Week-in-Review Feb. 16-20, 2015

[my3sons]

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!

[my3sons]

Bigger Hearts for His Glory, Unit 4:
***Sorry the pictures are so big! I don't know what happened, but I can't get them to be smaller!

For Storytime, we just finished the biography "George Rogers Clark." For my adventure loving son, this book was a favorite. We made a timeline of the important events as we read. Activities such as these that are planned in the Storytime box are helping Emmett learn the importance of sequencing events in his mind. There is starting to be some nice carryover in this skill in his oral narrations.


Emmett is our son that adores stuffed animals. They all have names and their own voices and personalities. We have been studying the Coral Reef in science, and Emmett saved his allowance for several months to buy a crab. He named him Hook, and he sits nearby Emmett as he does his science. For this week's notebooking assignment, Emmett made a T chart of Invertebrates and Vertebrates. He completed the Invertebrates side this week and will finish the other side in a later notebooking assignment. I really worked alongside him on this. I helped him choose something to draw for each part, and I modeled the drawing on a marker board. I had him use my gel pens, which he loves, to trace his drawings, and then helped him choose colored pencils to finish them. He was so proud of the final results! I have found that our sons don't naturally do these things, although my middle ds did more than my other two sons did. It helps to work alongside them in Bigger, so they can see how to put together a neat notebooking page. Then, in all the guides to follow, those skills follow them.


In history, Emmett made a map showing John Smith's exploration of Chesapeake Bay. We have been reading about Jamestown in "A First Book of American History," and my, what struggles they had! We enjoyed reading about Pocahontas and how she helped John Smith in so many ways. We were shocked and sad to figure out from looking at the timeline that Pocahontas died in her early 20s! John Smith went on to live much longer. God certainly had a big purpose for Pocahontas in her short life. We enjoyed making an acrostic for Pocahontas for one of our history projects. Both Riley and Wyatt had ideas for Pocahontas's acrostic as well. (Emmett was doing it at the breakfast table.) I like how conversations such as these just flow between the boys. It is connectedness that just happens on its own, instead of feeling forced, and they just plain enjoy talking history together. Emmett also loved making his blanket of different patterns, such as was traded among people in those days.


Our science experiment taught Emmett that fish and plants can have air bladders to help them float. They take in air and release it to surface and go under water as they wish. Our experiment was a fun way to show this! Emmett filled a syringe with varying amounts of water and air to see whether it floated or sank. He did a good job on his science lab sheet too. Writing and drawing the amount he is doing in BHFHG was a challenge just a month ago. Now, he is doing it quite easily! What a difference a month and some practice together in a guide can make!



Emmett is turning the corner in math! He was able to do large number subtraction (without borrowing) very easily this week. What a happy surprise! He loved this hands on activity with playing cards and cereal pieces. We put the cards to model the problems in the workbook, and he put cereal pieces over the diamonds, etc. on the playing cards to show what he had taken away. He then counted the diamonds, etc. that were left. We only did this a few times, and he was able to finish the rest of his workbook easily and cheerfully.


In Christ,
Julie

[tmstranger]

Thanks for sharing.

I like the big pictures!

[LynnH]

Here is our week in the WG guide http://graceandfur.blogspot.com/2015/02 ... 02015.html

[my3sons]

Thanks for sharing.

I like the big pictures!

Thank you! I have no idea what I did. I click the 'thumbnail' link and up comes the BIG picture instead. Thanks for your understanding! I'm scared to proceed with my next 2 sons' weekly reviews. I think they may look the same.

In Christ,
Julie

[my3sons]

Lynn - I enjoyed your blog about your ds's week so much! I think his written narration about William Dampier was outstanding! He used excellent vocabulary, had it divided into paragraphs neatly, wrote sequentially, and it was entertaining to read. Thank you for sharing!

In Christ,
Julie

[my3sons]

Resurrection to Reformation:
Riley and I have been enjoying the Emily Dickinson poetry study. I like that there is enough planned that we dig into poetic devices, reading poetry well, new vocabulary, and the meaning of the poem - but it is not too much that the enjoyment of the poem is lost. Riley spent the last 2 weeks memorizing Dickinson's poem "Experience." We forgot to say it last week, so I asked him impromptu to share it after Emmett had read his poem from BHFHG for all of us. Riley remembered every word impromptu! It was not a long poem, but still, I was happy. Then, I asked Wyatt to share his Scripture passage he is memorizing for WH impromptu, and he remembered it as well. I like that CM advocates memorizing worthy meaningful things, and not just lists of things out of context. It was a neat moment to hear all of them quoting things that are worth quoting. I can always tell if something is worth quoting if the people listening are tuned in and actually want to hear what is being said. Spouting off historical dates in a row, naming all the Presidents in a row, etc. - not the most fascinating thing to quote nor to listen to. But, hearing Emily Dickinson? Hearing the Bible quoted? Hearing a hymn sung by heart? Those are the kinds of things I really love to hear our sons quoting.


That brings me to Shakespeare. Another thing worth quoting! The Shakespeare Study is another thing I love that HOD has planned in a way that lets a beautiful work alone enough to be enjoyed without doing too much to it that the beauty is lost. My ds settles in his chair to read "Tales of Shakespeare," with emotions running across his face as he reads, laughing, sighing, grimacing - Shakespeare just stirs up a person's emotions so you can't help to react to it! Then, he gets out all of his colored pencils and does his best to do the reading justice by coloring carefully, and copying the quote beneath. What a great activity that retains the love of Shakespeare by not dragging out nor dissecting it!


Science is a favorite of Riley's - always. He loves using his hands, and his mind just works that way. He connects by building, creating, constructing, experimenting - and I think many boys are like Riley. I know some people think working with one's hands is not necessary in school, that it is a waste of time that could be better filled with worksheets, quizzes, and tests. But, I think that turns off learning. It turns off thinking and reduces the child to a vessel that information is just poured or funneled into, so the 'right' answer is produced (this is in reference to a CM quote I don't have the exact words at my fingertips to use). Reading about Isaac Newton and how he enjoyed inventing, experimenting, and pondering solutions resonates with Riley's approach to learning. Just this week Riley was in the garage with my dh tearing apart a 3-wheeler and putting a new frame on it. He LOVED it! So did my dh. He even took pictures, and he never takes pictures. I find this is often how my dh relates to my sons - in the garage, experimenting with building this or that, or pondering how to fix a problem this way or that way - HOD helps keep a boy's mind lively by encouraging the creative process of experimenting, using trial and error, and attempting to solve things in unique ways.


Reading about how the samurai protected the shogun in Japan was a favorite of Riley's. He is enjoying the step-by-step drawings in Draw and Write Through History so much!


Sorry again for the size of the pictures!
In Christ,
Julie

[my3sons]

High School World History
One of my favorite CDs prior to HOD scheduling it in the WH guide was Selah's Greatest Hymns. There is something so beautiful about each song, and the CD insert usually has some interesting background tidbit to share as well. We have been singing Emmett's Hymns for a Kid's Heart after breakfast as we clean up all together, and the other day Wyatt asked us to also sing his Selah hymn with him. It was "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross," and I loved singing it all together.


In EIW this week, Wyatt finished his essay on gun control. This is a controversial topic, I know, but my dh is a member of the NRA, a former military man, and an avid hunter. My ds shares his beliefs, and he enjoyed writing this paper. He attempted to add his own style to it, which includes some dry wit. I like how he is learning to apply the essay writing techniques he is learning in EIW to his written narrations in school as well. The open-endedness of the method in which EIW teaches preparing to write an essay is genius. It can be applied to anything, and it helps students flesh out a plan with a loose structure prior to beginning writing. I am loving EIW for high school. It is an outstanding writing program that is teaching Wyatt to be able to write well and express his opinion clearly.


Wyatt completed his Art Project entitled "Sunflowers" this week. He used oil pastels, and I think it turned out well!


Wyatt's Book of Centuries continues to grow, as he adds more and more pictures to it each week. It is going to be a neat keepsake of his 4 years of high school history.


For history, Wyatt has been reading about the Reformation in England and Scotland, the "New World," and the Spanish Conquest. His written narration was about Henry VIII, and how his desire for a male heir led to England's separating from the Catholic church. He has really enjoyed reading "King Alfred's English." In fact, he just was talking about it today on our 30 minute drive home from church. He mentioned that the Bible has stood the test of time to be the most accurate book to date. He had lots of percentages and details I cannot recall, but my dh was impressed.


Wyatt also got his braces off - hooray! Now, Riley needs braces.

In Christ,
Julie

[LynnH]

Julie thanks for the comments about Noah's narration. We have been talking about using more descriptive words, thus the reason for all the adjectives He makes me laugh with the vocabulary. He really is trying to use bigger words. His one little funny thing he is doing is trying to put the word junket in every one of his narrations. I'm not sure if it has been in every one, but it finds it's way into most of them. He is definitely finding his own voice with his narrations which captures the funny side of his personality.

I just noticed how old Riley looks! All of the sudden he looks so grown up.

[my3sons]

That is too funny! That sounds like something Wyatt would do. I wondered a little about the word 'junket' and thought - wow, that is a pretty cool word to use! Riley is getting big, or bigger, at least. Time flies, and before we know our boys are men, aren't they? Noah looks so grown up - I remember him when he was much, much younger, and it seems like just yesterday. I can tell you are focusing on vocabulary with him, and it is working.

In Christ,
Julie

[crlacey]

Looks like a great week at your house Julie!


M oldest DD worked on units 15 and 16 in Res-Ref. I was pleasantly surprised at the science for the week. We learned about the different layers of our atmosphere and the jobs they have and how we benefit from them. It was really fun to learn about what causes the "northern lights". The whole family also enjoyed the experiment about how acid rain speeds up the weathering process. Even my science loving DH was surprised to see the changes taking place with the pennies.

My DS took some snow/ice days since all of his friends were home from school. Snow is rare here in southern NC, so he took full advantage of it. The fun part is that he was very interested in the penny experiment that he still had some learning even though he didn't officially "do school."

[my3sons]

Looks like a great week at your house Julie!


M oldest DD worked on units 15 and 16 in Res-Ref. I was pleasantly surprised at the science for the week. We learned about the different layers of our atmosphere and the jobs they have and how we benefit from them. It was really fun to learn about what causes the "northern lights". The whole family also enjoyed the experiment about how acid rain speeds up the weathering process. Even my science loving DH was surprised to see the changes taking place with the pennies.

My DS took some snow/ice days since all of his friends were home from school. Snow is rare here in southern NC, so he took full advantage of it. The fun part is that he was very interested in the penny experiment that he still had some learning even though he didn't officially "do school."

Thanks, Crystal! It looks like you had a great week at your house too! It is neat that your dh got in on the fun of the penny experiment with your dc. That is a fun one! I'm glad your ds was able to enjoy the snow with his friends from school. Moments like that must be seized, and I do think that it is a perk we must take advantage of being homeschoolers! I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

In Christ,
Julie