Week in Review: March 3-7

[my3sons]

What was YOUR week Like?

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In Christ,
Julie

[my3sons]

World Geography:
This guide has been such an incredible blessing to us this year! My 14 yo ds is doing all of the possible credits in World Geography, and he is finding it to be a full, yet satisfying day. An average of 7 hours is what we spend on any given day doing our 6 1/2 credits, and it is time so well spent. We started it hot off the press in Sept. 2013, and doing it 5 days a week with hardly any breaks, we are now through Unit 24. Time is flying! My husband has been impressed with the rigor of the guide, often commenting that it offers so much more than his high school experience offered. This is such a blessing for me especially, as I remember early on my husband was unsure of his thoughts on homeschooling. Now, he is so supportive! God has used time and HOD to turn my dh's heart toward homeschooling, and I am so thankful.

I am especially grateful for the time devoted to reading and studying God's Word through the "Rooted and Grounded" Bible study. How wonderful it is to see Wyatt constantly pulling out his own personal Bible during his high school day! The "Rooted and Grounded" Student Workbook has Wyatt constantly using his Bible, and the Teacher Key is so complete, it is easy for me to go through this with him each day. Wyatt often says his Scripture Memory work for his younger brother, Riley. They both love this - Wyatt, as it's a good way to practice his verses, and Riley, as it's a good way to spend some more coveted time with his older brother. This mother loves it too - brothers sharing Scriptures with one another - what's not to love?!? I see Wyatt jot in the margin of his WG guide 'share with Riley' today. It just does my heart good.


The global evangelism focus of "Rooted and Grounded" has really partnered so well with the "World Religion and Cultures" course this year. The overview of each of the religions in the "World Religion and Cultures" course along with the evangelism focus of "Rooted and Grounded" has given Wyatt such a heart to share the Lord with others. It is amazing how God is working this all together to grow Wyatt's faith and maturity in Him! The living books Wyatt has read for his "World Religion and Cultures" course have given him a window into others' beliefs and how their environment influenced those beliefs initially. And still - our God is mighty, and powerful, and He can bring Jesus to anyone, anytime, in the most difficult of circumstances! I like that the people are real in these books. They don't pretend to be perfect, and the underlying message of the Gospel is shown again and again - we live in a sinful world, we are all imperfect sinners in need of a perfect Savior, and that Savior is our precious Lord Jesus Christ!

Wyatt can relate to these not-so-perfect-people, and has been amazed at the trials in life the Lord has helped them overcome. He understands better than ever now what a privilege it is for us to be able to worship openly in our church on Sunday, say prayers before meals anytime we want (even in restaurants), own our own personal Bibles and have multiple Bibles in our own home, and talk about Jesus to others openly. Our discussions with the "World Religions and Culture's Notebook have been so good! I always have Wyatt read his answers out loud for everything he writes, actually with pencil in hand for editing purposes, but I find with his WRC Notebook, he often pauses not to edit but to add to (orally) what he has written with deeper thoughts, more details, or a story he wants to share with me from what he has read. I know from taking an evangelism course, finding common ground with others of different beliefs and then using the Bible as the one true measure of truth is the best way to reach the lost. I see that compassion for others growing in Wyatt, and instead of being judgmental and turning away from someone who wants to know the Lord but doesn't quite know all the details of it, he realizes more than ever the Bible is the place to go for answers - always! For him, and for him to share the Lord with others! What a blessing this has been for me to see this year!


For all of this sharing we do, the ACTS prayer journal Wyatt is keeping is kept totally private. That has become so personal for Wyatt, and an excellent place for him to pour out his heart to the Lord. It's not easy being a teenager. The prayer journal acts as a private place for him to share his heart with the Lord after praying, and it also serves as a record of the work the Lord is doing in his life. I know he especially needed it during my Dad's cancer battle. I am glad he has had a place to go with all of those emotions, and I am thankful for the Lord comforting him (and me) through this time.

Wyatt's "Mapping the World with Art" book continues to be a favorite, and I can glimpse all of his neat map drawings coming together at the end of the course - we both can't wait to see that! The WG Student Notebook is just as beautiful as ever, and his entries show what he is learning in a snapshot. Wyatt's oral narrations are varied, and they help him practice higher level skills in keeping with that which Charlotte Mason required at this age. The WG guide is such a help in this - for the Key Word oral narration day, for example, key words are all listed in the key idea, and I can easily use that as a reference. For the detailed oral narration, I use the tip of skimming with book in hand and utilize the key idea's focus for the overview. For the Summary oral narration, Wyatt has to 'sift and sort' as Charlotte Mason would say, to decipher what to share, and it is (in my opinion) far harder to do than to give a detailed narration. We use the modern day IPod for the last kind of narration. The Key Word typed oral narration is one that I can type on my own time after Wyatt has recorded it on his IPod. It makes looking for a fair amount of those key words listed in the guide to be present in his narration an easy task, though I make sure not to expect every single one. Ironically, this is a skill we have been working on in oral narrations specifically for Wyatt for the past few years - using proper names, places, numbers, events, etc. - instead of generalizing these. I'm so glad for this help!


Wyatt's written narration about Dampier's account of Australia after reading "A Book of Discovery" showed Dampier was less than impressed with what he found. Wyatt's personality is showing through in his written narrations now, and that makes the reading of them such a delight! Gone are the days filled with fact upon fact in his written narrations. He finally has the best of both worlds - facts and flair! Oh how we worked to get here though!!!


My, this is getting long, so I'll just share one more thing. The bookmarks - we both LOVE them!!! In fact, I had to laugh, Wyatt did his bookmark entry for the day on Japan Diary (which is the book he is supposed to do it on in the guide), and then he did another entry on his Living Library book, "Florence Young." He said he did it accidentally, but he sure was animated sharing about it! That's another thing - the Living Library is totally working with the "Rooted and Grounded" and the "World Religion and Cultures" study hand in hand! And then at church, our pastor has been sharing about each of our missionaries and what is going on where they are sharing the Gospel, and... well, you get the picture. Isn't God amazing? He can work all of these things together to make a lasting impact on a 14 year old boy and maybe someday, Lord willing, grow him into a mighty man for the Lord!


Ok, I had more, but I'll stop now. There ARE other weeks to share.

In Christ,
Julie

[my3sons]

Resurrection to Reformation:
Ahhh, Shakespeare! So readable, so quotable, such great fun for my ds Riley! He adores reading "Tales from Shakespeare," and even more so he adores the coloring of his beautiful Shakespeare notebook! "Should I choose this shade of green or that one, Mom?" Honestly, he has always been my creative guy that loves to color and enjoys the lyrical sound of good writing. Shakespeare is a good fit for my Riley.


In "Peril and Peace" Riley read about Patrick, the son of a Roman tax collector, who was abducted by Irish pirates and sold into slavery. Riley's oral narration was impassioned, and he was in total shock that Patrick would escape only to return to his captors to share the Gospel! Today at church, our Youth Pastor gave the message. He is very animated and truly on fire for the Lord! Do you know what the Lord brought to my mind as I was listening? Riley's oral narrations sound exactly like this pastor's messages - and that style really works for this pastor. It made me think perhaps I need to lighten up on my quest to have Riley pause the 'appropriate places' in his oral narrations. He's choppy, but then so is this pastor, and it just catches your attention. Hmmmm. Good food for thought! Passion for the Lord is a good thing! Maybe passion for narrating is too. However, you do have to speak slow enough to be understood...

For research, Riley researched Downpatrick, which was a super connection to reading about Patrick in "Peril and Peace." He learned the meaning of Downpatrick, where the city got its name, where it is located, the name of the ancient city of Downpatrick, and some of the sights he could see there. He shared all of this in his postcard to his brother Wyatt, and he signed it that he couldn't wait to see him at his birthday party (which happened a few hours later ). I love this method of sharing research results!


For Storytime, Riley continues to enjoy "Mystery of the Silver Coins." His index cards entries this week were for Life Lessons and Vivid Descriptions, and he is doing a good job of choosing things to share. His oral narrations are full of excitement and drama, but lacking some order. In light of my thoughts after the sermon though, maybe we can run with this style a little more. Actually, that brings me to thinking about science and his oral narrations in that subject area. They are totally the opposite. They are full of exact numbers, specific vocabulary, accurate sequence, good coverage of the material. Hmmmmm. Maybe he likes to make his other oral narrations more storytelling like, and the science ones more accurate like a scientist would sound? That could be. That could be a good thing actually.

I love how science is kept Christ-centered in RTR. Riley's notebooking entry about "Exploring Creation with Astronomy" had him writing about Earth's Perfect Design by a Perfect Creator. He listed 7 things that encapsulate this perfect design... Perfect distance, perfect mass, perfect rotation, perfect atmosphere, perfect tilt, perfect land, and perfect magnetosphere. WOW! Our Creator is amazing, isn't He?!? Then, Riley pulled out his Bible and copied Isaiah 45:18. This is my idea of a 'perfect' notebooking assignment. Full of the Lord!

Riley's science experiment had him studying how rocks and solids melt under intense heat, becoming lava. Pouring hot melted butter over an upside down bowl on a flour-filled plate showed the way lava would erupt and run down in streams, creating ribbons of lava flowing freely - until they gradually begin to cool and harden. He did a super job on his science lab sheet and enjoyed this experiment so much!


Emily Dickinson's poetry really has Riley thinking. He likes the way she words things. We had a good talk about 'A thought went up my mind today..." I think Riley likes that she didn't title a lot of her poems. Coming up with a title is often the hardest part! He'd love to title his poems with just his first line. We had a good reading poetry exercise that reminded us not to pause at the end of every line, but rather at punctuation marks noted. We could see how reading the poetry those 2 different ways made a big difference in the overall feel of the poem. Riley read it several times, and when I joined him and missed a punctuation mark, he had a sharp look for me.

What a great week together in RTR!
In Christ,
Julie

[my3sons]

Beyond Little Hearts for His Glory:
We made a change in schedule this week. Riley began a new guide half-speed (RTR), and Emmett began doing Beyond full-speed every day about a month ago. I have not adjusted my schedule but sort of just tried to make the old one work (which was full-speed CTC for Riley, and 3/4 speed Beyond for Emmett). This plan to ignore the change in teaching needs was not the best. Everyone began needing me at once. So, instead of meeting with Wyatt for his World Geography guide first, I met with Emmett first and did his right side of his plans. Wyatt and Riley then worked independently first. After working with Emmett for half of his guide, he scampered off to play, and I worked with Riley on his RTR guide for 45 minutes. Then, I worked with Wyatt while Riley and Emmett played together. Finally, I finished up with Emmett and then Riley at the very end for just a few things to check. WOW! What a difference! Wyatt and Riley were able to get so much more done before I met with them, and then my teaching time just flowed. Emmett was fresher, and happy to be with me first. Who knew?!? He was always my little boy that wanted to play first. I guess turning 7 yo changed him. Anyway, I share this as maybe moving who you meet with first or the order of how you teach your dc may help some of you too!

This week for copywork I drew lines with a ruler on a blank paper. This worked well for Emmett! He was able to copy the whole poem, and it was a long one. Way to go, honey! I section off the area for him to copy in his Beyond poetry with 2 sticky notes, and he can copy it right from the guide now. Hooray!


We are having such fun reading "Key to the Treasure" for our Storytime Mystery this week. This book is one from an old HOD book pack, as we've used Beyond 3 times now, with the first time being back in 2005 with our oldest ds. We still are using those same books and getting our good use out of them! You have to love that Heart of Dakota doesn't have hardly any consumables. Anyway, this mystery is a great one for teaching foreshadowing. This week every time we heard a 'clue' we rubbed our chins and said,"Hmmmmmmm" in a puzzling way. Emmett begged me to read another chapter, but I said 'Nope!" You have to wait until tomorrow - how I love him coming to school with great excitement and anticipation!

This week's memory verse is my Dad's favorite Bible verse. Romans 8:28...
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
My Dad just recently died of cancer, and Emmett and he were very close. I love to have opportunities such as this to share my Dad's faith with Emmett and talk about him being happy and healthy in heaven. He still believed in the truth of this verse - even at the very end of his cancer, and could often be heard saying "We just trust God. We know each day He has a plan and a purpose for us, and we just need to live the day He's given us." Oh how we miss him.


In history, Emmett and I read about 2 boys who were kidnapped and living with their kidnappers through the winter. As spring approached the boys were to journey to Canada with their captors, but in the hopes of escaping and making their way back home, the boys made daring plans to run away. They were going to be traveling up the river to Canada, so it was a great time to learn about rivers in Geography. Riley, Emmett's big brother, joined him for this project, as it involved playdough and water - 2 of his favorites. The boys built a model of a river running into a lake, and identified its source, riverbed, riverbank, and mouth. Then they added water to their model and watched it flow.


For art, Emmett painted a night scene of the camp as described in "Stories of the Pilgrims." The sun was going down, and the trees appeared black and the lake appeared silverly as the moon shown upon it.


For grammar, we learned about proper nouns. We practiced writing first the names of each of our family members, and then writing the days of the week. Emmett colored the first letter of each to denote it should be capitalized. This is a good way to introduce basic parts of speech in a fun way...


In Christ,
Julie

[toobigfrogs]

I love reading about everyone's week. This is our third year with HOD. We started Res to Ref.

http://saralscott.blogspot.com/2014/03/ ... on-to.html

Blessings,
Sara

[my3sons]

Sara - my, my, my - your ds has the most beautiful cursive writing ever! The RTR notebooking pages are beautiful, but your son's are especially beautiful! Wow - he really did a super job on his notebooking! I agree, the transition to RTR from CTC was not hard. Thanks for sharing your week here!!!

In Christ,
Julie

[agstefko]

I have finally resurrected my blog so I have Unit 1 of LHTH, Unit 27 of LHFHG, and Unit 1-2 or PHFHG. These are our first few weeks with LHTH and Preparing and I absolutely love these guides!! Every day we work on them I love them more and more So, here is a look at what we have been doing. http://q4kids.blogspot.com/2014/03/scho ... -some.html

[MelInKansas]

I love reading the updates and especially seeing everyone's pictures of their smiling children and the work they've been doing. It really helps inspire me to follow through and complete the work, and also to take photos and catalog what we are doing for memories. I know I will miss this time with my kids when they are all grown up!

Last week we did some LHTH (we finished R and started S, I don't know the unit number), Unit 16 of Beyond, and Unit 7 of Preparing.

LHTH is going so well and I really appreciate that some of the activities have a little more challenge to them now for my DD. Especially there were a couple of really clever math activities in this past week and my DD really did well and was proud of what she did. One was "jars" of water (after the story of Jesus turning the water to wine at the wedding in Cana). The other was fish, after Jesus told the disciples to let down their nets and then they had an incredible catch of fish. I feel like she is learning the concepts but also since it connects to our Bible story, she is remembering the Bible story much better too. Also my son, who is almost 2, loves the Rhyme in Motion and will always come watch that when we do it. My DD also loves them and works hard to memorize them so she can do them.

In Beyond we are all really enjoying Stories of the Pilgrims still. I appreciate the readings being broken up into small pieces for each day and the discussion that goes on along with it. Probably my favorite thing is the Day 5 Bible story that goes along with the History from the week. I feel like that, and the discussion, always ties everything together so well and I pray my daughter will remember and keep some of these ideas for the rest of her life. She certainly does remember things pretty well.

Preparing has also been really fun this past week. A favorite for all of us is the Storytime book, Tirzah. I wasn't sure at first if I really liked this book. It smacked just a little bit of "teen lit" with all the feelings, and people making fun of each other at times. But really, being drawn into the story of Moses and the people of Israel's deliverance from Egypt, how can you not love it? Some of the parts I wasn't really happy with at the beginning were there to demonstrate that sinful, fallen people can come to trust and follow the Lord (and some don't, to their own ruin). The characters are excellent, the way it makes the story come to life is so amazing. Somehow between last week and this week we misplaced our book and I am praying it will turn up soon!

Another favorite is the History projects. They incorporate such good skills, and following directions, and my DD has done a great job and is very proud of her creations. Though my struggle all along in homeschooling has been where and how to keep all of these lovely things, and since most of these are 3D objects that has become even more difficult. I praise her, and take photos, and more often than not after staying around long enough for other family members to appreciate them, they get thrown away. I hope she still knows that I value these things and that she should (and I think she does) do her best.

We are still getting back into a routine after the DST change. We have been having beautiful weather and so we are itching to go outside rather than stay in and do school, but we do get it done eventually, often we will take a mid day break and go outside after lunch, then come back in to finish up once it is time for the little ones' naps.

Julie thanks for the reminder to adjust things as necessary. I feel like we do have some time issues and will be praying about how to adjust that. My Beyond DD would start school right away and smoke right through all of it, but my Preparing DD really needs me to get started with some of her stuff, plus if I can get her History and Storytime boxes out of the way early they are much less likely to be interrupted by a hungry toddler. But I pray God would give me the wisdom I need to do this job well.

[my3sons]

MelInKansas - I always love reading your updates! Here are a few favorites from this week's...

Especially there were a couple of really clever math activities in this past week and my DD really did well and was proud of what she did. One was "jars" of water I feel like she is learning the concepts but also since it connects to our Bible story, she is remembering the Bible story much better too. Also my son, who is almost 2, loves the Rhyme in Motion and will always come watch that when we do it. Probably my favorite thing is the Day 5 Bible story that goes along with the History from the week. I feel like that, and the discussion, always ties everything together so well and I pray my daughter will remember and keep some of these ideas for the rest of her life.
A favorite for all of us is the Storytime book, Tirzah... The characters are excellent, the way it makes the story come to life is so amazing. DD has done a great job and is very proud of her creations. Though my struggle all along in homeschooling has been where and how to keep all of these lovely things, and since most of these are 3D objects that has become even more difficult. I praise her, and take photos, and more often than not after staying around long enough for other family members to appreciate them,

We are still adjusting to the time change too! It is hard to get up at the usual time in the mornings. I hope your Tirzah books shows up soon - it has a super ending! I did need to adjust things, and that did help me, but back when we were doing the guides you are, I started with my PHFHG ds too. I think you are doing an awesome job!!! Thanks so much for sharing here!

In Christ,
Julie

[MelInKansas]

We found Tirzah yesterday so we only missed one day, or we are one day behind and will probably "catch up" with storytime on Friday. It was on the end table, which I think I looked on there several times while we were searching for it, but it was found the next day. I am thankful! We finished it up today and yes, the ending is wonderful.