heartofdakota.com

Ok Ladies,

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!

USI History for High School:
We are in Unit 33 of the U.S. History I guide, and Wyatt has been studying "King Andrew,"Seward's Folly," and Reconstruction. This was such a tumultuous time in history! Wyatt's oral narrations have been so interesting to listen to, as have his written narrations as he reads them aloud to me. I don't have time to read all of his history books prior to hearing his narrations (nor do I feel that is necessary), but he hands the book to me open to the starting page of the reading, and I skim it as he narrates. This has worked so well! The Key Ideas in the guide help me as well. I also like to have Wyatt's USI guide open on my lap, and I put little checkmarks next to each portion of the plans as he narrates upon them. This helps me remember to check for each part of the plans, so no skills are missed. For example, if a visual aid is to be used sometime during the narration, I check that when he uses it, making he sure he remembers this is an expected part of the narration. One of the narrations this week was a "Detailed Narration." For this narration, I read the first sentence of each paragraph in "America: The Last Best Hope" as a staring point for each part of the narration. This kind of narration has really taught Wyatt to pace his narrating, sequencing it properly so that he doesn't get too far into the next part before I read the next sentence. It is a back and forth kind of way to nicely balance the narration, and it has really taught him to plan out what he is going to say accordingly. He also used a political cartoon from his USI Student Notebook as a visual aid during his narration. This having many things to remember while presenting information in an orderly fashion reminds me of just the set of skills one needs when making a presentation for church, work, or college. I am glad he is getting this practice!

The Comprehension Questions based upon "Great Documents in U.S. History" have been another growing experience for Wyatt that I am thankful for. The questions delve more deeply into these important documents, and he has learned to enjoy answering them...


Wyatt is nearing the end of his Chemistry course, and it has been a good year! Here is one of his experiment follow-ups...


In Grammar, he has been completing a research report about bees. He is now writing his report based on his research. As always, R & S English did a super job of teaching him to systematically prepare a solid report and presentation...


Wyatt continues to enjoy his Government class as well, and he's very interested in following the current politics ensuing in the U.S. now...


What a good week we had together!
In Christ,
Julie

Missions to Modern Marvels:
Riley had to correct sentences that were missing punctuation or were worded with improper usage. This is such a good skill to practice, as it helps him with the editing process in looking for errors in his own writing when editing it, and it also helps prepare him for state mandated standardized testing, as this is always a part of the test. He has also been studying the rhyme and meter of poems, which thanks to HOD's previous guides, he has learned to love!


Learning to diagram sentences well has been another skill he has learned from R & S English, and I think it helps him use varied sentence structures more consistently within his own writing as well..


In history, Riley gave an oral narration on his Story of the World reading while I typed what he said. HIs narration was on the topic of the Marshall Plan, which he has been studying along with the Berlin Wall, South African Apartheid, and Chairman Mao. He was inspired! His narration went on and on, yet it was sequentially right and well organized. Hooray! I was so proud of him! I was also thankful for my typing class back in high school, as my fingers had to fly to keep up with him!


The Nature Journal sure brings out Riley's creative side! He loves to choose colors to use and types of shadings to do. This has been such fun this year!


In DITHOR, we are studying the humor genre, and Riley is reading Don Quixote. I've always appreciated the vocabulary activities in DITHOR, and Riley has gotten fairly quick and figuring out the proper meanings of new words within the context of the book. He also has been learning the story element cause and effect...


In Christ,
Julie

Preparing Hearts for His Glory:
Well, my little pumpkin has finally turned a corner - a corner he very much needed to turn! Somehow, with Emmett being the baby of the family, we did not expect him to do things we expected the other boys to do at his age. I didn't realize how much I was doing for him until this last past month or so in PHFHG. I was still getting his books for him to meet with me in the morning because he never had them together, for example. I was still putting away the little tornado of a mess that was always left out on the counter, the floor, the couches, the steps, etc. that evidenced "Emmett had been there." I was also still editing most of his writing and just drawing his attention to it rather than having him correct it himself more, only having him fix a few things rather than them all. And the list goes on. No surprise, Emmett was becoming a careless haphazard worker with many misspelled words and incomplete work (who needs to be careful when mama will fix it all herself!!! ). Well, "no more", I said about a month ago. It has been painful, I will admit it. This change has not been met with enthusiasm. But, now for the good news! Happiness has finally followed a month of gradual handing responsibilities over to Emmett, responsibilities the guide does intend for him to have, I may add. I am proud of the progress I see, and relieved!

Here is my sweet little son proudly showing his notebooking assignment, which he fixed himself following my editing marks...


And here is his letter to his cousin Ben, which he wrote for his grammar assignment and which he fixed himself following my editing marks...


And here is his history project that didn't turn out so great but that he did more semi-independently as the guide intends...


And here is his Common Place Book Bible copywork that has SEVEN, yes count them, SEVEN errors he fixed - there was much sighing during this session, but there were also many fewer mistakes during his next copywork session...


Whew - so take heart, ladies - change is possible with consistency and encouragement!!!!
In Christ,
Julie

Julie, you are on unit 33 of US History 1??? Please tell me that you started this last school year! How are you so far in the guide?

Hi Gwenny! Wyatt was one year ahead, always on the youngest side of the target age range. We made the decision to spread his last 3 high school guides out over 4 years, so he can work to pay for college. He also wanted to help me teach his two younger brothers occasionally. This has been such a blessing! So, we will start his last guide this year, his 11th grade year, so he can continue to take an extra day off his 12th grade year. Hope that makes sense!

In Christ,
Julie

That's a good plan Julie! I feel better--lol. For once this year we are moving steadily along and are going to complete a guide in a school year and we are on unit 23. It's helpful seeing your posts!

Gwenny wrote:That's a good plan Julie! I feel better--lol. For once this year we are moving steadily along and are going to complete a guide in a school year and we are on unit 23. It's helpful seeing your posts!

Thanks Gwenny! I'm so glad to hear you are moving steadily along and looking toward your guide's finish line this school year - way to go!!! Amidst this crazy busy life, I am still trying to take pics and post them here, as they are special - visual - memories for me to hold on to for years to come. I am not quite sure how my oldest got to be so old, but I am so proud of him and his homeschool journey with HOD. Soon, he will be continuing on his education without my teaching him - how strange! A little sad, and a little exciting, all rolled into one. I hope the end of your school year goes well, Gwenny! Keep up the good work homeschooling your precious kiddos - time seems to move slowly each day, but the years truly do fly by.

In Christ,
Julie