Week in Review:October 3rd-7th

[rogmisbailey]

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!

[rogmisbailey]

Hello ladies! We had a much better week this week. We did HOD 3 days and took a day to focus on Columbus day, and fire safety. We had a fun week, I am going to try to keep the same format from now on. I tried to edit my blog each day with a summary this week and it worked much better than trying to sum it all up at the end of the week. Hope you enjoy!
http://mymimishouse2.blogspot.com/2011/ ... d-7th.html

[my3sons]

Little Hands to Heaven:
Can it be we only have about a month left to enjoy of LHTH?!? It has flown by, and we have even extended our time within LHTH to a little over 1 1/2 years, by first going half-speed, and then full-speed. It has been such a joy to see my little Emmett grow and learn through LHTH. We started when he was not quite 3 yo, as he wanted his mommy time with me, and half-speed LHTH was the best way I could manage to do him justice with it.

Today, our Fingerplay was a review of all the letters/sounds he's learned in LHTH, and I asked him if he could try very hard to stay in about the same place across from me while he and I did the Fingerplay together (he is my WIGGLY pumpkin). HE DID IT! He managed to do all the letters, all the sounds, all the actions with gusto without racing around the room or jumping on and off the couch. Progress. Real progress. I was so proud of him! He happily hopped over his masking-taped "X" with his buddy as he shouted the sound for it and then ripped off the tape and balled it up (he likes to do this as a big finale to the activity) :


I am so glad he has done the "Count on Me" activity each week. Learning to draw a certain number of objects within the boxes that relate to the Bible story, and then having to jot the numbers under them as he skip counts has taught him a lot of skills in one fell swoop. This continuity has been great for him. I usually draw dots for him to connect, show him one example in box 1, and then let him do it. This activity has helped me focus on helping him properly hold a marker as he writes too. I was so proud of his work on these skills this week - again - real PROGRESS. I remember my little honey clutching his marker club-like, and scribbling outside the box while counting incorrectly - which was fine - to begin with - but, now, he finally has this activity down pat. I'm so glad he had steady practice with these skills throughout the year in LHTH...


Emmett loves to paint, but he has finally been able to slow down his exuberance to let me give him some needed guidance. On this art project of a lovely outdoor scene with a river running through it, I took the end of the paint brush and gave him some etched off areas to paint in, one part at a time, starting with the river. He did all the painting on his own, with me steadying his hand when he asked for help, but he was so proud of this picture he showed daddy the minute he walked in the door...


One month and look out - LHFHG half-speed we come - we're excited, but we're sure going to miss LHTH.
In Christ,
Julie

[my3sons]

Bigger Hearts for His Glory:
Today was our last day with Bigger Hearts for His Glory. I feel like crying - out of sadness and out of joy - as it was just such an amazing time spent together that I'm sad it's done, but happy we loved it so much. I went crazy with the camera, so get ready for a bunch of pictures. I think I wanted to capture every moment of it this week.

Riley has become such a good artist - he really is just a natural, and he enjoys artistic projects so much. Every mom deserves a Riley. He is just such a happy little fellow, so full of joy about anything and everything to do with school. Not that he is a quick worker, or that he is oozing with great attention to task, but he is definitely my dear son that will take time to smell the roses in life. Here Riley is making a replica of our state's license plate - can you see the little Mount Rushmore faces down on the left?


Here Riley added to a map he'd begun to create in a previous unit. There was quite a bit to write on this assignment, but he has grown into this amount of writing and did it with no problems...


Here we made soda pop together, for science, and I liked the sweet taste of it. It was too sweet for him though (can it be possible a child of mine does not share my renowned sweet tooth?!? )...


We studied the Statue of Liberty, and here is his art project that went along with that reading - can you see Lady Liberty's crown?


In Journeys in Time for history we read about migrant workers, and Riley couldn't believe that this is a way of life still practiced here in the US. My parents enjoyed meeting some migrant workers in CA and marveled at their ability to work so efficiently. They also were inspired by their singing of praise songs as they worked. Here Riley painted and labeled the crops picked by the workers mentioned in the story...


Riley has absolutely loved reading about Thomas Edison. Wyatt and he have had some great conversations about him, as Wyatt is also reading about inventors in RevtoRev. There are lots of, "Hey, did you know that...?!?" Pretty neat. Here is Riley's notebooking assignment about Thomas Edison...


As a finale to grammar, Riley made a poetry book of the end of the unit's poems in R & S English. I loved this assignment in BHFHG. It turned out so well, and Riley really loves poetry, thanks to his years in Beyond and BHFHG...


As I was just saying - Riley LOVES poetry. When asked to read one of his favorite poems from the year, he said, "Can't I read them alllllll?" "No" says practical mom. "Can I read it with the microphone?" "Yes, and you can read 5" says loving mom. By the close of poem #5 the volume and the "echo" dials on the karaoke machine were UP LOUD, as high as they would go. Loved the enthusiasm, but glad we stopped with 5.


Riley's science experiment involved fire and soda pop - naturally a big hit with him. Here he learned that a lit match (or butane lighter) will immediately go out when there is a lack of oxygen, or in this case, an influx of carbon dioxide from root beer. Cheers!


In math, Riley used cubes to learn that the shape of an object can be different while the area remains the same...


What did I tell you - CRAZY with the CAMERA - wasn't I? Anyway, what an incredible year with Bigger Hearts. For those of you just starting it, you are in for a fantastic year of growth and joy - may I please live vicariously through you until my youngest gets to do it?!?

In Christ,
Julie

[my3sons]

Revival to Revolution:
We have settled into a great routine with RevtoRev. Today, I think Wyatt gave me the best oral narration he has ever given me. It was in the right order, it was very narrative, it had vivid descriptions, it was a nice length, AND it had his personality in it. After he finished, I just sat there in silence and finally said, "I think I can't think of something to improve upon this time." He said, "Man, now THAT has got to be a first!" But he was grinning from ear to ear and so was I.


Wyatt's vase he made for history project turned out so neat. I had him add a few more flowers, but that was the only "help" I gave.


The research study Wyatt is doing on the signers each week really has his attention. He is enjoying it thoroughly. The portraits of each of the signers are so beautiful, and he is doing a good job with the information he has researched on the back of each card...


His Student Notebook is coming together so nicely, and it is a lovely way to organize what he has learned chronologically...


Map Trek has been a great way to track the location of important historical events around the world, as well as learn solid mapping skills...


Wyatt is clipping along with Singapore Math, and I am in a supervising role lately...


Written narrations have become much more enjoyable to read as of late, for he is finally getting how to put all that he's learned together...


This is the only thing I'm posting that is not an HOD activity, but I have to give due credit to HOD because it is the history projects Wyatt has done over the years that have turned him into a pretty good chef. He picked a baked apple and raspberry recipe off the Internet site All Recipes, put the ingredients he needed on my grocery list, and made them all by himself. MMM. Thanks for teaching great life skills HOD!


In Christ,
Julie

[MelInKansas]

Julie, thanks so much for all the pictures and sharing! It sounds like you guys really had a great week!

I am back on weekly updates. First I was gone for 4 days and we took nearly a week off of school. Then last week there was a lot going on in our household (we still have not reset our living room after having the carpet cleaned for example). This week we were almost back to normal, but we took today off to go to the pumpkin patch where the kids had a wonderful time playing, petting and feeding animals, riding a tractor pulled train, and things like that.

But back to HOD, we finished Unit 9 and started Unit 10 of Beyond this week. My 6YO was excited to start reading Owl at Home for Emerging readers and she loved the first story! My children really latched onto the story of Nehemiah and the Israelites building the wall of Jerusalem and they enjoyed playing they were building the wall with blocks while I would pound the floor and then tear some of it down. I was excited to see that the memory verse for Unit 10 is actually one we just did for AWANA so they are getting that one quickly so I hope the part of getting it in their hearts and talking through it will really sink in. The poem in Unit 10 is so short too my DD was very excited about that for copywork! I may just have to find something else for her to copy part of this week! But it is also a fun poem.

The story and craft about the little boy who brought a lit fuse into the powder room on the Pilgrims' ship cracked me up! My 6YO kept saying "that boy was naughty!" We discussed how he was just full of energy but he got ideas and did things that weren't very wise and he didn't listen to his parents, which was not good. Anyway, it was a fun week, as always.

[birchbark]

We just finished Unit 6 of RTR, however these are some pics of our first couple units from last month. Included are DS's Roman arch, Greek inscription, and notebook pages.

A highlight of the month was a day at the Minnesota Renaissance Festival for a field trip!

[birchbark]

RTR

[birchbark]

RTR and Ren Fest

[KristinBeth]

I am having a great time reading all your updates! Such good stuff ahead of us.

We started kinder with Unit 1 in LHFHG this week (after my kvetching on the main board ). Half-speed was the plan, Full-speed was the reality. It was so smooth and easy, we just breezed through our mornings with plenty of time for everything else we wanted to do - like finally being able to take a neighborhood nature walk since it was in the 70's, not 100's for a change.

First day of school - so excited, she had to put on a ball gown.


All our materials ready to go...


Our challenge of the week was learning to write numbers (she can count,add and subtract and group items all in her head, but she can't write any of it) Practice practice practice, learning the form of the numbers by writing them on paper, in chalk, on a sandwich bag full of dish soap, and tracing them on masking tape...


We learned about the continents (while we got our stomp and swing on!), and rotated around the flashlight sun in one year.


Both girls had a great time with the Rhymes in Motion and other gross motor activities. They are favorites around here. DD learned her bible verse in one day, and my 2 year old learned it as well. We also finished Chapter 15 of TRL and reading is coming along so smoothly now. DD hasn't really realized that she can read books that aren't official "readers" yet. She always looks for a number 1 on the cover of a book to ensure she can read it. She is realizing she can read the toy catalogs that come in the mail, though!

[LynnH]

Here is a link to our week with RTR http://graceandfur.blogspot.com/2011/10 ... 32011.html

[KristinNitz]

Week 5 on Bigger. Another great week Here is our blog post. http://nutbugs.com/heart-of-dakota-bigg ... -5-update/

[emqberry]

Okay, so here's our week! I did three posts, one for each child : )
LHTH:
http://mycrazybutjoyfulandblessedadvent ... rters.html
LHFHG:
http://mycrazybutjoyfulandblessedadvent ... 3-107.html
BHFHG:
http://mycrazybutjoyfulandblessedadvent ... 3-107.html

I pray everyone had a wonderful, joyful week!

[Dustybug]

We actually started our school week the week before last, but to kick off our year we did an Autumn unit study. We finally started LHFHG last week and I'm so excited to start sharing here again! (albeit a little late! )
So, without further ado, here was our week last week:
http://reachtothemoonandback.blogspot.c ... eek-2.html

[Dustybug]

Misty---We are getting ready to start the BOOK IT program here too! I just have to decide what our goals are going to be for this month. My DD is reading chapter books as well, so I want to challenge her without overwhelming her. We also used the same Apple Parts printable last week when we did a unit study on fall! We are planning on going on a field trip on Friday to pick some!

Julie--You make me miss LHTH! I remember being amazed at the skill growth in both of my oldest as they completed the program. I felt like I didn't notice many of the changes until the end when I looked back at their work from the beginning! And WOW on the baked apples and raspberries! They look delicious!

birchbark--Your pictures from the Ren Festival look great! I was hoping to take our kids to ours this year, but DH's work schedule doesn't look good, so we may have to wait another year.

Kristin---That is so adorable that your DD wore a ball gown on the first day of school! Sounds like something MY DD would do! We are working on the same thing, it looks like ! I look forward to traveling along in LHFHG with you!

Lynn--I love looking at what others in guides ahead of me are doing. That shield was pretty impressive, and I had a big smile on my face reading about your DS getting up to help so early without complaint!