Week in Review: Feb. 3-7

[my3sons]

What was YOUR week Like?

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[my3sons]

World Geography:
I am so excited! I recovered the photos I thought were deleted last week! I tried to be technologically savvy and took the pics on my phone camera and emailed them to myself. Then, I deleted the photos off my phone. I went to my email - and no photos. I was so sad! Then today, I saw a bunch of messages in my "outbox" of my phone. For some reason, it needed me to reenter my password to be able to send them. Anyway, what a relief! So, this week will have quite a few photos!

For literature, Wyatt has been reading "The Screwtape Letters" by C.S. Lewis. He found the vocabulary to be challenging, but enjoyed the mixed wit and seriousness of the topic of the book. I think it shows the spiritual battle going on that we are often unaware of in a unique way. I read part of it but not all of it when Wyatt's books came in, but as soon as he's done reading it, I asked him to borrow it. He is enjoying his literature selections so much!!! Both the BJU and the lit books are awesome!


Wyatt's science has him answering questions - usually daily, so it is really easy to see if he comprehended what he read and did. He has enjoyed his science very much, and I have enjoyed that he can do it independently. I'd been stressing about science in high school for years. I am so thankful for HOD planning it in a challenging, yet independent way, with a lab, that doesn't take much from me!


Maps are being made galore this year in World Geography, and they are turning out so well! The instructions given on the DVD make it easy, and I can't wait for it to all come together at the end!


The one sentence summary Wyatt has been doing for his Storytime follow-up has proven an excellent skill for him to refine! It is harder than one may think to write a one sentence summary that encompasses many pages of reading. The guidance HOD provides for this in the WG plans, as well as the criteria to look for when assessing, has made this a super skill to learn...


Written narrations have become a natural thing for Wyatt to write, and as he has learned to love history through all of his years of awesome living books in HOD. I can see his ease at writing them, and I enjoy reading them...


Hope you have a super weekend, ladies!

In Christ,
Julie

[TrueGRIT]

Today my husband needed to pick up supplies in Kansas City and wanted us to travel with him. So, today we did "truckschooling". Harder, but we got most things done. Instead of our guides I just took a paper with notes for myself.

LITTLE HANDS TO HEAVEN
We just finished Unit 28. A bit behind where we thought we'd be. It is really easy for her now - only taking about 15 minutes. Unless she really gets into the Bible Activity and extends it. She did that with Day 1, with stuffed animals and a flashlight. She is also doing R&S workbooks and really loves these- especially when she gets to cut. This week we added a bit of reading. She picked up a bit and proceeded to read to me - no doubt she had it memorized! Right now her school fits in perfectly with her devotions time in the evening. She lives my undivided attention! Even if a big brother joins her it is still "her" time.

BEYOND LITTLE HEARTS for HIS GLORY
We are in the middle of Unit 8. This week his favorite thing was making a Pilgrim boat. We have added LA daily due to his begging for English. Overall things are going well.

PREPARING HEARTS for HIS GLORY
Unit 16 about Alexander the Great and his travels interested my ds more than most. We finished "A Triumph for Flavius" in Storytime, which he loved, and started "Fountain of Life". He drew a great Greek vase, and we did the history extensions this week because he wanted more. He started a new Singspore workbook with mixed feelings. We've been trying to do to do DITHOR regularly, but so far it's not working. We do read, and hopefully things will settle down here for a couple months. The good news is that just since Christmas he has been able to complete one English lesson daily. Even with doing a good bit orally, before then he just struggled so much it took us 2 days.

It was good to have a week that was almost back to "normal".
Hope everyone has a great weekend!

[MelInKansas]

Well, it was a great week of school this week, in spite of or maybe because of the 11 inches of snow on Tuesday (all other activities were cancelled Tuesday and Wednesday which slowed things down for us a little bit). We did unit 4 of Preparing and unit 13 of Beyond. I am still trying to get back into the swing with LHTH and my 4YO was sick for part of the week, but I am finding she and the 1YO are actually playing well together for the most part and the 4YO has not wanted to do school so we haven't been doing it.

Unit 13 of Beyond was really fun and again, my DD is really thriving. She finished the Early Reader's Bible this week so now I am trying to figure out whether to continue in the ER list or do the Beginner's Bible. I think she is ready to move on to Owl at Home, but I suppose if it gets hard I could always pull out the Beginners Bible and work on that for a while. The map and Geography activity this week was really fun and my DD has already been interested in compass directions because our van tells you which direction you are travelling so she was excited to work on that a little bit. The Pilgrims were celebrating the first Thanksgiving and that is always fun to read about. My 7YO and 4YO both made the clam craft after we read about the children digging for clams for soup.

Unit 4 of Preparing - I enjoyed seeing my DD as she is really growing into the skills of Preparing. She has been getting better at working independently and getting things done. We had one rough day - that was when she did the Day 1 History activity making a clay model of the Middle East. It took a long time, which I understood but then everything else she did that day she was really slow and dawdling. It took her until 3:00 that day to get school done which is really unusual (we may have had a later start, 9:30 or 10, but still). The rest of the week she was done before lunch. So that day must have just been a weird one. I was still recovering from bronchitis too which was really difficult and I am not sure I'm 100% over it yet. I have really had a terrible attitude towards my children while being sick and I am asking the Lord to convict and help me change the way I am reacting to them. Yes, I am tired and it has been difficult to keep up with all of my duties while under the weather, but the Lord would have me be loving, gentle, and kind even in this difficult time. I am making gradual improvement but it has been very slow and even antibiotics are not helping very much.

The written narration changed this week and that was hard for my DD. She did well, but she always seems to freeze up when asked to write something on her own without my help. I like the way it is transitioning and I hope she will gain confidence because she did a great job and she is very capable.

[my3sons]

Resurrection to Reformation:

I'm so glad that we are doing the Shakespeare Study in RTR with Riley. He really looks forward to it already, and we are only 2 units into RTR! Reading "Tales of Shakespeare" is just the right sized amount and difficulty of reading to introduce Riley to Shakespeare. How I wish I'd been introduced to Shakespeare like this! I would have enjoyed my time spent with him much more. The Shakespeare Notebook is such a beautiful addition to RTR's already stunning RTR Student Notebook. Riley takes his sweet time coloring with his colored pencils and copying his quote. He is thoroughly enjoying it...


Riley is such a hands-on boy that RTR's History Projects are something he really likes. I would struggle with getting this into his school day without HOD. Whipping up the dough for his Roman arch was such fun for Riley! He donned his apron his Grandma Jeanie sewed for him (material with masculine looking dogs on it - so boyish enough for him ), and put his hands to work. I know from my oldest ds having gone through all of HOD's guides thus far, these projects do much to help a guy know his way around the kitchen. How blessed their wives will be! These guys can follow a recipe and whip up some pretty delicious dishes (or in this case, dough for moulding) thanks to HOD!


The next hands-on history project Riley got to do involved using colored chalk to create a stained glass window, similar to those found in the early churches. He had chalk everywhere by the time he got done with this! He took the 'press hard' directions to heart! It turned out lovely...


The Art Study was such fun for Riley and me to do together. "Looking at Pictures" is a unique resource that does a super job of teaching much about art at a level that middle school students can still understand. The picture study element incorporated adds a Charlotte Mason style to the activity, and we enjoyed our follow-up discussion.


Riley's written narration this week was a happy moment for me. He pulled out all the stops (probably because I had just finished sharing I was less than thrilled with his science written narration, as it was thrown together, not written neatly, and a strange size for the paper it was written on - picture using about 1/3 of the provided white space ). When he got to his next assigned written narration in history, he really put his all into it, and it was a great read. HOD's Student Notebooks are so lovely that they just beg for students to do neat, keepsake-type work. To slop something down on those precious pages seems totally unacceptable. I am thankful for all of the work HOD puts into producing truly special notebooking pages that stand the test of time and give students a wonderful place to store their work.


In Christ,
Julie

[my3sons]

Beyond Little Hearts for His Glory:
I have 2 weeks' worth of pictures to share, as my lost pictures have been found! So bear with all of the photos please! Emmett has always wanted to be a farmer, so the history project of harvesting wheat with his little sickle was right up his alley. He did this history project multiple times. I think he would have done it all day if I hadn't finally put a stop to it! With all that harvesting, one would think this farmer would have a windfall crop to show for it - but, he ate too much of it along the way.


Painting is another favorite thing of Emmett's to do. For this history project, he painted the changing bushes according to seasons, as was read about in this pilgrims readings...


For one of Emmett's Storytime follow-ups, we talked about what he can do to call upon the Lord in times of need. He came up with 'pray when I'm sad or scared.' Emmett has put this idea to practical use. On occasion Emmett has woken up scared in the middle of the night. He usually calls for me, and I go in and pray with him. Well, last time this happened, he must have just prayed himself because he told me in the morning, "Mom, I prayed last night because I got scared. I got to thinking, why do I have to call her? Why don't I just pray myself?" Good idea, buddy. Mama needs sleep too, and the Lord listens to you just as He listens to me.


Poetry copywork is something I've had to continue to encourage Emmett to do. He likes to try to talk me into fewer lines, sort of auctioneer style, only backwards as he's bidding me down. I say '6 lines,' he says 'give me 4,' etc. I usually stick to my guns, and it has proven worthwhile as now he can quite easily copy a stanza or more each day pretty neatly. Drawing the pictures around the poem will be the next area to encourage some growth.


Reading about History has given Emmett good practice at improving his listening comprehension. He had to tell back using pictures the story that we read. He did a pretty good job, and it was a fun way for him to retell what he remembered in a way that matched the way history was passed down using oral traditions...


Math has been just plain fun this past few weeks. We've been learning about various shapes, their sides, their corners, and we've had fun looking around the house to find the different shapes. He quickly figured out triangles and diamonds were the hardest to find!


We moved onto patterns in math next. Snacks were involved, which immediately made this topic a hit. Here he is cupping his hand around the pattern made and getting ready to eat his pattern next...


Finally, we learned to use measurement to compare lengths using greater and less than terminology. We measured his leg, arm, neck, hand, and foot using yarn. Then, we compared each of the lengths. HOD's math is full of fun hands-on activities like these. They really do make math something to enjoy!!!


What a great few weeks!
In Christ,
Julie

[4Hispraise]

Loved reading the week in review! Thank you each for taking time to post. When I hear about all that we have to look forward to, it just confirms that we are where the Lord has led us.

Julie, my littlest came up behind me when I was reading about the math Emmett did. He saw the picture - specifically the snacks and said, "Hey, Mom, can we do that?" Too funny. I am so excited for what is to come after reading about what your oldest is doing in the WG guide! I would say, can't wait...but I am learning that these years are just passing too quickly and that I just want to hold on to every moment I have with these kids right at the stage they are in.

[my3sons]

...Julie, my littlest came up behind me when I was reading about the math Emmett did. He saw the picture - specifically the snacks and said, "Hey, Mom, can we do that?" Too funny. I am so excited for what is to come after reading about what your oldest is doing in the WG guide! I would say, can't wait...but I am learning that these years are just passing too quickly and that I just want to hold on to every moment I have with these kids right at the stage they are in.

Snacks are a BIG hit here too! The WG guide is wonderful, but you are so right... the years practically FLY by. So important not to wish them away, and to instead hold on to each moment as precious now! You are one wise lady to realize that now. Thanks for your encouragement here, and have a good rest of your Sunday!

In Christ,
Julie

[MelInKansas]

It started when my oldest was in LHFHG I think, the "Math snack." Sometimes I pull out snacks when counters are called for. But often enough the math activities in the guides call for some kind of snacks, and my kids so love combining a snack with math time.

Julie thanks for all the wonderful pictures. I too get excited about things coming up in the future, though I know we just get through it all, one day at a time. And I try to treasure each day in the process.

[my3sons]

It started when my oldest was in LHFHG I think, the "Math snack." Sometimes I pull out snacks when counters are called for. But often enough the math activities in the guides call for some kind of snacks, and my kids so love combining a snack with math time.

Julie thanks for all the wonderful pictures. I too get excited about things coming up in the future, though I know we just get through it all, one day at a time. And I try to treasure each day in the process.

Thanks for your kind words and encouragement here! So important to enjoy the journey now - why wait?

In Christ,
Julie

[Nealewill]

Well - my kids are just funny. They took laundry baskets and a pillow and jumped in for the history reading.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/zlebq2bbkt7pb50/Sam%26Jo.JPG