Week In Review: September 29 - October 3

[MelInKansas]

Ok Fellow HOD Homeschoolers,

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!

[MelInKansas]

How was our week? Well, it was pretty good. We keep on plugging ahead with our guides and my 2nd born daughter started Bigger Hearts this week (thanks to a fast ship from HOD as I realized only last week that we had been given a math workbook that had been written in, and for some reason I thought she had told me it was unused!)

So my 5YO did Unit 7 of LHFHG, my 7YO did 2 days of Unit 1 of Bigger, and my 9 YO did Unit 29 of Preparing.

LHFHG continues to be a lot of fun. It is a perfect balance for her of challenge and fun. Reading has become a bit of a chore and I am trying to discern how much is her attitude and how much is her not being quite ready to jump in this far yet. She raced right along through lessons 1 and 2 of TRL (which I feared would be too fast of a pace to continue) and now is really struggling to do one page a day in Lesson 3. I just pray for wisdom! She really loves and remembers the Bible stories we are studying, when we did Gideon at church she remembered reading about it for school and doing the Rhyme. In fact I think that was Unit 6 so we just finished it.

Bigger was great, my daughter really warmed up to it. We were doing it somewhat slowly. She loves the grammar book (so far, only 2 days in), enjoys daily science, and of course the crafty activities are always a hit. I had picked a Biography of Christopher Columbus for her storytime book and that was what we read in History too but it wasn't overkill, it was interesting to read the two together. I loved the activity introducing the Biography genre.

Preparing is great! My daughter is counting down though to finishing it and starting CTC. I'm glad she is so excited to move on. I have started pre-reading CTC books and am also looking forward to her being in those. Right now we are reading about exploration of the New World, trade routes to India and China (Vasco De Gama sailing around Africa for example) and Hero Tales of missionaries in Africa. It is a fun time to study and I love (as always) the interaction of all of the materials and activities to really bring in a wholesome, well-rounded study of these areas. Again I learn so much through my time studying these things with my kids! The one tough spot we do have is writing. Whenever the poetry writing assignment or the written narration come up there is often a little session of pouting and stubbornness about it. We talk, we pray, and I know it is a difficult task for her, but I do feel she needs to work through it. CTC is not going to make it any easier for her! So we are trying to work through some of these issues and do it the best we can. I do sit with her and help her with spelling and even talk through wording with her. This does seem to help. But often I think she just needs to change the way she goes into it, and just because it's hard for her she can learn how to approach difficult things with a good attitude and give it her best try.

I hope others' week has been as blessed as mine.

[Nealewill]

Sounds like you had a very exciting week with the start of a new guide.

We had a great week as well. We just a full week of school after being off for 2 weeks. The first week we took off because we refinished our wood floors in the dining room and living room. Those are two of my prime rooms for school. Then the following week we went on vacation. Yesterday, my oldest dd attended a conference yesterday for Pure in Heart. But that caused for a crazy previous week because my dd was actually performing in that conference as a singer and she has a few practices (not to mention sports practice and a club she attends once a week too). But we made it!

My oldest is now 7 units into CTC. We are finally in a grove. Last week I was so proud of her because worked very hard and independently without much prompting from me. We also participate in AWANA and ever morning, she got up, ate breakfast and worked for 15-20 minutes on her AWANA. Then, this week, she started school right after on her own with out being told. Typically I make her follow the schedule I set and she is required to do her boxes in the order I established. Well, this week because of the crazy schedule and because she started school alone without me prompting her, she set her own schedule She busted through it too! Every day she started by 8:30 and was done by 3:00 (we take breaks still and split the work between AM & PM). I was very happy with that.

After we refinished our floors, I rearranged the living room. My oldest dd has been using a rectangular kitchen table someone gave us as her desk. I set up a table in my living room because this way she could be closer to me but it freed up the dining room table for me to work with the younger kids when they had anything they needed to write. It also helped to keep all of her school supplies at her finger tips and helped her to be organized. Well, someone gave us an oblong table recently so I set that up in the living room (which has basically turned into the school room LOL) for my middle child and youngest child to share. Now that I have done that, I can more easily have my two youngest work on things more independently. My son is now completing unit 6 of Bigger and he has finally gotten to the point that I can give him the manual for a few of his subjects. That was fantastic! So every day this week I highlighted what I wanted him to do in the manual alone and gave it too him. Can I not just reiterate how wonderful this week has been?!!!! I also did the same thing for my youngest dd. She reads at a 3rd or 4th grade level so I am having her read her books to herself. I also gave her the manual and she was able to read everything she needed on her own this week and complete several things alone.

It was great! I specifically remember thinking on Friday while I was helping my oldest dd with a measuring activity for science that finally felt like an educational moderator . It truly is a wonderful day when your kids can start making school their own and they have a passion to work hard without being prompted the entire day.

[lissiejo]

Your weeks sound fun ladies! "Educational moderator" I love that!

Here is our week...
http://gracefilledhomeschooling.blogspo ... ber-3.html

Preparing: Unit 23
Bigger: Unit 5
Preschool: Preschool stuff

[LynnH]

I love reading about everyone's weeks. Here is our week from the WG guide http://graceandfur.blogspot.com/2014/10 ... 32014.html

[lissiejo]

I love reading about everyone's weeks. Here is our week from the WG guide http://graceandfur.blogspot.com/2014/10 ... 32014.html

I love that you ask your son what he thinks. We do that with our girls too. I have some friends who are afraid to ask them, but I think it is important that they know I care about their opinions while also knowing we will still be the ones making the final decision.

[my3sons]

World History High School:
Each time another colorful portrait and caption is added to Wyatt's "Heart of Dakota Book of Centuries" it grows more and more into a visual record of the history he has studied. Wyatt would be the first to admit he is not the most beautiful of colorers, but we still both think his Book of Centuries is turning out so well. Here are a few snapshots of them...


For Wyatt's "Heart of Dakota World History Notebook," Wyatt wrote a written narration about how family and faith provided stability throughout ancient civilizations. I was glad his topic sentence shows he agrees this is still true today! Another portion of Wyatt's World History had him listening to the "You Are There! World History Collection" CD on the topic of "The Fall of Troy." I especially loved the follow-up assessment assigned in the World History Notebook. Wyatt had to list bulleted notes for each person to describe his/her point of view, any actions taken, and descriptions of the person, as well as sharing his own thoughts as to whom he agreed with in this situation and why. Specific helps were given about how to effectively state his opinion, and for this week, a sample was modeled. It was neat to read all of his bulleted notes, and I can't wait to read his own written opinion the next time he does that part of the assessment! The directions in the WH make it so clear how to assess this assignment. I simply assign points for the guidelines given and grade according to that. It has been working great and has helped Wyatt learn to read the assessment guidelines carefully!



Wyatt finished his Living Library book "Cat of Bubastes." This was a favorite of his, as Henty is his favorite author! By the close of the book, he completed his assigned "Literary Synthesis Sheet." I think he did a wonderful job on it! Next time, I may ask him to high-light the words he used from the "Word and Idea Helper" sheet, just as it will make it easy for me to see which words he has used. I like this follow-up assessment. It teaches much without dissecting the book. It shows what he knows without making him dislike reading. AND, the books are simply amazing living books to read anyway!


We are getting into a good rhythm with Geometry now. I have realized the most important thing to do is to work through the Central Problem with Wyatt, which generally takes multiple days in a row. After that, much of it can be done more independently. The answer key is a must. I depend upon it, and so does Wyatt! The demos on the computer help if he is stuck, and set the pace at the start with a solid introduction to each chapter. I am thankful for Carrie's notes she provided with the first 4 weeks sent out. I think Wyatt is going to do well with this geometry. I am thankful, as at first I wasn't sure! Algebra is more his thing, I thought that at least. Now, it seems he is doing very well with Geometry - but then, he is quite good at math overall. I do believe it has been due to all of the previous years in Singapore.


Wyatt's Literature Journal has been special to him, as well as his Prayer Journal. I read the former and not the latter. We have gone to him sort of just flashing me the pages for the week for his Prayer Journal, as he wants it to be private between him and the Lord. I can understand. I can see at a glance when he flashes it to me that he is doing a good job, not writing anything inappropriate, and taking it seriously. I love the process of jotting phrases next to "Praise God," "Offer Thanks," "Confess," and "Ask God." It touches on all areas of prayer modeled in the ACTS model, which was derived from paralleling The Lord's Prayer. The book with the anchor on the front is the one he chose for his Prayer Journal - a good choice, I think, as God is our anchor!


Speaking of adoration of God - I just had to share this picture of a sunrise we had the pleasure of enjoying this past week! We all were in awe of it, and had we not been homeschooling together, we'd have missed that moment together! How great is our God! How beautiful His handiwork is in His Creation!!!


I hope you all had a good week, and another good one ahead!

In Christ,
Julie

[my3sons]

Resurrection to Reformation:
Riley really got to shine this week in RTR, as there were ample opportunities for creativity in assignments! His artistic side came out. My mom found a large art set case of supplies at a garage sale, and Riley loves to pull it out and put it to good use. She actually bought it for Wyatt many years back, and it sat on the shelf until Riley pulled it out this year for RTR. He gets it out so gingerly, as if it is incredibly special and must be handled with kid gloves. I am glad it is getting used now! This week, Riley drew two figures from Draw and Write Through History. I challenged him on the second figure, Robin Hood, to add background colors to enhance the setting of the portrait. He couldn't believe how that small attention to detail improved the overall look of the drawing! Are your dc sometimes shocked when you have a good idea? Mine are.


Sometimes I like to encourage extra effort to detail in artistic elements of assignments, and other times not. It is in my nature to always require it, but that is not the key objective of every assignment. For example, in "Drawn into the Heart of Reading" this week, Riley was assigned to complete a graphic organizer about descriptive details about the characters in "The Little Duke." For one of the columns, he had to draw a physical characteristic for each of them. Some of his drawings were stick figures. My first thought was to have him redo some of them, or add to them, but my second thought was, 'What is it that we are assessing?' It was not primarily a drawing assignment assessing his creative skills. Instead, it was a reading assignment assessing if he could share descriptive details about his characters he was reading about in his book. He did that. So, that is good enough and not the assignment to expect excellent drawing out of. His personal opinion writing on the next day shows he understands much about the character of Richard, the Little Duke. All of this works together to show - yes - he is doing well with this story element.


For research this week, Riley searched for answers to questions about Saladin. I always stay near him as he is doing this, as Internet use these days demands parental attention. He is learning many things from using the online encyclopedia - how to skim, how to use a table of contents, how to click on blued out links but not get to clicking off more than once from the main page, how to search for answers and put them in his own words, etc. This has been something for him to grow into because at the start, he had difficulty finding the answers. Now, he is quite adept at it and rather enjoys being the expert on his research as he shares it with me!


This research assignment went perfectly with the history project. Riley loved following origami folding directions to create Saladin's turban. Drawing, dressing, and constructing Saladin was one of his favorite activities. Saladin may forever be sitting on his end table by his bed - he is that attached.


Thank you, Heart of Dakota! For all of the amazing, unique, varied history projects, Carrie, that you have taken precious time to write! There is worth in every single one, and our boys will be able to credit their history projects for successfully being able to build things from a step-by-step model, cook/bake things from a multi-step recipe, create things to perform certain needed tasks from household materials, express their creativity in a variety of art mediums such as watercolor painting/oil pastels/origami/mosaic and so many more. You are teaching life skills and keeping school hands-on in a meaningful, fun, memorable way. We truly could not do it without you!!!

In Christ,
Julie

[my3sons]

Beyond Little Hearts for His Glory:
Emmett's copywork is gradually becoming neater and neater, and I am so thankful as this is not an area I am gifted with patience in. I must force myself - almost with breathing exercises (just kidding, it's not that bad) - to remain encouraging and positive and patient as Emmett writes his poems each day. It is not that he should be doing so much better - he is only 7 years old. He is doing very well. It is that I need to be more refined in this area - the Lord is always refining me, and it is a good thing as it is clearly necessary. Patience is always a virtue for me to work on. Emmett's not much of a fan of drawing, so the small pictures are quite an effort and a fairly good turnout for him. I was happy enough with them and decided to call it 'good.' A happy bonus to the poetry this week was the reading of the poem on the day he got to share a previous poem with our family. He got out the karaoke microphone, and I gave him a tiny reminder to read slowly and carefully. I'm not sure why, but it made all the difference! He read it perfectly (at least according to this mama's hearing). He paused all the right places, read with a flourish of personal style, and wowed me and his brothers with his poetry reading! Everyone agreed it was his best reading to date of poetry. Hooray!


Emmett also continues to love the poetry assignment of sequencing the poem...


Emmett's favorite activity this week was dressing his buddy up with the 'armor of the Lord' we read about. Riley couldn't wait to help with this assignment, and I was thankful because of all of the stuffed buddies Emmett could have chosen, he chose a beanie balz. I was not sure how this would go, as armor is somewhat difficult to fashion for a quite rotund ball with itty-bitty hands and pretty much non-existent feet. Somehow, they did it - and they had a blast doing it too! All day that beanie balz was by Emmett's side... outdoors, indoors, upstairs, downstairs, waking, sleeping... that little guy never left Emmett's side. The next day, however, Emmett decided the armor may be too constricting for his buddy (probably true), and he unleashed him from his clothing prison. However, it still will rank as a top day in homeschool projects (until the next great one comes along - probably next week ).


In grammar, Emmett was introduced to singular and plural nouns this week. These activities do a super job of introducing somewhat difficult concepts in ways Emmett understands. Here, we listed singular nouns of common items Emmett uses in our home. Then, he had to write the plural form of the noun if he owned more than one of them. I jotted them on a marker board, and he copied them. It was an easy activity to do, and it made him totally understand the concept of singular and plural forms of nouns.


What a good week - hope you had one too!

In Christ,
Julie

[MelInKansas]

Julie I had to laugh because handwriting does the same thing to me. I have to stop myself nearly every day from either fussing over every little detail or saying "Hurry up, we don't have all day here" or even both! I am so selfish and impatient! I learned some lessons with my oldest and have worked hard to not make handwriting a battle with my 2nd born. That added to the fact that she actually cares about making it neat have made it a much better thing with my 2nd born than it ever has been with my first. Those poor oldest children, they are the ones we learn everything on.... or at least learn some things....

[my3sons]

Julie I had to laugh because handwriting does the same thing to me. I have to stop myself nearly every day from either fussing over every little detail or saying "Hurry up, we don't have all day here" or even both! I am so selfish and impatient! I learned some lessons with my oldest and have worked hard to not make handwriting a battle with my 2nd born. That added to the fact that she actually cares about making it neat have made it a much better thing with my 2nd born than it ever has been with my first. Those poor oldest children, they are the ones we learn everything on.... or at least learn some things....

So nice to know I'm not alone in this! I couldn't agree more. Certainly Wyatt has taken the brunt of my perfectionistic, impatient nature. Riley has had less of that, and Emmett - well, pretty much anything goes with him. By the time I figure parenting out, I'll probably be a grandma. I'll probably be a pretty laid back one, too.

In Christ,
Julie

[Nealewill]

Mel and Julie,

I love reading about your personalities with your oldest - as I am the same way with my oldest. I affectionately refer to her as my test baby .

[my3sons]

Mel and Julie,

I love reading about your personalities with your oldest - as I am the same way with my oldest. I affectionately refer to her as my test baby .