Week-in-Review 8/30/10-9/3/10

[Mom4Him]

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!

[Mom4Him]

We have had a wonderful start to our year, as I know many of you have (or will soon)!
I wrote all about Kayla's first week of doing Little Hands to Heaven on our blog! There is also a little bit about our other girl's first week with LHFHG!! (My plan is to rotate who I highlight each week )
Here's the link... http://ourfamilyforhisglory.blogspot.co ... chool.html
I look forward to hearing about others' weeks as well!!
Jessica

[creativemommy]

We completed Unit 3 and moved into Unit 4 this week for LHTH & Beyond.

Monday...
http://ourlittlethinkers.blogspot.com/2 ... onday.html

Tuesday through Thursday...
http://ourlittlethinkers.blogspot.com/2 ... olors.html

No school Friday as we're traveling for a long weekend getaway!

[gotpeace91]

We were on vacation this week.
We went to a Native American Museum:

and toured a mansion built in 1875:

[my3sons]

Our first week of RTR, Bigger Hearts, and LHTH was busy but fun! We had to dust the cobwebs out of our minds after summer break, but by the end of the week, school was clicking along and felt like our "normal" again.

RTR:

RTR has been amazing for Wyatt! His newfound independence he earned in CTC last year served him well. His first day just clicked right along, almost as if we'd never stopped for a 3 month break. CTC was the first time he'd taken over his history readings as well as the science, which he first started doing independently in PHFHG. CTC was a training year, and now with RTR, he's soaring. His Bible Quiet Time is first thing in the morning, and it does me good as I'm doing mine to hear him singing his Phil. song and doing his Bible too.

For history, he's been listening to Diana Waring - a very spirited, history buff that keeps Christ at the center of history. He's also been reading "Peril and Peace", and it has done much for him to understand the price paid for faith. He needs to know this, and it's been good for me to remember it too. We are so blessed to live in a country where we can praise our Lord freely! I really appreciate the detail in the key notes of the RTR guide, especially for the things Wyatt is doing independently. They are my "cliff notes" as they offer a succinct summary of the day's readings. The Student Notebook looks like artwork itself. It's lovely! I enjoy looking through it to see my ds's work displayed in such a beautiful way. The boxes also make it easy to catch if he missed something in the plans. The history project is another favorite of ours - of mine, because my ds still is doing history-linked hands-on activities, and of his because it's just so fun! Here are some pictures of the Student Notebook and his first history project:


For science, I continue to be amazed at what he remembers from years of HOD's living books, notebooking, and experiments. He loves science! I am so glad he is doing an experiment every week and completing a lab form that parallels the scientific method. I am thankful he can do the experiments independently, and also for the care HOD takes in making sure we have what's needed for science right in our home - if I had to run to get supplies, I fear how few science experiments I'd actually get done. Here are some pics of his science this week - he did the planets' sizes:


Wyatt started his Shakespeare plans today. He liked it so much! I was pretty sure he'd love the book, but I was surprised he loved the coloring. He never used to like to color, but he really enjoyed it today so much, and did a nice job (it's the picture on our left):


My teaching time with Wyatt is so varied - I really like the change of pace each year. This year, my teaching time is spent on poetry study, history-based writing lessons, art appreciation, a Christ-centered boyhood study, listening to oral narrations, doing history Storytime follow-ups, teaching reading via DITHOR, grammar via R & S English, math via Singapore, reading and discussion history written narrations, and giving dictation. I am enjoying the variety greatly, as well as the balance of his independent work with my teaching time. I need teaching time with my youngers this year. I am so glad I have it, while still being able to have a fifth grader doing so much quality work in RTR. I've become a real believer in CM's thought that dc 9 yo on up should be doing the bulk of their reading for school - they DO retain things so much better than if I am reading aloud, their narrations ARE better, and the time it saves me so I can focus on the follow-ups to the readings rather than just on reading out loud is terrific! Here is Wyatt reading his written narration to me (while little brother listens in on his blanket of toys) :


What an awesome week - thanks HOD for making my homeschooling so thorough while yet so manageable!
In Christ,
Julie

[Tree House Academy]

We just finished another wonderful week with HOD! We did Unit 3 of both Beyond and CTC. I made some changes this week in our homeschool and took both kids back to Singapore math. We couldn't be happier. The lessons are thorough and challenging while not being long and drawn out and repetitious!

In Beyond, Scotty learned about the Brewsters who owned Scrooby Inn. His favorite part this week was the artwork and the very simple Bible Verse, "God is Love."

[my3sons]

Bigger Hearts for His Glory:
Beware! I snapped a LOT of pictures of Riley doing Bigger Hearts this week! I think I have been in awe all week of how well he is doing and felt the need to snap a picture of everything. We finished Beyond last year and started Bigger Hearts half-speed for 6 units at the end of last year. He needed to ease into it being on the young side of it. Boy, was that time worth it! Now that he's doing it full-speed, the kid is cranking out work left and right with no problems, loving it all, and getting pretty creative to boot! What a difference a little half-speed and a 3 month summer break can do! Don't get me wrong - he did fine with half-speed. It's just it was all he could do to go half-speed. Now, full-speed is the right fit - I'm one happy mama.

Riley loves every part of school. Here he is making his wigwam for history (which little brother ate the cereal off of it was a very authentic wigwam before becoming a toddler buffet ):


I had to snap a "before" and "after" of this one. The first "before" picture is of Riley's copywork of his Bible verse last year, and the second "after" picture is his copywork of his poetry this week:


Science remains a favorite subject of Riley's. Here he is creating a fossil mold imprint:



Riley's notebooking assignments turned out so nice. He is a child that really enjoys creating and coloring, etc. It's fun to see that side of him flourishing through HOD's plans. One of the many things I love about HOD is that though 2 of our sons have completed the same assignments, each of theirs looks very different from the other's - they each can put their own unique stamp of creativity on notebooking assignments, and they turn out differently. Here are Riley's science notebooking (diagram of a flower) and history notebooking (goods and services chart):


For history today, Riley got to make a landscape out of playdough and rocks, complete with bays, rivers, peninsulas, islands, etc. He loved it! Then he got to pour water on it to see how water fills in areas to create peninsulas, islands, etc.:


The only thing Riley still needed half-speed on was math. He is on the young side of it, and I wondered if we'd need to slow it down. He needed longer to understand borrowing, so we decided to slow it down, using HOD's hands-on activities over several days, and splitting the workbook over 2 days. It worked so well! Today, he did triple digit subtraction with borrowing and did well. He told me he "loves math"! I'm so glad because he was struggling with it the first day.

I'm so happy with Riley's first full-speed week of Bigger Hearts! I know from having done Bigger with Wyatt years ago - this is a big year, a key teaching year for many important skills Riley will need in years to come. I'm very glad to take the time to focus on teaching these skills well, as I know the dividends it pays years from now. I'm proud of my little "Smiley Riley's" progress so far!

In Christ,
Julie

[Tree House Academy]

We are just loving CTC so much. We started Singapore Math this week with Bryce doing 4A as a 6th grader. It is wonderful review for him in some areas and it stretches his mind in ways that our old curriculum did not in other areas. I am proud to say that he looks forward to doing math again!

In CTC this week, we enjoyed the poem "A Speck of Gold" by Robert Frost. His painting didn't turn out quite the way I think it was supposed to, but he still enjoyed doing it. Science is, by far, one of his absolutely favorites and he loves being able to do experiments all on his own.

I am noticing a HUGE difference in his written narrations from the first week to now. He is really coming alive with his abilities and his thought process is starting to show in some of these. He has also begun to take real pride in his CTC student notebook (which you will see when I post the pictures this week!) - he is using color, taking his time and making his writing neat and so forth. I am very proud of him!

He is doing a wonderful job with DITHR this year too. He has been reading the Borrowers and is truly enjoying the work in DITHR that goes along with it.

We were planning to go through English 5 (R&S) at full pace this year since he is an older student (now I have decided to slow him down and wait to do full pace when he is in R&S 6) - so he took his first test on the first chapter and made 98%! I am so proud of the work he is doing this year!

[my3sons]

Little Hands to Heaven:
Emmett came to school with both barrels firing! He is a "no holds barred" kind of little guy, and boy does he love LHTH! He would probably do it all day if I could. As it is, 20-30 minutes is what I've got, and LHTH is going a long way to make this mama feel good about being with her all-boy toddler.

Emmett's fingerplays use the entire living room and dining room. Samson the strong man never covered so much space as Emmett does when he flexes his muscles and shouts "Samson" and "a strong man" in his fingerplay - he's a-movin'. Here he is building the pillars Samson pushed down, and knocking them down with gusto:


Here is his "Count on Me" page, where he drew dumbbells and counted them (much better with the fine motor skills than last year I must say):


Ironically, we read the same story at night in our Bible as Emmett and I had read in school, about Gideon's army being chosen by the manner men drank water (from cupping it in the their hands or lapping it from the river with their mouths). He really understood this activity and was so happy with his work:


Tiger has been banned from school at times, because he is one silly sometimes naughty tiger, but here Emmett talked me into taking tiger for a run to show "running with Tiger" is a talent of Emmett's:


Yeah, sometimes I'm a softie. Anyway, what a fun week I had with Emmett! I feel so good about spending time with him. He deserves that as much as my olders do. I definitely depended on the schedule this week. From 8:15 AM to 12:30 PM I was "on" for teaching time, but after that, we were done. I thought it would take us longer to ease into school, but I think 4 things helped us not really need time for adjustment this year... 1) CTC trained Wyatt for RTR beautifully, 2) Riley started Bigger Hearts half-speed for awhile at the end of last year, so full-speed was easier this year, 3) Emmett started LHTH half-speed for awhile last year, so full-speed was easer for him too, 4) Emmett kept his same schedule of day throughout the summer, other than the 30 minute LHTH time and the 30 minute blanket of toys time, his day during the school year is the same as his day was during the summer. HUGE help!

Praise God - what an awesome week of school with HOD! Now, if I can just get my exercising down so it's not so painful to get up so early... and if I could get my crazy thyroid to behave... but HOD... that's good.

In Christ,
Julie

[psreit]

I haven't had a chance to really read the posts here, but I enjoy looking at the pictures. We are a half day away from finishing unit 4 in LHFHG. We would have finished it today, but dd started running a fever and having headaches. I am not 100% sure, but I think she could be experiencing West Nile Fever, hopefully a mild case. We were in Philadelphia on Tuesday and Wednesday for dd21's Dr. appts. If we stay overnight, we stay with some friends in a suburb of Phila. Tuesday evening we went to a nearby park, so the kids could play. I knew the mosquitoes were bad, but didn't realize how bad until I gave dd a bath the next morning. On her arms and legs, she had AT LEAST 40 bites. When I looked online for symptoms of West Nile Fever, they turned out to be exactly what dd is experiencing. Please pray for her. She minds the headaches, so I am really keeping an eye on her, as severe headaches are one of the symptoms for the severe case of West Nile Virus. The dr. should be called if there are severe headaches and high fever. Otherwise it is something that just has to take it's course.

August was very busy with starting school and many other things. Hopefully, after Labor Day we can settle into a better routine and I can take some pictures to share. DD is adjusting well to HOD. She is doing wonderful on Scripture memorization and continues to enjoy Reddy Fox. She is making progress with her reading and handwriting. I know this will be a very fulfilling year for dd, spiritually and academically.

[Tree House Academy]

Oh your poor dd! I will be in prayer for her.

[eachlee]

We had a great first week of school. We are using LHTH for my two oldest kids, as well as adding in some of the fine motor stuff from LHFHG for my oldest. We used LHTH (very slowly) last year and started off full-speed with unit 7 this school year. The highlight of my week was when the kids were talking to dad on the phone tonight and explained to him that "If water has blood in it then you don't want to drink it because then you will get sick and dead." I guess playing around with water before turning it red with food coloring really stuck. I was a bit hesitant about starting this week as my husband got a call on Monday and had to be away from Tuesday morning through to this coming Monday, but everything turned out great! School went so smoothly that I am confident we can do this no matter what twists happen in our lives.

Psreit - I'll be praying for your little girl! (And you as you care for her.)

[psreit]

Thanks for the prayers. DD has a lot of anxieties, so, just getting her to take fever medicine is very frustrating. She did finally take it and is resting well for the night. I called the doctor this evening and he said that they have not been seeing many cases of West Nile Virus lately, so he is not convinced that is what it is. However, if she continues to have these symptoms, I will take her to be checked out. Hopefully she will wake up tomorrow feeling better.

[tkeller]

Here is a link to my blog about our week with Little Hands to Heaven. Well it's our second time through so it's more like Little Hands to Heaven on steriods, lol. We are also doing the Rod and Staff workbooks for Preschool and Singapore Math Earlybird 1B. I only have one son, but I babysit two other kids and a baby so they do school with us!

http://tkeller3.wordpress.com/2010/09/0 ... ptember-3/

[blessedmomof4]

This week we did day 4 of Preparing unit 23 and day 1-3 of unit 24. Tamara enjoyed making a model of a coral polyp out a marshmallow and licorice laces, although she wished we had chocolate around the house instead of the strawberry jelly for the calcium carbonate coating. So Mom ate it
Tamara's illuminated manuscript turned out beautifully. She has begun doing all her cursive in pen, and I am seeing great progress in that area since I started her on Cheerful Cursive. She took care with her history notebook page for Erik the Red's family, and is making great progress with math. I have been planning to switch her out of Singapore math after 4A because I am beginning to find it difficult for ME , even got rid of 4B, but now that she has gotten into a better groove, I may revisit that decision...I don't think there is anything else out there with such short assignments!
Tamara is doing excellent work in Rod and Staff Grammar 3, and we are still having a great time reading aloud Raiders from the Sea. Her attention can wanter a bit for CHOW, she liked Grandpa's Box better, but I try to keep her focused by reminding her she has to narrate. Sometimes I have to lead her along a bit, but other times she can do a very good oral or written narration with no help. Tamara is definitely growing into the skills, and the better attitude
The other two girls are doing fine, with As and Bs their first week of online school, and better attitudes all around
Things like this confirm that me being home with them is the right thing, and that our Heavenly Father is in control no matter what things look like.