World Geography:
This guide has been such an incredible blessing to us this year! My 14 yo ds is doing all of the possible credits in World Geography, and he is finding it to be a full, yet satisfying day. An average of 7 hours is what we spend on any given day doing our 6 1/2 credits, and it is time so well spent. We started it hot off the press in Sept. 2013, and doing it 5 days a week with hardly any breaks, we are now through Unit 24. Time is flying!
My husband has been impressed with the rigor of the guide, often commenting that it offers so much more than his high school experience offered. This is such a blessing for me especially, as I remember early on my husband was unsure of his thoughts on homeschooling. Now, he is so supportive! God has used time and HOD to turn my dh's heart toward homeschooling, and I am so thankful.
I am especially grateful for the time devoted to reading and studying God's Word through the "Rooted and Grounded" Bible study. How wonderful it is to see Wyatt constantly pulling out his own personal Bible during his high school day! The "Rooted and Grounded" Student Workbook has Wyatt constantly using his Bible, and the Teacher Key is so complete, it is easy for me to go through this with him each day. Wyatt often says his Scripture Memory work for his younger brother, Riley. They both love this - Wyatt, as it's a good way to practice his verses, and Riley, as it's a good way to spend some more coveted time with his older brother.
This mother loves it too - brothers sharing Scriptures with one another - what's not to love?!? I see Wyatt jot in the margin of his WG guide 'share with Riley' today. It just does my heart good.
The global evangelism focus of "Rooted and Grounded" has really partnered so well with the "World Religion and Cultures" course this year. The overview of each of the religions in the "World Religion and Cultures" course along with the evangelism focus of "Rooted and Grounded" has given Wyatt such a heart to share the Lord with others. It is amazing how God is working this all together to grow Wyatt's faith and maturity in Him! The living books Wyatt has read for his "World Religion and Cultures" course have given him a window into others' beliefs and how their environment influenced those beliefs initially. And still - our God is mighty, and powerful, and He can bring Jesus to anyone, anytime, in the most difficult of circumstances! I like that the people are real in these books. They don't pretend to be perfect, and the underlying message of the Gospel is shown again and again - we live in a sinful world, we are all imperfect sinners in need of a perfect Savior, and that Savior is our precious Lord Jesus Christ!
Wyatt can relate to these not-so-perfect-people, and has been amazed at the trials in life the Lord has helped them overcome. He understands better than ever now what a privilege it is for us to be able to worship openly in our church on Sunday, say prayers before meals anytime we want (even in restaurants), own our own personal Bibles and have multiple Bibles in our own home, and talk about Jesus to others openly. Our discussions with the "World Religions and Culture's Notebook have been so good! I always have Wyatt read his answers out loud for everything he writes, actually with pencil in hand for editing purposes, but I find with his WRC Notebook, he often pauses not to edit but to add to (orally) what he has written with deeper thoughts, more details, or a story he wants to share with me from what he has read. I know from taking an evangelism course, finding common ground with others of different beliefs and then using the Bible as the one true measure of truth is the best way to reach the lost. I see that compassion for others growing in Wyatt, and instead of being judgmental and turning away from someone who wants to know the Lord but doesn't quite know all the details of it, he realizes more than ever the Bible is the place to go for answers - always! For him, and for him to share the Lord with others!
What a blessing this has been for me to see this year!
For all of this sharing we do, the ACTS prayer journal Wyatt is keeping is kept totally private. That has become so personal for Wyatt, and an excellent place for him to pour out his heart to the Lord. It's not easy being a teenager. The prayer journal acts as a private place for him to share his heart with the Lord after praying, and it also serves as a record of the work the Lord is doing in his life. I know he especially needed it during my Dad's cancer battle. I am glad he has had a place to go with all of those emotions, and I am thankful for the Lord comforting him (and me) through this time.
Wyatt's "Mapping the World with Art" book continues to be a favorite, and I can glimpse all of his neat map drawings coming together at the end of the course - we both can't wait to see that!
The WG Student Notebook is just as beautiful as ever, and his entries show what he is learning in a snapshot. Wyatt's oral narrations are varied, and they help him practice higher level skills in keeping with that which Charlotte Mason required at this age. The WG guide is such a help in this - for the Key Word oral narration day, for example, key words are all listed in the key idea, and I can easily use that as a reference. For the detailed oral narration, I use the tip of skimming with book in hand and utilize the key idea's focus for the overview. For the Summary oral narration, Wyatt has to 'sift and sort' as Charlotte Mason would say, to decipher what to share, and it is (in my opinion) far harder to do than to give a detailed narration. We use the modern day IPod for the last kind of narration.
The Key Word typed oral narration is one that I can type on my own time after Wyatt has recorded it on his IPod. It makes looking for a fair amount of those key words listed in the guide to be present in his narration an easy task, though I make sure not to expect every single one. Ironically, this is a skill we have been working on in oral narrations specifically for Wyatt for the past few years - using proper names, places, numbers, events, etc. - instead of generalizing these. I'm so glad for this help!
Wyatt's written narration about Dampier's account of Australia after reading "A Book of Discovery" showed Dampier was less than impressed with what he found. Wyatt's personality is showing through in his written narrations now, and that makes the reading of them such a delight! Gone are the days filled with fact upon fact in his written narrations. He finally has the best of both worlds - facts and flair! Oh how we worked to get here though!!!
My, this is getting long, so I'll just share one more thing. The bookmarks - we both LOVE them!!!
In fact, I had to laugh, Wyatt did his bookmark entry for the day on Japan Diary (which is the book he is supposed to do it on in the guide), and then he did another entry on his Living Library book, "Florence Young."
He said he did it accidentally, but he sure was animated sharing about it!
That's another thing - the Living Library is totally working with the "Rooted and Grounded" and the "World Religion and Cultures" study hand in hand!
And then at church, our pastor has been sharing about each of our missionaries and what is going on where they are sharing the Gospel, and... well, you get the picture. Isn't God amazing? He can work all of these things together to make a lasting impact on a 14 year old boy and maybe someday, Lord willing, grow him into a mighty man for the Lord!
Ok, I had more, but I'll stop now. There ARE other weeks to share.
In Christ,
Julie
So, here is a look at what we have been doing. 
I hope your Tirzah books shows up soon - it has a super ending!