World War I - Week 4

Here is an update to our current unit study.

We have 2 more weeks (of six) left to study The Great War, and have really enjoyed the books, discussion starters, and activities from World War I Thematic Unit by Teacher Created Resources. I highly recommend these studies for 6th-8th, and one nice thing is that they can be downloaded instantly from CurrClick. I have used several of these units, and each has a literature book, a "spine" book, discussion questions, suggested schedule, and cross-curricular activities. It has been fun learning about The Great War, as it was a topic I knew very little about before. Gotta love homeschooling!

Here are some of the things Miss M did this week in our unit study:

• Read Chapters 13-16 of World War I and discuss provided questions. (History)

• Read Chapters 16-20 of After the Dancing Days and discuss provided questions. (Literary Analysis)

• Researched the Purple Heart award and it's origin. (History)

• Learned about the different types of gas used in WW I. (Science & Technology)

• Discussion, "Is the use of chemical warfare ever justified?" (Critical Thinking)

• The need for faster, quicker, more powerful weapons brought about numerous inventions during this time period. Research one WW I weapon, and create a scrapbook page to show what you learned. (Science & Technology, Language Arts, Design)
  

• Create a short story of an imaginary war experience, using one of the story starters listed in the Thematic Unit. (Creative Writing)

• Second Lieutenant Frank "Balloon Buster" Luke became one of America's greatest flying aces during WW I. Read about his problems as well as his triumphs. Discussion, "What makes a good hero?" (Critical Thinking, History)

• Video: "The First World War" Part 8 - Germany's Final Gamble (History)
  

• Family Read Aloud - Rilla of Ingleside (Literature)
  

• Free Reading - Hattie Big Sky by Kirby Larson (audiobook) - Miss M really enjoyed listening to this on audio. She says the story was exciting, and she loved it. She wrote down a recipe from the book for World War I time Spice Cake, and just announced that she wants to make it today. (History, Practical Life Skills).

Here is the WW I Cake (eggless, milkless, butterless) recipe from Hattie Big Sky:

War Time Spice Cake

Ingredients:

1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1 1/2 cup water
1/3 cup shortening or lard
2/3 cup raisins
1/2 tsp each of ground cloves and nutmeg
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder

Directions: Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and floud 8x8 inch baking pan.

Boil brown sugar, water, shortening, raisins, and spices together for 3 minutes. Cool. Dissolve soda in 2 tsp water, and add to raisin mixture. Add salt. Meanwhile, stir together flour and baking powder, and add to raisin mixture 1 cup at a time, beating well after each addition.

Pour into prepared 8x8 inch pan and bake at 325 degrees for about 50 minutes.



I will close with the poetry assignment Miss M completed this week, a World War I-themed cinquain.

"World War I" by Miss M
Death
Gone forever
Lost to war
Never coming back home
Grief

Thanks for taking a peek into our homeschool. How was YOUR week?

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.

Weekly Update

We are on our summer schedule, keeping up with chores, habit training, and some academics. I am finding that sleeping in late is not worth it to us. It seems to instantly produce sluggishness, laziness, and bad habits. So this week, it is back to 'regular' wake-up time. Keeping daily rhythms going works best for us at this point, although I reserve the right to change my mind. : )

Here's what we're studying this week:

Greek
We have learned the first 10 letters and sounds of the Greek alphabet. Each day we review our letter sounds, sing the Greek alphabet song, and do a page in the workbook (Hey Andrew!) This curriculum is hit so far, but we are only a few weeks into it. My dd really likes the songs, so I would recommend buying the CD's if you are considering this program.

Writing
Dd started an IEW writing class last week. We will continue to meet for 5 more weeks or so. She enjoyed the classroom setting and hanging out with her HS friends afterwards. She has a writing assignment to complete, and is actually EXCITED about it. Woo hoo! I am a complete failure at teaching composition and have been praying to find a tutor! What an answer to prayer!

Reading
Dh is reading Summer of the Monkeys aloud. This is a great adventure story. If your kids enjoy Gentle Ben or Lassie, your kids are sure to like this one. I tried to get my dh to read Sounder or Where the Red Fern Grows, but he refuses to read dog stories that make one want to jump off a bridge. He is a happy ending sort of guy. ; )

Miss M has been reading like crazy. She started and finished Island of the Aunts and James and the Giant Peach, and The Search for the Delicious last week. Today, she started Crispin by Avi.

Bible
We received and began the Wise Up! study by Positive Action for Christ. I really like this curriculum. It is a change for us, since the focus is on application. All the studies we have done in the past have been purely expositional. Memory work, activities, writing ideas, and other extras are included. It is pretty much a pick up and go program, and we enjoyed our first family lesson. We plan to do it together all through the summer, and transition into 50% independent/family work split with it by Fall.

Math
We are doing a math lesson twice a week to keep skills sharp. Miss M started the new book this week. The first CLE Light Unit is mostly review, so it have been easy and enjoyable so far.

Science & Nature Study
We are learning about flower pollination this week. We have a bunch of resources in our library basket, and have been discussing as well as doing some notebooking. On alternate days, Miss M has been working with the CyberEd Physical Science software. This software has been great, and she seems to be retaining what she has learned!

Other than that, we have been hanging out with friends more often, taking more walks, and just "getting out there" a lot. Listing the academics all together makes it look like we are doing a lot, but don't be fooled! Most subjects are only getting done twice a week, or so, reading being the exception.

I'm looking forward to more beautiful early summer days! This time of the year is truly glorious.

Weekly Report

School here will be light from now until August, so I may combine weekly reports. We did a bit of this and a bit of that - mainly focusing on nature study and health. Personally, I have been working on my nutrition/fitness goals, and I have happily noticed Miss M following my lead in this area by reading nutrition labels and being aware of more mindful eating. Today when her friend asked her for something sweet to eat, she exclaimed, "Oh, we are trying to avoid sugar around here. It's not good for you, you know! How about a whole wheat bagel?" : D

English:
Nothing too formal here. Miss M did a notebook page on Cardinals, and she made several dog-themed bookmarks. They turned out really cute!

Handicrafts:
Did some crocheting and made some bookmarks for gifts. Her crocheted scarf will go to some special person she will not reveal!

Math:
No math this week. I did have her measure her windows for new blinds and draw out a diagram.

Nature Study:
Backyard birds. We filled our bird feeder and put a small bath out on the deck. It has attracted sparrows, chickadees, blue jays, cardinals, and crows so far. We read Nature Friend articles, read some backyard bird books, and did a sketch. It has been wonderful being aware of all the beautiful bird songs around us every day! It has been satisfying learning what bird songs are sung by which birds. We are loving nature study.

Family Reading:
Miss M's free reading is The Thief Lord. For read-aloud time, Iron Chef finished Seven Daughters and Seven Sons and began The Phantom Tollbooth. His personal reading is Saint by Ted Dekker. I have been rea ding Clean Eating, (and trying to follow the principles pretty closely) Oxygen, the book of 1 Kings, and Joy Hakims's Reconstructing America.


Other School News
I recently got my first desk. That's right, I have never had my own desk in all my years of homeschooling! It is a large, cherry-colored, U-shaped desk with tons of work space and storage. It was acquired from Craig's List for a song. I love it -- no more having to clear everything off of the dining room table every day! Also, my teaching materials and office supplies have been reorganized. Since I have most of my curriculum here for fall and it has been nice for all of it to have found a 'home!'

Outside teaching projects
Also got confirmation that I will be teaching four homeschool science classes in the fall, with kids ranging in age from first to eighth grades. I have been busy getting my program and materials organized for those classes. Teaching Sunday School at my home church will be another fun project this summer. Our church's theme will be 'It's a King Thing!' (exploring the Kings of the Bible), and I am looking forward to do some teaching and organizational work with this! It looks like a great summer program. I think the kids will learn a ton and have a blast!

That's about all we are up to right now. How was your week?

Weekly Report April 14-18

It was a slow, relaxed week here at Ambleside Classical. Our schedule is slowing down and we are enjoying it. Our Official School Year is finished, and now we are just doing a bit of this and a bit of that. I have been allowing Miss M to sleep in a little later. School days have been light and 'unschoolish,' and we have been reading frivolous novels and spending as much time as possible outdoors. Here are a few highlights:

• Field Trip to a local Science and Technology Center. Went home $165 poorer, since I couldn't resist signing Miss M up for a summer camp there!
  

• Spring, spring, spring! Spring has finally sprung, and we have been able to get outside and enjoy several games of tennis with each other and friends. If it is warm enough, we will begin our day with a tennis game each morning.
  

• Began our new Composer Study (finally!)

• Miss M designed and made a crocheted stuffed animal - a cute, black puppy with floppy ears!

• Wrote and illustrated a comic strip story

• Read Aloud: Finished reading The Penderwicks, and began Seven Daughters and Seven Sons.

• Miss M came up with the idea of creating "Thank You" cards for all four of her co-op teachers and spent a morning making these with love and care.

We look forward to getting out and doing some nature hikes soon. In celebration of Spring, I'll close with some lines by Christina Rossetti:

What are heavy? sea-sand and sorrow:
What are brief? to-day and to-morrow:
What are frail? Spring blossoms and youth:
What are deep? the ocean and truth

April 7th - 11th

After finishing our Sonlight 5 reading the other week, our days have been lighter and full of free reading. I had been planning on doing a Green Hour Challenge with our KEEPERS group today, but we had snow on the ground and a storm instead. Yes, I said SNOW! Oh well. There's always next week!

Here was this week's line-up:


Reading:
Inkheart by Cornelia Funke

This is a fantasy novel that Miss M has loved and devoured. If your kids enjoy Lord of the Rings or other fantasy, this will be a sure pleaser. It is the first novel of a trilogy.

Math:
Meters and centimeters, Rounding to the nearest fourth-inch, Meters and decimals, Drawing congruent angles

Bible:
Acts Chapters 13-15 with Studying God's Word
Continue memorizing Romans 12

Elementary Spanish 5/6:
Unit 3: (parts of head, sports-related words)

Language Arts:
How to read a poem, Diagramming interrogative sentences
Copywork from Secrets of the Woods

Physical Science:

Chemistry Fundamentals: Bonding & Types of Compounds

Handicrafts:
Crocheting, Paper Quilling, Card-making

Family Read-Aloud:
The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall

Weekly Report

Spring fever has hit our home and it has been a challenge getting lessons done. Thankfully, we are in the home stretch in both our Language Arts and Math books. The end of our Official Year is in sight! Our last unit of Sonlight 5, South Africa, has been pretty light because we spent too much time on our Africa unit and it is dragging. We watched a couple of United Streaming videos, discussed apartheid and Nelson Mandla. We made a South Africa vocabulary book and are calling it good. I feel a bit guilty because so much more could be done with this topic! Sigh.

Earlier in the unit, dh read a book aloud related to South Africa called "Journey to Jo'burg." He says that if he reads one more Sonlight book about a child separated from her parents and trying to find the way back, he will resign his read-aloud job. : ) I DO have to admit that SL 5 has too many of that same story line over and over in different settings. There must have been about 10 of these at least. You know what they say about "too much of a good thing."

We branched out quite a bit from SL in the read-aloud department. We branched out in the independent reading. We branched out in the geography and craft areas. We branched out in the spine reading. Ok, WE JUST PLAIN BRANCHED OUT! : ) I think that without heavy modification, SL 5 could get a bit dull. WE added lots of hands-on projects, substituted geography from Trail Guide, edited the reading list, used Enchantment of the World series (love this series!) instead of World Book encyclopedia, used Netflix videos weekly for family movie night, and read lots of library books.

It is very important to dh that family read-aloud time is fun and not overly 'schoolish." Instead of reading all of the SL 5, we read some of the Ambleside selections, and others of our choosing. This week, Iron Chef (dh) is reading The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall aloud. (If you like The Saturdays by Enright, you'll also love Penderwicks). For independent reading, Miss M is reading The Secret of Nimh by Robert O'Brian.

I didn't get a report up last week, and dd made a really cool "Indigenous Animals" 3-D mobile. It is hanging in our dining room where we can watch it spin. Each animal has several interesting facts listed. I've learned quite a bit just by reading over it every day!

For reading last week, dd finished BFG by Ronald Dahl and a book from the Winnie the Horse Gentler series. I think she has read 5 or 6 of the Winnie books and loved them since she is a total horse fanatic. As of last week, we are going to move toward more fun books of dd's choice from now through summer. Dh finished reading Plain Girl aloud, and it was a thought-provoking, interesting book. Spanish is going fine. We also visited the Homeschool Open Gym time with a couple of friends.

In science, our co-op class studied light reflection. We did experiments and made a flip-up book of what we learned. At home, Miss M learned about The Periodic Table, Mass, and Matter. She is using Plato's Cyber Ed science from Homeschool Buyer's Co-op. She enjoys working on the computer and says she gets more out of the lessons on computer than reading a book straight. In art class, dd learned graph (grid?) drawings. This is where you copy a picture by making a grid and drawing each grid separately. She admits she didn't really like it, as she prefers creative art projects. I pointed out that it is important to develop new skills as a budding artist. : )

I don't know if I consider this Official Health Curriculum, but I taught Miss M about skin care this week. We went out and bought her some skin care products. Her facial skin is just getting to the point she has to watch for break-outs. It is important that girls keep their skin clean without over-drying with harsh products. My picks for girls just starting skin care routines are a mild soap, such as Neutrogena or castille soap, witch hazel for toner, and a mild acne lotion to dab on break-outs. I like the mild acne lotions with salicylic acid only. Yes, this is the same ingredient that is in aspirin, so it's non-toxic. It is also nice to add some essential oil to the witch hazel -- such as mint, tea tree, sweet orange or rosemary. The essential oil smells heavenly and it's good for the skin! I choose sweet orange and peppermint for Miss M's witch hazel. It smells so good, and motivates her to tone!

That's a rap for our week at Ambleside Classical. I am still praying about our summer plans and discussing our summer goals with Iron Chef. When we decide what our summer focuses will be, I'll post. Right now, we are thinking we will do lots of composer study, nature study and science, but nothing is set in stone.

We will close with some pics by Miss M, this week's photographer.

Weekly Update

Our year is flying by! Here is a peek into our homeschool and what we are currently studying. I uploaded a few pictures our week.


Memory Work
Southern African Countries and Capitals
Romans 12

Bible:
Acts (Studying God's Word series)

Social Studies
Kenya - Culture and Geography (Enchantment of the World series)
Readings from "World Book" on Africa
finishing up making Africa thematic maps using ideas from Trail Guide to World Geography
IMAX Film: "Kilamanjaro"
History Chanel Film: "The Sahara"



Science
Physics: Understanding and Measuring Matter (CyberEd Physical Science)

Math
Drawing with Angles, Making Line Graphs, Square Roots (CLE Mathematics)

Poetry
Read an African proverb each day and explained the meaning.

Language Arts
Scrapbook page on "Niger"
Italic Cursive Handwriting (copied a selection from Enchantment of the World: Niger)
Literature: Winnie: The Horse Gentler # 3
Typing software - current speed is 15 wpm
Vocabulary book: Swahili/English translation of "Jambo!" song of Kenya

Art
Read about and made a "Galimoto Wire Toy." These wheeled toys made out of simple wire are common throughout Africa.

Music
Jambo! from Kenya

Family Read Aloud: Plain Girl

Family Movie: 'Hotel Rwanda'


WE also took a field trip with our co-op to a local amusement park, but it was more fun than educational. I suppose I could count it as a cardio workout, with all the running around and carrying on the kids did. : )

Have a great week in the Lord!

Weekly Report - February 18-22, 2008

Here is a review of our homeschool week, complete gross and cool eye dissection pictures. : )

Miss M is reading the novel Star of Light, and she did a heap of additional unit reading this week. Our unit focus was Northern Africa and we tied in a study of deserts, since the Sahara is such an important element of North Africa. Began coloring thematic maps, following instructions in Trail Guide to World Geography. In addition, it was fun to read about many exotic animals of Africa.

I taught a co-op science class, 'How the Eye Works,' and we learned the main parts and functions of the eye. After a couple of activities, the kids got to see a cow's eye which I dissected for them. (As Providence would have it, this ties in with our study in a wierd way -- a main character in Star of Light is blind!)

It was a busy, fun week here. Thanks for stopping by!

Oh yeah, Math, Spanish and English are going fine, too. We did DO them, just nothing exciting to report. :)

Weekly Report - 2/14/08

At this point, I have no idea what week # we are on. And I don't care. : ) We were out of town caring for a family member last week, and we mostly did school via reading books and Time4Learning from the hospital computer. Do I count that as an Official School Week or not? Miss M began her Africa theme this week, and I ordered the book, The Color of Water, from the library for my own studies.

Here is how our week looked:

CLE Math: - Lowest Common Multiple, Naming Angles, Simplifying With Parentheses, Adding and Subtracting Time

Language Arts - Did a writing assignment from Sensory Journey Into Africa. Miss M described an animal so that her audience could draw or guess it, without revealing what the animal was. She did a great job on this assignment and turned it into a little flip up book. Worked on typing daily. From Sonlight 5 Language Arts, completed 2 activity sheets. Did 2 Spanish Lessons and got 100% on her Spanish Unit test today. Yay!

Poetry - reading and explaining what African proverbs mean. She seems to be enjoying this!

Bible - continues to read the minor prophets and is working toward a Bible KEEPERS badge.

Handicrafts/Practical Life Skills - made a Tuareg box from Hands-On Africa. Co-hosting our KEEPERS club tomorrow, which will include a cake decorating class and luncheon. (I spent the entire afternoon baking cakes and making frosting for the club.)

Memory - Memorizing North/West African countries. Continuing to memorize Romans 12, along with our KEEPERS club. I think we will add in some African proverbs to our memory work next week.

Spanish - Got a 100% score on unit 1 test. Here was the vocabulary:

Unit 1 Vocabulary List

el calendario - the calendar

¿En qué mes estamos? - What month is this?

Estamos en _______. - This is _______.

los días de la semana - the days of the week

lunes, martes, miércoles - Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday

jueves, viernes, sábado - Thursday, Friday, Saturday

domingo - Sunday

¿Cómo te llamas? - What is your name? (familiar)

Mucho gusto. - Pleased to meet you.

El gusto es mío. - The pleasure is mine.

¿Cómo estás? - How are you? (familiar)

¿Cuántos años tienes? - How old are you?

¿Cómo se llama tu amigo(a)? - What is your friend’s (feminine)

name ?

¿Cuál es tu número de teléfono? - What is your telephone number?

las vocales - the vowels

Lotería - Bingo

¿Cómo te llamas? - What is your name? (familiar)

Me llamo _____. - My name is _____.

¿Cómo estás? - How are you? (familiar)

Estoy bien/más o menos/mal. - I am fine/OK/not well.

¿Cuántos años tienes? - How old are you?

Tengo ___ años. - I am ___ years old.

¿Cuál es tu número de teléfono? - What is your telephone number?

Mi número de teléfono es el ____. - My telephone number is ____.

las vocales - the vowels

uno, dos, tres, cuatro, cinco - one, two, three, four, five

seis, siete, ocho, nueve, diez - six, seven, eight, nine, ten

once, doce, trece, catorce - eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen

quince, dieciséis, diecisiete - fifteen, sixteen, seventeen

dieciocho, diecinueve - eighteen, nineteen

veinte, treinta, cuarenta - twenty, thirty, forty

cincuenta, sesenta, setenta - fifty, sixty, seventy

ochenta, noventa, cien - eighty, ninety, one hundred

ciento uno, doscientos - one hundred one, two hundred

trescientos, cuatrocientos - three hundred, four hundred

quinientos, seiscientos - five hundred, six hundred

setecientos, ochocientos - seven hundred, eight hundred

novecientos, mil - nine hundred, one thousand

colores, azul, rojo, amarillo - colors, blue, red, yellow

verde, anaranjado, morado - green, orange, purple

café, blanco, negro - brown, white, black

círculo, cuadro, triángulo - circle, square, triangle

estrella, óvalo, rectángulo - star, oval, rectangle

Africa Theme - watched video "Gorillas in the Mist." Fast forwarded a couple chapters of the movie due to scenes involving adultery, which I didn't remember were there - but FYI. Read several sections from World Book Encyclopedia: "Africa." Of special interest were the sections on pygmies and population facts. Read and finished The Rat Catcher's Son and African Folk Tales (Dover Thrift.) Began A Glorious Age in Africa, and Miss M is of the opinion that it is boring. I am asking her to read it anyway, as it looks valuable and I do this rarely. Miss M gave several good narrations and is showing curiosity about the land of Africa. :D

I plan to make a trip to the library next week to investigate some sources of African music. Maybe we could work up some sort of dance with it? We'll see. We didn't do a lot for music or composer study this week, unless you count Miley Cyrus. ; )

Here are some pictures of our KEEPERS meeting from 2/15. The girls earned their Cake Decorating badges.

Thanks for stopping by!

Week 19 Report - Beginning 'Russia'

This week we began our "Russia" home-designed unit study. Unlike studies done in younger years, this unit is high on reading/writing and lower on crafty activities. We are using Russia by Eyewitness Books as a spine - and the book is gorgeous!

Here is what Miss M completed in her thematic studies this week:


Cultural Studies

Eyewitness Russia - selections

□ “Early Russia” □ “A varied land” □ “Peoples of Russia” □ “Wealth of a nation” □ “A life of serfdom” □ “Orthodox religion”

• VIDEO: "Russia Land of the Tsars" - Disc 1

• Russian Fairy Book by Dover - finished

• Peter the Great by Diane Stanley - finished

• Catherine: The Great Journey, Russia, 1743 (The Royal Diaries) - 1/3 of the way through

Science

• researched and gave an oral mini-report on the gray wolf of Siberia

Writing

• Wrote a narrative story about "a day in my life" as a peasant (serf) in old Russia
• Copywork from Eyewitness Russia

Music

• "All About Tchaikovsky" lesson at Classics for Kids

Art

• Using Eyewitness Russia's photographs as a resource, sketched a portrait of herself dressed as a peasant in Old Russia

Additionally, she completed daily lessons in Language Arts, Typing and Math.

We plan to take a field trip to a local Russian market in the next weeks, so I'll post about that when and if we go! We will likely be studying Russia for the next 3-4 weeks before resuming our usual, non-thematic "CM" studies. It was a fun week, and a very simple unit to implement.

Blessings to you!

Weeks 16 & 17 In Review

The Reason For the Season

For the past couple of weeks we have been doing Homeschool Light around here. We are ahead enough in our curriculum plans that we could take the month of December off (shhhh!), but since I have so much to do with our remodeling project it honestly works better to keep Miss M busy with school work and normal routine in the morning. We have been mostly doing Math or English, reading, reading, reading, a little music appreciation and TOPS/Time4Learning Science. Miss M has been devouring her reading books, acquired on a recent trip to Half Price Books. She has loved other books by Edward Eager, so what a delight that we found another called Time Garden. The other book we picked up is Bright Shadow by Avi. I recently heard about Book Adventure, so I'm going to encourage her to take the little book quizzes and work for prizes. It is a blessing to see her choosing reading as one of the favorite parts of her school day! When she was younger, I could not have imagined! On Tuesday, Miss M said simply, "I'm starting to like math now because I feel like I'm getting good at it." Indeed. She scored a 100% on her last math test, and has been doing her lessons almost eagerly. I truly believe it is due to working through 4 pages of CLE Math every day, complete with daily fact drill and systematic review. All the practice, which was NO FUN initially, is finally paying off. Math has always been somewhat of a struggle at our house, so I am enjoying the breather. A neighbor girl asked Miss M if she could tutor her in math. How exciting. They say that the best teachers teach subjects that they have struggled in. I am going to encourage this, because I have found from personal experience that teaching is the BEST way to learn.

TOPS # 32 "Electricity" is a HUGE hit here. Miss M likes to work through the task cards on her own, gathering supplies from around the house. When she is done with an experiment, she shows it to me, I correct and initial her task card, and we discuss. She is loving the independence! Time 4 Learning complements TOPS nicely, as Time 4 Learning teaches the vocabulary and concepts systematically. Easy for me and enjoyable for Miss M. I think we have a winner!

I will close with some pics of Miss M as an angel in one of the Christmas plays she is in. The play is called "The Reason for the Season." I pray that this joyous season finds you with peace in your home, peace in your teaching, and peace in your heart. : )