Sage & Haddie filling planets with crust, core, and mantle!

Note from Kurstin: Sorry we didn't have a daily blog Tuesday through Friday. We spent most of our time on bookwork or Sage's online prealgebra class, and I had to juggle several doctor appointments. I'm happy to say I am done with compression wrapping and now will just use my garments daily and the flexitouch pump, which I think I've been approved for because the rep is bringing it to me and showing me how to use it by myself. Sage also went to the dentist! I'm happy to report he had no cavities, but he needs to brush his gums more and needs to see the orthodontist because he has permanent teeth coming in way high above his few remaining baby teeth that don't want to come out. We also worked diligently on finishing Sage's solar system project, which is finally done. I spray painted each with gloss, and he put the crust, mantle, and core inside each one using colored tissue paper, and he's going to label them with what each is made up of and turn it into a mobile to hang from the ceiling after he shows it to his cub scout patrol. We also had to sell popcorn like crazy, and I somehow ended up being the popcorn rep for his patrol, which was a much bigger job than I expected. I'm going to teach Sage how to use an Excel spreadsheet to keep track of everyone's Take & Sell orders. Sage has almost met his goal of $775. I'm very proud of him. Thank you to everyone who supported him. You still have one week to order if you want! He also got hiking miles for “hiking” our neighborhood.

From Sage:

Pre-Algebra:

This week was very busy with pre-algebra. My mom got me enrolled in the Art of Problem Solving online class, and so I had to do the book work, the readings, do the exercises in the book, attend my online class, and then do challenge problems and this online program called Alcumus that figures out my strengths and weaknesses in each area and gives me new questions based on that. It's pretty cool how it can know my abilities. This is my first real online class where there is a teacher and other kids, so I had to learn how to navigate (that was one of my vocabulary words) it. I reviewed complex addition and multiplication then moved in to subtraction and negation. Here are the new math rules I learned:

Definition: Let a and b be any numbers. Then the subtraction a – b (pronounced “a minus b”) is defined as

A – b = a + [-b].

The subtraction a – b is sometimes called the difference a – b.

Concept: subtracting a number means adding its opposite.

Important: Let a, b, and c be numbers. If a + b=c, then a=c-b and b=c-a.

Important: let x be any number. Subtraction has the following properties:

Subtracting by zero: 0-x=-x.

Self-subtraction: x-x=0.

Subtracting zero: x-0=x.

Concept: when trying to show that two expressions are equal, it’s often easier to start from the more complicated expression

Important: let x and y be numbers. Then:

Sub of negation: x [-y]=x+y.

Sub from negation –x-y=-[x+y].

Negation of sub –[x-y]=-x+y=y-x.

WARNING!! Subtraction is neither commutative nor associative

Concept: To solve subtraction problems:

Change all subtractions into additions.

Rearrange the additions using the commutative and associative properties.

[Optional] Change some of the additions into subtractions

Important: Multiplication distributes over subtraction: let a, b, and c be numbers. Then

A [b-c]=ab-ac and [b-c]a=ba-ca

Here is how I did in my online class:

In Alcumus, I passed but can keep going to move my bar. This is what you see, then you figure out the problem without a calculator and submit your answers. I can see the transcript of class for help, ask for help in the message board, send a private message for help, and they have really good videos on each concept I watch each week.

I really like the way they teach math. It makes it easier to rearrange problems so they are easy to solve. My mom said she wished she'd learned math this way because then she would be better at math. It's like she's learning with me. I'm good at participating in the class too. I try to answer all the questions they ask, like this one (I'm Sage_Craft!):

Vocabulary:

I reviewed lessons 1-4 of my Wordly Wise vocabulary then took a test in each because it lumps it in fours. Here are my test scores! I think I did really well. I only missed 3 on the last one, and. My mom explained why a different answer was better, so now I understand. One of the things that's cool about homeschool is that I get to learn WHY I get a problem wrong instead of just getting it back marked wrong. My mom doesn't believe in grades because she wants me to learn just to learn, but she has to have some grades to turn in at the end of the year because we homeschool. My mom says I do better on the vocabulary than her high school students ever did!

Book Club:

My friend Haddie and I started a book club. I am re-reading The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of her Own Making. I knew Haddie would like this book. We read out loud to each other and alone then have special tea and cookies my Grama Tina makes us on Saturdays while we read to each other and talk about the book. This is one of my favorite books. I read it in 3rd grade at ADS. We made a claymation video of the book, and the author saw it, so she sent us the sequel before it even came out in stores. That was pretty cool. Grama Tina made us chai tea and pumpkin skones and peanut butter cookies. It was all special just for us. We are going to do it every Saturday morning.

To Kill A Mockingbird:

This is the next book I'm reading, which starts this week. I hope I like it as much as Lord of the Flies.

Grammar:

I learned about the different types of nouns, pronouns, and adjectives. I passed the quiz on them and got almost all of them right. I also did practice labeling 15 sentences by finding the nouns (n), pronouns (pn), and adjectives (adj). Here is what I learned:

Noun: person, place, thing, or idea

Common nouns: These are general and not capitalized. They can be singular or plural. Examples: sandwich, dog, love, toy, barn

Proper Nouns: These are specific and are capitalized. They can be singular or plural. Examples: England, Foxie, Mary, Legos, Honda

Pronoun: short words that take the place of a noun so we don't have to keep repeating the noun

Subject Pronouns: These can be the subject of a sentence. I, you, he, she, it, we, you, they

Object Pronouns: These can be the object of a sentence. me, you, him, her, it, us, them

Interrogative Pronouns: These ask a question. who, whose, whom, which, what

Demonstrative Pronouns: These demonstrate (think of it like pointing). this, that, these, those

Possessive Pronouns: These show possession. mine, yours, his, hers, its, ours, theirs (some of these are also possessive adjectives)

Adjective: Adjectives MODIFY (change) nouns or pronouns. They describe and tell which one, what kind, and how many.

Article Adjectives: a, an, the

Possessive Adjectives: These show possession (some of them are also possessive pronouns). my, your, his, her, its, our, your, their

*Important! Its is a possessive pronoun or adjective. It's has an apostrophe and means it is.

Cub Scouts:

We focused on responsibility this week. We had to get up in front of the entire pack and tell what we were responsible for. I said I was responsible for feeding and watering my dog Foxie. That's just one thing I'm responsible for. I also learned to present the colors, which means we bring in the flags, put them in their holders, and do the Pledge of Allegiance. I need to hike ten miles to get my walking stick. I need that as a requirement for my Arrow of Light. The Arrow of Light is what lets me pass over to Boy Scouts. I have only done 4.5 miles so far, but they have lots of hikes scheduled. This Sunday, my patrol is going to a nature preserve to earn our naturalist pins. The first November weekend, I go to the Webelos-Ree, which is a camping trip I do alone with my patrol. I'll be gone Friday night to Sunday afternoon. We are going to work on more things there. I hope I can finish whittling my sun out of soap this week. Here is a picture of me presenting the colors:

PALA:

PALA is the Presidential Active Lifestyle Award I'm working in for Cub Scouts. I have to do six weeks of obysical activity and meet my nutrition challenges to get the award. This is my last week. So far, I have earned a star for each week (5) and need one more star. So far, I have done 64 hours and 20 minutes of physical activity; that equals 17,708 points!!! I even get points for chores or like helping lift and move boxes or sweeping leaves. For my nutrition challenges, I chose these six things and have done them all except the last one which I'm doing this week: 1. I drank water instead of sugary drinks. 2. I chose lean sources of protein. 3. I chose fat-free or low-fat milk, yogurt, or cheese. 4. I ate smaller portions. 5. At least half of the grains that I ate were whole grains. 6. I compared the sodium in foods and chose foods with less sodium.

God & Family:

In order to get my Arrow of Light, I have to earn my religious emblem pin and knot. You get to wear your knot the whole time you are in scouts, even as an adult. I'm getting the Protestant one, so I have to complete the God and Family workbook. They have different books for different faiths. I am going to Hickory Grove church. They have a kids choir, but I haven't been able to join it yet because I've been camping or had a Cub Scout activity every Sunday. Meme and Poppa told my mom they'll help me work on it too. The church also has vocal lessons. I'm really interested in that because I like singing hymns, and I think I'm a good singer. They also do plays. I like acting too.

For Halloween, I'm going to be RAINBOW DASH!

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