Ambleside Classical

Trimester Report

It is time for a long overdue weekly report here at Ambleside Classical. However, I am going to have to change the Weekly Report to a Trimester report this time. Blogging has taken a backseat to my home, homeschooling, and outside teaching responsibilities. Here goes. Sixth grade has been a transition year for us. I have always sat right there with dd to make sure the school work got done without dawdling. We did unit studies, projects, and read-alouds. This year is different.

My dd is now working more independently, and is not interested in big projects or unit studies. She just wants to buckle down and hit the work, and is preferring more traditional methods. Projects are of little interest to her this year, and this was my hands-on loving child for so many years! As a unit study, project-loving Mom, this has been a hard transition as my role here in our homeschool seems to be changing.

I encourage you to take time to DO THE PROJECTS while you still may. They day will soon come when they are laid aside and the time for them has passed. I don't regret one mess we made, in fact, I miss them. Textbooks and workbooks will always be there, but the time for pioneer bonnets, medieval princess hats, and Viking shields is gone all too quickly.

Here is what we have finished during our first term:

Art

• Completed Artistic Pursuits Lessons 1-4 - not as many as I would have liked

• Did a couple of drawing lessons from Nature Friend magazine

• Lots of drawing in free time, especially enjoying drawing cartoons
  

Science

• Completed CyberEd Lessons 1-3

• Read science biography Thomas Edison: Young Inventor (Childhood of Famous Americans)

• Participated in co-op Earth Science class

• Took a couple of science-related field trips

History/Geography

• Read Reconstructing America by Joy Hakim chapters 1-24 and completed selected exercises from the corresponding Oxford study guide

• Have been reading the TruthQuest commentary aloud on Mondays to tie in all the readings with a Christian perspective

• Read daily from book basket (self-selected TruthQuest Selections)

• Have done map work weekly from either Trailguide, State Report Projects for Any State, or as assigned by Mom: related to history reading

Literature

• Old Yeller

• Huckleberry Finn

• Read-Aloud: Little Women
  

• various free reading books (self-selected)
  

Writing

• Completed history-related writing assignments every other week. I am pulling these from the History Study Guide and other sources. An example of a typical writing assignment: "You have just arrived at Ellis Island. Write an entry in your journal about your trip over and what happened when you arrived." Creative writing has actually been a hit here! Some of these assignments have been illustrated or worked up into scrapbook pages.
  

• Working through the Four Square Writing book. We are doing this twice a week, and I am hoping this will help her structure and organize her writing.
  

Math

• CLE Math 5. Finishing up the second Light Unit. We are loving this curricum. My dd was a former math hater, and we have tried so many curriculums in the past. CLE has built her confidence, and she no longer struggles. Her tests and quizzes have been in the 95% and above range. In fact, I have heard a few, "I like math" comments now and again!

Language Arts

• CLE Language Arts. This is going well. We are definitely CLE fans! This year, dd is doing the entire lesson twice a week, spelling and all. On other days, she does writing or dictation.
  

• Open Texture Elementary Greek. We are only a few lessons in, so the verdict is still out. We finished Hey Andrew! before beginning Elementary Greek, and that was a definite hit.

• Typing Instructor Deluxe software. Dd enjoys working on the computer for typing.
  

Bible

• Using Open Windows by CLE as devotional reading, and Wise Up! by Positive Action for Christ for Bible. We alternate these every other day to keep things fresh. This seems to be working well.