Anders's Homeschool Curriculum - Legal Grade 1 - Actual Grades 1 and 2

Anders's Education August 2018 - July 2019

Legal Grade: First Grade

Age: 6.75-7.75

Schedule

We generally do his work right after breakfast. We work for anywhere from ninety minutes to four hours. We usually read for an hour before bed. We do his work generally four or five days a week, skipping whichever days are the days we have a lot going on. We do only thirty to ninety minutes of work each day during the summer when he has camps and during the months we are at the farm in Nicaragua.

Though legally this was considered first grade, Anders was done with first grade in early January so we moved on to second grade. He finished that over the summer.

Key

Anything in red I highly recommend.

Anything in blue I recommend.

Anything in light blue is fine, but I wouldn't mind finding something better.

Anything in purple I recommend, but should have done it earlier.

Anything in gray Anders or/and I do not recommend.

Anything in black I have not yet concluded what I think of it.

Anything in bold is in his current work pile.

BUSINESS/LIFE SKILLS

Business

Was read Escape the Rat Race by Robert Kiyosaki

Was read How an Economy Grows and Why It Doesn't by Irwin A. Schiff

Was read The Tuttle Twins and the Miraculous Pencil

Was read The Tuttle Twins and the Creature from Jekyll Island

Was read The Tuttle Twins and the Food Truck Fiasco

Was read The Tuttle Twins Learn About the Law

Was read The Tuttle Twins and the Road to Surfdom

Was read The Tuttle Twins and the Search for Atlas

Was read The Tuttle Twins and the Golden Rule by Connor Boyack

Was read The Tuttle Twins and their Spectacular Show Business by Connor Boyack

Was read Let's Chat About Economics by Michelle A Balconi

Was read Striker Jones by Maggie Larche

Was read Striker Jones and the Midnight Archer by Maggie Larche

Was read Do I Need it? Or Do I want it? Making Budget Choices by Jennifer Larson

Watched YouTube: Small Business Revolution - Season One (8 episodes)

Watched YouTube: 15 Things Poor People Do That The Rich Don't

Watched YouTube: 15 Things You Didn't Know About Elon Musk

Watched YouTube: 15 Things You Didn't Know About Jeff Bezos

Watched YouTube: 15 Things You Didn't Know About Mark Zuckerberg

Watched BizKids season 1, episodes 1-5/13

Was read You Look Great, but How Do You Sound? by Dr. June Johnson

TypeKids.Com, Lessons 1-9/30

Went on 16 auditions and 4 callbacks

Shot 2 commercials and 2 television shows

Took acting classes (private coaching sessions before auditions)

Learned about net worth as his parents updated his net worth in his financial binder, went to bank, paid taxes, filed for his tax return, cashed checks, and bought investments for him

Went to Dad's office

Life Skills

Was read Glow Kids: How Screen Addiction is Hijacking Our Kids – And How to Break    the Trance by Nicholas Kardaras

Was read How to Raise a Healthy Child in Spite of Your Doctor

Was read selections from The Milk Book

Cooked with mom

Notes:

-I consider the things listed under physical development and fine arts to also be life skills.

-Many of the books we read this year were books we also read last year and the year before. Sometimes that is because Anders requests them. Other times that is because a week before his birthday, I sit down at his bookshelf and pull out all the books I thought had important ideas in them that I would like to read to Anders again, and I add them to the "to read" pile that sits next to my bed.

-I don't like the Tuttle Twins and the Golden Rule because it gives kids ideas on how to be mean. Most of the books that purportedly teach kids not to bully do this. They give a dozen hilarious ways to bully and then have everyone make up at the end. Research has shown that these books are more harmful than helpful.

-Initially I liked that Anders wanted to do acting because of the auditioning aspect. Learning to get in front of strangers and pitch is an invaluable business and life skill. I have noticed an additional benefit: acting has made Anders aware of small personal habits (like rubbing his nose when he is nervous) that he has to be aware of and learn to control. Seven is a great age to break bad habits.

-After getting to Lesson 9 in Type Kids, Anders said he didn't want to do it anymore. I said that was fine, but I needed to ask him a few things to help him clarify his thoughts before he quit to make sure he was quitting consciously and not impulsively. I asked him if typing is a useful thing to know how to do, he said it was. I said that just because something is useful doesn't mean you have to learn it.  There are plenty of useful things that I don't know how to do. "Do you want to learn how to type? " I asked. He said he did. I said something along the lines of, "Even if you want to learn how to type, you don't have to learn it now. You can learn it later. You might enjoy learning it later. The risk is that you may accidentally teach yourself to type in the meantime by chicken scratching, and then you will have a frustrating habit to break. Instead of learning to type you will have to re-learn. Remember re-learning how to pronounce the "s" sound? It will be kind of like that. Doable, but definitely a drawback to consider." Anders decided not to quit and instead went to doing TypeKids once a month.

PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT & SELF DEFENSE

KravMaga (KmX, then KmX Advanced, then Level 1 (for kids 8 and up))

Hip Hop at Dance For Kids

Fencing at Avant Garde

Gymnastics camp at Jag Gym

Soccer Camp

Hockey at Toyota Center (level I, then II, then III)

Hockey Camps and clinics

Ballroom Dance Camp

Tennis lessons

Riding lessons

Watched YouTube: "5th year boys ballet exam in Bolshoi Ballet Academy"

Notes:

-Anders is crazy about hockey.

MATH

Kumon program, third grade level, pages 1-170/200

Kumon program, second grade level, pages 150-200/200 (completed)

Mad Minute workbook, completed levels A 1-6 and B 1-6

Was read A Fair Bear Share (Math Start) by Stuart J. Murphy

Was read Animals on Board (Math Start level 2) by Stuart J. Murphy

Was read and did Anno's Math Games by Mitsumasa Anno

Was read Betcha! (Math Start) by Stuart J. Murphy

Was read Divide and Ride (Math Start) by Stuart J. Murphy

Was read Elevator Magic (Math Start) by Stuart J. Murphy

Was read Get up and Go (Math Start) by Stuart J. Murphy

Was read Give Me Half (Math Start) by Stuart J. Murphy

Was read More or Less (Math Start) by Stuart J. Murphy

Was read Multiplying Menace by Pam Calvert

Was read Once Upon a Dime by Nancy Kelly Allen

Was read Room for Ripley (Math Start) by Stuart J. Murphy

Was read The Grapes of Math by Greg Tang

Was read Shark Swimathon (Math Start) by Stuart J. Murphy

Was read Swirl by Swirl by Joyce Sidman

Notes:

-Anders loves the Mad Minute workbook so much he gets excited when it is time to do it. It's a game for him. It has substantially improved his accuracy, focus, and speed.

-Anders achieved gold honor roll status at Kumon in December and then radically slowed down his pace there. Doing Mad Minutes made him realize that Kumon was passing him with a lower level of mastery than he wanted for himself. He took control of his Kumon level, refusing to be passed into the next level at Kumon until he could pass that level in Mad Minute as well. For example, he could have finished level C a while ago, but he insisted on staying in multiplication, repeating the same pages over and over, until he could do thirty multiplication problems in one minute (what is required to pass that Mad Minute level). This took him three months of extra daily work, but he accomplished it and was very proud of himself. Now he is on division and is doing the same thing. Kumon would willingly move him to the next level, but he won't do it.

LOGIC

Math Analogies, Level 1/Grades 2-3 (completed)

Math Analogies, Beginner/Grades K-1 (completed)

Analogies for Beginners (completed)

Smart Games: IQ XOXO (completed)

Smart Games: IQ Focus (completed)

Practice Tests for NNAT2, Grade 1, Level B (completed)

Gifted and Talented OLSAT Test Prep, Grade 2 (completed

Was read Don't Get Fooled: How to Analyze Claims... (Beginner chapters 1-5/9)

Was read: Awesome Jokes that Every 6-Year-Old Should Know by Mat Waugh

Was read: Awesome Jokes that Every 7-Year-Old Should Know by Mat Waugh

Did puzzles

Attended chess club

Notes:

-Anders loves trying to catch logical fallacies. His best catch was at one of my OBGYN appointments while I was pregnant. Anders and I were waiting in the doctor's office. The doctor and midwife came into the room in the middle of a conversation. The doctor said, "It's like someone accuses someone of doing something wrong, and the other guy is just like, 'He did it too!'" Anders nodded his head, and said, "Tu quoque." The doctor looked at him for a moment, annoyed that a kid had interrupted him and said, "What?" Anders said, "Tu quoque. It's a logical fallacy. It means, 'You too.'" The doctor said, "Tu quoque?" And Anders said, "It's in Latin. I means 'you too.'" The doctor broke into an big smile, and said, "That's amazing! You're amazing! Where do you go to school?!" 

GRAMMAR

Well Trained Mind, Level 2 (completed)

Mad Libs: Happily Ever After (completed)

Notes:

-The Well Trained Mind program is excellent. It's kind of boring to memorize things, yes, but once you have those things memorized it gets fun. I kept telling Anders this, so he has stuck with it. Towards the end of level 2 he was given a short story that he had to go through word-by-word and say what kind of word each word was (article, adjective, noun adverb, verb, etc). He got super excited. He loved it. Next year he will start diagramming sentences, and I am super curious to see if grammar becomes one of his favorite subjects.

-Whenever Well Trained Mind assigned poem memorization I offered Anders other (better) poems. He memorized only one from Well Trained Mind which was "I Love You Well." Poems that he did instead were "Be Glad Your Nose Is on Your Face," "I Walked a Mile with Pleasure," "Don't You Quit," and his favorite, "Invictus."

VOCABULARY & SPELLING

Daily Academic Vocabulary, Grade 2 (completed)

Vocabulary for the Gifted Student, Grade 1 (completed)

Sequential Spelling, level 1, Grade 2 (lessons 1-25/180)

Spelling Workout A (completed)

Notes:

-I am still looking for a good vocabulary program.

-Spelling Workout was terrible. Anders has learned more in his first 25 days of Sequential Spelling than he did all year in Spelling Workout. I didn't start with Sequential Spelling because level 1 is meant for kids in grades 2-5. I figured Spelling Workout A would be a nice warm up. It wasn't. With Henrik I will skip having a spelling program for 1st grade entirely.

READING

Read McGuffey's Eclectic Primer 1920 edition (completed)

Read McGuffey's First Eclectic Reader 1920 edition (completed)

Read McGuffey's Second Eclectic Reader 1920 edition (completed)

Daily Reading Comprehension, Grade 2 (completed)

Read Mustang by Leslie McGuire (Hooked on Phonics)

Read Meet the Dinotrux (Passport to Reading Level 1)

Read What Do You hear When Cows Sing (I Can Read Level 1)

Read Clark the Shark (I Can Read Level 1)

Read Henry and Mudge (Ready to Read Level 2)

Read Amelia Bedelia (I Can Read Level 2)

Read Amelia Bedelia Goes Camping (I Can Read Level 2)

Read Amelia Bedelia and the Baby (I Can Read Level 2)

Read Days with Frog and Toad (I Can Read Level 2, atos level 2.5)

Read Frog and Toad All Year (I Can Read Level 2, atos level 2.6)

Read Frog and Toad are Friends (I Can Read Level 2, atos level 2.9)

Read Frog and Toad Together (I Can Read Level 2, atos level 2.9)

Read The Bravest Dog Ever: The True Story of Balto (I Can Read Level 3, atos level 2.5)

Read Diary of a Worm by Doreen Cronin (atos level 2.8)

Read Diary of a Spider (atos level 2.5)

Read Harry the Dirty Dog by Gene Zion (atos level 3.1)

Read No Roses for Harry by Gene Zion (atos level 3.2)

Read The Little Engine that Could (atos level 3.5)

Read Happy Birthday Bad Kitty (atos level 3.6)

Read Bad Kitty Meets the Baby (atos level 3.6)

Read Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (atos level 5.5)

Read Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (atos level 6.7)

Read Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (atos level 6.7)

Read Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (atos level 6.8)

Read Harry Potter and the Order of the Pheonix (atos level 7.2)

Read Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince (atos level 7.2)

Read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows (atos level 6.9)

Was read The Frogs Who Begged for a Tsar by Ivan Krylov

Was read Charlie the Ranch Dog

Was read The Christmas Wish

Was read The Night Before Christmas

Was read The Night Before Reason

*Please see other sections for titles of other books he was read, especially history.

Notes:

-Anders had his "Oh my gosh I can read" moment right around his seventh birthday. He had been able to read for a long time, but something clicked right then, and suddenly it was amazing to him, and he spent long hours going through all the books in his room and reading them. Then he asked if he could read Harry Potter because his friends were talking about it. I bought him the first book, and he tried to read it. He got through one chapter laboriously, but it was slow going and difficult. I explained to him it required a reading level of five, and though he could read, his reading level was  one. He became interested in becoming a better reader, so he could read Potter. I bought him books to grow his reading level, paying close attention to the difficulty level. Once he hit level 3.6 he decided to try Harry Potter again and found it challenging, but a doable. He read a Harry Potter book every week or two for the following seven weeks.

-I finally read Anders The Night Before Christmas this year, which he was not impressed with. I then read him The Night Before Reason (a pdf file I got from the internet) and he enjoyed that a lot more. Anders still plays Santa/Odin at our house. He prefers to be the one who gets up at night and fills the stockings and surprises Mom and Dad. This works well for me, as I love sleeping.

-Daily Reading comprehension is a terrible book that offers tests with no real learning. Reading Detective is much better.

PENMANSHIP

Zaner Bloser Handwriting: 2ed Grade Manuscript (pages 1-89/109)

Zaner Bloser Handwriting: 1st Grade (completed)

HISTORY (The Fall of Rome to the Norman Conquest)

Was read The History of the Medieval World by Bauer (completed)

Was read Story of the World, Volume II: The Middle Ages (pages 1-139)

Referred to maps constantly in The New Penguin Atlas of Medieval History

Was read Elsie & Pooka: Stories of the Sabbats and Seasons: Spring

Was read Elsie & Pooka: Stories of the Sabbats and Seasons: Winter

Was read Prince Siddhartha: The Story of Buddha

Was read Buddhist Animal Wisdom Stories

Was read Classic Bible Stories for Jewish Children

Was read Jewish Fairy Tales and Legends

Was read The World Jesus Knew

Was read slections from The Triumph of Christianity by Bart Ehrman

Was read Catholic Book of Bible Stories

Was read Goodnight Stories from the Life of the Prophet Muhammad

Was read Goodnight Stories from the Quran

Watched YouTube: Jesephus on Jesus

Watched YouTube: Causes of the Jewish War Against the Romans

Watched YouTube: The Ancient Romans and Jews (The Jewish War Revolt)

Watched YouTube: The Jewish Revolt Against Rome

Watched YouTube: The Jewish uprising against the Romans at Masada Full Documentary

Watched YouTube: CNN Presents - After Jesus The First Christians (Narrated by Liam Neeson) Full

Watched YouTube: From Jesus to Christ The First Christians

Watched YouTube: God and Empire  (Greeks, Romans, Jews)

Watched YouTube: Origin of Christianity - The Piso Flavian Dynasty

Watched YouTube: The Rise of Christianity and the Revolt against the Romans

Watched YouTube: History Channel - Constantine the Great

Watched YouTube: History Channel - The Deception of Constantine

Watched YouTube: Julian the Apostate - A Short Biography

Watched YouTube: Best Documentary 2016 HD How The Christianity was Established

Watched YouTube: Story of Saint Benedict  St. Benedict  Stories of Saints for Kids...

Watched YouTube: Council of Constantinople in under 3 minutes

Watched YouTube: A Brief History of Saint Patrick

Watched YouTube: St. Patrick

Watched YouTube: In Search of St Columba

Watched YouTube: Early Christian Schisms - Ephesus, the Robber Council...

Watched YouTube: Legends of The Isles Brendan The Navigator (Documentary)

Watched YouTube: Imperium Romanum Theodosius I Documentary

Watched YouTube: Roman Scandal 24 Persecution and Murder under Diocletian and Constantine

Watched YouTube: The Tyrant Diocletian

Watched YouTube: Total War History The Theodosian Walls

Watched YouTube: Attila The Hun Who Were the Huns

Watched YouTube: Barbarians - The Huns

Watched YouTube: Barbarians Rising Attila, King of the Huns

Watched YouTube: Total War Attila Historical Battle of Frigidus - Legendary

Watched YouTube: Merovech Battles the Huns - yt

Watched YouTube: Battle of the Catalaunian Plains 451 - Aetius vs. Attila

Watched YouTube: Decisive Battles - Battle of the Catalaunian Plains (Chalons)

Watched YouTube: Decisive Battles - Episode 8 - Chalons, 451 A.D.

Watched YouTube: Decisive Battles E01 The Gothic Invasion Of Rome

Watched YouTube: History Channel Barbarians The Goths

Watched YouTube: Barbarians Rising Alaric and the Sack of Rome

Watched YouTube: Battle of Allia and Sack of Rome – Rise of the Republic

Watched YouTube: Rome The Rise and Fall of an Empire - Episode 8 Wrath of the G...

Watched YouTube: Rome The Rise and Fall of an Empire - Episode 9 The Soldiers...

Watched YouTube: Rome The Rise and Fall of an Empire - Episode 10 Constantine...

Watched YouTube: Rome The Rise and Fall of an Empire - Episode 11 The Barbarian...

Watched YouTube: Rome The Rise and Fall of an Empire - Episode 12 The Puppet Master (Documentary)

Watched YouTube: Catastrophe - The Day the Sun Went Out

Watched YouTube: Catastrophe - How the World Changed - Part 2 of 2

Watched YouTube: Disaster!-Krakatoa 535

Watched YouTube: Siege of Rome 537-538 - Roman - Gothic War DOCUMENTARY

Watched YouTube: Barbarian Invasion Historical Battle of Badon Hill (Very Hard)

Watched YouTube: Barbarians - The Vandals

Watched YouTube: Leo III Presentation

Watched YouTube: Islamic conquest of Persia

Watched YouTube: The Battle of Guadalete 711 AD

Watched YouTube: The Battle of Tours 732 AD

Watched YouTube: The Collapse of the Carolingian Empire - Echoes of History...

Watched YouTube: Why did the Carolingian Frankish Empire Collapse

Was read The History of the Kings of Britain by Geoffrey of Monmouth

Was read Stories from English History by Alfred J Church (pages 1-88)

Was read A History of Ancient Britain by Neil Oliver

Was read The Usborne History Britain (pages 1-135)

Was read Britania: 100 Great Stories From British History (pages 1-71)

Was read The History of Scotland for Children by Fiona Macdonald (pages 1-43)

Was read: The Silver Brach by Rosemary Sutcliff

Was read: The Lantern Bearers by Rosemary Sutcliff

Was read: D'Aulaires' Book of Trolls by Ingri and Edgar D'Aulaire

Was read selections from Ancient Scandinavia: An Archaeological History from the First Humans to the Vikings

Was read D'Aulaires' Book of Norse Myths

Was read Peter and the North Wind by Freya Littledale

Was read Children of the Northlights by Ingri & Edgar Parin D'Aulaire

Was read Weland: Smith of the Gods by Ursula Synge

Was read Song of the Nibelungs by Margaret Armour and W B MacDougall

Was read The Hero Beowulf (kids version)

Was read Beowulf by Gareth Hinds (comic version)

Was read Beowulf translated by Seamus Heaney, illustrated version

Was read Stories of Charlemagne by Jennifer Westwood

Was read Deeds of the Saxons by Widukind of Corvey

Watched YouTube: The Legend of Sigfrid - animated video

Watched YouTube: The Anglo Saxon Invasion - History of Britain - BBC Documentary

Watched YouTube: Barbarians - The Saxons

Was read The Saga of the Volsungs (with the Saga of Ragnar...) Crawford translation

Was read You Wouldn't Want to Be a Viking Explorer!

Was read How to be a Viking: A Northlander's Guide

Was read Saxo Grammaticus: The History of the Danes, Books 1-7

Was read selections from Heimskringla by Snorri Sturluson

Watched YouTube: Lindisfarne - An Age Born in Fire

Watched YouTube: Æthelstan The First King of the English

Watched YouTube: The History of the Vikings in England (AD. 793-AD. 1066)

Watched YouTube: The Vikings - Journeys and raids

Watched YouTube: How The Vikings Conquered Europe: Documentary on Viking...

Watched Nova, season 8: Secrets of the Viking Sword

Watched YouTube: Vikings Voyages Wings of A Dragon (Viking Documentary)

Watched YouTube: The Real Ragnar Lothbrok Vikings Documentary

Watched YouTube: Ragnar Lothbrok The Legendary Viking (Viking History...)

Watched YouTube: The Real Rollo & The Foundation of Normandy Vikings

Watched YouTube: Vikings Great Heathen Army - Battle of Ashdown 871

Watched YouTube: The Viking Invasion of England: The Great Heathen Army

Watched YouTube: Haakon the Good King of Norway 934-961

Watched YouTube: Battle of Maldon 991 - Historical Battles

Watched YouTube: Battle of Svolder, 1000AD - A Viking Saga

Watched YouTube: Top 10 Toughest Viking Warriors

Watched YouTube: Edmund Ironside The Last Warrior King of Wesex

Watched YouTube: The Epic Battle Pope vs King

Attended the Vista Viking Festival

Attended the Jorvik Viking Festival

Visited Jorvik Viking Museum

Was read William the Conqueror by Thomas Costain

Was read Castle by David Macaulay

Notes

-After a year of Greek gods, Anders wasn't phased at all by the introduction of Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, which I did one right after the other.

-If Anders were a schooled kid, in Kindergarten and first grade he would have learned: about national holidays, songs like “America the Beautiful” that express American ideals, how to identify his state and country on a map, that in the past people ate and dressed differently, that in other countries people eat and dress differently, that there is a specialized workforce and that he should start thinking of a dream job, and how to recognize diversity because diversity is good. In second and third grade he would learn: basic geography of the US and especially his state, how important his government is, how great democracy is, how cultures change over time (prepping him to want to change the culture/be liberal not conservative), and environmentalism.

-Until I started homeschooling Anders, my understanding of history was completely disjointed. It wasn't a story, it was just events and interesting clothes. Things make so much more sense now!

-Starting with the ancients and moving forward through time makes difficult historical language normal and easy. Everything builds off of everything else. When reading Beowulf a reference was made to Sigurd the Dragonslayer, and Anders laughed and said, "I know all about him." He did – because we had read the Song of the Nibelungs. Shakespeare's Hamlet is based on a story from Saxo Grammaticus, which Anders loved, so now he can't wait to read Shakespeare's version, not to mention Julius Ceasar. We also noted while reading Beowulf that JRR Tolkien clearly used the dragon from Beowulf as the prototype for the dragon in The Hobbit.

-When I was introduced to Shakespeare in sixth grade, it was like a foreign language. Anders, having studied so much of what came before Shakespeare, has already been introduced to a lot of the Shakespearean vocabulary.

-With Henrik I will read book 3 of Saxo Grammaticus (the story of Hamlet) and skip the rest as Snori's Heimskringla is so much better.

SCIENCE/ENGINEERING/TECHNOLOGY

Daily Science Workbook, Grade 1 (completed)

Daily Science Workbook, Grade 2 (completed)

Health / Medicine

Was read: Food in History by Reay Tannahill

Was read: How to Raise a Healthy Child in Spite of Your Doctor by R. Mendelsohn

Was read selections from The Milk Book by Dr. William Campbell Douglass II

Watched YouTube: The Dangers of Sugar Documentary

Watched YouTube: Sugar... the Truth

Watched YouTube: Science for Kids - The Acid Inside My Stomach

Watched YouTube: This is what our Stomach Acid can Burn Through

Watched YouTube: What Sugar Does to Your Brain & Body

Watched YouTube: BBC`s panorama - videogame addiction  - part 1/2

Watched YouTube: BBC`s panorama - videogame addiction  - part 2/2

Watched YouTube: Life Noggin - The Science of Addiction

Biology

Watched BBC Life: Plants

Watched BBC Life: Primates

Was read Ant Cities (Let's Read and Find Out Science)

Watched YouTube: Ants Secret Power of the Nature BBC 2017 - The Best...

Watched YouTube: Sky Hunters, The World of the Dragonfly - The Secrets of Nature

Watched Nova: Extreme Animal Weapons

Watched Nature: Arctic Wolf Pack

Watched Nature: A Swuittel's Guide to Success

Watched Nature: Equus: Story of the Horse

Watched Nature: Nature's Miracle Orphans: Second Chances

Watched Nature: Nature's Miracle Orphans: Wild Lessons

Watched Nature: Pets - Wild at Heart: Secretive Creatures

Watched YouTube: Eagle Documentary National Geographic Queen of the Skies

Watched YouTube: Nature of the Cuckoo Duck - David Attenborough - BBC Wildlife

Watched Amazon's Curiosity Stream: Ancient Earth 1: The Permian

Watched Amazon's Curiosity Stream: Ancient Earth 2: The Triassic

Watched Amazon's Curiosity Stream: Ancient Earth 3: The Cretaceous

Watched Wild America Season 12 Episode 4:  The First Ten Years

Watched Wild America Season 4 Episode 7:  Snakedance

Watched Animal Encounters 1.1: Cats

Watched Animal Encounters 1.2: Elephants

Watched Animal Encounters 1.3: Sharks

Watched Animal Encounters 1.4: Monkeys

Watched Animal Encounters 1.5: Meerkats

Watched National Geographic: Amazing Animal Homes, How Animals Live

Technology

Took Robotics class at Asteme

Attended Destination Science Camp: Robots

Watched Amazon's Curiosity Stream: Robot Revolution 1.1: Will Machines Surpass...

Watched Amazon's Curiosity Stream: Robot Revolution 1.2: Robot Artist

Watched Nova 1.1: Battle For the X-Planes

Watched Nova 1.2: Mars Dead or Alive

Watched Nova 1.3: Hunt for the Supertwister

Watched Nova 1.4: Welcome to Mars

Watched Nova 1.5: The Great Robot Race

Physics

Was read: How Machines Work: Zoo Break by David Macaulay

Geology

Was read Be a Friend to Trees by Patricia Lauber

Was read: Archaeologists Dig for Clues (Let's Read and Find Out Science)

Watched YouTube: Radioactive Forests NHK - Documentary. Fukushima Exposed

Watched Amazon's Curiosity Stream: BBC Earth Power of the Planet 1: Volcano

Watched Amazon's Curiosity Stream: BBC Earth Power of the Planet 2: Atmosphere

Watched Amazon's Curiosity Stream: BBC Earth Power of the Planet 3: Ice

Watched Amazon's Curiosity Stream: BBC Earth Power of the Planet 4: Oceans Watched Amazon's Curiosity Stream: BBC Earth Power of the Planet 5: Rare Earth

Watched YouTube: BBC Planet earth - Caves

Watched Nova: Poisoned Water

Watched YouTube: Formation of a Pearl: Secret Life of Pearls

Watched YouTube: How and Why Do Oysters Make Pearls

Watched Amazon's Curiosity Stream: Hurricane: The Anatomy: Predicting the...

Watched Amazon's Curiosity Stream: Hurricane: The Anatomy: Shaping the...

Watched Amazon's Curiosity Stream: Hurricane: The Anatomy: Winds of Change

Watched YouTube: The Science of Lightning | National Geographic

Notes

-Anders reread all of his Let's Read and Find Out Science books from last year on his own.

-I hadn't intended to use a science workbook, but in doing analogies in his logic workbook, I realized that he could not succeed without knowing whatever the standard useless national science curriculum is. I think it is more important to know about plants and animals (especially bugs and medicinal plants) that live naturally in your area than to know about giraffes and elephants that you will never see outside a zoo. But because logic workbooks expect every kid to know about giraffes and elephants... Anders is now learning those things too.

FINE ART

Renaissance Fine Art (pastels green dot level/second level out of four levels of pastels)

Piano & Voice at Cornerstone Music Academy

SPANISH

Lets Speak Spanish Club for Native Speakers

Anders spent 4 months in Nicaragua practicing Spanish all day every day

FAVORITE MUSIC

"Everything is Awesome" from Lego Movie

"Everything's Not Awesome" from the Lego Movie

"The King of the Highlands" by Antti Martikainen

"Storms in Africa" by Enya

"Battle for Camelot" and the whole "Enter the Realm" album by Tartalo

"Dust in the Wind," "Just Show Me How to Love" and "Only an Ocean Away" by Sarah Brightman

"Queen of the Winter Night" by the Trans-Siberian Orchestra

"The Very Best of Vivaldi" album by Capella Istopolitana

APS

Anders almost never uses the ipad. When he does it is almost always to listen to audiobooks or music while playing Legos. His favorite audiobook is Animal Farm. He occasionally listens to The Lord of the Rings and the Iliad.

When I asked Anders his favorite Ap, he said Minecraft - which he plays once a year. He also loves Stop Motion. Other aps he uses include a Montessori geography game, the piano, Jigsaw Puzzle, Rush Hour, Chess, Monster Math, Math Drills, Drawing Pad, Meritum Paint, Mathtopia, Lightbot. I can't remember the last time Anders has played any of these though.

FICTION MOVIES

He watched movies on plane rides and was exposed to various movies at camps. We watched The Incredibles 2 and The Little Mermaid. Otherwise we stuck to documentaries this year.

LUNCHBOX

Bacon or beef jerky

Cheese

Dried seaweed or carrots

An apple, an orange, or grapes

Sourdough crackers
Almonds 

Water