Week 11 TOG report

This week we are taking a whirlwind tour of Ancient China.

History: This week the kids are both reading the same book.

Literature: The kids are both reading this for literature this week.

World View:

Writing: This week Annsley is working on her outlining skills. She is taking five sections of the history book and making an outline from them. Seth is working on writing a compare/contrast essay and he will write an essay on the similarities and differences between Ancient China and the Ancient Indus Valley civilization.

Here are the kids trying to pick up a candy-corn with chopsticks. (Yes, I'm trying to get rid of the Halloween candy! :-)) You can also see a glimpse of the lapbook we did today. We learned the Chinese numbers and made a number book where we wrote different things from China. I kind of modified the idea from the Enchanted Learning Chinese Number book.

Next we made paper. I think this is a fascinating process and I'm amazed at how well it works. I found a paper-making kit at a garage sale 5 years ago and we did this same project the last time we did Ancient History. First you make the "slurry", a pulpy, watery mixture of cotton, torn paper (and other things). Next you use the little screen to strain the water out. Turn it onto a towel and let it dry.

Unit 1 Celebration Night

We started the evening with our Seder dinner. This was a wonderful way to culminate the unit on Jewish holidays. It really brought it to life. The kids made Seder plates.

After the Seder both sets of Grandparents came over to hear oral reports and to look at all the things the kids have learned this unit. I was very proud of the kids, especially the ones (Seth) who feel uncomfortable in front of others.



Annsley gave her speach about daily life in Mesopotamia.

Cade gave his speech about how mummies were prepared (thus the Egyptian costume)

Claire gave her speech about pyramids.

Seth gave his speech about the different parts of the tabernacle. He is looking down because he is using the model we made as a visual aid.

Kailyn gave her speech on the different Jewish holidays.

Here is a picture of the kids showing their work. They have all their projects from the unit and their lapbooks. They are explaining it to the grandparents.

About out Memory CD

I received a few questions about our Memory CD, so I thought I would post my response here.

Most of the things we are working on for memory work are from CDs from other programs. So, I have them all ripped onto my computer and each week or two, I change the playlist and burn it on my re-writable CD.

Once they have mastered a poem (or song) I take it off the CD and put it into our review notebook. Our review notebook is broken down into 31 sections (one for each day) and I divide the learned stuff evenly over the days. Then, after we do our CD we review the 2-3 things that are on that day's review list. (On Friday we do the review for Saturday and Sunday also.) I will also add poems or songs back onto the CD if the kids are forgetting something and need more review.

I put in the CD first thing after Bible time and the kids work on memorizing the things on it. They like it because they can color, jump on the mini-trampoline, or something else while they are doing it as long as I can hear them saying the memory work. They feel like they are "putting off school" so they always want me to add things to their CD. And, they don't know that I am thrilled that we are getting to memory work. It has made all the difference in the world for us actually getting around to it!!

There are some things that are not on CD's (like some of the Bible passages we are learning) and so I plug my mic into my computer and use a basic program to record my voice and save it on the computer. The free program I use is on my computer. It is under "programs" then "accessories" then "entertainment" then "sound recorder." I stumbled on this by accident one time, so check to see if you have this option. It only records for 60 seconds, but it has been fine for me so far.

I hope this helps, please let me know if you have any other questions.

What's on our Memory CD right now?

Romans 12
The Spider and the Fly (poem from Linguistic Development through Poetry Memorization)
President Song (from Broadway Kids sing America)
Ten Commandments song (from Classical Conversations CD)
Jonathon Bing (poem from Linguistic Development through Poetry Memorization)
Charge of the Light Brigade (poem from Linguistic Development through Poetry Memorization)
Adestel Fidelis (from Lingua Angelica)
Skip counting-cubes (from Classical Conversations CD)

Week 10 report

This week we start Unit 2 of TOG. The focus will be on a variety of Ancient Cultures. This week focuses specifically on the Indus River Valley.

History:

Literature:

Bible/Worldview:

We are still finishing up some last minute work for our Seder dinner this weekend, but we did take some time to make cookie dough maps of Ancient India, complete with chocolate chip Himmalaya Mountains!

Apologia Zoo 1-lesson 5

This week we learned about different kinds of nests. In fact, the kids wanted to build their own.

Week 9 report.

We finished up the 3 week mini-unit on Jewish holidays. The kids finished the books they were reading from the last two weeks. They also finished the punch out model of the tabernacle. They each wrote an essay about the different parts of the tabernacle. They finished their unit 1 lapbooks and are proud of their work. We will be having our Seder this Friday night. After the Seder we'll have a museum/presentation of our work to the Grandparents.