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!

Preparing Hearts for His Glory:
We are clipping along doing 5 days of school each week now, and we can see the finish line in May. This works well for our family, as winter is long and spring is full of book conventions for me and fishing for the boys with my dh. Emmett is really coming along with his quality of work and with his capability of working more independently. I have hope he will make the transition to CTC pretty smoothly! Though I know, it will still be a (necessary) growing up year, as he will be entering 5th grade. In science, Emmet has been enjoying learning about coral reefs. For his experiment, he show how coral colonies are formed. He used clay to make two coral mounds and attached pasta noodles to his mounds to be the coral larvae. Then came his favorite part, the current! He swished the water over the mounds, showing how currents carry larvae in the water over to the coral mounds. He continued to double the number of corals to show how coral colonies form. He had such fun with this and learned a lot! He also completed a lovely notebooking assignment about the coral reef using OSS and the Bible as references..


In DITHOR Emmett is loving the humor genre! More Tales from Dust River Gulch has been a favorite of his, and he is also learning about multiple causes and effects. He is also working on the Godly character trait of 'enthusiasm'...


In history, we read about beautiful stained glass windows, and Emmett made his own stained glass window that turned out so well! It is hanging on our window in the kitchen...


In creative writing, Emmett wrote his own descriptive paragraph about "Young Night Thought" and what happens in his creative playtime as Rich and I watch t.v. together in our living room. Too funny (Chip and Joanna Gaines are on the HGTV show "Fixer Upper" BTW!


In Christ,
Julie

Missions to Modern Marvels:
Riley just completed a beautiful history project bookmark. Scripture references with colors share the Good News of Jesus in a visual way that is memorable. Gold is for God our Creator who wants us in heaven with Him some day; Black is for the sin that separates us from God; Red is for the blood Jesus shed on the cross for our sins; White is for the washing away of our sins when we repent, recognize Jesus as God's Son, and choose to follow Him; Green reminds us to keep growing in Christ. What a beautiful way to share the Good News!


Riley's Nature Journal continues to 'grow' and be a favorite creative outlet for him each week...


In Riley's State Study, he researched who our state governor, senator, and House of Representatives elected government officials are...


In Evolution: The Grand Experiment, Riley learned about Darwin's False Mechanism for Evolution: Acquired Characteristics, as well as Natural Selections and Chance Mutations. The DVD and living book style readings are making this incredibly interesting and understandable...


In history, Riley has been really enjoying reading about the Space Race, as well as the Cuban Missile Crisis. His typed oral narration was one of his best! I've seen much growth in this area. We continue to work on narrating more smoothly, with better transitions and less pausing or conversation with me, though I do love to talk with my son! Just not in the middle of his oral narration.


In Christ,
Julie

US History II High School:
Wyatt finished his first week and began his second week of U.S. History II this week. We are going to love this year, I can tell! The transition from U.S. History I was seamless. What a blessing! Wyatt is especially enjoying the Astronomy he is studying in science right now. The DVD segments are intriguing, and The New Astronomy Book and Our Created Moon have beautiful pictures and charts, captions, etc. as well. I love that it all points to our Creator!!! What a terrific science for Wyatt to have his senior year - one more chance to see God's hand in all of creation, in the universe, and in everything. It is easy to be in awe of Him when studying the universe...


In history, Wyatt was inspired by Fanny Crosby, who became an amazing hymn writer, though she was blind. It's no surprise Fanny Crosby has so many incredible quotes! She wrote over 8000 hymns!!!


Wyatt also read about Dwight L. Moody, and how he became a revival evangelist. He wrote a detailed narration about his readings from Faith of Our Fathers and Great Letters in American History by choosing 4-5 topics to focus upon. He highlighted any detail words after writing it and then shared it aloud with me by reading it. I love to hear him read his written narrations aloud! It is important NOT to skip this! I've found he truly writes with an ear for knowing he'll be reading it to me, and as he's reading it, he has pencil in hand to make any editing changes he wants...


Wyatt's Book of Centuries continues to "grow" and is a special way to remember all of his high school years...


In Christ,
Julie