Apps for our homeschool part 2

It seems like every week I discover new apps to try on the Ipad.  Some of them we use a lot and some of them are fun for a short period of time and then don't get used anymore.  Here are some of the more recent ones we have used.
1. Puzzleography- This is a fun quiz game for learning World geography.  It teaches as well as quizzes.  S. is learning all the countries of Africa so she has been using it to practice.  It gives you either the name or the puzzle piece shape whichever you choose and then you figure out where it goes on the map.  You can "cheat" by touching any country on the map and it will tell you the name of the country.  I don't mind this though because she is still learning.
2. 7notes HD premium-  I downloaded this app because it does handwriting to text. I wanted to see how that would work for N.  So far it has been somewhat frustrating because it doesn't always recognize what he writes.  He is a messy writer, but I think what throws it is that he doesn't write his letters in one fluid motion.  I think I will have him write in cursive and see if that helps.  There is a lot of potential if it would recognize his writing quickly.
3. Solids Elementary HD:  N. is studying solids in Math and learning about faces, edges and vertices.  This is a great way to give a clear illustration of these concepts.  He really didn't need it for understanding, but he has had fun playing with it.  I can see how for someone who has trouble visualizing things (like me) that it would be a great learning tool.
4. Tourwrist:  Just downloaded this today and it is a hit.  It has panoramic photos of various places and you move through the 360 degree scene by moving you Ipad in different directions.  There is a different tour a day as well as many other tours that have been done by either individuals or the company.  Today he toured Paris around the Eiffel Tower, the Coliseum, as well as Venice. These are often aerial photos and you can't zoom in, but wow it really gives you a feel for what the area looks like. 
5. Wolfram Alpha-  This is like one of those smart computers you used to see on Science Fiction shows in the 70's.  You type in an equation or a question and it spits out the answer.  S. needed to know the average high temp for Kenya.  It spit it out in seconds and also gave the average high and low for today and other information.  I can see a lot of use for this as both of them do research etc.

On one other note, the last one of these I did I talked about Notability and how N. was still figuring it out.  He has now become very proficient at using it and it does make writing up his Science lab reports much easier.

Weekly update for 3/12/12

This week in RTR he moved more into the Age of Reason in his readings.  It is amazing to me how much he is learning about and covering this year. He loved  learning about Japan and what was going on there during this time period.  He read about Shogun rulers and the class system that was different than what he would have thought it would be.  As he is reading he can't help but stop and tell me all the interesting things he is learning.  He learned how Christianity was outlawed and Japan was closed off to the outside world for 200 years.  I have to admit, I didn't know that.  He has gotten where he wants to watch a Discovery Streaming Video for the topics we are studying so I found 2 short ones about Japan during this time period and also some things about Samurai warriors.  He loved that.  His history project for the week was making foods from the Shakespearean time in England.  The first day he made seed cake.  The second day he made baked pears and we had them for dinner.  He didn't make Yorkshire pudding because his sister had made something similar when she studied England and he knew no one like it. 

In storytime we finished reading "The Story of Sir Walter Raleigh".  Noah decided it was very depressing how he was treated at the end of his life.  We then started listening to the audio drama of "The Story of Squanto".  This also starts our fairly intense and sad.  I love how this isn't watered down history for this age.  He is seeing more the good and bad of history.  I wouldn't have wanted to present this to him when he was younger, but this is a very good age for it.  We have some good discussions about the evil of man and how greed causes them to do some pretty awful things. 

In Science he finished reading "Along Came Galileo" and is now reading "Isaac Newton".  He then did a science experiment looking at the path of comets and how the coma of a comet is formed.  It was kind of cool that as he was taking a ice cube and realizing that comets were cold and learning about how as it traveled close to the sun part of it melted leaving the coma that we had a hail storm.  I brought some hail in and this helped him visualize even more what happened. 

He continues to love the Art study "Looking at Pictures".  He loves studying the pictures and talking about them.  He also is challenged weekly by "Boyhood and Beyond".  All of the resources in this guide have just been so good.

Update for week of 3/5/12

This is actually an update for the past 2 weeks.  I had some computer issues so I couldn't write an update last week.  We have had 2 more good weeks with RTR. 

In Science he is reading "Along Came Galileo".  He has enjoyed this book.  Last week he did an experiment looking at the density of liquids.  He was fascinated with the layers and then loved dropping different objects in and trying to predict what they would do.

This week he looked at what causes Ocean currents.  It was more what I would consider making a model than an experiment, but it helped to give him a visual in his mind for how the moon and sun cause the currents.

I see people saying that HOD science is light, or wanting more complicated experiments.  What I have seen is that the experiments are easy enough to get done, yet they cause him to think.  He is now carrying over what he has learned about setting up experiments and scientific method to his free time.  He designed an experiment to see how the dogs acted to different variables.  He made a chart, predicted how each dog would act and then did things like blow in their face, or cover them up with blankets, or take their picture using a flash.  I loved watching him come up with this on his own.

In history he has read about Sir Walter Raleigh and Sir Francis Drake.  We are reading the book "The Story of Sir Walter Raleigh" during storytime so it just reinforces what he is reading on his own and tells other parts of the story that were not included in MOH 3.  We have both enjoyed this book.  He has loved the descriptions of the sea battles and acts them out with his hands as I am reading.  This seems to help him remember the details.  He continues to do a nice job with his narrations and even is taking more time with his timeline entries.

His history project last week was a window cling of a Huguenot cross.  It actually turned out better than I thought it would.  Our windows were cold so it didn't cling very well.

He finished "The Sign of the Beaver" in DITHOR and made a fiction friend for his project.  Instead of making Matt he made Attean.  He tried to find his tribe to find out what they wore, but he found out the tribe was fictional.  Instead he looked up general pictures of east coast Indian tribes.  He had some trouble making the vest, but he did it completely on his own.  Cutting is not his strength, but he worked really hard on it.  He then came up with his interview questions and answers.  Attean is now sitting in the chair pictured behind him and has startled S. and my dh on more than one occasion.

For his Independent History Reading he has been reading "The Bard of Avon" and says he likes it.  It is funny how he still really doesn't like reading in his free time, but he always enjoys the books he reads for HOD. 

Weekly update for week of 2/20/12

This was week 24 of RTR.  This was a week of finishing up several books, which is sad and exciting at the same time because then next week he starts 3 new books.  In Storytime we finished reading "Good Queen Bess" by Diane Stanley.  It was a good condensed version of her life and monarchy.  To go along with this N. watched an episode of Horrible History on Discovery Streaming called "The Terrible Tudors".  He thought this series was funny so I think I will have to find some more of those that tie in with what we are learning. 
In his Reading about History  he read about Bloody Mary, Mary Queen of Scots, Queen Elizabeth and John Knox. He decided there are way too many Mary's during this time period.  In his Independent History Study he finished up the book "Gabriel and the Hour Book".  This book was a hit and he said her enjoyed it.  To go along with that he made a final Hour Book page for his History project.  This one he drew the illuminated letters himself and darkened the border of the page.

In Science he finished the book "A Child's Geography: Explore His Earth".  He finished up by learning about time zones and he made a time zone clock for his history experiment.  He then wrote up his lab report on the Ipad.  He still is struggling with getting his drawings precise, but he likes the fact he can draw and type on the same sheet.

In IEW he had an assignment that I had my doubts about him being able to complete.  He was to borrow a conflict from a familiar fairy tale or fable and set it in Medieval times.  He had to outline it and then write the story on his own adding all the required dress ups and openers.  I decided since we are over half way through the year I would let him go and see what he could do on his own.  He wrote it all, even remembering to include all the required elements.  I came in at the very end and did some minor proof reading.  He did seem to wear out a little at the end and I suggested a different ending, but he wanted to keep his so I let him.  I wanted this to be a good representation of where his writing was at right now.  I was pleasantly surprised.  I had my friend who used to teach Junior High English look at it and she said it would get a solid B and definitely an A if he just revised the ending.  I am thrilled.  He has always been way behind in his writing proficiency.  The fact that he is now at grade level is something that I didn't expect.  The varying writing programs that HOD uses have made this possible for him.  So here is his story.

The Three Scaly Dragons and the Wimpy Squire

     One day in a dark, damp cave three dragons went out to destroy the city. Slowly, the wimpy squire walked in to the cave to stay. The squire, who was very hungry, saw three lamb chops. He tried the first one, but spit it out because it had too much slobber on it. He tested the second one, it was too burnt. Then he tried the third one. It was just right. After he ate, he felt tired and tried to find a place to sit. He found three thrones, so he tried the first one, it was too uncomfortable. Next, he tried to sit in the second one. He could not reach it. Finally he tried the baby dragon's and he said, “This is just right." Then he got up and tried to find a place to take a nap. He found three rugs. First he checked to lie on the first rug. It was too itchy so he tried the second. It had too many bumps on it. He finally tried the third, it was just right. Although exhausted from ruining the whole world, baby, mama and papa dragon came hastily back. When they got back they saw that some of their food was gone. Then they saw that their thrones where broken. Finally, amazed in what was in their bed papa dragon yelled not knowing fire would come out. The squire got his tunic burned off. Because of this, the squire then ran back to the river and dived in like a hippo. The squire lived happily ever after.

Weekly update for the week of 2/13/12

We finished week 23 of RTR this week.  It is hard to believe that we are already that far.  This week in History N. studied about the Spanish Explorers, William Tyndale, Nicolaus Copernicus, and Bartolome de Las Casas.  He enjoyed all these readings.  He was having a little trouble remembering all the explorers and what they did so I called up a very short video on Discovery Streaming that highlighted each one.  This really seemed to help.  He also mapped the Spanish/Portuguese Empires.  Here is a picture of his map before he finished coloring it in.  He struggles with writing small enough, he really just can't do it.  As long as he puts his best effort forth I don't make a big deal about it.  I will even write something for him if the word is just too long for him to fit it in.

In Storytime we finished up Mr. Pipes and Psalms and Hymns of the Reformation.  The ending gave us a great chance to discuss plot twists. 

In Independent History Study he is still reading Gabriel and the Hour Book and for his history project he was supposed to write his own prayer and then illustrate it with a fancy border.  He worked so hard on this project.  I was amazed how much time he put into it.  He also used ideas from the book to add in nature elements that the characters saw as they sat in the woods.  For him to apply what he has read like this is a big step for him.  He also got creative and made the border continue from above his prayer and picked it back up below his prayer.

In Science he studied the Parallels of Latitude and how it is measured using a sextant.  Again when he did his oral narration I could tell he wasn't quite picturing it in his head so I had him watch 2 short video clips on Discovery Streaming that showed exactly how you use the sextant to measure latitude. This is proving to be a fantastic resource for him and it really doesn't add any time to our day.  He usually watches them right before lunch while he is waiting for S. to finish up fixing her lunch so he can get in the kitchen and fix his.

In Medieval History Based Writing Lessons he finished up his King Arthur story.  I was very pleased with how this turned out.

In his bible quiet time he continues to study Philippians. I have been neglectful in really pushing him to recite his verses. He works on it, but he doesn't have it memorized like he should.  He and I have talked about it and he is making a renewed effort to memorize the verses from here on out. 

Apps for our homeschool part 1

I want to start posting some ways we are using the Ipad apps in our homeschool.  N. and S. use the Ipad for schooling and N. also uses it for educational games in his free time.  I thought I would review just a few of them today.
1.Dragon Dictation : This is the app I was most excited to use for N.  So far we have had mixed results.  There are times when it is pretty accurate and other times that it misses every word.  I think one of the things we need to do is have him use it more so it gets trained to his voice.  The other thing we tried this weekend was using the headset/mic that came with my iphone.  Just playing with it for a few minutes, this seemed to help quite a bit.  If we can get it to accurately dictate it will be of huge benefit.  It will come in very handy for notetaking.
2. Notability :  This app gets used every week to write up his science lab sheet.  He can type as well as draw and write on it.  He then sends it to dropbox and I print it out from the desktop computer.  This app will also read pdf's.  We haven't even touched on all the things it can do and it's developers continue to make improvements.  It also has voice recording capabilities.
3. World Fact Book: S. uses this for all her World Geography Research.
4.  Video Science: This app has been a huge hit.  N. has watched every video I think.  It was designed for teachers, but shows videos of science experiments.  He watched one and then had the idea to make cubed bubble wands out of his Knex and was blowing square bubbles.  This is really sparking an interest in different areas of science for him. 
5. Blueprint 3D: This app is a game, but it is so much more.  You have portions of blueprints to many things, some of them famous buildings like the Eiffel Tower.  You have to rotate the blueprints in different directions until the lines line up completing the blueprint.  I am terrible at it.  N. on the other hand finished all the levels in a day and a half, and he wasn't even playing it that much.  I now need to have him try a harder mode.  He just is able to see thing visually perceptually in a way that I can't.  The testing we had done on him identified this as a huge strength and we were told to nurture that strength, so many of the so called fun or game apps on the Ipad do just that.
6. Discovery Education Plus:  This isn't really an app, but it is something new for us and we are utilizing it on the Ipad.  I bought a subscription from the homeschool buyers co-op.  This gave me access to thousands upon thousands of video clips and full length videos to use to supplement things that N. and S. are learning.  N. especially is a visual learner so if he can read about something and then watch a video of it all the better.  He can access it either through Safari on the Ipad or there is a mobile app page that is designed specifically for the Ipad.  I had read that there were not as many videos available if you go through the mobile app page, but so far we haven't found that.  Today he watched a video on illuminated manuscripts, and 3 video's on Spanish Explorers.  In his free time he is searching for videos on animals.

Weekly update for week of 2/6/2012

Once again we had a good week with RTR.  I didn't take many pictures this week.  It was day 4 before I knew it.  That is one thing I love about HOD, the days and weeks just fly by because everything just seems to flow. 

In Science he continues to learn about earthquakes, volcanoes and tsunami's.  This week's experiment was looking at the type of waves that are made with a earthquake.  He did the experiment fine, but it was hard to see the types of waves.  It worked better if I hit the table and he watched for the waves so I did help him. He continues to improve on writing up his experiments.  He wrote a written narration on how he can help victim's of earthquakes.  His science narration's tend to look more like summaries, so I am reminding him that they need to look like his history ones now look.  One thing I did like is that he added his own connection by mentioning a specific ministry here in town that he has volunteered at and he knows they send help to victims of earthquakes and hurricanes. 


In history he learned about the paintings of Sonfonisba Anguissola.  He labeled the paintings in his notebooking pages.  Writing this small is tough for him, but he did it by himself instead of asking me to do it. 

He researched the city of Madrid and wrote a written narration on Ignatius Loyola and Francis Xavier.  I am very pleased with his written narrations now.  He is getting so much better at giving them his own twist as well as capturing the authors words.  He is doing them independently and then looks over the written narration checklist.  I do come in at the end and just correct anything grammar wise or wording wise that he missed.  He tends to use words where they really don't fit so I help him with figure out what word he meant to say.

His history project this week and the following 2 weeks is working on pages in a Book of Hours.  He is reading "Gabriel and the Book of Hours" and he loves it.  I knew this history project would be tough and not a favorite.  I debated how I was going to modify it for him.  I finally told him he could write in cursive instead of manuscript and I drew lines to help guide him.  It isn't the neatest writing in the world, but honestly when he is writing that much it probably is the best he can do.  You can see when he was coloring his illuminated letters that by the third one his hand was tired and he didn't color it as nicely as the first.

He continues to read "The Sign of the Beaver" for DITHOR.  He really does enjoy that book.  I let him dictate the answers to his student workbook to me.  At this point I am more interested in him really thinking about his answers and that happens best if he doesn't have to write.

One other addition to our homeschool this week was I sold some old curriculum and that helped pay for a subscription to Discovery Education Streaming Plus through homeschool buyers co-op. I spent weeks looking over the list of titles figuring out which ones would compliment what he is learning.  He can watch the videos on the Ipad.  He is very visual so I figure it will cement his learning when he watches short video clips about the subject.  He also has already searched for things that interest him,like how dogs learn, and was watching videos on those things.  This is something the neuropsychologist had suggested for him.  I will only schedule a few short clips a week, but I imagine in his spare time he will find more to watch.