World Geography:
Wyatt's maps continue to grow in number, and they are turning out so well!
The drawing directions are clear and the CD-ROM is easy to watch and follow, so he is doing this work with ease and enjoying it. Here is his map of Central America and the Caribbean...
I am finding that Wyatt's written narrations are of excellent quality and seem to come extremely easily to him - hooray!
I can only credit all of his many years of working on this skill with HOD's expert guidance. Looking back, from PHFHG, CTC, RTR, RevtoRev, and MTMM... all of these guides incrementally helped him progress in the skill of written narrations. The gradual increasing of length of sentences expected to be written, of editing steps taught to be moved through, of a larger amount of page numbers to narrate upon, of difficulty of text to narrate upon, of various subject matters to narrate upon (i.e. history, science, Storytime, etc.), all worked to help him become more and more adept at writing narrations. All of that work together through the years has made this skill in high school something I can just sit back and enjoy reading.
Here is his latest written narration on Portugal...
An area we are working on together is Wyatt's Essentials in Writing Grade 10. I absolutely LOVE the way Matthew teaches essay writing on his DVD!
It is straight-forward, short, and models the thought process of writing well. I don't know that I've ever seen anything quite like it. It is just him talking with his big whiteboard and dry erase markers, but his cueing is excellent. The lessons are just the right length, with just the right amount of follow-up work, and his student book closely follows his DVD presentation, thus making the writing assignment have the necessary helps for success. This week, Wyatt had to choose an event he would like to travel back in time to see. He chose Christ's birth - which I was very excited about! What he needs help with is making his writing vivid and powerful, rather than just straightforward and logical.
It surprises me, as his written narrations practically fly off the page at me with creativity and emotion and excellent vocabulary! So, I think what he is needing help with his developing his own style and trying to find fresh ways to say things with better transitions. I'm so glad we can work on this with the Essentials in Writing DVD as our guide. It is making it clear what we need to work on, and it is providing helps that work.
Foerster's Algebra 1 is something I am emphasizing in my teaching as well. I like Foerster's writing style - if you can say that about a math book, that is.
It appeals to love of an order of steps that makes sense. Each step is clear and progresses well to the next. The order Foerster has dc work problems in makes total sense as each step builds upon the last. Looking at the last story problems, I'd be apt to say there is no way we'll be able to solve them - but the previous problems all lead up to it so nicely, that all of a sudden, there we are, solving those very difficult problems quite easily!
Writing the formulas on a marker board for easy viewing, and constantly asking what each variable really stands for is a big help in working through the problems with success.
Wyatt is largely independent in the rest of his subject areas, though I am making sure I check each box's work each day, and do whatever my teaching parts may be. We are having a good year together with Wyatt's first year of high school.
In Christ,
Julie
, and move the story along so it's a good summary of all of it from start to finish. This practice each week was so important for progress to be made. 
Oh how I missed the routine!
