Semester 1 Week 6 update 2014

                                                         Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa

                                                               Michelangelo's Pieta

                                                      Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels

Homework Review – complete before week 6 Class
Algebra 2	Lessons 19-22
Latin	Lessons 7 + 8 and exercises
Logic	Read Lessons 6 + 7 and answer questions
History: HSWTL	Read Lesson 7 and answer the questions on page 108 of the guide
History: Art Essay SoA	Add to Timeline Study the art piece Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci Art Essay: Talk about the Circumstances behind Michelangelo’s and da Vinci’s work (both painted at the end of the Renaissance, but the age of Reason was just dawning). Tell what is happening in this era. Start adding 1-2 bibliography sources at the end of the paper. Chapter 6 + 7 in State of the Arts
Art Grant:	Choose your topic and copy the application on page 98 of your guide to start the project. The art world likes to recognize politically correct performances and nonsensical pieces over complex inspiring works or praiseworthy art. How would you make your art grant stand out without compromising quality?
British Literature	Start reading sections 1+2 in Gulliver’s Travels (half the book) this week. We will finish reading the rest of the book and work on an essay the following week. You MAY use Clep/Sparks Notes to study "Satire."
Biology:	Read Chapter 4 up to page 110.  Prepare your lab book with Experiment 4.1 and 4.2. (You can take lab notes in class while we look at mushroom spores and yeast cells – I will have gloves and masks). Start typing your formal report on Experiment 3.1 to add to your folder. Read Chapter 5 in the Lab guide.

Algebra 2 – When working with linear equations related to each other, students can use substitution or elimination to help solve for one of the unknown variables. We also took a look at ratios, word problems, and similar triangles.

Latin – We reviewed some nouns that change meaning when using their plural endings. We discussed all the forms of reflexive pronouns (they point directly back to the subject of their clause or indirectly back to the subject of the sentence). We quickly filled in any missed answers on our review quiz from last week to keep as a reference. We translated general sentences about the Roman camp as preparation for the Roman story this next week.

Logic – We reviewed Lesson 6 on Judgments and propositions. This included rewriting a proposition in logical form so that it is useful for completing the next deductive step. This week’s logical form required quantifying the proposition by quality (affirmative/negative) and quantity (universal/particular; all/some). Next week: Contradictions.

History – We watched HSWTL 5 in class this week. This finished the Reformation Era. Many of the thought processes and morals founded on biblical principles became the basis for strong constitutions and more personal freedoms for countries that held to them. The students should read chapter 7 and fill in page 108 of the guide.

Debate – We reviewed the debate this week and sent home a synopsis. We will talk more about individual strategies and speaking skills before the next debate and a rhetorical analysis sheet will be added to the synopsis next time so the student can have more personal feedback rather than just group preparations evaluated.

Art Grant Project - We also talked about the next Art Grant project for week 10. The students should finalize the type of art project, exhibition, or cultural improvement project for which they would like to seek a “fake” grant. The personal name, address, number, and project can be completely fictitious. They will be graded by fellow classmates and the Challenge 1 students on the 5 minute presentation. The presentation will involve handing out enough copies of the fictitious application to the judges, presenting their project verbally along with either a well-prepared set of props or a PowerPoint slide show. They were handed applications in class, but an additional copy is on page 98 of the guide. Art Grants will be presented on week 10, October 30^th/31^st. The Saturday immediately following, we have an art trip.

Art Presentation Project - This final presentation will be due on week 15. We hope to plan a trip to the National Art Gallery on Saturday, November 1^st with a rain date of Saturday, November 8^th. I will send more information in another week, but we will likely pick a meeting spot near Gainesville to carpool to Vienna Station and ride Metro to the Smithsonian stop on the National Mall (fare cards are $4.60 each way unless you own a Smart Card). The Main Museum opens at 10:00. We hope to be done exploring the museum by 2:30 P.M. Parents that ride along on this trip and wish to additionally stop at the National Portrait Museum since it is open until 7:00 P.M., can plan to carpool with each other and leave DC a little later (additional stops are $1.75 each way to slip up to the National Portrait Museum next to the Gallery Place Metro Stop). Food can be carried on Metro but not consumed on Metro or carried in museums. It would be wise for us to leave from Vienna around 9:30 and eat a good morning snack at 10:00/10:15 before entering the museum and then grabbing a late afternoon meal near Gainesville area when we get back. Additional parent ideas are welcome as we solidify plans. As always, if the Field Trip dates are not compatible with your family’s schedule, you may work independently on the project with your student. I will send out an e-mail next week asking for simple replies from students and parents attending.

British Literature – We took time to read half of the British Literature essays on consequences. We’ll read more of them this week along with a few art essays. I will try to return the essays I have in my folder back to the students very soon. Since it is the parent’s job to grade them, I will likely only jot a few notes on a Post-It. I am blown away by the creativity, quality work, and the depth of thought that the students put into their work.

Biology – We finished chapter 3 this week. This week we looked at Apologia’s prepared slides for all the specific Protozoa samples mentioned in the textbook. The students get to draw the various samples from their microscope observations (or from the textbook examples). They can color and label them in their lab book. Read chapter 4 up to page 110 and look at experiment 4.1 and 4.2. Bring your lab Journal. Finish adding to your lab journal any procedure steps and drawings. Next week: Mushrooms and yeast.

Below are some of my pictures taken from Apologia slides in last week’s lab observations:

  amoeba

  euglena

  paramecium

  volvox

  diatoms

  spirogyra

I just received a Director’s notice to pass this on to our local CC parents:

Reading and the Moral Imagination

The CiRCE Institute is sending two of their best speakers (Andrew Kern & Vigen Guroian) to Manassas to give us a small taste of the CiRCE Conference.  I've been going to their summer conference since 2009 to replenish and to learn about natural (classical) education.

Andrew Kern is the founder and president of the CiRCE institute .  He is also the author of Classical Education: A Movement Sweeping America.  Vigen Guroian is a theology (Orthodox) professor at UVA and the author of Tending the Heart of Virtue: How Classic Stories Awaken the Child's Moral Imagination and Rallying the Really Human Things.  

Please tell all your homeschooling friends (really, any parent) about this event.  If this is well-attended, they will be more apt to return for more workshops.  Space is limited in this location so please be sure to register today.

http://www.circeinstitute.org/events/events-calendar

Location: Manassas Baptist Church

(8730 Sudley Road, Manassas, VA - Church building - entrance on Stonewall Rd, not the "Rock" or MB Preschool building)

Date: Saturday, October 11
Time: 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. (lunch is on your own)