Little House and Little Rug

So Tuna and I have been reading Little House on the Prairie. I think we're about halfway done now. We're at the point where the family gets malaria, is rescued by strangers, and spends some time recovering from their illness. Pa is too weak to work outside, and Ma needs help inside, anyway, so Pa sets about the business of making Ma a rocking chair. 

One of the parts of the Little House books that bores me to tears is the in-depth explanations of the monotony of everyday pioneer life. Laura goes into excruciating detail about how things are done at times in the book and it's just boring to read aloud. 

This rocking chair was no different, except that I had an activity planned for weaving that tied in nicely. So we did it yesterday, right after reading. 

Paper plate weaving is about as simple as weaving can be. You just notch a paper plate and go to town with your yarn. Here is a good explanation of how to begin your paper plate weaving. To finish it off, clip the threads on the back of your plate and tie them in knots around your weaving. This will prevent your work from unraveling.

Tuna's woven round has been dubbed her new Barbie rug. It's just the right size. 

Tuna's paper plate weaving final product with tied-off ends

Have you seen the hula hoop weaving tutorial? I think I'd like to try that with some wool yarn for a small area rug. The concept is the same as the paper plate, just on a bigger scale. 

Updated 4th Grade Curriculum

MY GOAL FOR THE YEAR: Bring the joy of learning into Tuna's life again. 

I consider our curriculum to be a fluid thing, evolving along with us, changing as needed. Here's what we're using for fourth grade. I will update as things change. I've noted where things are not at grade level. 

EFF IT ALL. WE ARE UNSCHOOLERS.

Language Arts

Spelling and Vocabulary: Spelling City (using words I think are appropriate from other subjects we're studying.) We have a premium membership. We've dropped this for now. Instead, we talk about commonly misspelled words and play games like hangman, SPARKLE (it's a game when the family tosses a ball around to each  other, each one speaking a letter of the given word), and that sort of thing. Spelling just happens enough in other topics we cover, so I don't feel like we need Spelling City. 

Writing: Tuna maintains a blog (private) that holds her writing prompts from the book Unjournaling. Twice a week, I give her a prompt from that book. Bah! Scratch that. She does it on her own sometimes. Mostly we're working on just creative writing. On alternating days, we are working on creative writing. Our goal is to self-publish a book. We're both going to do it. Tuna has expressed interest in seeking a publisher for hers. We'll see how she feels once she's begun writing. She gets possessive over her writing. I'm okay with going through the submission process with her and will encourage her if she elects to do so. UNSCHOOLIN' IT!

Grammar: I'm taking a loose approach to grammar, as I don't see a need to introduce it so young, but we're using the book A Sentence a Day. It's painless and takes a quick five minutes to do. It reviews basic, common grammatical errors using funky sentences. We like it.  UNSCHOOLIN' IT!

Literature (chosen by Tuna)

Paddle to the Sea
Little House on the Prairie
On the Banks of Plum Creek
*more to come as we choose new books

If we find a cool activity about something in our story, we will stop and do it if Tuna wants to. 

Math

Life of Fred (reviewing books meant for younger ages to make sure Tuna has a firm grasp on math basics and stepping down because she doesn't like math at all. Trying to make it more approachable, and so far, it's working) UPDATE: Tuna LOVES Life of Fred. I mean, she professes her love for it and tells everyone she knows about it. Today, she said to me, "If I had a blog for homeschool recommendations, I would tell everyone to run and get Life of Fred." That is a telling statement from a kid who hated math a few months ago!

We've done:
Farming
Goldfish
Honey
We also have a membership at IXL but we haven't been using it much. at all. 

Science

No set curriculum, but I have a plan of study based on talks with Tuna and what she's interested in learning this semester:

Astronomy
Meteorology
Biology
Botany
Chemistry

We use a lot of library books, videos, and hands-on experiments and experiences to learn science. Doing something with her hands helps Tuna learn, and really gets her involved in what she's learning. For meteorology, for example, we'll set up a weather station. For biology, we'll make a model of blood and a working four chamber heart. 

Each unit will last about a month. That will take us through the end of the school year.  UNSCHOOLIN' IT!

History

Story of the World Volume I: Ancient Times (we use only the text, not the activity book or the tests, and we supplement with tons of hands-on activities, videos, and library books) UPDATE: Tuna loves this. I read it aloud and she snuggles up close and listens attentively. We will be continuing this series next year for sure. 

Other Stuff

Dance Mat Typing (Finished that quickly, now just playing typing games)
Rosetta Stone German
Girl Scout badge work as needed
Learning to Cook & Creating a Personal Cookbook (Uh... This has not begun yet)
Nature Study

I like setting my own curriculum plan instead of buying a boxed set because I can tailor it to suit the needs and styles of Tuna and me. I could never stand to follow a script, having someone else tell me what to do. It takes me about an hour or two a week to set up our schedule for the week ahead. I spent about six hours doing my initial setup of curriculum. It's not a terrible length of time, I think. And it's not hard to do. I'm not worried about gaps or holes in her learning. They exist at public school, too. I'm just teaching her what she needs, when she needs it. I make no claims that this is a perfect guide for homeschooling your fourth grader. But it's darn close for homeschooling mine.