Week in Review 07-08-09 or 08-07-09 if you prefer

[spidermansmum]

Here in the Uk we do it o7-o8-o9 which make sit a cool date today.

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!

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[spidermansmum]

We completed week one of Beyond which makes me very happy.I was initially planning on going half speed as we stated the new school year but somewhen last week I decided we should try full speed.I am delighted with how smooth the transition has been for my 6 Yo Aspie.We got knocked ofcourse a bit by a very long hsopital appointment at the orthopedic outpatients,he needed new x rays and a new cast,....but we caught up fairly painlessly on Friday,it seemed as if Fridays activities were all fun.This is a major achievement for us
We have a visual timetable which helps enormously you can see ours here
http://stanleysmagicgarden.blogspot.com ... nated.html
And our very frugal attempt at workbox ish system

http://stanleysmagicgarden.blogspot.com ... 92010.html

We learnt about Oceans of the world and their currents this week.


Playing poohsticks and observing the current on the river



We were studying Psalm 18 and Learnt that God is our Fortress and our Sheild.Here is the sheild DS made


But the most wonderful part of doing HOD Beyond this week was DS placing a piece of his handwriting on the fridge for everyone to see

[spidermansmum]

Week of LHTH-we have been only doing halfspeed LHTH.My littlest guy is only 2.5 - so I am repeating lots of the activities and want LHTH to stretch 2 years .We made 2 days stretch to 4
here are some pictures of our week
In the beginning...



God Said Let there be light...


Colour matching

[georgiamomof3]

We began our second year of homeschooling this week, using our brand new HOD curriculum. I love it! We are using Preparing (and DITHOR 2/3 in a few weeks) for my dd,9 (4th grade), LHFHG for ds, 5 (kindergarten), and LHH for ds, 3 (preschool). I have been a lurker for about 6 months now and feel as if I know so many of you already. I have gotten wonderful input, advice, and information from so many of the great posts on this board.

We are using our own version of workboxes for our two ds. For the numbers, I used premade calendar cut outs from the school supply store. The boys LOVE the workboxes, and I love that they have special work to do when I'm busy with dd. Our schedule still needs tweaking, and I hate that about starting school, but I know it is necessary. I have started the week full-speed, but am planning to cut everyone to half speed next week, since I felt I was a little overzealous with wanting to start HOD. Next week my dd's soccer teammate will be with us for two weeks, so I figured cutting to half speed will keep us going, but will allow the girls play time. The neighbors have been great about knocking on our door this week. I printed a cute sign that I hang on our front door knob that either says "Yes, we can play now," or "Sorry, we can't play now." It has been really useful.

I have had doubts whether my 5 year old is truly ready for all the listening and comprehension in LHFHG. I actually have considered putting it off until next year, but I think I'll give it a few more weeks and see how he's doing. He loves the math and Do it Carefully books. He's not enjoying Reddy Fox much. I'm hoping it's just because it's new for him to listen to a chapter book and answer questions about it.

My dd is enjoying the crafts this week. She is a crafty girl, so the coat of arms was a huge hit for her. I think she was overwhelmed mentally from the full schedule, and I think once we slow down next week she will get more enjoyment out of it.
Once I figure out how to load pictures, I will!

[gotpeace91]

Sam,
Looks like you had a great week! Your ds's shield looks very cool and your little guy is so adorable holding the flashlight! Tell ds that we are very proud of his good handwriting.

georgiamom,
Wow! You're doing 3 programs and it sounds like you're doing fantastic! We are using Preparing this year also and the kiddos love it. What a great idea to put a sign on your door. I may use that.
I am not familiar with LHFHG but I wonder if you could shorten the reading a little bit or lay some of the books out on the table and let ds choose which one then maybe he would be more interested.
I think it's a good idea to do half speed next week when you'll be so busy.

Leah

[brenm37]

I posted on the main board about our first week in Preparing. It was a great first week and my 8 and 10 year old really enjoyed alot of the activities. This is our first year with HOD and I will eventually add in LHFHG for my 5 year old...
Brenda

[Tree House Academy]

We had another wonderful week with Beyond and Bigger. I started by attempting to tweek and leave out a few things and as I planned week 3, I realized that really all I am doing is planning my English and Math! I am using HOD as written because it is just so much better that way. I have even discovered that there is a good reason for the order of things on the left side pages. LOL Just call me "slow to catch on!" But we are definitely on track now!

Workboxes have been a beautiful addition to our year - I would encourage anyone thinking about using workboxes for HOD to give it a try. It really marries nicely.

Our week:

Beyond Little Hearts

Scotty and I read more about the Pilgrims this week in a story about a little pilgrim girl. Here is a map he drew as part of his History assignment.



The whole story went so nicely with the Bible verse - which I posted a video on the main board of my son memorizing. His little busy body needed that and what a fun, cool way for a 5 year old to learn a Bible Verse!

It is a video, so if you click on the picture, it will play.



In Science, we drew a giraffe (he traced the giraffe! LOL but he had a ball doing it!) and learned about the animals that are not native to our area.



For our read aloud, we drew a picture of Squanto (mom helped)



And here are some other random pictures from the week...Timeline, poetry, and copywork.

[Tree House Academy]

Bigger Hearts w/extensions:

The highlights from Biggers with week were the Science Experiments and Bryce's DITHR. I am SO impressed with DITHR, it is just amazing! It really gets his noodle working.

This week, he learned about the explorations of John Cabot. He finished Pedro's journal in the extensions and is ready to start Pocahontas next week. He is really enjoying the extensions reading. Science was the biggest hit. I got pictures of the experiment for the different beaks in the sand (of course little brother was right there. Hopefully he will forget the experiments by next year when it is his turn to go through Bigger!) That one was really fun! Bryce was also amazed today when the egg floated in the salt water after sinking in the fresh water. He had guessed the opposite.

Here is the beak experiment...















Here are some random pictures of the rest of the week. DITHR, Timeline, Notebooking page, Experiment sheet, and a really cool vocabulary word page.

















Thanks for letting me share our week.

[momof4]

Hi Ladies!

Sam, you're little guy is super cute with that flashlight! I'm excited to start Beyond after seeing you're pictures. Andy loves playing in the water.

Georgiamom, So glad you guys had a great first week!! Be patient with Reddy Fox. It took Andy a week or so to get used to listening to a read aloud and then he has LOVED all the books.

Rebecca, the video was really fun. It is a fun way to learn verses!

As for us, we completed Unit 25 of LHFHG last week. I was amazed at how easy it was to just start up where we left off. Yeah! We are doing the left side as written. For the right side of the page, we are doing A Reason for Handwriting A, the Early Readers Bible (from the emerging readers list), Explode the Code 3, The Adventures of Buster Bear, and Horizon's Math 1. He enjoyed learning about George Washington and laughed alot at Buster Bear (this may be his favorite so far). Since we haven't listened to it for a while, he begged to listen to the Hide 'em in Your Heart cd, all the way through. He has listened to the cd so much he knows all the verses before we even start each week. We just need to work on the reference. His favorite thing is reading HIS Bible each day (Early Reader's one). He gets tired after one story so we're just doing one a day.

My big question left to decide is do I start littlest one on LHTH this Fall. I wasn't planning on it, but the other day I gave her a coloring sheet that she was supposed to pick a red crayon to color a fire truck, a stop sign and an apple which she did no problem. My dd asked her later what was on her sheet and she said, "A red crayon, a bus and a octagon." A far as I know, no one said octagon at all that morning!! Now, I have to think whether I should start her or not

I took pictures, but haven't gotten time to load them yet. First week with a high school freshman and starting to get college lady ready to leave on the 18th. AHHH! Maybe I'll pictures loaded next week.