Week-in-Review March 9-13, 2015

[Nealewill]

I am starting the review early this week. We have been off and on all week long for the past 2 weeks so I figured I would post what has happened the last few days we have managed to do school. I do want to start the thread correctly by posting the standard listing of items that will be found and posted here:

a- A picture
b- A blog Link
c- A written synopsis
d- Your favorite memory
e- Anything you want that shares your HOD excitement!

[Nealewill]

This week and last we had a lot of time off. My kids were sick all last week, I had surgery and then I ended up getting sick this week. We have covered only a couple of days worth of stuff the past few days but it has been good.

I am amazed at my oldest dd's artistic abilities. She does such a great job with drawing and her pictures look absolutely amazing. I love the resource Draw and Write through History that is included in several guides. I have attached the picture she recently drew of an elephant. She has yet to color it but the picture is done so well I couldn't help but jump the gun and take a picture of it unfinished.



Because I didn't use HOD from the beginning, I was still using a few different products for a few subjects. Math was one product I had not yet made the switched for my son. But this year, I switched my oldest daughter over to Singapore as it seemed like the appropriate time and I have had the absolutely BEST year with it. I recently came to point that I personally wasn't enjoying math with my son anymore and I found my teacher time was just too intensive. I bit the bullet and we very recently made a quick switch to Singapore. All I can say is what a breath of fresh air! Sammy loves his new workbooks. I love the simplicity of plans. Both math programs I used taught kids to think so Singapore isn't vastly different. I just find that my teaching time is substantially less and his lessons are going to be more enjoyable. I am looking forward to many more year with Singapore with him. (And my last subject for Sam to switch will be spelling. Sometimes finishing a sequence of another product makes a smoother transition, which is my current aim. I am so close to finishing that other sequence and genuinely can't wait for the day I get to say Sam is a 100% HOD product user - my Allie (oldest) is this already and it is such a good feeling!!!) Attached is a picture of Sammy with his new math books



My final picture is a picture of my youngest daughter reading one of the DITHOR books. She is reading Louis Braille right now. This is such a wonderful book. While she isn't completing DITHOR yet, she is really enjoying several of the books from the book packs. Her and her brother are going to start DITHOR after spring break. They are splitting up the level 2 and level 3 book packs and reading various books from them for the different genres. But for now, Josie has raided her brothers book selection for her daily reading. This books she is reading was one of my oldest daughters favorite and am glad that all of my kids will have the opportunity to read it.

[my3sons]

Daneale - I have been praying for you and your recovery, and I am so sorry that you got sick too! You continue to be a ray of light here in spite of difficult circumstances. I take inspiration from that! Our pastor once said that he has learned so much from spending time at the bedsides of ailing Christians. In times of trial and tribulation, Christians have their faith to call upon, and though they still have to go through the hard times, they can do so leaning on the Lord. You are an example of that, Daneale! I will continue to pray for healing and good health. I loved your pictures! Your dd's elephant is turning out to be terrific! Your little guy is beaming over his Singapore, and your dd looks thrilled to be reading Louis Braille. Amidst hard times, you have managed to keep a happy home and household running. Do take care of yourself though. Monday will look better!

In Christ,
Julie

[crlacey]

Daneale - Glad you got some schooling done despite the circumstances.


We had a good week. DD in Res. to Ref. did all of her schoolwork Friday without any help. Which is actually a big deal since she is dyslexic. Normally I help out by reading history and possibly science to her. But I had other things needing my attention, so she used the guide and did everything alone. It helps that she's an artist and she was reading about Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo!

My DS was learning about John Smith and Pocahontas this week. Recently the Disney channel has run the Pocahontas movies, so he was able to tell me all the thing that were wrong in the movies after reading the true stories in Bigger. I think Bigger is one of my favorite years since we learn about so many great American people.

One day, I'll have more than a few free moments and learn how to take then post pictures!

[Nealewill]

Thanks both Julie and Crystal. I think we are finally on the mend. Things are finally looking up.

Crystal - I love seeing your review of your kids! My son is absolutely loving Bigger and he is also remembering way more than I thought he would about several of the individuals we have studied. His favorite person was probably Ben Franklin and he still talks about him quite a bit. But I have really enjoyed several of the individuals studied along with their hands on projects. This year has been so much fun for him.

I am also green with envy for both you and Julie regarding your kids in RTR. That is fantastic (Crystal) that your dd read her stuff alone. My oldest is a very slow reader because of the same problem but she loves the book and it keeps her going. Last year, she absolutely loved that Leonardo da Vinci book along with the Shakespeare book from Preparing. Those (and Mozart) were her favorites. I have loved CTC this year for her because she has learned so many interesting things, her reading level has significantly increased and her faith have been strengthened but I also know that next year she will be head over heals in love with that guide!!!! Keep your updates coming. I will just keep reading and drooling LOL.

[my3sons]

World History High School:
When I read about Charlotte Mason's Book of Centuries, I knew it was something I would absolutely love to do with my dc! How to do it - that was the problem. Everything I read about it was overly complicated, took too much time and planning, and seemed like we'd tucker out on it before we began. Well, HOD has managed to plan the Book of Centuries for high students in a way that is easy to do, takes little time, and is all planned out for us. I really enjoyed the timelines we did previously in Beyond Little Hearts through PHFHG, where Wyatt drew the pictures and made the captions himself on a chart/area that he could refer to and see all of what he had done at a glance. This helped him remember better what he was learning in history, as well as see at a glance the broader scope of history laid out before him. In CTC through MTMM, the timeline became part of the HOD Notebooking, which encouraged Wyatt to draw more neatly, label more carefully, and as it was organized within the unit as part of the theme, helped him place the timeline entries within the context of all of the resources he was reading about for the week. He could flip through all of the pages and see time marching on as he did so. Now that he is in high school, the format used within the Book of Centuries works perfectly! He is enjoying it, and it is a very grown-up way of arranging and displaying what he has learned chronologically. As high school WG and WH span many time periods, the BOC organizes them so well. I am so glad we did not try this format earlier, when his artistic and organizational skills were less refined (I remember a BOC I attempted early on with very rudimentary drawings and huge words that were sometimes misspelled - not something he'd enjoy pulling out and adding to in middle school and high school ). Anyway, here are some completed pages of Wyatt's BOC...


Wyatt pointed out to me that he attempted color shading on his BOC entry "The Pilgrim Voyage on the Mayflower." The Fine Arts course in WH is turning my non-loving art son into a budding artist. Kathe Kollwitz's art really drove home the sad plight of mothers and children working as poverty-stricken weavers during the Industrial Revolution. It really is amazing all of the connections Carrie has drawn between history and art, and the stirring art often adds an emotional element to history that deepens the understanding of it in a memorable way. Art can do that. It is one of the reasons it is an important 'subject' to teach in school, which Charlotte Mason recognized and implemented so well. Another resource that makes an emotional impact is the "You Are There..." audio series that has Wyatt listening and taking notes. It really is done so professionally, and with such care for detail that even the background sounds and details make it truly seem that you are THERE! The last one Wyatt listened to was "Drake Defeats the Spanish Armada." He was quite resolute in sharing his opinion, and it made me smile to see my not-so-emotional-son feel passionate about what he was reading.


I am really grateful for all of the clear and easy to use answer keys in WH. It makes correcting things easy. A time saver is for me to have Wyatt read the answer key to me while I hold his written work and correct it. Assigning a percentage is simple - I have one of those easy graders, and I glued a copy of the grading scale from the WH Introduction on it. I jot the percentage and grade directly in the WH teacher's guide, so it is easy to see how Wyatt is doing (both for me and for him) without a lot of complicated charts. I've heard the Spanish 1 we are using is one of the very best courses for preparing students to pass the clep test. As it is a Spanish course that has students writing Spanish and translating back and forth between Spanish/English, I can see how it is preparing him very well for the written clep test. The audio portions enable him to listen to Spanish being spoken authentically as well, but it is the written portion I am most glad he is doing. The answer key makes it easy to correct, and Wyatt can even correct it himself.


Another great answer key we get to use in WH is the Total Health answer key. This course has turned out to be such a good course! It is written from a Christian perspective, and though it contains much vocabulary and solid factual information, it manages to have an extremely narrative feel to it. We have had some of the very best discussions this year within Total Health. A few of the topics that sparked some good conversation this week were CPR/babysitting situations, date rape, and teenagers often having the desire for taking unnecessary risks. Very good talks! This is one subject area I don't mind going a little longer on time, as the discussions are so important.


In Christ,
Julie

[my3sons]

Resurrection to Reformation Middle School:
Picture Study within "Looking at Pictures" and RTR's Art Gallery is one of my favorite early morning things Riley and I do together. This week we studied John Constable's artwork entitled "The Cornfield." As we are surrounded by cornfields, this felt like a picture study of the view outside our windows. Often times, however, the art we are studying transports us to a different time or place and lets us be witness to something we'd never get to see otherwise. This time, the art gave us a homey feeling of comfort, as we studied a place we know and love well enough to call home. We enjoy our conversation back and forth, as we retell the details we each remember. I see that Riley often answers the follow-up questions on his own right within his sharing now, talking about the story within the painting, the areas of light and dark, the areas shadows, and the colors and lines he notices. We always read the Charlotte Mason quote aloud at the close of our picture study, as her poetic words about picture study seem a fitting way to end this time shared together.

Poetry is another Charlotte Mason inspired subject we are enjoying together in RTR. Emily Dickinson has such a vast array of poetry to study that we never know what each week will bring. This week we laughed at her wit and choice of words in "The Bee." We have our fair share of bees here in the country in the summer, especially near our flowers, and her description made Riley laugh outright in appreciation. His feet are shod with gauze... His helmet is of gold...His breast, a single onyx... His labor is a chant... Like trains of cars on tracks of plush... Ms. Dickinson certainly had a way with words! I hear Riley enjoying telling stories with some type of unidentifiable accent that seems aristocratic somehow, using grand words with lilting tones and sweeping hand motions to dramatically get his point across. My dh just looks at me quizzically, like What is going on? I blame it on Emily Dickinson.

In Medieval History-Based Writing lessons, Riley is writing about Leonardo da Vinci. This is the first time he took notes completely on his own, and I didn't have to have him fix anything! I can always tell when we are near the end of a guide - mastery comes in many skills, what a blessing!


That leads me to another area we have worked on this year with Riley - notebooking entries. He is a neat, creative student that enjoys artistic endeavors. However, sometimes he just tuckers out. He starts grand and ends with a sputter as the extra amount of time he put into the details of the assignment at the onset catch up to him and he just all-of-a-sudden wants to be done. This week, I challenged him to wow me with his Draw and Write assignment. He started strong! He drew the picture very carefully, and then he began coloring carefully, and then he was going to leave this border blank around his beautiful coloring as he tuckered out. He showed me, and I told him it was beautiful, but what about the blank border? Hmmmmm. He went back to work to wow me, as he said he would. He made a really neat border and had a strong finish, choosing to write his copy work in lovely cursive. I told him he did WOW me! He was so proud.


In Christ,
Julie

[my3sons]

Bigger Hearts for His Glory:
Emmett has become Benjamin West. He already loved him from reading "Benjamin West and His Cat Grimalkin," but now he has totally come to adore him from reading about him in history. The idea of using berry juices and hairs from a cat's tail to paint beautiful pictures seemed a delight to my adventure-loving boy (I'll have to warn our cats ). When he found out he was going to get to use juices and berries to paint just like Benjamin West, he was beside himself. I drew the picture (I'm definitely NOT Benjamin West), and Emmett had a doubtful expression on his face (he apparently didn't think my drawing measured up to good old Benny either). Then it was his turn, he excitedly squeezed this berry and that lemon, and poured juices in cups, mixing colors this way and that way. He then began 'painting' with pure joy. When he finished, he said, "Mom! That was HARD! Benjamin West was AMAZING! My painting is, uhhh, well, not so good!" he chuckled. "Well, it started with my not-so-good-drawing," I said with a smile. "Yes, uhhhh, that's what I was thinking too, Mom, definitely NOT Benjamin West's." We had a good laugh together, and we now have even more of a reason to be in awe of the gift of artistic talent that God bestows on some special people like Benjamin West (and not on others, like Emmett and me)! I love these times together.


For one of our notebooking assignments, Emmett drew a paint palette. In each section of the paint palette, he wrote facts he remembered about Benjamin West. I looked at the paint palette we own to draw the outline of it for him, and it happened to have a lot of circles. The assignment asked for 6 facts to be written, but Emmett insisted on writing 8 because we had 8 sections drawn - he said, "Benjamin West is THAT important, Mom!: I can tell he is getting stronger and stronger with his writing stamina. Two months ago, he'd have never wanted to write 'one more thing,' no matter how great he thought Benjamin West was!


It has been fun seeing Emmett's notebooking map entries grow each week. This map has been added to as we read about different explorers and their routes through history. We also added to our earlier map as we read about William Penn this week. I can already see the growth from one notebooking assignment to the next. This year is such fun! Such growth happens - I'm always in awe about what leaps and bounds our dc make in BHFHG! It is exciting to see!


In Christ,
Julie