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What was YOUR week Like?

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Yaaaaay for a WONDERFUL week! After many weeks of not so wonderful weeks this one was definitely refreshing

Little Hands to Heaven: Unit 27


Beyond Little Hearts for His Glory: Unit 9


Preparing Hearts for His Glory: Unit 5 (1st unit at full speed!)

We did Unit 21 in LHTH. My dd greatly enjoyed learning about "Baby Jesus", and one morning carried a doll wrapped in a blanket everywhere.
She got to do some cutting in her Rod & Staff workbook and was pleased with that.

My 6yo finished Little Hearts for His Glory! He worked really hard over the last 2 weeks to get 3 units completed. He was ready to get going on 'big kid' work. He is more than ready for Beyond . . .and he is 'over the moon' to get started on Singapore 1A.
We had a good time learning about the Alamo and Mt Rushmore since our family has been to those places. We read extra books and made more art/craft things.
Plus we have pictures!
In Unit 34 when he had to decide what he wanted to be when he grew up - he surprised me by saying "a Farmer"! He is very much a hands on builder, so I thought he would say he wanted to be a GC like his dad. He has helped his dad a lot - and really enjoys it.

In Preparing my oldest completed Unit 9 - we do have the science experiment to do later today - which he didn't like as well as the others units. Except for the Trojan Horse story that we started. He really didn't care to hear about the false gods, so he had a hard time concentrating. Normally he struggles with written narration, but this time he did 3 sentences on Solomon- that although were short- he did very well.

Here is our week in MTMM http://graceandfur.blogspot.com/2013/11 ... -2013.html

Thanks for sharing all! Melissa - I have been wondering if starting our day earlier would help some of my frustrations and how bogged down we seem to get with getting through things before lunch. I'm glad to know that has seemed to help you, and I will revisit it, once we get this illness out of our house! Mikki congrats to you and your DS on finishing LHFHG! It sounds like he is more than ready to move on to Beyond. LynnH I always enjoy reading your updates and your son seems like such a thoughtful, intelligent young man.

My youngest was very sick this week so it was definitely an "off" week for school and everything else. I am just thankful to have gotten through it, sleep deprivation and all! Also him being sick is the main reason I do not have any pictures to share this week.

This week my oldest finished until 32 and started unit 33 of Bigger Hearts. Because my little guy was sick, and because she will start doing this more in Preparing anyway, I had her do her science herself and read her DITHOR pages to herself. We did do the experiments together and there were some great experiments with heat this unit. The experiments are so cleverly designed, easy to do at home but they really demonstrate the point. She finished the Nonfiction genre in DITHOR, or finished the reading days anyway so now we are going to start the project next week. She did well with the independence on those things, and overall was a huge help to me and to little brother as he was sick. I ended up doing a lot of reading with her while little brother was sleeping in bed (which was not very much of the day!). We have a little bit from her last day this week to finish up on Monday.

My 2nd started unit 8 in Beyond. She is doing very well and really enjoys "Stories of the Pilgrims" (as do I), "The 21 Balloons" for storytime, and Emerging Readers. Overall it is just a joy seeing her learn and grow, and I love that her school is over so quickly. I do add other learning into her day but it is definitely of a much more "fun" nature and she gets to do things with her younger sister, or watch her older sister's science experiments and activity.

My 3rd didn't get very much school this week because of baby brother being sick. She is in Unit 19 I think - we are on the letter P and learning about the story of Jonah. The 1-10 rhyme this week cracks us both up. I also love how we are talking about how Jonah disobeyed God, and what it was like inside the fish, and what Jonah learned. May God's word work in her heart!

Overall I was blessed this week. I know if I had to plan school myself, or if our school days took much longer as I know they easily could if I were designing it myself or using other curriculum, we would not have accomplished nearly as much with a sick little guy in the house. I felt bad, because neither the girls nor I were sick, but having the youngest sick, and him really needing Mom non stop almost all day, made it difficult to get much done and I praise God for what we were able to get done.

I am also starting to look ahead to Preparing with my oldest, since we will be starting soon! I am trying to become familiar with the materials and get used to how the day will go and what is expected. I am also reading the books, or at least skimming them. It has brought up questions for me - about Biblical history, science, Ice Age, things like that (we believe in a "young" earth, but the Ice Age is something I admit I have never put into that context). I am researching and DH and I are trying to determine what we think is true based on God's word and what scientists and historians know. It is good to be stretched! And I am glad I am prereading so I can understand this better.

Blessings!

World Geography
I am loving the "Rooted and Grounded" study in WG. Reading Wyatt's responses has been such a reassurance that this study is just right for him for this age. His answers don't always perfectly match the answer key's answers, but they are on the right track and show he's doing some deep thinking and making some good connections from previous years' of Bible in HOD to now. I like to read his Rooted and Grounded workbook answers. Occasionally, I like to jot notes to him when I'm reading his workbook, if something strikes me. I guess it's a form of annotating, like we are doing in "Practical Happiness" together. He doesn't seem to particualarly care what I've written, but he must read them later, as he seems to know what I've said.


You can see my comments above written in orange pen. A joke at our house is that it is 'the year of the orange pen.' I like to check off the boxes in each of the dc's guides myself to make sure I've done my part as their teacher. I only check off a box when everything - and I mean everything - is complete. That includes any discussions, follow-ups, editing, correcting work, listening to Bible memory work, asking if they completed each part of their Quiet Time, etc. The children began checking off the boxes with pencil themselves, to make sure they'd done their part, so to note my own checking off of the boxes, I began using "J" in pencil for "Julie" (which is me) to check off the boxes. The problem then became that they began penciling things with "J" as they finished them, too. Mind you, this was not to be difficult on their part, it was simply to show they'd done it and I'd checked it. The problem with this is that there is some discrepancy in our opinions of what 'done' means. I want to mark the final "J." So, there is now the orange pen, and there is only one orange gel pen in the house. I live in fear of losing it. I've even made a song about it... I'll spare you the lyrics. But, all this to say - it works. Proof of the orange pen's significance... note the checks in the corners in which I've made my orange checkmark over Wyatt's pencil checkmark...


The World Religions and Culture's Notebook has been helping Wyatt organize notes about what he has read and learned. It really has helped clarify differences and similarities, which is very helpful to know when trying to share the Gospel with those of different beliefs.


The HOD WG Notebook has been another great way for him to organize what he's learning, while making a neat keepsake of his year in WG...


Wyatt made his own informal notes to practice his Spanish words. He goes over this each day as a refresher. To check his progress, we alternate between me asking him his words and him putting his headphones on and going to the "Getting Started with Spanish" website to listen to audio of the words (this is a great, free part of the program we enjoy utilizing).


HIs WG maps from "Mapping the World..." are coming together nicely! The CD-ROM directions are easy to follow, and he is enjoying seeing his 'world' come together piece by piece...


The step-by-step directions of HOD's projects have sure helped Wyatt with life projects too! I am so thankful for the way in which HOD has helped him learn to work carefully, step-by-step, and also for how we have learned to work together on projects as mother and son. My husband has noticed how this skill has progressed in Wyatt. This week they built a big cathouse for our cats together, and they are finishing it today. Wyatt is learning how school skills carry over into every day life, and my husband is so proud of him... me too!


In Christ,
Julie

Creation to Christ
Riley is in Unit 28 of CTC, and it is a great place to be! Riley is an excellent reader, and he has always read books that are difficult with ease... but his answers in discussions and his oral narrations were somewhat... off. It's hard to explain. I'd ask a "HOW...?" question, and he'd give me a "WHAT...?" question answer. I finally figured it out. Riley has trouble knowing when to be GENERAL in his answers, and when to be SPECIFIC. For example, in DITHOR, when specific answers were expected that explained the uniqueness of a setting or of a character, Riley would give general answers instead (like "The character did some good things - I really liked him" and this was when the sheriff of Dust River Gulch solved the case and made a fantastic arrest). Or, like for his Storytime summary oral narration, which really needs to be more broad and general, he'd give very specific things and never make it past the first page of the story. Anyway, this little discovery about what Riley is struggling with has made all the difference in the world! I explained to him that all of his answers are usually 'right,' but that the reason I'm not giving him rave reviews is because they are either general/broad when they should be specific, or specific when they should be general/broad. He totally gets it now! For example, he, just now, is REALLY getting the Prophecies of Christ assignment. He would say extremely general things that really weren't the specific prophecy, but were actually true and in general along the right lines, and then we'd both get frustrated because I couldn't put into words why I didn't love his answer. Now, he looks for key words that are specific to the first passage (prophecy) and then to the second passage (its fulfillment). He totallly gets the 'specifics' part I'm expecting now! Just thought I'd share our breakthrough in case anyone else has this kind of quirk to figure out!

Riley's notebook is lovely, and he really works very hard at it. This week he learned about Jesus and His Disciples. One of my favorite parts of this week was his history project. He made a clock/wheel with a section for each of the 12 disciples. Each 'spoke' gave a disciple's name and a detail about him. Then he attached a blank circle with a cut out section on top of the other one, and you can read about each disciple as you turn the 'window.' He glued it in his CTC Student Notebook.


For science, we are awaiting the outcome of the apples experiment. He has completed all of this lab sheet except the conclusion, and on Wednesday, we get to open the brown bag and see what disaster has befallen the bagged apples. I told him no peeking until then... he is excited and thinks he knows the outcome (which is to prove how unwashed hands carry germs and how washing them with SOAP AND WARM WATER is a good thing to do - as a mom, I especially love this lesson this time of year )...


For WWTB, Riley wrote his friendly letter to his cousin, Anna, in TX. I love how he can use his own life to complete assignments in HOD. I have been wanting him to write her back for a week now, and I was thrilled to see this assignment!


Riley is currently able to quote Phil. 2:1-24. Can you believe it?!? I can't. It's LONG! But, he is able to do it, and it is because of his HOD Bible Quiet Time. Last year, in PHFHG, he had 2 days a week where he practiced having his own Bible Quiet Time. That was important training for this year. Now, this year, he has his own daily quiet time, and the memorization has picked up. Last year, he memorized Psalms passages. This year, it is Phil 2. THe CD, IMO, is a must. He sings with it every day, which I love to hear as a start to my day. HIs little brother, who shares a room with him, will likely have an easier time still memorizing PHil. 2, as he often sings along too first thing in the morning. I realized Riley needed to say his verses for me each day, or most days, so I added that to our daily meeting time. It is fun to hear him say his verses. He will burst into song for portions of it - as those portions he remembers best by singing. I love this! What praise this must be to the Lord! I'll have to try to film it and put it on the check-in (if Riley is comfortable with it) when he finishes the guide.

Hope you all had a great week!
In Christ,
Julie

Beyond Little Hearts for His Glory
Emmett is excited to see his "Beyond..." timeline grow! He is learning to write and draw within a smaller space, and though it is harder for him, I know that it is an important fine motor skill to learn. He is getting better and better at judging how big he should write and draw to fit within a specific space. This is helping him as he learns to write on wide notebook paper for his poetry copywork as well.


This week we learned about how Jesus can wash us white as snow. I really like the heartfelt yet quite mature little devotions in "Morning Bells." I always think of my Grandma Mellema when I read them. She had the trusting unquestioning faith of a child that ran deeper than the ocean. The art project tied in beautifully to our devotional discussion...


Emmett is really enjoying our history readings in "Stories of the Pilgrims." He likes to hear about their travels, and when I explained that my great grandpa came from Holland as an immigrant, he was so amazed. (He looked at me like I must be Methuselah. ) He also cannot wait for me to read the next chapter in the "Sword in the Tree" for Storytime. If you haven't read that book - you have to! It is so good. We are making a staircase of the problems as we read. I cannot tell you how much more effective it is to teach the story element of 'problem/solution' with living books like HOD does than it was to do so with worksheets and contrived, dry paragraphs like I did back in ps as a student. Apples and oranges. I'm so glad we get to use living books with HOD!


Emmett is using the Emerging Reader's Set in Beyond, and he is reading "Prairie School." He is making great progress, though he still skips words and needs to be reminded to pause at punctuation. His answers to his oral comprehension questions are getting better and better. I use the hands together spreading wider and wider motivation to help him give longer, more detailed answers.


One of Emmett's favorite activities this week was the Beyond Grammar lesson. I hid an object in a brown bag, and he had to use question words to guess what it was. I let the older boys come and help him with questions the second time (because he wanted to do it again because he loved it the first time). I put in 4 candies, and the all of the boys loved seeing that bag open and finding mini-M & M bags for each of them! What a fun way to teach about questions as a sentence type!


In Christ,
Julie

CTC Units 11 and 12

http://ourhomeschoolreviews.blogspot.co ... -8-13.html