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What was YOUR week Like?

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In Christ,
Julie

Beyond Little Hearts for His Glory:
In Reading about History we read about the skirmishes the Pilgrims and the Indians had with one another. A snakeskin full of arrows was delivered to the Pilgrims, and their only interpreter, Squanto, was traveling, so they had no idea what it meant. When Squanto came back, he explained that it meant they were declaring war upon the Pilgrims - that soon their arrows would fly over the Pilgrims. The Pilgrims sent the snakeskin back filled with gun powder, and the Indians wanted nothing to do with that. Emmett has been loving these history stories and cannot wait for me to read the next one. "Stories of the Pilgrims" was an excellent living book choice for this time period and age. Emmett and I read about snakes in science as a nice tie-in to the history story, and for his art project he made a camouflaged snake. I helped him make a simple snake on white paper and cut it out. Then, he used a paper punch to punch circles of black, brown, and tan. He glued the circles in on his snake in a rotating pattern. His very favorite thing was the paper punch! I think he could have done that all day.


In the Bible, we read about the Israelites crossing the Red Sea with the Egyptians hot on their tails. I loved the discussion we had about placing our trust in the Lord and calling upon Him in times of trouble. We had such fun doing the follow-up activity to this reading. Emmett got a bowl of water, sprinkled pepper on top, and used a piece of a soap bar to 'part' the water. The soap repels the black pepper, so it moves to the sides of the bowl when the soap is dipped in the middle. He was so amazed he called the rest of the boys to come see it! They ooohed and ahhhed, and he beamed!


"The Cricket in Times Square" continues to be a favorite of Emmett's. He loves to cuddle up on the couch and read it together each day for Storytime. Today, before I read, I was to find a picture in the book for today's reading and describe it to Emmett so he could attempt to draw it on his markerboard. He did a pretty good job! He likes to use the markerboard, and often chooses that instead of paper when I let him. Here is his markerboard drawing next to the book's actual picture. What fun!


For Emmett's poetry copywork, we have been working on learning to draw small pictures that match the poem's meaning. We read the poem together one stanza at a time, and he suggests things to draw. I sketch them on a markerboard, and he then draws them with pencil around his poetry copywork. I've been encouraging him to outline the pictures in marker and color them in with crayons or colored pencils. This has helped him make neater - more recognizable - pictures.


What a good week!
In Christ,
Julie

Resurrection to Reformation:
This week's science experiment had Riley in the closet with our globe, flashlight, and a suspended ball acting out a solar eclipse. He loved it! I challenged him to add more color and detail to his science log sheet, and he rose to the challenge. I am reminded how it is important to share my expectations prior to him beginning an assignment, so that he knows what I expect and can do it right away. I need to remember to do this more often, as he really does want to do his best and please me ...


Once I'd explained what I expected for his science log, Riley automatically added the same added detail and color to his science notebooking assignment about Mercury. He is really enjoying reading his astronomy book, and the notebooking assignments offer an avenue for him to show his creativity...


The RTR Student Notebook is really like a work of art that adds such visual appeal to what Riley is reading in history. He writes neatly and tries his best in his notebook because it is special to him. One of his favorite things to do is write his postcard on the historical place he is researching. This week he wrote his postcard to his little brother Emmett about his 'visit' (via his research ) to Alexandria...


I see such growth in writing this year already in "Medieval History-Based Writing Lessons." He has learned to take notes about a provided historical story in a key word outline form with symbols and short phrases. He then found the 'banned words' that are really tired and overused words, and made a plan to replace them by listing quality adjectives, strong verbs, -ly words, and vocabulary words. Using his outline and notes, he rewrote the original story in his own words, and it turned out so well! He really got into using as many of his words as he could, and it is admittedly a little over-the-top, but that was the purpose of the lesson, so way to go hon'! He is now in the process of typing his final draft...


What a good week in RTR with Riley!
In Christ,
Julie

World Geography:
Wyatt and I have hit our stride in his "World Geography" guide, and we are truly loving our time together this year! The WG Student Notebook is so beautiful, and it provides such a fitting place for a high school students to complete work. We enjoy reading his work together, and he has learned to do his best in his written work, so little editing is needed at this point. Here Wyatt is with the map he completed and his notes about the Anaszi people he read about...


Wyatt's been so moved and inspired to read about Sundar Singh in his World Religions and Cultures course. His life is truly an inspiration of what the Lord can do to spread His Word in difficult circumstances. The accompanying Student Notebook has such thought-provoking questions, has us pulling out our Bibles to see what God's Word says constantly, and has us enjoying all of the thought-provoking discussions that ensue - it has been an incredible time to share my faith with my son...


Wyatt's Rooted and Grounded Bible Study has filled such a need for us at the loss of my Dad. We have been reading about prayer, and why we pray and how that prayer strengthens our relationship with the Lord, especially in times of need. We had prayed every day for my Dad to be cured of his pancreatic cancer, and yet he was not. We talked about how there are some situations in which God's Word gives us direction for prayer (i.e. it's always His will to bring people to salvation). Then, there are other situations when we can ask God to show us how He wants us to pray. This is an example of our prayer as my Dad's cancer progressed. First, we prayed constantly for healing, and as his cancer got worse and his health declined, we began to ask how He wanted us to pray, as we didn't want my Dad to suffer more and more, yet we still wanted the miracle of healing for him. Finally, there are times when we have no direction as to how to pray, and then we pray as Jesus did in Gethsemane, "Thy will be done." This is exactly what I had told Wyatt at the end of my Dad's cancer - I don't know how to pray. Through a strong Christian friend of my Dad's sharing, we began to pray that when it was the Lord's will for my Dad's passing, that he would have a gentle passing. This became our prayer, and it was answered, praise God.

I am seeing such a growth in Wyatt's ability to take detailed, accurate notes. His WG Student Notebook has a Roman Numeral format to use for taking notes, and Wyatt is learning to be more and more adept at this skill as we move through the guide. I learned to take notes like this in high school from just 1 teacher, and that 1 class of learning to take notes carried me through high school, college, and my master's degree. I'm glad this skill is part of the WG guide...


Choosing a topic that Wyatt is passionate about for his "Essentials in Writing" course has been an important influence on the quality of writing of each piece. I have learned to take time to really help him with the choosing of a topic, as well as the thought process behind quality supporting details for the topic. I think boys, in general, have more difficulty putting their finger on what really is something that stirs emotions in them. It's too easy to go for the bland topic that they can somewhat robotically spit out a report on. I've found that it becomes obvious when we are choosing a topic if it is a fit for Wyatt by how easily he can come up with supporting details and dialogue about his thoughts about the upcoming projects. If he cannot come up with any supporting details that really seem to 'matter' to him, and if he is just repeating the same type of general thoughts over and over, that is an indicator we have not lit upon the right topic. We changed his topic to be about hunting, something he is passionate about as his dad and he love to do this together. It made all the difference! The ideas, rich vocabulary, supporting details all just practically flowed out of him! I was so pleased with his final essay...


In Christ,
Julie

Julie I love seeing the updates of Wyatt's work in the World Geography guide. I am very impressed with his narrations.

Here is my update from MTMM http://graceandfur.blogspot.com/2014/02 ... 02014.html

LynnH wrote:Julie I love seeing the updates of Wyatt's work in the World Geography guide. I am very impressed with his narrations.

Here is my update from MTMM http://graceandfur.blogspot.com/2014/02 ... 02014.html

Thanks, Lynn! It has been a journey with written narrations, but I believe it is all coming together now! I enjoyed reading about N on your blog. Here were a few favorites as I read...

I love how HOD continually draws N. back to God's word to see what the truth is about things. I love this about HOD too! It is like a path back to the Lord. I always feel that Sundays at church fills up our 'cup' and brings us closer again to the Lord. HOD often does that for me and the kiddos throughout the week as well.

He is still doing the science labs with his dad and they both are really enjoying the time together. What a blessing your dh and N enjoy this together!

In storytime we are reading "I Am David", and I have to say it is one of the most interesting books I have ever read. The daily readings are longer than most at around 24 pages, but it doesn't seem like it because this book is so good. N. is fascinated by it. When I finish each day he says "read more". Well-said. I agree it was a most fascinating book. I'd not thought that some dc literally had most of their memories of a world as it is inside a prison camp. The world outside of it then seems totally strange and unfamiliar. David's journey was an incredible one to read about and changed the way I think that event in history.

He tends to pick one section of the reading to narrate instead of getting the entire chapter. I think this is pretty common, especially as the readings get longer. It truly is hard to move through the narration in a balanced manner, but that skill keeps building as dc get used to longer pages of readings and narrations. I think it sounds like N is having a fantastic year in MTMM! Are you taking any pictures? I am about to begin making the MTMM Photobook and am going to be asking for comments and pictures soon. I am also reformatting the previous photobooks, as Shutterfly changed their website and did away with the 'classic' photobooks. Anyway, just something to consider as I'd love pics of N and comments from you should you be so inclined to share!

In Christ,
Julie

I have so enjoyed reading everyone's weeks. Emmett and my Olivia are in the exact same week of Beyond, so it is fun to see how he is doing and of course what you are doing is so fresh for me too since we just did it.

This week we did Unit 15 of Beyond, Unit 5 of Preparing, and still haven't gotten back to LHTH. I need to get that started again soon!

As others are saying, I so love the depth of what my DD is learning in Preparing. We have started doing Egypt, and have learned a lot of interesting things about that time period. I like how we are even learning about how we can know what happened back then. My DD thinks the mummies and beliefs of the Egyptians are very interesting, but she clearly knows what is truth and what is not, and that Pharoahs should not say that they are gods. She had fun making a cartouche of Egyptian heiroglyphics, and everyone has now learned what heiroglyphics are like. I really appreciate the Bible readings being interspersed with the history book, showing that the Bible tells us history also. My DD is really taking ownership of the projects she is doing on her own and is doing a great job of working independently most of the time. Probably once a week we have a very slow, difficult day, which is just as often keyed off ME being tired and grumpy as it is anything to do with her. I pray daily for patience and gentleness.

Beyond was fun as always, and I feel like my DD is really learning a lot about history with Stories of the Pilgrims and the accompanying activities. We are reading Stuart Little for storytime and my DD thinks that is a really fun book and we are enjoying the activities that go along with that and I am so amazed that she is learning about story elements and narration at this young age and doing such a great job. I have to confess to not doing that part as thoroughly with my oldest when she did Beyond but now we do every single part!

I really need to get back to LHTH as my 4YO is trying my patience. When we do school together she tends to maybe be more "filled" with my attention and not vying for it by misbehaving. So my goal this week is to add LHTH back in, even if just for a few days!

Blessings on others taking this HOD journey!

We are having such a great year in HOD. Now that we're in our second year with HOD I see how the progression of skills really does lead to independence. I thought separating my boys into their own guides would be difficult, but it actually has been easier than combining them. They both still take part in each others' activities. My oldest always wants to listen in on his little brother's storytime books. They both take part in each others' science experiments and activities, so it never feels like they are learning separately. I just got the rest of my RtR books, and they are beautiful! I need to get through this year first, but it's so fun to see what's coming next. I'm so thankful for the fun that has been planned for us each day

Unit 21 in Beyond
http://www.monarchroom.com/2014/02/hear ... ek-21.html

Unit 21 in CtC
http://www.monarchroom.com/2014/02/hod- ... 21-in.html