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What was YOUR week Like?

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Hi ladies! I really enjoyed reading everyone's week-in-review last time, even though I didn't get a chance to respond to everyone's post. Reading the weekly reviews is something I always do and look forward to at the end of each week. So, whether I get to say it all of the time or not - each of you that posts here is a blessing to me each week.
Note: You can click on the pictures below to make them bigger.

Preparing Hearts for His Glory:
We've been reading Child's History of the World, along with Bible connections - even prophecies foretelling the rise and fall of power in history. Isn't our Lord amazing?!? It has been interesting to learn about how the names of the days of the week came to be, as well as how many words in our vocabulary came from specific people in history (i.e. "just" from Justinian and his laws). We've been loving Raiders from the Sea for Storytime. It is about the Vikings raiding a monastary and Ireland's homes. We read about monastaries today in history - so it was another neat connection. We made a Vikings brooch for our history project this week, and we learned a lot from researching this for research. As we've been reading about the Vikings crossing the ocean, we've been studying the coral reef in science. The One Small Square Coral Reef book has the most vivid pictures. Our favorite activity this week was making an edible coral polyp. The other boys had to make one too (well, the 2 yo just ate it ). It was great fun! The pictures below show that activity as well as Wyatt's growing timeline, of which he is very proud. I did want to mention 2 other things though. I made a mistake at the beginning of this year thinking Wyatt had finished Singapore 2B last year - I just was not thinking, and I got 3A/3B for him instead of 2B/3A, which is what he should have had. He did alright at first, but then soon began to flounder. That's when my dsis and I chatted about it, and I realized I had started him in the incorrect level. I stopped, backed up and did 2B, and he was so motivated he begged to do several lessons a day. I let him do that for awhile, and now he's happily in 3A scooting along terrifically. I realized how important correct placement in Singapore is then! If your dc are struggling with Singapore, even backing up one semester could do wonders!!! The other thing I wanted to share is how proud I am of my ds's developing quiet time in PHFHG. He really looks forward to it each Day 3 and Day 4 of the plans (especially Day 4). We still enjoy our other times together discussing the Bible (it's in a lot of the day's plans - which I love) - but today he said with pure delight, "Oh, today's MY quiet time!" And he happily settled in for his time with God. It struck a chord with me. That is what I want for my dc - for them to WANT a quiet time, to desire time with God alone - thanks HOD! Sorry that got long -just had to share!




Beyond Little Hearts for His Glory:
We've been reading Story of the Pilgrims, and it has become a favorite of Riley's. We've seen how the Pilgrims faith in God sustained them through hard times. They gave thanks to the Lord in the worst of times! It is a good reminder for us to give thanks always - which goes perfectly with Riley's Bible verse this week. He chose to share it with his brother Wyatt today. I was all smiles about that, because one of our primary goals in homeschooling is that our dc be great friends as well as brothers. As the Pilgrims journeyed along the coast to find a good place to settle, we learned in science about about sea level, the shelf, the slide, and the ocean floor. We built a model of that in our sink (can you believe our sink was shaped perfectly for this activity?). Riley made the Mayflower out of tin foil, and we floated it discussing why the Pilgrims measured the depth of the water in the bay to make sure they could dock. The picture below shows that activity. I also wanted to mention that it's been great to see my ds's writing on lines improve. He's now writing neatly on wide-lined notebook paper. His listening and narrating skills are also improving so much too. We've talked about not using phrases like "and stuff like that" and "things like that" during narrating. I told him to imagine I was typing his every word and then reading it like a book. He laughed when I retold a bit hem hawing my way through it with lots of "and stuff like that's"! Anyway, it keeps getting better bit by bit. I'm sooo glad we work on this skill in Beyond (and the guides after). It is an important skill to have, and one that most dc don't have naturally.



We had a great week - I can't wait to hear about yours too!
In Christ,
Julie

Julie!

I loved reading about your week. I smiled when I read about Wyatt cherishing his own personal quiet time. Is there anything better than seeing our own children desiring to know their Lord and Savior in a more intimate personal way???? I can't wait to get to Preparing with my own kids. And his timeline is just amazing!! It is huge. I am glad to hear that Riley's handwriting has improved. That has to make him and you so happy! I liked the pictures of him learning about the sea shelf. Is the pink and purple stuff in your sink playdoh? That's too funny that your sink had a built in "shelf!"

Jessi wrote:Julie!

I loved reading about your week. I smiled when I read about Wyatt cherishing his own personal quiet time. Is there anything better than seeing our own children desiring to know their Lord and Savior in a more intimate personal way???? I can't wait to get to Preparing with my own kids. And his timeline is just amazing!! It is huge. I am glad to hear that Riley's handwriting has improved. That has to make him and you so happy! I liked the pictures of him learning about the sea shelf. Is the pink and purple stuff in your sink playdoh? That's too funny that your sink had a built in "shelf!"

Hey Jessi! That timeline is huge, and he reads through it as a review of what we've learned. Every time he gets his coat out of the closet, I see him looking it over proudly. It is a happy thing that Riley's writing has improved. Patience is hard for me - so that's one trait I need to often pray for more of. I lined the sink with saran wrap first, but yes, that is playdoh! Whoever thought that sink was just like an ocean bottom - now I think it every time I wash my hands. The best part of the week was Wyatt's reaction to quiet time - you are so right, nothing tops that! Thanks, Jessi!

In Christ,
Julie

http://ourmodernmemories.blogspot.com/2 ... art-3.html

We had a great week! Click on our blog to read about it. I am so loving LHFHG. I wake up excited each day to teach my daughter and she is excited to do it too.

Ladies,

I'm enjoying the peek into your weeks! In LHFHG this week, Greyson enjoyed making a 3-sided hat like George Washington's. He also enjoyed making a circle of 13 "gum trees" out of blocks and sticks of gum like those that Alexander Hamilton planted in front of his home to signify the 13 "strong" states.

Greyson's also been learning about the moon and sun this week in LHFHG. He loved using the flashlight to show how the sun's light is reflected on the moon, and how the shape of the moon changes based on where the sun, moon, and earth are positioned. Today Greyson got to use the flashlight to be the sun rising in the east and setting in the west to show days passing, as I scattered cotton balls the floor to show cotton growing in the fields. Then, he picked his cotton and "baled" it. This went along with our story about the Samuel Slater's cotton mills.

Greyson is really enjoying his A Reason for Handwriting 'K' book. Since we are on week 28 in LHFHG, he is getting closer to being done with it. His letters are getting so much neater, and his coloring is much better. I cannot believe how much he has changed in this area since the beginning of the year! Greyson is also getting much better at writing his numbers correctly in his Singapore math. He has always understood his math quickly, but his fine motor skills are finally coming along in this area too! Praise the Lord for progress!

Greyson still loves his Rhymes in Motion and his Thornton Burgess stories. We are reading about Buster Bear right now, and Greyson is sure he knows what is going to happen next. We'll see!

In Preparing Hearts for His Glory, Shaw is gaining more independence each day. I can see he is already gaining many of the skills that will help him be more independent in the ancients program he will do next year. Shaw is really progressing in writing a good, solid written narration. I can see his years of oral narration paying off in this area. Shaw is also really thrilled with his timeline. It is fun to see it growing each week, and the other boys often look at it (since it's on our door)!

Shaw has really enjoyed the science in PHFHG this week. He is reading One Small Square: Coral Reef, and loving every bit of it. His experiment today was showing 3 different types of fish mouths, with a tweezers, a pliers, and a clothespin. He started by building a brick coral reef with rice scattered within it to try to pick up with his various "fish mouths". He also had to try picking up dry pasta (snails) and a sugar-coated rock (coral cup skeleton with algae). The key idea was that each fish has a mouth that is well-suited for getting the food it needs to survive. God really thought of everything!

Shaw's favorite task this week was creating an illuminated letter to go with Psalm 1:2. After doing our research on wikipedia, and getting a chance to view beautiful examples of illumated letters, Shaw was full of ideas for illuminating his letter. His 'B' turned out beautiful and really glowed. He was so pleased! Shaw's also loving reading Naya Nuki for Drawn into the Heart of Reading. He's choosing to do his assignments for it in cursive and has really gained in that area this year too.

Cole is busy testing part of our ancients program. He has just finished Greece: Streams of History and is on to Rome. He's also reading the biography of Alexander the Great, which he is really enjoying. Cole's written narrations are really coming along well. He has to write an opinion paragraph at the end of each narration now and has learned quite a bit about how to do that better. I can tell his years of dictation are paying off, as he rarely misses more than one or two words within his entire written narration. He also knows when to capitalize and punctuate, thanks to Rod and Staff. So, editing his narrations has been pretty painless for me!

I pray each of you are having a good week. We are glad to be recovering from strept throat here. ALL of us ended up on antibiotic for it, as I had it first and didn't know it... so I infected my entire family. How's that for being an excellent mother! In my own defense, I've never had strept throat, so I just thought I had a bad cold.

I look forward to hearing from the rest of you out there!

Blessings,
Carrie

Sam is finishing up his first full week in Preparing Hearts. It blesses my heart to see his eagerness to begin his work each day. He's been very enthusiastic about the new program!

Sam is loving "Grandpa's Box." The author is a genius in writing in a way that appeals to boys! Sam can relate to the spiritual warfare/military strategy theme of the book, so he's really enjoying it. Even my 14yod is listening in.

I've been so pleased with how much writing he's done this week. He hasn't balked at the drawing, notebooking, or dictation at all. It's been a smooth transition. We are plugging along with the 6th grade English program he had already been doing, but I have been doing some lessons on the white board to ease that load a little. It's great to have enough time in our week to work on our Latin studies as well as his online Chess program.

One highlight of this week was creating the coat of arms. My sister has researched the genealogy of our family to create beautiful hard-bound books of the family history. It was so much fun to pull these out and look at our historical coats of arms before creating our own. We also used Carrie's suggestion of the Wikipedia article on this topic, which linked us to the Victoria & Albert Museum where you can create a coat of arms online. Fun! As God's timing would have it, my daughter was also studying Ephesians and the armor of God in her Anne of Green Gables unit study this week. The two worked together for a few hours on the research and art project for this. Nice!

A great first week. . .I'm so glad we decided to go with HOD Preparing Hearts!

Oh, Carrie - be sure you get rid of all the toothbrushes in the house and replace them with new after the antiobiotics have started to kick in for a couple days. Otherwise you'll all get it back again - strep loves to live in your toothbrush! I'm sure you can guess I learned this lesson the hard way!

Jen, I was so excited to read about your first week with Preparing! How exciting! I love how the Lord allowed you to bring your sister into your school through a project she enjoyed doing as a hobby. I went to your blog and saw pictures of your visit with her. It was very sweet.

Carrie, I am so sorry you guys have been sick. Strep throat is the PITS! I'm glad you're doing better and your week sounded GREAT. I love how you share when your children begin to makes gains in an area that was originally a weakness for them.

Jessi- I love your pictures, you're excitement and the MUSIC on your BLOG! Your children are so precious. (((Ahhh)))

Julie- You are so good at making me feel like I am sitting in your living room watching you do your school. Your pictures tie in PERFECT!

We started back in "Beyond" this week! We are still on unit 14 and it is still around Thanksgiving time. We talked about God's perfect provision and what it means to be thankful. In Science we learned about plans/leaves and how they get their nutrients. We also learned about the Seasons.






How precious it is to see my Seth healthy and seizure free enjoying his school.






The boys learned about leaves and how they get nutrients and hydrated

Carrie- So sorry you were all sick. That is not fun but I am glad you are all doing better. Greyson sounds like he is having a blast in LHFHG and I look forward to doing the cotton lesson later on with Emma. I'd love to see a picture of Shaw's illuminated letter. It sounds beautiful! Cole sounds like he is doing quite well. I am curious, out of all the books he has read this year...what has been his favorite thus far.

Jen-I have heard nothing but great things about Grandpa's Box. I can't wait to read it. And how wonderful to actually have the book your sister made. Our "roots" are very important and special. What a unique and fun way to tie that into your HOD lesson.

Mary- The boys look happy to be back working in Beyond. Their pictures are great! And how happy I am to hear that Seth is doing well. What a blessing that is. And whoa!!!! Where did you get those gi-normous leaves? The leaves are bigger than all three of your boys' heads! HAHA Great pictures!!!!

Jessi wrote:
whoa!!!! Where did you get those gi-normous leaves? The leaves are bigger than all three of your boys' heads! !!!!

LOL, it's from a neighbors Sycamore tree!

Hi Ladies!
I loved seeing & hearing about all the great work you have been up to! Carrie I am so glad you are all feeling better. Strep is not fun! Julie, I loved seeing all your doing in Preparing. You are a few weeks ahead of me. So, I look forward to what is ahead!

I always want to share so much but I have a hard time putting my thoughts down coherently. I can do it but it takes me awhile & I usually don't have enough time & feel frustrated at not sounding quite right. Hmmm....this sounds like when kids have problems writing. Well, you can guess that was totally me as a kid...I hated writing. Hopefully as I teach my kids & practice I will get better. So, please forgive me if I am not smooth in my posts.

We had a great week in Unit 20 of Preparing. Learning about the persecution of Stephen & how God uses all things for His glory turned into another meaningful converstion. Martyrs gave a new meaning to the way they see suffering. Also, the fact that there are people all over the world who still suffer for Christ. HOD is amazing! My dc have been putting on little plays (or skits as I call them) about everything they learned in Grandpa's Box. They pretended to be Lazarus & acted out Sauls conversion to Paul, & some other stories that were from The Donut Man videos with Rob Evans. The videos had covered what we were learning & we all love the songs!
Having the dc see how powerful the Holy Spirit is & how He works in our lives was really great for us to learn together & we had great faith filled conversations about it as well. My 11dd has some anxiety issues & I have always fought against it trying to "fix" her by telling her what to do. Now I surrendered to God what was His job & lead my 11dd to Jesus & "showed" her how the Holy Spirit is there for her to help her take every thought captive so she can trust in Jesus. We have been singing our Bible memory verses & lifting up our hands in surrender asking the Lord to take this unreasonable fear (this week it has been choking,last week it has been a tight chest)from her. Praise the Lord b/c she has been feeling better! These episodes come on always in the evening/nighttime & I have always been so tired to "deal" with it but the Lord has been showing me that I need to turn it completly over to Him & just pour out love on her. Well, it has not been perfect but we know NOTHING is! It has been so much better. My 11dd has been getting a real appetite for the things of God as she sees now how He brings true peace. Praise HIM! Our Bible portion has really helped cement that idea that whatever mood we are in we can go to the Psalms & meditate on God's truth.

For science the girls enjoy adding to the constellation books they made. When we were in West Virginia last week my 11dd wanted to bring our book so we could check it & see a clear view from the mountains. The night we arrived she made sure she went outside to look at the sky at 8:00 to get the best view on Feb. 15th. I was so proud! This from a kid who never really gets too excited at school stuff.

My 8dd is doing really well in her math. She is using Alpha Omega life Pacs & she is really grasping "how" times works. This is new for me b/c my older dd had such a hard time with math. Even though it doesn't come natually to her she is doing better. I think it is b/c she is more mature for it.

Here are their Ichthys fish that they made. I didn't have applesauce at the time they made them so we used construction paper & cardboard to give it thickness.

Aw, Georgette, that's wonderful about your daughter! Several people in my family have anxiety issues, and I've accepted that all I can do is love them through it.

I had to chime in about the Donut Man videos. My kids watched these when they were quite little. So last week I'm in church and the sermon was about the healing of the paralytic. I'm sitting in my pew and unbidden into my head comes the song from the Donut Man, which I haven't thought of in years -

"There's a hole. . .in my roof. It's the truth. I wouldn't spoof. It was chopped there for a man with diseases, and they lowered him down to Jesus. . ." Amazing that I can still sing the whole thing!

MainelyJen wrote:... I'm sitting in my pew and unbidden into my head comes the song from the Donut Man, which I haven't thought of in years -

"There's a hole. . .in my roof. It's the truth. I wouldn't spoof. It was chopped there for a man with diseases, and they lowered him down to Jesus. . ." Amazing that I can still sing the whole thing!

I'm convinced if I were ever imprisoned, I would be singing every Bible verse and hymn I could think of because music is the best memorization tool for me! So true - I can't believe how much Scripture my ds is committing to memory with PHFHG. I'm struggling - but he's got it down pat - probably because he's been memorizing Scripture since LHTH. Lucky for me I'll be teaching each HOD guide 3 times - by the end of that, I SHOULD be able to have it all memorized.

In Christ,
Julie

Jessi - Logan and Emma are growing up! I had to smile at Emma with her cotton balls (and the touching them thing ) - that has my son Riley written all over it. He wouldn't touch the frosting on his 1 yo b-day cake - too sticky. I also loved the thought of your dc and the children in your daycare loving doing the fingerplay "Praise Him, Praise Him, All Around" together. God has placed those dc in your care for a reason, and they are learning to love Him through their time spent in your home.

Jennifer - Grandpa's Box is just a wonderful book, isn't it? I'm so glad your Sam is soaking it up. I think that is so neat that your dsis has put together geneology books for you - what a neat tie-in to the coat of arms activity. Good for him with his writing too! I like the way it is rotated around with HOD - it never feels routine or redundant that way, but instead has a fresh purpose each time.

Carrie - I'm so proud of little Greyson! He is growing so much and has such a little heart bursting with energy and love. I'm so glad to hear his fine motor skills are growing as I know that has been a prayer of yours. Way to go, Grey!!! And Shaw, well he's just a budding scientist. His passion for that is truly a gift from God. Shaw will be the next great inventor - I am sure. He has an uncanny ability to think outside the box. Cole - those written narrations are awesome! Such a studious student he is, as your first born, he always has a special place in my heart. It is neat to see how history is a passion of his. I can't wait to do Diana Waring next year - though I do believe Cole has been orally narrating it to me for the past 7 years!!! Move over Diana, Cole's on the way!

Mary - It was a huge blessing just to see your Seth home and happy. Your 3 sons working so diligently and happily together - what a joy to see! I agree with Jessi - those leaves - oh my! They give "shade tree" a whole new meaning. Thanks for sharing those pics!

Georgette - I want to come watch the skits - tickets please? It sounds like PHFHG is going great, and I'm glad to be the preview (at least unless I get behind you at some point, which is very possible ). I am lifting up your dd and her anxiety issues to God. It sounds like you are drawing on God's strength and that is a bottomless well, He will be there with you through it. Love truly does conquer all. Praying that for your dd!

In Christ,
Julie