Week One

Welcome readers.  I recently decided to be homeschooled.  This is a picture of me and my mom.  We make a good team.  This blog will be all about our adventures during homeschool.  My mom and I will write it together.

During my first week of homeschool, I accomplished a lot.  I joined Kahn Academy (https://www.khanacademy.org/), a website that teaches me math - so far I've evolved my avatar and earned 6,000 energy points.  I also joined IXL (http://www.ixl.com), a website where I can practice math and language arts.  I went to the library and checked out A LOT of books.  I started reading a couple about the American Revolution: George vs. George and Woods Runner (just in case you want to read them).

I kept a daily journal and answered prompts from my mom where I learned that I'm interested in doing a lot of science experiments and reading.  I want to learn how to type, cook, code, and identify birds.  I'm interested in hands-on learning.

Also this week, I joined a science club at Reed Creek Nature Park for homeschooled kids.  There are four boys in the club, and I liked making new friends.  During club time I got to hold a corn snake, see a sliding turtle, and pet a bearded dragon.

We also went on a nature hike.  I like photography and I took this sweet picture with a sun flare.

Another topic we covered during science club was water pollution.

I started to learn coding this week using the website http://code.org.  My mom says I'm a natural mad genius at coding, and that I'm slightly obsessed.  She tells me that I can't talk to her about coding 24/7.

I've learned that coding is really about writing algorithms, or instructions.  You have to write every tiny detail because the computer can't think for itself.  Here are the links to the games I've created.  Please play them and let me know what you think.

http://learn.code.org/c/70974815
Bounce the red bird through the pipes without hitting the pipes or touching the ground.  Every clear pass earns one point.  Every time you hit a pipe you lose all your points.  If you touch the ground you die.  Click on your mouse to bounce the bird.

http://learn.code.org/c/70901816
Move the dog with the arrow keys and earn points by touching (biting) the squirrel.  Watch out for fireballs and the dragon.  If they touch you, you will die.

http://learn.code.org/c/70911990
Move the knight with the arrow keys to touch and eliminate the zombies.  The dragon shoots out fireballs, if they touch you, you die.

http://learn.code.org/c/70914195
Move the ninja with the arrow keys and kiss the princesses to earn points.  The dragons shoot out fireballs.  If you touch a dragon or a fireball, you die.

http://learn.code.org/c/70927240
Move the caveman with the arrow keys to eliminate the zombie.  Watch out for the dragon and dinosaurs, they will eliminate you.  However, only of of the dinosaurs has the power to kill you, but you never know which one.

My Mom and I bought a Georgia Bird Field Guide and started our hobby of ornithology (the study of birds).  We saw four birds in the wild this week, some of them we saw several times.  My mom taught me how to track my bird watching data using a spreadsheet, and how to use the spreadsheet to create charts and graphs.  The picture above is a pie chart that shows the birds I saw by frequency of sightings.  In addition to my spreadsheet, I am also keeping a personal field guide where I research and note each bird's habitat, size and shape, color pattern, behavior, and other interesting facts I find on Cornell's Lab of Ornithology (http://www.allaboutbirds.org/Page.aspx?pid=1189).  

Wow!  We had a busy week.  Thanks for stopping by.  Catch-ya next week.

Oliver and Mom