WEEKLY REPORT - WEEK 3, September 20-24, 2010

I'm a bit behind in my posting, but here's Week 3.

ENGLISH

We did Lessons 4-6, and Son, to my surprise, really enjoyed dictation. He liked the challenge of memorizing the spelling of the words, then writing the sentence including these words on his own. We use the Charlotte Mason method of dictation. He's doing well, especially considering it was his first ever try at doing this! Very happy with our gentle yet effective this method looks to be.

PHONICS

We reviewed Lesson 5 and 6 orally. We're reviewing Tanglewood Phonics, which is a free program you can download at the Tanglewoodeducation.com site.

READING

He finished reading Fantastic Mr. Fox the first day of this week, and a few days later we all watched the movie featuring George Clooney and Meryl Streep as the voices of the Mr. and Mrs. Fox. The only way I can describe this movie is quirky and cute. Our youngest enjoyed it the most. We all did, but she was riveted. Son contrasted the book and the film, and found that the original story was simple, as they added a lot to the movie.

LITERATURE

Chapters 11 through 14 this week. Son looks forward to Pinocchio every day, and I find myself intrigued as well. It's tempting to read ahead, but I want to share in the experience with him. The story has many twists and turns, which keeps him on the edge of his couch seat.

HISTORY

SOTW Ch. 3, Christianity Comes to Britain. We had so much fun this week, and Son really understands monks and monasteries. I have a much deeper understanding as well, and their role in recording and preserving the literary treasures. Husband and Son made a cross out of foam and tied it with a simple rope for him to wear around his neck, and we visited the Usborne Quicklinks (corresponding Internet pages to the Usborne World History Encyclopedia) and delved rather deeply into monastic daily life. We listened to Gregorian chants, saw ruins of old monasteries and monasteries still functioning today. He marveled at how strict their lives were (at least for the first few hundred years), and in took a quiz testing his knowledge. He learned about Gregory and the pretty children, and how Gregory told Augustine to spread the news of Christianity to all the Angles in Britain. I find it interesting how quickly and easily the Anglo Saxons converted to Christianity from paganism.

MATH

This week took a short break from Math Mammoth (after regular days), and focused on money. I printed off pages from Enchanted Learning and we reviewed pennies, dimes, nickels and quarters, and how to count and add them.

NATURAL SCIENCE

The focus this week was on human bones and the skeleton. For us it was a review, as we studied the Human Body last year. We revisited the joints, how they move and how in turn muscles move them. After reading his Kingfisher Human Body encyclopedia (four pages), Son rebuilt our miniature human skeleton and spent quite some time manipulating it.

SPELLING

Finished the writing part of Lesson 2, then went on to do all of Lesson 3. New set of words. This reminds me, I'm going to quiz him on both Lesson 3 and Lesson 4 next week.

THEOLOGY

We discussed the other five commandments: do not worship other gods, do not say God's name in vain, etc. It seemed pretty self-explanatory and easier to understand for Son than the last five commands.

GEOGRAPHY

I read Maps and Mapping Chapter 2 to Son, and he was able to give good directions from our house to Grandma's house and Publix (the local supermarket).

HEALTH & SAFETY

We discussed preventing accidents, e.g. seeing a toy on a flight of stairs (removing it), seeing a baby playing with something she can choke with, etc.

PICTURE STUDY

We are reading from Getting To Know The World's Greatest Artists, Giotto. We examined typical figures from the medieval times, which looked like flat cut-outs with mysterious eyes, without any continuation or backgrounds. We read that Giotto was the first painter to change all that.

ART

This week the kids practiced the five elements of drawing. Daughter participates in art as the program is for 3-9

POETRY

We continued with the biography of Edna St. Vincent Millay, and read about her childhood, and how her mother Cora made sure she had plenty of books and time to write her poetry. She started writing poetry at five! What a talented lady.

COPYWORK

This week Son copied from three of Millay's poems, a fact about bones, and History (about Augustine and the other monks to came to settle in Britain).

SINGING

We actually skipped this this week. We were thrown off by the change in plans, when Daughter had swimming lessons that Friday.

Weekly Report (September 13-17)

This week has been good too! I feel like after two years and now going into our third year, we have arrived. We feel a lot more comfortable now with our routine, and the resources we use match both teacher and student.

ENGLISH

We did Lessons 2-4, and Son learned why and when we use "is" and "are". He also memorized the first part of a longer poem in PLL. This could take a while, as there are two relatively long stanzas.

PHONICS

We reviewed Lesson 2-4 orally. We're using Tanglewood Phonics, which two years ago gave him a good foundation for how to read, and now is helping him to spell.

READING

He read 9 chapters of Fantastic Mr. Fox by Roald Dahl this week! The chapters are very short, he says, only two pages for a few of them. He enjoys this book. Maybe I could convince him to read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory either this year or the next. He saw a clip from the movie (the one with the big kid being sucked into the chocolate tube), and he was traumatized, ha.

LITERATURE

Chapters 6 through 10 this week. Son looks forward to my reading aloud to him every day. I'm so glad I waited until this year to read Pinocchio to him. He is mature enough to see the consequences of Pinocchio's actions, and not to be fazed by some violence and death (e.g. reality of life).

HISTORY

SOTW Ch. 2, The Early Days of Britain. Son greatly enjoyed this chapter, and narrated Craith's encounter with the giant with amazing detail - almost one and a half pages long! We read the the Usborne History Encyclopedia's section on the Celts, and he narrated the story of Beowulf as well. I really like the book Favorite Medieval Tales by Mary Pope Osborne, which has an age-appropriate retelling of Beowulf.

MATH

More of fewer and how many more. Math Mammoth offers good explanations.

NATURAL SCIENCE

The focus this week was on mixtures, and coming to the conclusion that the air around us is a mixture of three gases: oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon dioxide. We watched a video on the candle burning experiment and how it extinguishes with the release of carbon dioxide from baking soda and vinegar. On The Happy Scientist's video we watched online, putting a glass over the burning candle also extinguishes the flame eventually. We also discussed chemical reactions, and how burning is a chemical reaction. This is all Lesson A-7 in BFSU.

SPELLING

We do Spelling three times a week, and the first day Son passed the quiz of the word list in Spectrum Spelling's (Grade 2) Lesson 1. We were going to do Spelling the CM (Charlotte Mason) way, but it either was not getting done, or it was too time-consuming for me. Then I realized that Spelling the CM way was mainly through dictation, which didn't start formally until third grade, or as we like to call it, Third Year. I opted to do Spectrum Spelling, which is much easier and less time-consuming for me, and leave dictation until next year (start a bit in PLL, but not as a Spelling lesson perse. Still trying to decide about that.)

THEOLOGY

Using 365 Bible Stories, we focused on The Ten Commandments, especially: Do not steal, do not commit adultery, do not covet, do not kill, do not tell lies about other people.

GEOGRAPHY

Son read Maps and Mapping Chapter 1, and did the activity.

HEALTH & SAFETY

We discussed how to be safe in the garden, e.g. to never try to put any parts of plants in your mouth before asking your parents.

PICTURE STUDY

We are still reading from Getting To Know The World's Greatest Artists, Giotto. We haven't gotten to the actual life and works of Giotto yet, but the history and environment of his time. Son loves it, as it incidentally relates to our former and current history studies.

ART

Using Drawing With Children, and me as participant, Husband taught us the five elements of drawing as I practiced my elements.

POETRY

Son memorized Second Fig by Edna St. Vincent Millay, and recited it to us on Saturday. It's a two line poem, but he recited it very well, and using enunciation. No stuttering.

COPYWORK

Son copied a prayer he's learning for Religious Education as well as the poem Second Fig.

SINGING

We practiced "Happy Birthday" several times as we were going to a birthday party that Friday night.

Weekly Report - First Week of Second Year!

September 6-10, 2010

It's funny, this year that I've been impeded by a dozen factors, including, but not limited to:

- nausea in my pregnancy

- severe indigestion for a week

- new puppy

- son's birthday party

- disorganized, messy house

my week has been has been the best ever so far! I have just worked consistently maybe an hour here or there, but didn't get done on as many things as I've hoped for. And voila! We're off to a wonderful start. Son is enthusiastic about his year, and it shows. He is doing a great job printing his letters and focusing on his work. I'm so thrilled, and crossing my fingers he will keep this up.

So much to do, so little time. I still have to update my materials on this page, let you know about my schedule, and post photos of last year's recap. I really want to do this, I swear :)

This week we have done:

ENGLISH (new lesson)

We're using Primary Language Lessons by Emma Serl and the Teacher's Guide. So far we've done Lesson 1, Picture Study on squirrels, and Lesson 2, copywork of a passage. Turns out the passage was too long, and I'm having Son finish it next week. It's okay. He took 45 minutes to write a collection of sentences! However, they are very neat. He did his best.

SPELLING (new lesson)

Using Spectrum Spelling Grade 2, we finished Lesson 1. However, I am not impressed so far. I'm giving it a month, and if I still don't think it suits us, I will go back to Natural Speller. The word lists are more challenging, but I was worried I wasn't going to follow through with setting up my own lessons. We'll see how it goes.

MATH

We're finishing Math Mammoth 1A. Son is reviewing concepts in first grade he wasn't fluent with. This week we covered Fact Families and More and Fewer. He's getting them much better now. I like how MM talks directly to him. The computer games are fun, too, although this week we just did the worksheets.

POETRY

We read two poems to do on Labor Day, one titled "Idleness and Mischief" and the other "I Meant To Do My Work Today". The rest of the week he memorized "First Fig" by Edna St. Vincent Millay. We still haven't had an official poetry recital and recorded it. We had a busy week. Tomorrow.

COPYWORK

Son worked a lot on his writing this week. I'm impressed by his neat penmanship, but I know he needs to improve his speed. He picked his own copywork from the Labor Day choices for the week, and "First Fig" he copied as well. He also copied his last name.

SINGING (new lesson)

On Friday I showed him the notes on the piano and how we sing high and low with the low and high Cs. Then we sang Twinkle Twinkle Little Star together and worked on tone.

HISTORY

We started Story of the World: The Middle Ages! We are both excited. Son can't wait to learn about knights, castles and dragons. Week 1 was reviewing the fall of Rome and its consequences. We all enjoyed the book Rome Antics by David Macaulay.

ART

Husband taught the first lesson from Drawing With Children, which was more of an assessment and shape recognition exercise. Both kids participated, and did well. I got invited to participate in next week's exercise as well -- oh goody!

PICTURE STUDY

We studied and discussed the painting "Work" by Ford Madox Brown. Son was indignant at the inequality in classes in society.

SPANISH

We focused on conjugations. We did Yo soy, Tu eres, El es. I presented the lesson, Son practiced saying them, we practiced using them, he played Muzzy on the computer to practice them again, and he filled out a Muzzy worksheet. We'll keep using those throughout the year.

NATURAL SCIENCE

Time and The Earth's Turning was fun for both of us. We traced our shadows at 2:15, then at 5:25 and Son noted the difference and explained why. We also watched The Happy Scientist clips to expand on the lesson and Son explained what he learned orally and wrote in his notebook.

PENMANSHIP

Son is doing excellent in shaping his letters. The first exercise in Book C was just an assessment. Special time needs to be devoted to d, y, g and the top length of letters such as h and k.

What didn't we complete? Composer Study and Geography, as we started on Labor Day and instead of following our regular schedule, we did a special unit on this holiday generously donated by Sheila Carroll of Living Books Curriculum. I subscribe to her newsletters, which are always thoughtful, and her mini units fantastic. They include copywork, picture study, poems, some history and readings. She puts a lot of work into it, and gives it away. Thank you, Sheila! We had a great time doing the Labor Day helper, and we learned all about Mr. Goodyear's vulcanization of rubber.