Assignments for September 29, 2026

 Fall has supposedly arrived. The daylight hours are certainly getting shorter. 

Spirit Day: next time dress as your favorite superhero or wear a superhero T-shirt. 

Journal: What superpower would you like to have? How would you use it? Would you keep it secret? Try to write at least five sentences. 

Fix-it: Week 5

Upper Elementary/People, Places: 

I checked drafts of Lesson 4 "Pilots." Be sure you are getting your format correct--double space, lesson number on the upper left-hand corner, title centered, spelling errors fixed.

We started Lesson 5 "Going by Train." We started the KWO in class. We have a dress up--our first: the -ly adverb. From here on out you will need to add at least one -ly adverb per paragraph/assignment in addition to using the lesson vocabulary words. I gave out a Writer's Toolbox that contains a list of -ly adverbs. Your textbook also contains a list. If you like trains, you can cut out and put together your own train from page 223 in the book. 

For homework: Lesson 4 "Pilots"--polish your draft. Use the checklist at the bottom of the KWO. Turn this in next week. Lesson 5 "Trains"--finish the KWO. Write a rough draft. Final draft will be due in two weeks and will need one -ly adverb and one or both vocabulary words. 

Middle School/Investigations: Lesson 3 "Dead Sea." I checked rough drafts. I noted a lot of capitalization errors--check your source text to see what words are capitalized. Your checklist for the lesson is on page 33. We will not be doing a paragraph from Lesson 4; however, it does add some important concepts. This lesson contains instructions on adding the who/which clause (p. 39) and changing the title (p. 38). 

Our next lesson will be a different structural model. We will be asking questions rather than taking sentence-by-sentence notes. 

For homework: Lesson"--final draft due with one -ly adverb labeled and one or both vocabulary words (also labeled). Lesson 4--do pages 38, 39, and 40 to learn the new concepts. Please pre-read the source text for lesson 5 on page 46. 

High School I: Prince Caspian--read chapters 9-11. 

Narnia: We reviewed two new requirements--p. 27 new title and p. 27 strong verb/banned verbs. Check your checklist with each lesson because the banned word list randomly grows. (Banned words are boring words. They do not relay vivid information.) 

Lesson 4 "Prunes, Prisms" on Charles Dickens. We discussed the instructions on p. 31. We started the KWO on p. 34. Be sure you are asking questions to fill in the blank lines. We are adding two new final draft requirements: the "because" clause (p. 36) and alliteration (p. 36). One is a dress up and the other is a decoration, so they appear in different places on the checklist. 

For homework: Lesson 4 "Prunes, Prisms"--fill out p. 35. Finish the KWO. Optional--3 paragraph rough draft. Remember we are doing several rough drafts and will later pick one to polish into a final draft. Please also read the source text for Lesson 5. 

High School II: 

Fallacy Detective: For lesson 10 "Faulty Appeal to Authority"--do the exercises pages 60-63. 

Lord of the Flies: read chapter 7

Data Centers--read and annotate the new articles. 

Windows to the World: We're discussing the ways authors create suspense. Re-read Lesson 4 if needed. Complete as much as you can for Exercise 4 "Plot Analysis" pages 44-45. Read p. 46. 

Assignments for September 22, 2026

 Maybe it's fall? We'll soon see if the cooler temps hold. It's almost fair season. The Western Carolina (Aiken) State Fair is October 16-25. The South Carolina State Fair (Columbia) is October 15-25. In the meantime, check out some local corn mazes. There are at least two in Trenton.

Just a reminder that October 6 is our Fall Break--no co-op. 

Journal: Sports Figure--Who is your favorite? What makes him/her your favorite? Any character traits you admire? Any skills you want to learn? Try to write at least five sentences. 

Fix-it: Week 4

Upper Elementary/People, Places: 

We started Lesson 4 "Airports." This is the first lesson that formally asks students to write out a draft from their key word outline. Note the checklist at the bottom of the KWO. Page 41 includes instruction for the checklist. Also new are vocabulary words. These fit the subject we are studying. Try to use at least one lesson vocabulary word in the draft. 

For homework: Lesson 4 "Pilots." Finish the KWO. Write a rough draft. Try to use one or both vocabulary words in the paragraph. Also try to write the draft double-spaced. The final draft will be due in two weeks. That gives me time to check rough drafts and offer suggestions for improvement. Optional activity--make a paper airplane from the lesson instructions. 

Middle School/Investigations: 

Lesson 2 "Ring of Fire"--I took these up to grade. 

Lesson 3 "Dead Sea"-- The new vocabulary words that go with this lesson are under "Goals" on the first page of the lesson. We read the source text and started a KWO. Please note the capitalization instructions at the bottom of the source text. We also discussed spelling out numbers (see p. 21). Before you finish the KWO, you should re-read the source text so that you will better understand the material. You should also try to find the Dead Sea on a map. 

For homework: Lesson 3 "Dead Sea." Finish the KWO. Write a rough draft of about nine sentences. Do the style practice on page 32 to help you with dress ups and vocabulary words. 

High School I: Prince Caspian--read chapters 5-8. 

Following Narnia: I took up Lesson 2 "Suits." Quite a few of you did not have these available to turn in. You will need to email me your final draft, preferably by Friday. 

Lessons 3, 4, 5, and 6 are Story Sequence Chart lessons. We will be choosing one of these for a final draft. We are pulling about a story to focus on and examine the parts. Part I is the setting (time and place), characters, and background information. Part II starts with the character's problem. It is followed by the say, think, and do from the characters. This is the meat of the story. Part III starts with the climax of the story--how does the character's problem get solved. It is followed by what happens after and what is needed to make the story feel complete. 

We discussed a sample outline for the story of Aristotle and Alexander. Also in this lesson is a new title and strong verbs. New title words are taken from the very last sentence. This is where you can be creative--add in words that would make a unique title. Strong verbs add vivid action to a story. A good place to add strong verbs is where there are weak verbs. Weak verbs will be our banned verbs. These are listed on the bottom of the checklist. (Pay attention--these get added to.) The lesson also includes sample strong verbs for the banned ones. 

For homework: Lesson 3 "Aristotle" rough draft only. Try to avoid banned verbs. Review pages 27 & 28 for instructions for new titles and strong verbs. Also pre-read the source text for Lesson 4. 

High School II:

Fallacy Detective--Lesson 9 "Tu Quoque"--do the exercises on pages 54-56. 

Lord of the Flies--Read chapter 6 and answer questions.

Data Centers--I had three new articles for your perusal.

Windows to the World: We started Lesson 4 "Plot and Suspense." We stopped on page 41. For homework, read and annotate the handout short story, "Poison." Answer the questions. 

Assignments for September 15, 2026

 Aiken's Makin and Touch a Truck are this weekend. September 19 is SEED day at USC-Aiken. 

Spirit Day: next week wear your favorite sport's team gear.

Journal: Use your senses. Describe what you see, hear, smell, feel, and taste while lying on the beach. If it's been a while since you went to the beach, do the same for your back yard. 5 + sentences.

Fix-it: Week 3 (look up vocabulary words, mark the grammar, fix the errors, re-write the four days).

Upper Elementary/People and Places: We practiced telling the two outlines from lesson 2 out load. Be sure you are also doing that at home. We started Lesson 3 "Information." We are only going to do the source for 3A. I started that KWO in class.

We discussed book covers. These tell the author and illustrator for a book as well as the title and an illustration of the book to get you interested in it. Pages 34-35 have an optional activity of creating your own book title.

For homework: Lesson 3A--finish the KWO. Practice telling the entire outline out loud at home. Run through it several times, making a change or two each time. Optional--book cover on page 35.

Middle School/Investigations: Lesson 2 "Ring of Fire." I checked rough drafts. Remember to review the rule for writing numbers. This is on page 21. Page 26 has vocabulary practice. Your checklist is on page 27. This is how I grade your papers--it matters! Next time we'll start lesson 3 "Dead Sea." 

For homework: Lesson 2 "Ring of Fire" final draft. Be sure you have at least one -ly adverb and one vocabulary word from Lesson 2. These are on the first page of the lesson as well as p. 26 with the vocabulary practice. Also be sure your paper is double-spaced--learn how to set that up before you start typing. Your name and the lesson number should be on the upper left-hand side. The title should be centered. 

High School I: Prince Caspian--read chapters 5-8.

Narnia: I did not get around to discussing the next lesson which is a new unit. The Fix--it lesson took up a lot of class time. I did check rough drafts of lesson 2. We reviewed the checklist which has two dress ups on it--ly adverb and who/which clause. I had hoped to start Lesson 3, a new unit, but ran out of time. 

For homework: Final draft of Lesson 2 "A Suit." Use your checklist on page 19. Be sure you are formatting your paper correctly and have the needed dress ups. Also, please pre-read the source text for Lesson 3 "Aristotle." I did hand out a sample KWO for the three parts, but apparently these were not passed around to everyone. 

High School II:
Fallacy Detective: Lesson 7 exercises pages 46-48.  Write the definitions for the fallacies we are learning on note cards. 

Lord of the Flies: Read chapter 5

Windows: Do Exercises 2 & 3, pages 35-36. Follow the directions and answer the questions. 

Read the two data center articles. Mark them with important facts. You may find pros and cons or you may just find factual information. 

Assignments for September 8, 2026

 September has arrived! Cooler weather certainly has not followed it. 

If you are still struggling with textbooks, the SCAIHS bookstore in Columbia has Fix-it books and some theme books. SCAIHS stands for South Carolina Association of Independent Home Schools. Under South Carolina law for homeschooling, this organization is Option 1. The bookstore and website is schomeschooling.com. They do ship or you can pick up at the store. Of course, they have other books and publishers as well. 

Journal: You attended a special event for your grandparent(s)--anniversary, retirement, birthday, some other event. Something funny happened. Tell about the funny event. (This can be real or imagined.)

Fix-it: Week 2--look up vocabulary words, mark and fix the errors, re-write. Do this for all four days of week 2. (We marked and fixed Day 1 in class.)

People, Places: We went around the room practicing "Big Machines" from Lesson 1B. We worked on Lesson 2 "Roads" in class. We worked through 2A "Building Roads" together. We started 2B "Snowplows." You will need to finish that at home. A fun activity would be to look up snowplows working and how Romans actually built roads (some which are still around). 

Homework: Lesson 2 "Roads." Practice telling 2A "Building Roads." Finish the KWO for 2B "Snowplows." Practice telling it. Optional: write a draft of one of these. 

Investigations in Writing: We took turns telling Lesson 1 "Mercator" in class. We worked on lesson 2 "Ring of Fire." With this one we will be writing a draft--that's the new structure for this lesson. Next time we will add in our first dress up--the -ly adverb-- and the lesson vocabulary words.

For homework: Lesson 2 "Ring of Fire." Finish the KWO. Practice telling it. Write a rough draft. Be sure you put your name and lesson number on the upper left hand corner, title in the middle, double space the entire document. You may hand write or type the paper. However, you will be adding to it and making corrections. That will mean re-writing the page if you are doing it by hand. 

High School I:

Prince Caspian: Read chapter 4

Narnia: I took up drafts of Lesson 1 "Tidal Pools." This was practice only. Lesson 2 "Suits of Armour"--We discussed the source text and the who/which clause. These clauses are added to a complete sentence. They tell more about a noun, so they should follow a noun. We will review that concept next week and the checklist. The final draft of this paper will be graded. 

For homework: Lesson 2 "Suits of Armour." Finish the KWO. Write your rough draft. Try to add a who/which clause in addition to an -ly adverb. I will check rough drafts in class next week.

High School II:

Fallacy Detective: do the exercises on pages 35-38.

Lord of the Flies: read chapter 4 and answer questions

Windows to the World: p. 25 "Marginalia." Read and annotate. We will move along to lesson 3 "Allusions" next time.

  

Assignments for September 1, 2026

 Week 2! Hope you're settling in and getting into a routine. Just a reminder to try to be on time (or five minutes early), get out your Fix-it and Journal assignments, find your pencil, and copy your homework from the board. Do that each week and we'll get those tickets passed out more quickly. 

Spirit Day: Cartoon Day. Wear a t-shirt or costume of your favorite cartoon character.

Journal: Candy shop--Someone you know plans to open a candy shop. They've asked you for suggested candies to carry. List as many as you can think of. 

Fix-it: Finish Week 1--look up vocabulary words and write them on either note cards or a place in your notebook--words and definitions. Finish labeling all four days. Re-write all four days, making sure you correct any fixes that you identified.

Upper Elementary/People, Places: We continued Lesson 1 on Construction. We reviewed the process of the KWO and re-telling. We worked on a KWO for "Big Machines." 

For homework: Lesson 1B "Big Machines." Practice telling the KWO. Remember each line is one complete thought/one sentence. Try not to add extra sentences at this point. 

Middle School/Investigations: Lesson 1 is on maps. I brought a few maps and we looked at a map of Aiken. Suggestion: find map of Aiken. Try to locate your home and places you know. We started on the second KWO for the lesson, page 16 "Mercator Projection." 

For homework: Lesson 1, page 16 "Mercator Projection"--finish the KWO. Practice telling. Do page 18, writing a sentence for each vocabulary word. 

High School I: 

Prince Caspian--read chapters 2-3

Narnia: We continued working on Lesson 1. We discussed ways to improve studying (see pages 8-9). We added in our first stylistic technique--the -ly adverb. Be sure you note the imposters at the bottom of the page (pages 12-13). We reviewed the checklist on page 14. Be sure you review the MLA format at the back of the book. 

For homework: Lesson 1, pages 10-11 "Tidal Pools." Finish the KWO. Practice telling the outline. Write a rough draft, adding in one -ly adverb. Consult your checklist. Bring this next week for me to take up. This is practice and will not be graded. 

High School II:

Fallacy Detective: For homework--find a Bible verse about listening. Use a concordance. Read the two articles on data centers. Try to find 5 points/viewpoints for each. They do not have to match up or be the same. Basically, you're looking for 5 pros and 5 cons. The purpose is two-fold--perhaps work towards a short research paper and note how people can have opposite viewpoints on a subject, to see both sides. 

Windows to the World: We discussed "The Gift of the Magi." We also discussed some highlights from the article, "How to Mark a Book." For homework: read the next short story "The Most Dangerous Game." Be careful to take notes while you are reading. You will have an open book quiz next week. 

Lord of the Flies: We discussed chapter 1. Try to read and answer the questions for chapters 2 and 3. 

Assignments for August 25, 2026

 Hello all,

Today was our first day of writing classes. So many new faces! Please bear with me as I learn new names and faces. 

Today we covered tickets--rewards for work that you can redeem for candy or other prizes. We examined the first pages of our textbooks--those pages we tend to glance at once if at all and then ignore. They are important references to find things in the books. We discussed journals--these are quick writing assignments that give you practice at putting thoughts into words and words onto paper. 

Our class routine:

--When you walk into the room, get out our textbooks and journal. Copy down the homework assignments from the board. 

--I will walk around checking journals and Fix-it books. I will pass out tickets as I check work. 

--We will discuss the next journal assignment and any Spirit Day dress ups.

--With the Fix-it, we will start by correcting our own lessons. I will put the corrections on the board, explain why something is labeled or corrected, and answer any questions. Then we will discuss the next week's "learn it" lesson plus Day 1. When you go home, you look up vocabulary words, mark (label), fix, and re-write that day plus days 2 to 4. 

--The last part of the class is taken up with the theme book. We review the previous week's instructions. I check any rough drafts (in the future), we discuss any additions or changes, we review the checklist. Sometimes we start a new lesson. 

Journal: Tell me about your typical homeschool day. Write about ten sentences or make a list of at least ten items. Be detailed. This should be kept in a special notebook, preferably a composition notebook.  

Fix-it: 1) Look up vocabulary words. 2) Review the "Learn It" section. 3) Mark and fix things we discussed (see the top of the page). 4) Copy the day's passage at the bottom of the page. We'll spread this week's lesson over two weeks. If you do not finish it all this week, that is fine. 

People and Places: homework--

--Review the lesson directions for Lesson 1.

--From Lesson 1, practice "telling" the key word outline (KWO) for the "Carpenter" source text. Remember each numbered line is one complete thought. Do not study the source; try to only use the KWO. The goal is not to copy the source but to put the ideas into your own words. 

--Cut out the tools from the back of the book. You will partially glue the "toolbox" into the lesson. If this is confusing, you can wait to do it another week. 

Investigations in Writing:

Lesson 1 "Maps." We discussed the weekly schedule and goals. Your lesson vocabulary words are in the goals section. They can also be found in the appendix. Our first source text in on maps. We started the KWO. Remember, we can only use three words per note line. To include more ideas, we can use symbols or abbreviations. For now, each source text sentence corresponds to one numbered line on the KWO page. Also, each numbered line is a complete thought--a sentence. 

In class we started on the KWO on pages 14-15. If you feel comfortable, finish the KWO. 

Homework: Re-read the lesson instructions. Finish the KWO for "Maps." Practice telling out load each numbered line. No writing is needed as yet. 

High School I:

Prince Caspian: Read chapter 1

Narnia: We looked at the appendix for the MLA format. Study and use this format for you papers--the font size and style, your name and the lesson number in the left hand corner, double spacing all lines, etc. Also in the back of the book are sample papers for some lessons. 

We started Lesson 1 "Sandy Shores" today. I demonstrated taking notes and re-telling them. Then we started on the source on pages 6-7. 

For homework: Finish the KWO on pages 6-7. Practice telling your outline. Remember, your goal is not to say exactly the same words but to put the source ideas into your own words. You may write a rough draft if you like--that's optional at this point. 

High School II:
Our theme this year is wisdom. I read a few Bible verses and a discussion about wisdom. It is not simply knowledge but much more. By studying fallacies in logic and learning how to study literature in depth, we are working on building that wisdom muscle. We will contrast God's wisdom to a book that seems devoid of wisdom. 

The Fallacy Detective: We covered several pages including Lesson 1. For homework, complete the exercises for lesson 1 on pages 16-17.

Windows to the World: We read through some of the preliminary pages as well as Unit/Chapter 1. Our next lesson is on annotations. To apply and learn about that, read "The Gift of the Magi" including the author's margin notes. You are welcome to add your own. I also asked you to read "How to Mark a Book"--a handout--so that we can discuss that next week. 

Lord of the Flies: I discussed some background information on the author, the book, and the times it was written. For homework, read chapter 1 and answer the questions. When you answer them, make note of the page numbers.