heartofdakota.com

Ok Girls,

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!

Important Note: If you are linking us to your blog, please make sure it's not just a general link, but to your specific post of HOD. That way if someone reads through these a year from now they can find your share without needing to hunt!

In Christ,
Julie

Bigger Hearts for His Glory:
For Drawn into the Heart of Reading, Emmett has been reading "Catwings." He loves it so much that he is planning on reading the rest of the series as soon as he finishes this first one. I purchased the rest of these delightful books for our other children years' back when they read it for DITHOR. This has been a well-loved series of books for all of our kiddos. Emmett is enjoying learning cursive via Cheerful Cursive. This workbook makes it so easy and well, cheerful, to learn. Just out of the blue, Emmett decided to write his DITHOR Student Book page in cursive this week. It is not perfect, but I've long ago let go of that expectation for cursive. I'm very happy with how he is doing and also with the fact that he likes it well enough, and feels confident enough, to try it on his own in his DITHOR work.


In science we have been learning about the Robertson family in "A Pioneer Sampler." His choice of land was a good one due to it being well-watered by a nearby river and well stocked with ample trees. For his note booking activity, he copied a matching verse from his Bible, made columns labeled "Best for Farming," "Second Best," and "Too Swampy for Farming." These were all considerations Mr. Robertson made as he chose which land to settle down upon. Emmett then used the information we read in "A Pioneer Sampler," as well as what we learned from "One Small Square: Woods" to complete the rest of his note booking page. This meshing of resources in the completion of a single assignment is a pretty mature skill to learn for his age, and I was so pleased with the results...
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In history, we have been enjoying reading about The Wright Brothers and Their Sister. This is a wonderful book that is written so narratively! Emmett can't wait for me to read it each day. We are both inspired by the ingenuity of this family, as well as by the way the parents made their home a haven for creative ideas, exploration, inventions, and sharing of out of the box ideas. No one was ever made to feel like he/she had a 'dumb idea.' Respect and love ran deep in that home. It is a model I'd like to mimic in my own home and a reminder to me that letting boys explore and invent and dream can be a stepping stone to the new inventions of the future. One of the most endearing qualities, IMHO, of the Wright brothers was their deep love for their little sister, Sterchens. Though Orv didn't have much money, he desperately wanted to buy the latest greatest most beautiful doll for Sterchens as a gift. He put the doll on hold and used his earnings/allowance for months to be able to purchase it for her. When he made the last payment, he was so excited that he couldn't even wait for Christmas for her to open it. Emmett had fun making his own card for his best buddy and cousin Beau's birthday. He wanted to cut out a dolphin because Beau loves them so much. He even looked on the Internet for a picture of how best to draw one. Beau loved it when he opened it for his birthday party! There is something very special about homemade cards. They are what I always request for 'gifts' from my sons for Mother's Day, Valentine's Day, and birthdays. They are special and a gift from the heart. How neat we get to do art projects such as these during our homeschooling!


Emmett adores reading poetry, and it definitely due to HOD. "Little Roads to Happiness" is his latest poem, and here he is with a picture where we labeled the rhyming pattern...


Finally, here's a picture of our science experiment, in which Emmett learned how pioneers used lard and lye to make soap. He also learned how soft soap was slimy and jelly-like...


In Christ,
Julie

Revival to Revolution:
Riley has been reading about the missions, the Mexican War and Mining in The Story of the Great Republic this unit. For Geography, Riley used his Map Trek CD to make a map of Westward Expansion and the Mexican War. Then he cross-referenced his United States History Atlas to research the land disputed by the United States and Mexico, the land ceded by Mexico in 1848, and the routes the American and the Mexican forces took. The geography Riley is learning in RevtoRev is outstanding! It correlates exactly with what he is reading and gives a visual aid to was what happening via maps of that time period.


For Timeline, Riley drew and labeled events of The Battle of the Alamo, The Mexican-American War, and California becoming a state. For his history project, he painted a layered mountain scene depicting the Americans movement West as cities became more and more crowded in the East. He also added two more research cards about the signers of the Declaration of the Independence. He has gotten quite adept at doing all of these assignments with care and detail independently. His written narration was about the Mexican War, and how large land owners such as Sam Houston and Stephen Austin encouraged Texans to revolt against Mexico's rule. Further disputes about Texas' boundaries after the Battle of Jacinto won them their freedom caused more difficulties. Riley actually truly enjoys writing narrations now - he has grown so much in this guide from the start to now!


For Draw and Write Through History, Riley drew and colored a picture of a miner, as a nod to those gold miners who traveled west to hunt for cold who were called "Forty-niners."...


In Christ,
Julie

United States 1 - High School:
This week in history Wyatt has been learning about The Revolutionary War, Boone Moving West, and John Paul Jones sailing the seas. He has absolutely loved this week, as these are some of his favorite historical topics. After reading Great Letters in American History and watching The American Testimony DVD, Wyatt completed his U.S. Map Activities using multiple resources, like his U.S. History Atlas and his U.S. History I Journal. These mapping activities have him utilizing two, three, sometimes even four resources to be able to map his answers. This is definitely a higher level skill that requires the meshing of much information researched from multiple media resources! It stretches him, and I feel he is well-prepared for any time of mapping or geography-based skill required of him. In Box 2 of his US1 journal, Wyatt's index card of talking points for his talking points oral narration is taped. This was all about Daniel Boone, a favorite person from history for Wyatt, and he referred to these notes and his United States History Atlas as he give me his oral narration...


Another favorite person from history of Wyatt's is John Paul Jones, and still another is George Rogers Clark. Of course the reason these men are favorite historical figures is due to all of the amazing history Wyatt read about them in the previous HOD guides. How wonderful it is to have children who love history! This was not the case for me or for my dh in public school, so it is a blessing to see history become a subject our dc love. Wyatt wrote a detailed narration after reading about these historical men in America: The Last Best Hope. He then highlighted the detailed words in his narration and read it aloud to catch any editing errors. I always have him read his written narrations aloud to me with pencil in his hand, and he usually makes a few corrections as he reads. This makes my editing afterwards practically unnecessary. At this stage, he catches almost all of his mistakes.


For the US1 Living Library selection, Wyatt has been reading Lafayette and the American Revolution. Lafayette is still another favorite historical person for Wyatt - this really was such a favorite week for him. He is loving this book already and is having fun responding to it in his journal each day...


A surprise to me has been how much Wyatt enjoys Chemistry. This was NOT a love of mine in school, but he says he loves the way his Chemistry book is written. I have doubted that Chemistry could ever be written narratively, but I do believe this new text by Jay Wile is. Wyatt says it is not only narrative, but it is also so clear that he has no trouble with the written portion and the experiment portion of the book. I'm so glad, as Chemistry is just not my thing.


In Christ,
Julie