2021-22 Homeschooling Projects

We completed the required 180 days of schooling in the second week of June for Eric and second week of May for Kyle, since we started in August and only took Thanksgiving and Christmas-NewYear off. The kids enjoyed the flexibility of homeschooling and being able to choose some of their project topics.  To see how we progressed through the year, see my weekly lesson plans here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1l8_M-T7FQB22puwkjhH7lDpEmWDGY-Jl8GQAjZQzfIg/edit?usp=sharing Eric and Kyle presented their collaborative Energy Transfer project via Zoom to their grandparents and uncles. The video recording is available on request. Here's a screen-capture of Eric presenting, with Kyle standing by: We worked on typing periodically throughout the year and near the end of the year they transcribed a full page in one session to demonstrate stamina and proficiency. All three of us used Duolingo to learn a language. Kyle learned Spanish at the beginner level and dabbled in Japanese. Eric s...

During the second half of the school year, we did various activities that did not require writeups from Eric and Kyle. Below are a selection of them.  Field Trips (science, history, art): We went to the Museum of Science, the Boston Aquarium, and the Museum of Fine Arts, where they learned ecology, conservation, biology, engineering, and were able to see artifacts from the periods covered in their History courses. We also discussed how art is affected by the culture it is created in, and how it in turn affects its culture and other cultures. We talked about representation, intention, and interpretation, and the kids named a piece of Ancient Egyptian art that was their favorite. Cloaks (art): Each kid chose fabric and a pattern for a cloak that they wanted. Then we sewed them, which involved becoming familiar with how a commercial pattern is structured, laying out and cutting the pieces, following the pattern to put the pieces together, and learning about some finishing techniques. ...

Kyle completed Khan Academy's "US Government and Civics unit which, matched the Massachusetts requirements for 8th grade. He needed to get at least 80% on the unit tests and quizzes (78-80% on the higher numbered quizzes). We added coverage of Massachusetts state and local government using wikipedia, mass.gov, malegislature.gov, our town website, and attendance at a town election and a town meeting. You may have to scroll to see the entire image.

Eric completed all of 8th grade math on Khan Academy, which matched the Massachusetts curriculum requirements. He needed to complete the unit test at an 80% or higher for each unit, and needed to also complete each quiz to about 80% (75% on 4-question quizzes, 78-80% on higher number quizzes). Here are his scores and the topics each unit covered. You may need to scroll to see the full image. 

Kyle completed the portions of Khan Academy's "World History Project - Origins to the Present" unit which matched the Massachusetts requirements for 6th grade. I required at least a 75% (3 out of 4 questions correct) on the quizzes (which will display as "almost full" since to fully fill the quiz "thermometer" you need to also pass the applicable questions on the unit test). We supplemented with podcasts (mostly Tides of History), youtube videos (Crash Course World History 1 and 2, Extra Credits, Atlas Pro, and a few others), wikipedia and other websites, and books from the library and our home collection. We used seterra.com for the map ID requirements. You may have to scroll to see the entire image.

Kyle completed all of 6th grade math on Khan Academy, which matched the Massachusetts curriculum requirements. He needed to complete the unit test at an 80% or higher for each unit, and if he could do that on the first attempt, I allowed him to "test out" of the unit. Otherwise he needed to also complete each quiz to about 80% (75% on 4-question quizzes, 78-80% on higher number quizzes). Here are his scores and the topics each unit covered. You may need to scroll to see the full image.