Today, Symone reviewed the multiplication tables so that she could enter the school year with those fresh in her mind. Next, we covered basic fractions and long division. Symone completed a number of math problems to practice the concepts we covered. I also reviewed with her the distributive property of mathematics and explained how fractions relate to division and multiplication. We will continue to review these concepts until Symone can implement them with confidence and ease.

Symone and I read two passages and discussed theme, plot, conflict, author's purpose, similarities and differences, and difficult vocabulary, We then answered questions on these different topics. The vocabulary covered includes: preposterous, trial, delusional, and archaic.

Jack told me that he is behind in Biology, so we looked at what was outstanding. We tackled a virtual lab relating to photosynthesis and cellular respiration. We finished it and he felt more caught up.

I organized Jack's 2" thick pile of papers from August into subjects. We assigned different colors of folders to each subject and divided papers into what needs to be brought to school every day and what can be left at home (as well as what can be discarded).

I wrote a paragraph on the dry-erase board, which had spelling errors, punctuation mistakes, and capitalization of proper nouns as well as beginning letter of a sentence. Then, I introduced the topic of proper nouns and common nouns to Chase. He practiced these concepts by completing a worksheet on proper nouns. Chase expressed an interest in learning about multiplication. Chase was introduced to multiplication sets of zero, ones, fives, and elevens. In addition, Chase and I watched an educational video on multiplication facts from Schoolhouse Rock, in which he really enjoyed!

Hunter and I brainstormed a long list of research topics related to football that he may wish to explore. We will be integrating many subjects in our work together, creating an interdisciplinary study course weaving social studies (geography/history, science, mathematics (statistics, tables, etc), and language arts for 7th grade. The topics list (based on his interest in football) includes: biographies of famous players, researching team histories, the process of free agency, advances in safety (equipment and the evolution of regulations), sportsmanship, NFL press releases, drafts, college football requirements (academics, regulations, processes), Indiana colleges with football programs, Indiana teams and famous players, Florida players (out of Belle Glade), Super Bowl history, training programs (pro & college), high school football programs, scouting for college, college scholarships for sports.

We did two pages of workbook work

Rowan is quite worried about his Hebrew test, so he and I went through his flashcards and discussed study techniques.

I have several exercises to discuss with Rowan about managing his anger. However since we were celebrating his birthday we did not do the exercises.

Rowan is writing some pieces for the school newsletter.