instead of Miss Lia. We started by doing a short singing game, where we sang our names to the scale. After that, we tested our vocal range by singing "Ah!", along with notes on the piano. I can sing three octaves comfortably, although I'm sure more could be squeezed out. Lastly, we choreographed some dance moves along with a song.

In my Actor and Writer Speaks class, Miss Mary got us all warmed up by talking about the elements of a play, namely: beginning, middle and end, conflict and characters. After talking about these for a while, we filled out a sheet about ourselves and wrote a poem with the answers. And sadly, that was all we got time for today!

Lastly, I went on to Mr Perry's Black Light Puppetry class. We looked at examples of Black Light puppetry on Youtube. For some reason, most of them were for churches. Anyway, after we had looked at examples on Youtube, we had a look at the script, which is a Greek tale about Apollo's son and his fateful journey on his father's chariot. Before we left, we also played around with black light puppets. It was great fun!

Resources

My Teachers: Miss Mary, Miss Lori and Mr Perry

Worksheets

Youtube

---

September 20th 2009

Elective

Time: 45 min

Music Practice and Music Theory

Reflection

I worked with Mr Tom on my piano lesson for today. We worked a bit on America the Beautiful, and put it hands together. We also did some composing.

Resources

My Piano

Alfred's Piano Library Level 4

Mr Tom

---

English

Time: 160

Creative Writing

Reflection

For my Nature Study today, we went to a Journaling Through Nature course, where we learned about how to make writing about nature interesting.

We started by driving to the PP and L pavilion at the Martin's Creek Nature Preserve, where Mr Fred and Miss Nancy were waiting. The class was called Journaling Through Nature, so obviously Miss Nancy had a background in journalism, and had worked for many newspapers. However, she also makes nature journals, and tries to make them more interesting than some people do. She shared her techniques for note-taking and observation, which allowed me to take many notes about nature while on our walk. And then, when we had received our snazzy new notebooks, we were off!

When we first stepped into the woods, the first thing I noticed was the temperature change. In my sweater, the temperature in the sun was hot, though not uncomfortably so. However, once I stepped into the woods, the temperature dropped until it was cool. We walked through the woods at Martin's Creek, which I had walked many times, and I began to notice things I had always seen, but never really thought about. I saw how the light filtered down in rays through the trees above the path, how the rocks around me were covered in moss, smelled the pollen, which was extremely strong in the woods, felt the wind brushing my back and the mosquitoes buzzing me! We walked by an ancient nest, which I managed to spot, a man-made pool, which was a mosquito heaven, and a patch of red berries that stuck out amid all the green. We also saw man-made walls, where farmers took the glacial rocks that were in their fields and piled them into boundary markers. Lastly, amid the new wash of sights, sounds and smells that assaulted me, I felt mosquitoes biting me!

Resources

Mr Fred, Naturalist

Miss Nancy, our Guide

Notebooks

Nature!

---

September 21st 2009

Elective

Time: 30 min

Economics

Reflection

For my economics today, I read an article in Economics: A Free Market Reader called Not Yours to Give, which was about the government and whether it should use its money to help others, and when that should be left to the people passing the bill. I answered several of the thought questions.

Resources

Whatever Happened to Penny Candy? Economics Course

Economics: A Free Market Reader

---

Elective

Time: 30 min

Life and Survival Skills

Reflection

Today I cooked chocolate chip cookies, which were delicious!

Resources

Ingredients

Recipe

Kitchen Utensils

---

English

Time: 40

Creative Writing

Reflection

For my Nature Study today, we went on our usual romp down the road and through the woods, but with my new experiences from the Journaling Through Nature class, I had new ideas about what I can see and record. Earlier in the morning, the sun had turned the sky bright red and the clouds pink, and these clouds had now transformed into wispy cirrus and fluff cumulus-cirrus mixes. The bright sun dappled the forest floor and brightened up the meadow. Small patches of white and yellow brightened up the green in the meadow, and we noticed some bees buzzing around flowers by the edge of the road. Around the same area, we noticed a spider wobbling across its web towards a fly trapped in the sticky strands. It took the fly and wrapped it up in webbing, which was really cool, as we had never seen it before. Lastly, we saw some mushrooms by the side of the road, and admired the beauty of the woodlands. Unfortunately, we were barked at by psychotic dogs on our way down from the woods. Apart from that, it was a great walk!

Resources

My Computer

My Mom

Nature!

---

Math

Time: 80 min

Basic Math and Geometry

Reflection

I started my math lesson today by watching all of lesson four, which was on applying inductive and deductive reasoning to geometry and tying it in with algebra. I learned a lot about using these two types of reasoning to solve problems.

Resources

My Math Book

My Computer

Teaching Company Geometry DVD

---

Elective

Time: 120 min

A Local Study of Mountain Lake

Reflection

Today my mom ran a fantastic class on different types of wetlands. We started out by talking about what types of wetlands there are, and did a short exercise where we chose different wetlands and identified different creatures and plants that were in them. Then we split into pairs and did three exercises: a short card game that taught us about wetland creatures, a flow chart that helped us to identify habitats, and an exercise where we wrote about different wetland habitats. It was really fun!

http://www.freeunionschoolhouse.com/twiki/pub/Main/JackEduLogSep2009/FreshwaterMarsh.pdf

Resources

My Mom

Materials

Other Students

---

Elective

Time: 30 min

Music Practice and Music Theory

Reflection

I worked on my piano lesson for today.

Resources

My Piano

Alfred's Piano Library Level 4

---

September 22nd 2009

Elective

Time: 40 min

Music Practice and Music Theory

Reflection

I worked on my piano lesson for today and did some composing for Mr Tom.

Resources

My Piano

Alfred's Piano Library Level 4

---

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 looked up words in the dictionary to see what they were and then wrote sentences about them.

Resources

Language is Served Grammar Book

---

Elective

Time: 30 min

Life and Survival Skills

Reflection

Today I cooked carrot slices, which were great!

Resources

Ingredients

Recipe

Kitchen Utensils

---

Math

Time: 15 min

Basic Math and Geometry

Reflection

I started my math lesson today by working on the lesson in the book for video four of my Geometry course. It was a bit harder than the ones before it.

Resources

My Math Book

My Computer

Teaching Company Geometry DVD

---

Social Studies

Time: 30 min

United States History

Reflection

I started my United States History study today by listening to a program by Living Books for the Ears about the life of Louisa May Alcott, author of Little Women.

Resources

My Computer

Living Books for the Ears

---

Elective

Time: 40 min

Theater Arts

Reflection

I started my Theater Arts study today by looking up black light puppetry on Youtube for My Perry, and writing a short monologue for Miss Mary.

http://www.freeunionschoolhouse.com/twiki/pub/Main/JackEduLogSep2009/actorwriterspeakshomework.pdf

Resources

My Computer

Youtube

---

Elective

Time: 60 min

Art and Publishing

For my art today, I worked on correcting any errors on my Terror of Porridge pictures on the computer, and put them into my art teacher, Mr Pete's, book editing program.

Resources

Computer

Photoshop

Book-Editing Software

Mr Pete

---

September 23rd 2009

Elective

Time: 120 min

Theater Arts

Reflection

I started my Theater Arts study today by listening to half of an audio version of Hamlet on our car drive up to Maine. We used the Shakespeare Made Easy book, which includes a modern translation, to translate from the old English to modern English.

Resources

Shakespeare Made Easy Book: Hamlet

Hamlet recorded Books

---

Elective

Time: 30 min

Life and Survival Skills

Reflection

Today my Dad taught me how to use a rivet gun, which has advantages, such as not falling out easily, but needs thin things to go through, so it has trouble going through wood, to fix our airstream door.

Resources

My Dad

Rivet Gun

---

September 24th 2009

English

Time: 40

Creative Writing

Reflection

For my Nature Study today, we went on a fantastic walk into the hills of Acadia Island. The Acadia Mountain trail started with a small set of stone steps leading up from the side of the road into the woods. We started up, and climbed a little way into the cool woods, the tall hemlock trees casting dark shadows on the ground, before it leveled out for a bit. As I moved ahead a little bit, I heard what I thought was a strange bird, squeaking and squawking crazily. I couldn't see it, and then we saw a flash of red and realized it was a red squirrel, not a bird. He sounded really angry about something, but he did calm down and Dad got some pictures. After that, we went up, out of the hemlock tree-filled area, and into a world filled with weird, alien-looking pine trees. Well, they looked alien to me. After tromping up the trail, that led through some truly wonderful ledges for viewing the scenic vista below us, we reached the first summit. We climbed higher and higher, occasionally emerging out onto ledges and thinking "This must be the top!", before realizing it wasn't. It got higher and higher, until it suddenly dropped down and we were going back into the woods. After making my way down the trail, which involved areas of rock to scramble down which forced me to drop my water bottle down before me, I decided to rename it "Wobbly-Legged Drop". I wobbled my way to bottom, realized my parents weren't there, wobbled up to get them, and continued on. All in all, it was an excellent day.

Resources

My Computer

My Mom and Dad

Nature!

---

September 25th 2009

Elective

Time: 210 min

Life and Survival Skills

Reflection

Today we headed off to MOFGA, the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association, which is the biggest organic farming fair in America. I went to three workshops entitled How to Find and Utilize Maine's Wild Plants, Raising Goats 101 and Fearlessly Foraging Fungi.

Resources

My Parents

MOFGA

Presenters

Materials

---

English

Time: 40

Creative Writing

Reflection

We started off our trip to MOFGA today by walking through the Rose Gate, where we held our pass confidently and strode into the bright, colorful fair. I had a chance to observe some tents before, WHOOOSH!, an enormous gust blew past, no, through us. It was cold! So we ran to the safety of the Youth Enterprise Tent, where children had a chance to ply their home-made wares. It was all very good, but there were only a few kids in particular who really knew how to sell their things, by creating an aura of approachability. It was great!

After that, we became separated when I ran off to a arrow-making workshop I couldn't find, and accidentally set the walkie-talkie Dad gave me to the wrong channel, which caused a great deal of mangled conversations to explode out of my pocket, annoying me and probably everyone else. After I had walked around the poultry barn a couple times, and scoped out the place, I returned to the tent where our first workshop was going to occur, and found it almost empty. I asked a kind man for the the time (which my walkie-talkie doesn't have), and he told me it was still 40 minutes to go before the workshop. So... I walked around the poultry barn a couple more times, until I decided that even I, a keeper of chickens, couldn't stare at ducks, geese, and other fowl for 40 minutes. So I returned to the tent again, in a meandering way, and found my mom already there. The first workshop, How to Find and Utilize Maine's Wild Plants, was about an hour long (although we couldn't stay the whole time), and excellent. I learned that you can eat milkweed, a plant that I thought was poisonous (which it is, so I don't recommend eating one you find in a field). Apparently the leaves and pod are edible up to a certain point. Even so, that feels a bit like bungie-jumping over a volcano to me.

Anyway, after that talk, we split up again, I to Raising Goats 101. The presenter was engaging, and her tales of goats and their escapades (WARNING: They can open most locks), and how to raise them properly, were great. It was excellent. Once again, my walkie-talkie went off near the end of the presentation, and I ducked outside to listen to someone speaking high-speed Swahili in the tone of someone having their fingers repeatedly slammed in a door. I reset the channel and went back in, grinning nervously in the way you do when your walkie-talkie has just beeped in the middle of a presentation. I clapped loudly at the end, said thank you to the presenter, and then ducked out.

The last presentation lasted about an hour and a half, and was on Fearlessly Foraging Fungi, where we learned about different types of edible fungi, some of which can be mistaken for poisonous ones. But after the presentation, which we unfortunately didn't get to finish completely, due to a bitter wind blowing through the tent, I felt that I knew much more about the edible Fungi of Maine, some of which, hopefully, will apply to New Jersey. Lastly, we looked at some composting toilets, peeked through the Environmental Concerns tent, and headed out. Brr!

Resources

My Computer

My Mom and Dad

MOFGA

---

September 26th 2009

Elective

Time: 180 min

A Local Study of Mountain Lake

Reflection

Today we went to a fantastic geology walk at the Great Head trail in Acadia national park, where we listened to a ranger talk about the geological history of the area as we went for a three mile hike along the cliffs. I used much of the knowledge I learned about glaciers and geology from our Mountain Lake class.

From Matt Holly, our presenter:

Here is the website I obtained the historical geological maps from: http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~rcb7/

The professor's website is a bit confusing in places, so here are some more specific links to individual pages that have maps. For the dozens of maps focusing on North America, take a look here: http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~rcb7/nam.html

You can see that there are MANY more maps than the ones I used in my program! For a more global perspective, check here: http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~rcb7/mollglobe.html

Resources

Presenter, Matt Holly

Great Head Trail

---

English

Time: 40

Creative Writing

Reflection

For my Local Study of Mountain Lake today, we went to an amazing geology walk along the Great Head trail. As soon as the ranger who would be leading the program arrived, I knew it was going to be good. The ranger, a young geologist (relatively young, of course, older than me...), was enthusiastic about his subject and was very good at teaching. He explained that, even though he is a geologist, he finds rocks kind of boring on their own. He prefers to use them to understand a bigger picture, which was really what we covered today. So we started off across the beach, where a blisteringly cold ocean wind blew into us. We stopped on the beach to discuss something that happened there two years previously. All the sand was sucked away in a storm, leaving only the bed rock. But thanks to the geography of the harbor, the sand was caught before too much filtered out to sea and was quickly replenished. After a few stops on the beach (brrr!), we moved on up the hill, scrambling over granite that used to, millions of years ago, be slowly cooling inside a volcano. So we were really walking inside a volcano that use to exist a long, long time ago. After teasing us with some facts about how come there are so few sandy beaches north of Long Island. It turned out, later, that I was correct in my thinking and it was because of the glacier that swept over the area in the ice age. That's also why there were so many mountains around us that were steep on one side and sloped on the other. Anyway, as we climbed the hill, it steadily turned to a cliff. Soon, we had gone past the bay area, and were looking out to sea. We saw little ducks bobbing in the water, which were very cute. Soon we came into the "shatter zone", an area where hot rock hit the cold water and cracked. At the peak of the cliff, we found the ruins of a little tea house belonging the previous owner of Acadia, which was torn down after she donated her land to the national park service and it became a hangout for the local youths. It was king of sad, as it was a pretty house, and it could have been handled differently. Anyway, soon we were walking down and came back to the beach. It was an excellent program!

Resources

My Computer

My Mom and Dad

Nature!

---

September 28th 2009

Elective

Time: 60 min

Theater Arts

Reflection

I started my Theater Arts study today by listening to one act of an audio version of Hamlet on our car drive down from Maine. We used the Shakespeare Made Easy book, which includes a modern translation, to translate from the old English to modern English.

Resources

Shakespeare Made Easy Book: Hamlet

Hamlet recorded Books

---

Elective

Time: 120 min

Life and Survival Skills

Reflection

Today we went to Sabbath Day Lake, the last working Shaker community that exists. We had a tour of the village, which is now mostly deserted, as there are only three Shakers left.

Resources

My Mom and Dad

Tour Guide

Sabbath Day Lake

---

English

Time: 20

Creative Writing

Reflection

Our Visit to Sabbath Day Lake

On Monday, as we were heading back from Maine, we stopped in at Sabbath Day Lake. Sabbath Day Lake is a very special place, because it is one of the last places in the world where Shakers still live and worship. The Shakers, in case you don't know, are a religious group that are called Shakers because of how, in the old days, they would shake and sing and dance during church services. They believed in a simple, unmarried lifestyle, where the men and the women were firmly separated onto two sides of the village. But just because they believed in a simpler life didn't mean they didn't embrace technology when they believed it could help them. They had telephones in their houses before the governor did! I have included this under Life and Survival Skills because of their inventions and the technology that they used, which could be incorporated into things we do today.

Anyway, while we were there, we peered around a small exhibition of Shaker artifacts, which was nice (I especially admired a painting of a woodland stream, painted by one of the sisters). We also went on a tour of the village. The tour guide started by explaining about the separation of the men and the women into two sides of the village. Their motto, however, was “Divided but Equal”, so women and men had equal opportunity.

After that, our group headed up to the meeting house, where the church services were held every Sunday. There, also, the men and women were divided. We headed upstairs, and saw where the elders met. There were always an equal number of male and female elders.

We had a look at the schoolhouse, where both Shaker children and children from outside the village learned. Lastly, we looked into the place where the women worked, making boxes and baskets, and, in the depression when those wouldn't sell, candy! It was an excellent tour, and I really enjoyed my time there.

Resources

My Computer

My Mom and Dad

---

September 29th 2009

Elective

Time: 120 min

Theater Arts

Reflection

I started my Theater Arts study today by listening to the last two acts of an audio version of Hamlet on our car drive down from Maine. We used the Shakespeare Made Easy book, which includes a modern translation, to translate from the old English to modern English.

Resources

Shakespeare Made Easy Book: Hamlet

Hamlet recorded Books

---

September 30th 2009

Elective

Time: 30 min

Life and Survival Skills

Reflection

Today we cooked chocolate chip cookies, which were wonderful!

Resources

My Mom

Ingredients

Recipe

Kitchen Utensils

---

Elective

Time: 180 min

Theater Arts

Reflection

For my Theater Arts study today, we went to see a production of Hamlet.

Resources

Hamlet

NJ Shakespeare Company

---

English

Time: 20

Creative Writing

Reflection

A Review of Hamlet, performed by the NJ Shakespeare Company

Today we went to see Hamlet, one of Shakespeare's most famous tragedies, at the NJ Shakespeare company. Hamlet begins on a wintry night where three guards are visited by a ghostly apparition that bears a horrible resemblance to their dead king. They inform the king's son Hamlet, who comes to see the ghost himself. The ghost tells him that his uncle Claudius murdered him while he slept in the garden. Hamlet, enraged, swears that Claudius will die by his hand. But others are plotting against Hamlet: King Claudius; Polonius, the king's rather pompous and dim adviser; even his girlfriend Ophelia, warned by her father Polonius, is pushing him away. With nowhere to turn and wishing to avenge his father's death, Hamlet begins on a series of reckless acts, ones that will eventually destroy him and everything he cares for.

Hamlet was excellently performed, and the last scene had me crying. Before the play, I had listened to Hamlet on tape, which gave me a layer of understanding I wouldn't have had otherwise. The music between the scenes, mostly composed of ominous chanting, was moody and foreboding. All in all, it was excellent!

Resources

My Computer

My Mom and Dad

---

Elective

Time: 30 min

Music Practice and Music Theory

Reflection

I worked on my piano lesson for today.

Resources

My Piano

Alfred's Piano Library Level 4

---

-- JackW - 02 Sep 2009