WEEKLY REPORT - Week 11 - November 15-19, 2010

If I could sum up our week in three words, I would say Clocks, Franks, and Flowers. Diva learned number 11 and letter K. Boy earned Cub Scouts belt loops in Reading and Writing, Horseback Riding, Bicycling, Nutrition, Flag Football, and Tennis. He got a prize too, and he was proud of his accomplishments.

ENGLISH

In PLL, Boy did more copywork, which helped him practice sentence structure, syntax, penmanship, and grammar.

PHONICS
We're done with reviewing Tanglewood Phonics! I still believe we should continue some, so I'm thinking of buying Simply Phonics Book 3 by Shoelace Books.

READING
We read pages 112 to 119 of Tales of King Arthur, and although it's disheartening to see Camelot torn apart by hatred and jealousy, it's still an exciting read. It's sad to see King Arthur pitted against Sir Lancelot.

LITERATURE
On day 2 I read to him from Favorite Medieval Tales. As we were covering the Franks in our History studies, I read to him The Song of Roland. It was a sad story about a man of courage who died saving his people, which makes it timeless. Boy took it well, and listened in rapt.

HISTORY
SOTW Chapter 11: On day 1 we listened to Clovis, the Ex-Barbarian, discussed it, and Boy answered review questions. The second day we listened to Four Tribes, One Empire. We discussed again, and narrated and did mapwork.

MATHEMATICS
New topic: Clocks! I have tried unsuccessfully to teach Boy clocks since he was three, but I think he's finally catching on. MM 1B p. 42-48 including computer games this week. Now Boy not only knows the time to the hour and half hour, but he's gaining an understanding of the concept of clocks, and how the minute hand goes around. I credit Maria Miller for doing a great job with explaining the concepts in a way children really understand. My Big Picture Boy really benefits from this.

GEOGRAPHY

No Geography this week. Waiting on Daddy to teach about surveying and finding your bearings. Too complicated now that I'm in my third trimester LOL

NATURAL SCIENCE
On day 1 we watched a Happy Scientist video (love him!). On day 2 we read Nature Smart and learned about Winter Wildflowers. On day 3 the kids went on a Nature Walk with Daddy and picked green flowers (I know, we didn't know that those were flowers). They came home and Boy sketched them and identified one, using the book Florida Keys Wildflowers as our guide. On day 4 Boy did the stickerbook again.

SPELLING
Boy finished Lesson 9 and went on to complete Lesson 10 in the remaining three days.

THEOLOGY
In Theology, I read Brothers Jealous of Joseph. I find Boy gets more of a background story and depth with these Bible stories. They are right up to his level of understanding.

POETRY
Every day, either I read aloud or Boy read the poem "Buck In The Snow" by Edna St. Vincent Millay. It is a poem about death and its sudden tragedy. It's also about the majesty of nature.

SPANISH
We did Spanish twice a week this week. The kids watched Muzzy disc 4-5 a few times in one day, and Boy learned a lot. He's using vocabulary from the program. I reinforce and talk to him in Spanish during Spanish lessons. Now if I can only find those written exercises.. ugh.

PICTURE STUDY
This week we continued to learn about Giotto di Bondone, and found that his depictions were leaning more and more towards realism and conveying emotion than ever as he progressed.

COMPOSER STUDY
We keep reading about Tchaikovsky, and learned that he used real cannons in his 1812 Overture. Boy enjoyed the piece tremendously (I searched it on YouTube). It was awesome! The Mike Venezia cartoon was hilarious.

ART
This week Daddy printed out a favorite character of the show Ben 10, cut it in pieces, and had Boy draw each piece separately so he could concentrate on the shapes. Diva did the same thing. As usual, she loves

WEEKLY REPORT - Week 10 - November 8-12, 2010

This week we finished Pinocchio! It has taken us 10 weeks, and it was a great adventure. This week, on November 14, Boy passed his test and got promoted to Yellow Belt in taekwondo! He only started in September, and the only one to make it so early. As you can tell, I'm proud of him. This same weekend Diva finished her play. She did so well, and looked so cute. I'm on a cloud thinking about my kids! They really are cool little people.

ENGLISH

In PLL, we completed Lesson 16 where Boy did more copywork.

PHONICS
The rest of the copywork this week was devoted to Phonics rules. This is a good way to let them sink in.

READING
Tales of King Arthur is getting more intrigue into it with the story of Lancelot and Guinevere. I do feel sorry for the two, as at least in this version, it seems that their loyalty to their king is so great that they suppress their love and hold back. However, they can't help loving each other. I was thinking how much easier it is nowadays, with no impending blood bath, just a nasty divorce and Lancelot and Guinevere getting married. Hmm.. maybe a modern blood bath LOL

LITERATURE
Done with Pinocchio! He became a boy! He earned his way by working very hard and sustaining his parents. It is a dark story, but I think Boy was ready to hear it. Now we can use Pinocchio as an example. I love the shared experiences and memories with reading aloud and homeschooling in general. We were done with Pinocchio on day 2. We took a break from Literature on day 3, and on day 4, Daddy read the whole of The Pied Piper of Hamelin, a story set in our period that we're studying, the Middle Ages. It is also a dark tale, and Boy cried when he realized the children never saw their parents again. I had no idea it was written in verse, which I think makes it more sinister and memorable.

HISTORY
SOTW Chapter 10 this week was about the people of Australia and the Pacific Islands. I love that so far the SOTW chapter corresponds with the week of school. It satisfies the associative part of my brain. The first day we listened to Jim Weiss about The First People of Australia, and answered review questions. The second day we listened to The Long Journey of the Maori and did the coloring page. Boy also narrated and completed the mapwork. The third day we cuddled up to read the encyclopedia together, and both kids did fun activities with Daddy - they made boomerangs and Daddy painted the kids with Maori designs using red Halloween make-up. Although normally they're in black, we ran out of black paint during Halloween! With the brush, the designs came out nice! The kids are pictured on the top assuming the Maori warrior intimidation posture, complete with tongues out. They had a blast. On day 4, we read Peoples of the World to see real Aboriginals, Maori, and read a bit more about them from another perspective. Then we went on the computer and listened to the didgeridoo being played in different ways, and saw the Maoris dance.

MATHEMATICS
On days 1 and 2, Boy worked diligently on two Math Mammoth review worksheets. On days 3 and 4, Boy did more drill on the computer. On the same fourth day, Boy took the 1B Test Ch. 4, and he did well.

GEOGRAPHY

We read about the compass, and as Boy had experience with using a compass and knowing how it worked, we didn't build our own yet again.

NATURAL SCIENCE
On day 1 we read another section about wildflowers in Nature Smart, and watched a Happy Scientist video. On day 2 Boy read about four wildflowers and stuck the stickers corresponding to each wildflower. He has an understanding that wildflowers grow at different times of year, and I notice when we go on walks or even drives, he notices many more flowers, their shapes and colors.

SPELLING
On day 2 Boy worked on Lesson 9, pages 40 and 41, in Spectrum Spelling. On day 3 he did pages 41 and 42, and page 43 on day 4, where he wrote a few sentences.

THEOLOGY
In Theology, I read Jacob and Esau Friends Again. Boy really liked the fact that the brothers made up. By this time Joseph had already been born, and as Boy is very familiar with the story of Joseph, he's excited to see the history behind his birth.

POETRY
Every day, either I read aloud or Boy read the poem "Thursday" by Edna St. Vincent Millay.

SPANISH
In the span of three days, the kids both watched Muzzy's Vocabulary DVD, listened to the song CD, and played the interactive games.

PICTURE STUDY
This week we learned more about Giotto di Bondone, and observed closely parts of his fresco of St. Francis of Assisi.

COMPOSER STUDY
We keep reading about Tchaikovsky, and learned that he smuggled the newly invented celesta, which was an instrument like a small piano that produced a beautiful bell-like sound. We were excited to know that that is the instrument used in Diva's favorite classical piece, and a Tchaikovsky favorite, "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy." We listened to it again, Diva danced to it, and wondered in its magical sound. Boy enjoys Mike Venezia's cartoons and retains much.

ART
Continuing with Drawing With Children, the kids painted fishes.

WEEKLY REPORT - Week 9 - November 1-5, 2010

I was so busy this week. Diva had a play she was in, which required hours sitting in rehearsal. She didn't have a speaking part, but had to simply get dressed in costume and look cute. At 3, she pulled it off :) She and the other little girl had a blast, and at the end Diva didn't want to get off the stage!

Boy was excited this week, as we discussed Korea in History, and he loves tae kwon do. As a result of learning taekwondo, he counts to ten in Korean, and learns the blocks in this language as well.

ENGLISH
We did some good copywork this week in PLL, and Boy did a good job filling in the correct answers as he was copying. He doesn't balk at the work, as I give him 2 or 3 sentences at a time. He gets to work on penmanship as well. Copywork and dictation are the strengths of this program, and I like for Boy, as he's 7, to have a good, yet gentle, introduction to grammar.

PHONICS
Lessons 20 and 21 of Tanglewood Phonics were covered this week, in which I did a lot of clear enunciation as we sounded out those phonemes.

READING

On Monday, Boy read Sir Gawain and the Green Knight from Mary Pope Osborne's Favorite Medieval Tales. He thoroughly enjoyed the story, and at 7, he's not the least bit bothered by the fact that Sir Gawain cut the Green Knight's head off. Especially as the Green Knight reattached it.

On Tuesday, it was back to Tales of King Arthur. On Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, Boy read The Tale of the Mandarin Ducks, a Japanese story that matched our History studies.

LITERATURE
We are nearing the end of Pinocchio. I read aloud to him Chapters 29 through 33. Diva sometimes joins us, but she's more inclined to do her own thing.

HISTORY
SOTW Ch. 9 was East of China this week. We first learned about the Yamato Dynasty in Japan, and Boy did the review questions. The second day Boy did the coloring page and watched an amazing program on origami on Netflix with Daddy. The third day we listened to Three countries: China, Korea, Japan, and discussed the interactions between each. Boy also did the mapwork. The fourth day we read the encyclopedia on medieval China and Japan.

MATHEMATICS
Math Mammoth 1B: Place value, pages 35 and 36. We did very few pages this week, as I wanted Boy to really grasp and practice place value. The first two days he completed two busy worksheets, and the rest of the week he got the drill and practice he needed through the computer games Math Mammoth has listed. They are free online games! I notice Boy not only enjoys them, but gets some good practice too.

NATURAL SCIENCE
On day 1 we watched a Happy Scientist video related to flowers, put some wildflower stickers in his book and learned about two new wildflowers. On the second day I read him the Kingfisher Young Discoverers Book on Flowers, Trees, and Fruits and Boy played the Eye Spy on this page. The rest of the week we didn't do anything else for Natural Science, as frankly, being 26 weeks pregnant, I was too tired.

SPELLING
We did our required three pages in Spectrum Spelling Grade 2. Ho, hum. Boring. I'm not crazy about workbooks. Hopefully it's not just busywork and he'll remember these words a few months from now.

THEOLOGY
I read to him from the Bible again (365 Children's Bible Stories), this time the story of Jacob's Strange Wrestling Match.

POETRY
We read two poems this week: God's World, which is Edna St. Vincent Millay's homage to God and His beautiful world. The other was Beyond the Great Mountains, a gorgeously illustrated book about China, which included a pretty poem.

SPANISH
On the second day Boy did copywork in Spanish - that's it.

PICTURE STUDY
We continue looking at paintings of Giotto and learning about his life and times. Picture Study is one of Boy's favorite subjects.

COMPOSER STUDY
We were reading about Tchaikovsky, learning about the mysterious benefactor whom he dedicated one of his pieces to.

ART
More Drawing With Children exercises for the kids to practice.

Wordless Wednesday

Change of Names

Since I'm pregnant with another daughter, I'm not going to be referring to my children as Son and Daughter anymore. I've decided (at least for the time being -- hehe) to refer to my three children as follows:

Boy

Diva

BG, or Baby Girl

If anything changes, I will surely try and let you know. Now some time today or tomorrow off to upload those Halloween pictures!