Week in Review 7/30/09

[busybee4]

Ok Girls,

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!

[busybee4]

We had another great HOD experience!! I'd say that I love this curriculum but I think I've said that enough!!!
http://rubyslippersschool.blogspot.com/ ... eaven.html check it out!!!

[Tree House Academy]

Today is the end of our first week using Heart of Dakota and I am just absolutely overjoyed at the choice we made to use this curriculum!

Our Experiences with Beyond:

Some of my favorite moments from this week using beyond with my 5, almost 6 year old has been the reading. He curls in my lap as we read Squanto, the stories in American Pioneers and Patriots, and the Bible. The Science is *just enough* for him. He loves doing the experiments most of all. The biggest surprise has been his reading aloud abilities. I worried about starting the Emerging Readers with him (mostly due to his age, not ability). Now, he is breezing through is daily readings in The Early Readers Bible. He enjoys reading the questions and answering them himself too. I feel like, with HOD, we are able to use all of the curriculum that we dearly love (CLE, Handwriting, etc) but enrich it completely. Like I said above, I couldn't be more pleased with our experiences thus far. Here are some pictures of my little fella and some of his work from the week.

Timeline





Poetry picture



A Sentence about himself - copywork



Spelling words used in a sentence (more copywork)



Poetry Copywork



And my favorite...his shield. He wanted me to write on it for him, so I did. He did the decorating around the edges. That was a wonderful activity...even if it will be used as a "Transformers Shield" henceforth. LOL

[Tree House Academy]

Bigger with Entensions and DITHR:

My older son will be 10 in less than a week and he started Bigger Hearts with Extensions and DITHR this week. Oh my! We are so in love with this. You just have no idea the change I have seen in this child with regard to school work using HOD plus workboxes. He spent his week in History up to his eyeballs and loved every second of it! This child is the biggest history buff and I couldn't have chosen a better approach for him. Together, we are reading George Rogers Clark. On his own in extensions, he is reading about Pedro and Columbus and we are also reading about them in History. On top of that, in DITHR, he is reading Jed Smith. He has told me so many neat and fascinating facts about these people and their lives.

Here is just a sample of his work in DITHR. This is a child who wouldn't write or be creative at all for me last year. Look at how he is eating this up!









Science Notebooking



Columbus' Map



LOL and then there is this picture. My older was doing his history activity this week and he had to write the names of the continents and oceans and then stick them on a ball or balloon. We didn't have either, so we just used the globe. When we were finished, he told the that the globe looked "freaky." Then he asked me to take his picture with the globe. Little brother thought this was a grand idea and he needed to be in on it too. So...my "freaky" globe and my silly kiddoes!

[2plus2]

Krissy -- LOVE those number roads. Do you remember where you got them from? We're about to begin LHTH & my son would love that! Great pix!

[spidermansmum]

Krissy- I would love to know where you got the number roads from too- that would be a hit here.Love the pictures of LTHT...Im starting next week
Rebecca- Your pictures of your first week's work of Beyond are amazing.I hope we have such a good week

[gotpeace91]

Bigger with Entensions and DITHR:

My older son will be 10 in less than a week and he started Bigger Hearts with Extensions and DITHR this week. Oh my! We are so in love with this. You just have no idea the change I have seen in this child with regard to school work using HOD plus workboxes. He spent his week in History up to his eyeballs and loved every second of it! This child is the biggest history buff and I couldn't have chosen a better approach for him. Together, we are reading George Rogers Clark. On his own in extensions, he is reading about Pedro and Columbus and we are also reading about them in History. On top of that, in DITHR, he is reading Jed Smith. He has told me so many neat and fascinating facts about these people and their lives.

Rebecca,
It looks like you had an awesome week. I like the "freaky" globe picture. That shield looks great! I noticed your older ds uses cursive when he writes. Is this something you are requiring of him or does he prefer it? I'm impressed with his work.

Leah

[Tree House Academy]

Bigger with Entensions and DITHR:

My older son will be 10 in less than a week and he started Bigger Hearts with Extensions and DITHR this week. Oh my! We are so in love with this. You just have no idea the change I have seen in this child with regard to school work using HOD plus workboxes. He spent his week in History up to his eyeballs and loved every second of it! This child is the biggest history buff and I couldn't have chosen a better approach for him. Together, we are reading George Rogers Clark. On his own in extensions, he is reading about Pedro and Columbus and we are also reading about them in History. On top of that, in DITHR, he is reading Jed Smith. He has told me so many neat and fascinating facts about these people and their lives.

Rebecca,
It looks like you had an awesome week. I like the "freaky" globe picture. That shield looks great! I noticed your older ds uses cursive when he writes. Is this something you are requiring of him or does he prefer it? I'm impressed with his work.

Leah

He went to public school through third grade and he learned cursive there. When I brought him home, his writing was terrible and we worked a lot last year on handwriting. He chose to continue with cursive. I absolutely do NOT require it (my handwriting is a mix of cursive and print), but he really enjoys it. Now, little brother is learning cursive too. He begged me to teach him and I went with Abeka curisve since they are so famous for teaching cursive to younger kids. He is doing well too.

[gotpeace91]

That's great that he enjoys it. I wish my ds did. His cursive is so much nicer than his print but he only does cursive if he has to. I'm hoping it will get easier for him. I thought I might try to have him use it more often next year.

Leah

[busybee4]

2plus2 &spidermansmum,

Sorry it's taken me so long to get back here! I've added the link to the highway number printouts on my blog http://rubyslippersschool.blogspot.com/ ... eaven.html You can access the printout from there. They also have ABC printouts in the same fashion. Hope your little ones enjoy those!!

[Carrie]

Ladies,

I'm so glad that you enjoyed your week with HOD! I loved your blog Krissy and loved seeing the pictures of your kiddos too, Rebecca!

Your posts are such an encouragement to others as you share your HOD experiences. I loved the peek inside your school days.

Rebecca, I'm thrilled to hear how much your sons are enjoying their books. I am a book-lover at heart and it does my heart good to picture your boys cuddled up with excellent books! Your sons pages for DITHR were amazing! You're getting me motivated to gear back up for school in September!

Thanks for sharing!

Blessings,
Carrie

[Tree House Academy]

I hope to be able to share a snippet each week of our learning with HOD. I started out thinking that I would tweek here and there and mix up the order and cut out one day (co-op), but once I got into the material, I see why it is laid out the way it is. I have revised my schedule to follow HOD as closely as possible to the way it was written because it is so solid! My tweeking made it less smooth. By Wed, I had redone all of my schedules, added back in the co-op day (cancelled co-op because the art included weekly is wonderful and teachable!). By Friday, morning, the kids are I were SAD that our week was ending. And both boys have asked all weekend when we can get back to HOD. I just can't believe it! I mean, I figured curriculum was curriculum - but Heart of Dakota has been literally incredible for us. Last year was SO HARD. It was our first year with my older son and finding curriculum was something I had never done before. We started with Calvert. After 8 weeks, I realized my kids did NOT fit in the box. Bryce had gaps in his learning from the time he spent in ps and Scotty was well advanced for his age (and doing a boring K program). I wish I had found HOD then! I didn't, though, and we spent the year switching curriculums, failing and flailing. This spring, when I started searching for new curriculum, I originally started with Sonlight. I read and read and read and finally decided that it was just too much and not a fit for my kids. That is when I started reading about HOD. The more I read, the more I liked what I read. Most of all, I love that the guides can be used for so many different levels because the basics are seperate. Now, I tell everyone I know about HOD! They get tired of hearing it, I am sure.

[Carrie]

Rebecca,

I'm so glad that you have found HOD too! We will thoroughly enjoy sharing our homeschool journey along with you this year.

What a blessing that your kiddos are enjoying their school and that momma is happy also! You are so gracious to share HOD with others!

Blessings,
Carrie