Week in Review: February 22-26, 2016

[Homeschooln2qts]

Ok Girls,

What was YOUR week Like?

You can post:

a- A picture
b- A blog Link
c- A written synopsis
d- Your favorite memory
e- Anything you want that shares your HOD excitement!

Important Note: If you are linking us to your blog, please make sure it's not just a general link, but to your specific post of HOD. That way if someone reads through these a year from now they can find your share without needing to hunt!

[Homeschooln2qts]

Just posted on Revival to Revolution and World Geography after about a year and a half blogging dry-spell I hope to keep it updated more frequently.

https://theboobooandluluchronicles.word ... gh-school/

[wonderfilled]

Here's our week with Bigger.

http://wonderfilleddays.com/bigger-hear ... y-unit-23/

[my3sons]

Bigger Hearts for His Glory:
Emmett donned his bear mask (made earlier in the year for a history activity) to act out the kickoff for a new DITHOR genre. He loves dressing up, and all of his neat history, art, and science projects give him quite an arsenal of masks and outfits to use. The other boys love to be a part of these kickoffs and projects, and it has been beneficial for big brother Riley to head it up as 'project director.'


We have been reading about John Muir, who was a naturalist who helped preserve America by setting aside national parks land. Emmett chose to do his note booking assignment on the heath hen, which was a bird that became extinct. Without John Muir's intervention, many more animals would be extinct today.


Emmett continues to add to his timeline each week, and it is fun to see it grow as we learn more and more! He can do this activity independently now. Hooray! He is starting to be able to follow a few directions at a time in his Bigger Hearts guide, though only for rotating activities we have done often. This will be good prep for Preparing Hearts next year...


In science, we have been learning about simple machines, such as rollers, levers, runners, and ramps. I love the practical element of how we've learned about this, as by doing the experiments designed in "A Pioneer Sampler," it is easy to see the necessity of using simple machines to make work more practical and productive. Emmett got Wyatt's big heavy Chemistry book to complete each of these experiments - it was the heaviest book he could think of.


In Christ,
Julie

[my3sons]

Revival to Revolution:
This week we read about Arctic Exploration, Uncle Tom's Cabin, and Japanese Trade in history. Reading from "The Story of the Great Republic," "The Growth of the British Empire," "Hearts and Hands: Sojourner Truth and Harriet Beecher Stowe," and listening to "Abraham Lincoln and the Heart of America" was such an intriguing way to go about immersing ourselves in this time period. Each resource brings a new gem of information or a differing viewpoint of the same historical event, and the broader landscape of the time period becomes clearer, as do the minute details that make it come to life. This is THE way to do history. How I would have loved history had I learned it this way in school! I'm so glad my children are learning to truly love history, and just learning in general.

For Riley's history project this week, he made a quilt block following the "Carpenter's Wheel" pattern. He learned that quilts were important to the success of the underground railroad as they conveyed life-saving, important messages to those escaping to freedom. Riley also read "Oriflamme" for his poetry this week, which was about Sojourner Truth and her trust she placed in Jesus as she helped others...


For Worthy Words, Riley read excerpts from M'Clintock's entries about his expedition to the Arctic Circle in an attempt to discover what had happened to Sir John Franklin and his party during their attempt to find the Northwest Passage. We discussed the meaning and also used "The Growth of the British Empire" to further discover what had happened. For Riley's timeline, he completed entries about this trip to the Arctic, Commodore Perry's visit to Japan, and Harrier Beecher Stowe writing "Uncle Tom's Cabin."


In Christ,
Julie

[my3sons]

United States 1 - High School:
This week Wyatt has been learning about The Second Continental Congress and the Declaration of Independence in history. He prepared to give a topic oral narration by listing topics as starting points for a new part of the narration in his US1 HOD History Notebook. Phrases of names, dates, places, etc. that were important were jotted down to help jog his memory. He then referred to these notes as he narrated orally. This activity has so many important skills in it! They are skills I used in college often, and I am glad he is leaning to utilize them already now. He now takes notes and refers to them as he speaks very naturally. It just flows, and he is at ease as he speaks. Another great activity is his responding in writing to critical thinking questions from Great Documents in U.S. History. So much more depth is brought out from the readings by the pondering of these critical thinking questions. And then reading actual Great Letters in American History alongside these assignments - well, what could be better than the actual letters, word for word, written by these amazing people from history themselves! It is like being transported back in time and really being able to 'know' that person through his/her very thoughts and words put to paper...


A Noble Experiment has Wyatt researching various court cases and their findings, and he finds it incredibly interesting. It appeals to his sense of right and wrong, and he is beginning to see the importance of being able to 'support' your opinion by citing the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, etc...


The US1 History Notebook is not just a place for Wyatt to record his thoughts and written answers. It is also a beautiful visual reminder of that which he is studying, and every picture, portrait, document, historic memorabilia, etc. has its purpose and is used in some way, shape, or form for assessing what he has learned. This week, after Wyatt watched his American Testimony DVD, he referred to the beautiful pictures in his US1 History Notebook as he orally narrated about each portion of the DVD he'd watched. Being comfortable speaking while referring to diagrams, photos, documents - this is a key skill he'll need for whatever future job he will probably have. He is already becoming quite comfortable with it, and I can envision him giving a power point presentation with notes quite adeptly someday.


Being an accomplished writer that can convey thoughts and opinions clearly in an accurate interesting way - this is becoming a lost skill for many teenagers. NOT SO, with HOD! The steady diet of completing Charlotte Mason style written narrations inspired by reading timeless living books has made responding in writing to a topic quite easy for Wyatt. Now, this was not always so. I only have to pull out his beginning fledging written narrations from CTC to be reminded of how far he has come. But, oh, it is so exciting to me to see the progress! Where many high school students stare at the blank page with no confidence of how to begin, he can begin writing immediately. Why? Because having completed countless oral and written narrations in the past, he knows from experience one must THINK about what one is reading while one is reading it to be able to respond to it afterward. Pretty important stuff if you ask me. So, oral narrations with index card planning, critical thinking questions, and written narration assessments all work together to help our dc learn to internalize and respond to what they have read in an active thoughtful way. So much better than completing a multiple choice quiz every time.


Wyatt is loving his living library book "Give Me Liberty." He also enjoys the journal follow-up he does after reading it each day. It allows him to personally respond to what he has read, while also encouraging the habit of watching for quotable passages as he reads...


Finally, here are some other snippets of Wyatt's week I snapped some pics of...


In Christ,
Julie