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Ok Fellow HOD Homeschoolers,

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!

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Bigger Hearts for His Glory:
We have been sailing the rocky seas with Columbus, and Emmett is loving his Bigger Hearts for His Glory! He feels all grown up starting his new guide, and though the days are longer and the work is harder, he is rising to the challenge. He is already enjoying "The "First Book of Americans." The readings are more mature sounding, and there aren't as many pictures, so he is learning to listen more carefully. There are questions at the end of each chapter that are quite difficult, and he remembers some answers an not others, but we talk through them together, and then it all comes back to him. He has always been a fan of painting, so this week's history project was especially fun for him!


Daily grammar is going well, and I think the introduction he had to grammar on Day 5 in each week in Beyond Little Hearts paved the way for daily R & S English 2 going well in BHFHG. I read the lesson aloud and pause for him to read portions of it aloud, so he follows along as I read. I usually have him read the "Remember" boxes, or the bolded examples. We do most of it orally, and I save one small section for him to write, usually about 4 things. I number the notebook paper for him, as this is a new skill for him to learn too. I have him skip lines, so things don't look all jumbled together. He will begin taking over the numbering and skipping lines soon, for for now, my modeling it is important. Sectioning off with sticky notes the area he works on writing in his R & S English Pupil Text helps him keep track of where he is working. I also usually write the start of his first answer, so he can see how big to write his letters on notebook paper. I did all of these things to help train my older 2 sons to do their grammar, and it has worked so well I'm doing it with my last ds too.


The sink and float science experiment had Emmett getting his hands wet, another favorite past-time of his. For his first lab assignment, I didn't require much in the way of drawing. He did a good job of writing his question, his guess, drawing his procedure, and writing his conclusion. As I own the next guide, PHFHG, I used the lab sheet from that one. He is enjoying his OSS Seashore book already so much! I like how it links to the history too.


What a good week!
In Christ,
Julie

Resurrection to Reformation:
We studied Rembrandt's painting titled "Belshazzer's Feast" this week for our Looking at Pictures fine arts study together. Reading this book sheds a whole new light (no pun intended ) on studying art. Reading about the background of the artist, the historical context, the actual making of the painting, the artist's techniques that draw the eye certain places, the use of light, etc. - I feel that we now have a much better understanding of what people are doing when they go to an art museum and study a painting for long periods of time! This was not the kind of 'art' I had in school, and looking back, I now see how much I was missing out. This Charlotte Mason inspired picture study using "Looking at Pictures" and RTR's Art Gallery notebooking pages has been pure fun for Riley and me. At the end of our picture study, I always read the key idea in the RTR guide, as it has a timely Charlotte Mason quote that pertains to the art of picture study. It feels like we visited an art museum and never left our home! When I meet with Riley early in the morning, after him reciting his Scripture Memory work of Phil. 1, and after him sharing his oral narration for history (if it was a day he had one), the Art Study box is the next thing we do. It is always dark outside still, and we are in our pjs snuggled under an electric blanket on our living room couch with the fireplace on. I like to set the mood for school, and just by chance, this time of day and mood seems just right for our own private Art Study time together in RTR.


For Riley's Independent History Study box this week, he read "Gabriel's Hour Book," which is a story of the making of an "hour book" as a wedding gift from King Louis of France to Lady Anne of Brittany. Brother Stephen's makes the book and little Gabriel is his color grinder. After the book is done, Gabriel secretly puts a note in the book to Lady Anne telling her all he did to help the book as it was made and praying that she would let his father out of prison, and give back their meadow and sheep. I won't tell you the end, but it is a happy one! Riley LOVED coloring his own illumination by using brightly colored pencils to color on top of the provided illumination in the RTR Student Notebook, and then writing his verses upon it. It turned out so lovely, and he was happy to take a picture of it!


In Science, Riley is enjoying reading "Along Came Galileo." We both prefer narrative books like this for science as opposed to dry textbooks. Books like "Along Came Galileo" make science come to life! RTR's Science notebooking assignments are a great way for Riley to show what he has learned. He really has to put some thought and careful work into completing them, and he has learned to independently follow the steps of directions in the RTR guide carefully, and in order. Here Riley is with his book and his completed notebooking assignment...


In Christ,
Julie

World History High School:
In World History, Wyatt has been learning about The Crusades and Islam, Black Death, Mongol Hordes, and the End of Feudalism. For his talking points oral narration, he took notes on index cards. His notes were on "The Magna Carta" from People, Places, and Events of World History. Talking points are words, phrases, short sentences, etc. to use as a reference while giving an oral narration. We sit across from each other informally, and I have the history resource open to the pages he read, and he has his index cards with his talking points to job his memory as he orally narrates. The WH plans note that my role as a teacher is to actively listen and let him narrate without me interrupting, waiting to give my comments or ask any questions at the end. I was so glad for this guidance, as I would have wondered what my role in this activity was to be otherwise. We both thoroughly enjoy this activity. He is able to use his notes and expound upon them well, filling in the rest of the story as he goes. A few things he has to continue to work upon are looking up at me now and then as he is narrating, and to add his own personal style/expression to his retelling. He is a good storyteller - I think due to the past now almost 9 years of practicing orally narrating from Beyond Little Hearts... up through WG last year, and now WH this year. He has an easygoing, entertaining style of orally narrating, with no trouble looking at me as he narrates usually, but within his talking points oral narration, he loses that style somewhat. So, these are a few things for him to improve. That is alright! I don't expect perfection in this new skill immediately. I think these oral narrations and the variety of kinds of oral narration are teaching him many important skills that will help him in his college years, as well as his career after college.


Another great activity in Wyatt's WH guide users primary sources from the resource "Critical Thinking Using Primary Sources in World History." Wyatt reads various documents, and answers the Critical- Reading Questions in his HOD WH Notebook. The final part of the lesson has a "Mock Trial" activity, in which charges that would be pertinent to that primary source are made. Last, Wyatt has to choose a verdict of "guilty" or "innocent" and support his verdict with his own reasons and with statements from the primary source documents. In this case, Wyatt was determining the verdict for Eleanor of Aquitane. This is an activity that teaches so many important things! Being able to go to a source document, be faced with a decision, and then asked to give your opinion and support it both with your views and with statements directly from the source document - that reminds me a lot of using the Bible as the best source document to know wrong from right, and then support it for others searching for answers. Pretty important!!!


In Total Health, Wyatt and I have been discussing friendship choices being very important. I love that I have this time with Wyatt alone, so I can share things with him knowing how mature he is and not worry about our younger dc listening. We probably all have had friendships that were not healthy, and hopefully we have made a change and not kept those friendships now that we are older and know better. Blessedly, Wyatt has wonderful friends because they are his brothers and his cousins, and they really just have each others' backs. However, we have seen with other young teenagers we know how poor friendships can put them in poor situations making poor decisions that will effect them the rest of their lives. We love some of these teenagers, and it is heartbreaking to see the results of poor friendships played out in real life. I am so thankful for these talks we get to have - they are as important as anything else Wyatt is learning in high school. Another topic we covered in Total Health this week was time management skills. Time is taught as a resource that needs to be used responsibly, and goal setting is encouraged. This is a natural thing for Wyatt. He loves setting goals, using his time well, and getting things done. He also loves viewing his little brothers as his 'teammates' to be lovingly coached into completing important tasks. It is nice to point out that I see Wyatt doing a lot of things that are right. I might miss this if not for being able to homeschool him!

In Christ,
Julie