Monday, November 17, 2008
Week 10
History: Our main focus this week was setting the stage for the Reformation. We talked about Wycliff and John Huff. We also learned about Gutenburg.
Friday, November 14, 2008
Quarterly Review
We are on track with the schedule I put together at the beginning of the year in all subjects! Woohoo!! It has been a good year so far, and I'm very thankful!!
Math-The kids are loving Math-U-See Geometry. They think it is really easy compared to NEM!! (Which, it is!) There is a ton of difficult calculations and even tedious problems in NEM, but it is excellent review for them. I have felt comfortable with the pace I have chosen and with the curriculum. I wasn't sure about NEM, but the more I use it, the more I think the rigor is excellent preparation. There is very little rigor in Math-U-See.
Bible-We have reviewed the doctrine songs for God, Salvation and Angels. This has been going well.
Science-I am really liking Apologia's General Science. I was worried that it would be too advanced for Seth, but he is doing well and enjoying it. I had intended them to read it independently and do the work on their own, but we are all enjoying it much more when I read it out loud and we work together on it. They have done very well on the Module Tests. All in all, I have liked this more that I expected that I would.
Grammar- I always struggle with whether grammar is necessary for my kids. They seem to really get grammar intuitively, and sometimes it seems like a waste of time, but I just can't let go of the idea. So, we plug along in Rod & Staff 6 doing about 3 lessons per week. It is fine. Nobody loves it, but no one really hates it either.
Logic-We have been working through Critical Thinking book 1 together. We do all the exercise together and I don't even have them write them out, usually. We have enjoyed it. We are learning about different types of propaganda right now. I find that the kids have fun trying to identify faulty reasoning in real life. ("Mom, that is circular reasoning!")
Latin-Annsley really likes Latin Prep. She enjoys the tone of the book and it is solidifying the concepts that we learned from Latina Christiana. It is not Seth's favorite subject, but he is plugging away and doing fine with it.
Spanish-The kids are reading different books with Daddy in the evening. They either read the Bible in Spanish or they have a book from the library. Right now they are reading a book of Fairy Tales in Spanish. They enjoy that.
Writing- Of all the subjects this is the one that I feel that I didn't have a great grip on this quarter. We did writing, but I was not good about really following through with the entire writing process. Of course, they are taking a writing class at our co-op with an AMAZING writing teacher, and so I know they know it and they are working on their writing there as well as at home. We have been doing weekly dictation at home and they have been focusing on the skill of taking notes.
Memory-This quarter, in addition to our regular review that we keep up of our old material we have added The Glove and the Lion, Conscience and Remorse, Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening, memory work for history has been the song that I wrote about the Wars of the Middle Ages, and the first part of the Sovereigns of England poem. In science I have added a song about Simple Machines and a Lever rap (from Science Jukebox).
Music-The kids have learned about jazz in their music class at TEC. Both have been progressing nicely with their piano. Annsley is really thriving in her piano and Grandma is teaching her to play the accordion as well. She loves singing in the Girls choir also. Seth also has a good ear for music. This week we went on a field trip to the symphony for district 4th graders. It was a delightful concert and the kids had a great time!
Reading-The kids have read a ton of books for free reading this quarter. You can see them here.
History-Technically, this unit has 10 weeks in TOG. So, we have one more week to go before our unit celebration. I will have a separate special post describing our unit celebration.
Math-The kids are loving Math-U-See Geometry. They think it is really easy compared to NEM!! (Which, it is!) There is a ton of difficult calculations and even tedious problems in NEM, but it is excellent review for them. I have felt comfortable with the pace I have chosen and with the curriculum. I wasn't sure about NEM, but the more I use it, the more I think the rigor is excellent preparation. There is very little rigor in Math-U-See.
Bible-We have reviewed the doctrine songs for God, Salvation and Angels. This has been going well.
Science-I am really liking Apologia's General Science. I was worried that it would be too advanced for Seth, but he is doing well and enjoying it. I had intended them to read it independently and do the work on their own, but we are all enjoying it much more when I read it out loud and we work together on it. They have done very well on the Module Tests. All in all, I have liked this more that I expected that I would.
Grammar- I always struggle with whether grammar is necessary for my kids. They seem to really get grammar intuitively, and sometimes it seems like a waste of time, but I just can't let go of the idea. So, we plug along in Rod & Staff 6 doing about 3 lessons per week. It is fine. Nobody loves it, but no one really hates it either.
Logic-We have been working through Critical Thinking book 1 together. We do all the exercise together and I don't even have them write them out, usually. We have enjoyed it. We are learning about different types of propaganda right now. I find that the kids have fun trying to identify faulty reasoning in real life. ("Mom, that is circular reasoning!")
Latin-Annsley really likes Latin Prep. She enjoys the tone of the book and it is solidifying the concepts that we learned from Latina Christiana. It is not Seth's favorite subject, but he is plugging away and doing fine with it.
Spanish-The kids are reading different books with Daddy in the evening. They either read the Bible in Spanish or they have a book from the library. Right now they are reading a book of Fairy Tales in Spanish. They enjoy that.
Writing- Of all the subjects this is the one that I feel that I didn't have a great grip on this quarter. We did writing, but I was not good about really following through with the entire writing process. Of course, they are taking a writing class at our co-op with an AMAZING writing teacher, and so I know they know it and they are working on their writing there as well as at home. We have been doing weekly dictation at home and they have been focusing on the skill of taking notes.
Memory-This quarter, in addition to our regular review that we keep up of our old material we have added The Glove and the Lion, Conscience and Remorse, Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening, memory work for history has been the song that I wrote about the Wars of the Middle Ages, and the first part of the Sovereigns of England poem. In science I have added a song about Simple Machines and a Lever rap (from Science Jukebox).
Music-The kids have learned about jazz in their music class at TEC. Both have been progressing nicely with their piano. Annsley is really thriving in her piano and Grandma is teaching her to play the accordion as well. She loves singing in the Girls choir also. Seth also has a good ear for music. This week we went on a field trip to the symphony for district 4th graders. It was a delightful concert and the kids had a great time!
Reading-The kids have read a ton of books for free reading this quarter. You can see them here.
History-Technically, this unit has 10 weeks in TOG. So, we have one more week to go before our unit celebration. I will have a separate special post describing our unit celebration.
Monday, November 10, 2008
Week 9
This week we have been working on getting everything organized, finished and ready for our unit celebration. The topics for this week are the towns in the high middle ages. We also talked about The War of the Roses and Joan of Arc.
History: 
Literature:
Church History:
Dictation:We used quotes from Joan of Arc for our dictation this week.
Writing: We wrote about town life in the Middle Ages.
Timeline: We added Pope Boniface VIII, Edward the Black Prince, The Great Schism, and Joan of Arc to our timeline.
Notebooking Pages:
Project: The kids had a great time doing their "Four Alls" project. They really got into it!!
The peasants who worked for all...
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Week 8
History:
This week we are learning about Marco Polo, Ghengis and Kublai Khan, and the Mongols.
Dictation: The Rule of St. Benedict
Writing: We are writing about the life of Marco Polo
This week we are learning about Marco Polo, Ghengis and Kublai Khan, and the Mongols.
Literature:
Church History:
We are reviewing Buddhism, Hunduism, Taoism, and the teachings of Confucious.
Dictation: The Rule of St. Benedict
Writing: We are writing about the life of Marco Polo
Geography: Maps of Mongol Empire and Japan
Notebooking Pages: We didn't quite finish these this week, but we had a short week coming back from vacation.
Monday, October 20, 2008
Week 7
This week we learned about the struggle between secular kings and emperors. We also learned about the Crusades. We also learned about Gothic Cathedrals. We took a tour of our local St. John's Cathedral. What a beautiful place!!
History:
History:
Literature:
Church History:
Dictation: For dictation we did All Creatures of our God and King by St. Francis of Assisi
All creatures of our God and King,
Lift us your voice and with us sing,
Alleluia!
Thou burning sun with golden beam,
Thou silver moon with softer gleam,
O praise him, alleluia!
Let all things their Creator bless,
And worship him in humbleness,
O praise him, alleluia!
Praise, parise the Father, praise the Son,
And praise the Spirit, three in one,
O praise him, alleluia
Geography: The maps this week were the Crusades and the territory of the Empire of the Seljuk Terks.
Timeline Figures:
Frederick I, Phillip II, Richard the Lionheart, Peter the Hermit, St. Fransis of Assisi
Notebooking:
Projects:
Silly kids were doing Gregorian chants down the aisle. The nice thing is that the church was not really open to the public today, but they let us go in and have the place to ourselves. This was great for me because I can not stand in a cathedral and NOT sing!! :-)
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Week 6
This week we learned about the details of feudalism in the Middle Ages, Pope Gregory VII, and Emperor Henry IV.
History:
Literature:
Dictation: We did a selection from Canturbury Tales.
History:
Literature:
Church History:
Dictation: We did a selection from Canturbury Tales.
Writing: We wrote about the different roles in the feudal system
Notebooking Pages:
Project: We are painting a castle backdrop for our Medieval feast
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