Tuesday, September 02, 2014

Educational Report: Week of August 24, 2014

Even though it's Tuesday into the next week, I wanted to post about our educational pursuits last week. Eric & I have been talking a lot about our schedule- it's far too cramped & I'm praying about how to better order our days. There's a lot of littles & midlings here, so this is a common prayer of mine & I know the Lord will direct us. I just want Him to do it NOW. :) Yep, He's teaching MAMA a lot!

Covenant Classes: this was the first week of classes for all of the children except Patricia, who started last week. I have to say, it felt VERY WEIRD to send my children off to learn by themselves. Probably sounds funny to most but it's new territory for us. Jonathan & Elizabeth had an introduction to geography- I think this class will reinforce our mapwork at home. (IF we're consistent with maps... but that's a whole other topic!) Benjamin & Matthias started chapter 1 of Primer B in their Latin class. (We hadn't finished Primer A yet but we jumped into this class because the remaining chapters in Primer A were only review.) All four younger children had Bible class- they will be studying the promises of God this year. They are working on memorizing 1 Kings 8:56, 2 Corinthians 1:20 & 2 Peter 1:3-4. Patricia's literature class is studying The Consolation of Philosophy & her Bible class is studying the Shorter Catechism.

Reading Aloud: we listened to The Jungle Book. Yeah for Jim Weiss recordings! Highly recommend them.

Memory Time: one of those BIG AREAS that's been crowded out that shouldn't be. :(

History: Patricia & Benjamin covered two lectures on early contacts in America and navigation & exploration. They started reading Longitude, as well as their two main texts for the year (they only read selected portions each week): The Patriot's Handbook and A History of the American People. They took part of an opportunity- I'm doing something new this year because Benjamin is joining us. We are doing the opportunities together & discussing it as they take it (vs. last year when Patricia took it herself & I graded it). It takes longer to get it done but it's proving to be a great way to review the material. The children also wrote in their reading journals. We should have listened to a third lecture, so we will need to play catch up this week. Catch up isn't fun- let' hope we get it done!

The younger children read supplemental reading on soldiers in the Revolutionary War. This tied into the previous week's lapbook lesson.

Science: Patricia & Benjamin finished up module 6 on the foundations of geology. They took their quiz also. The younger set started studying The Human Body & this week's two lessons were introductory. They are very eager for more. :)

Math: I think everyone hit this except Benjamin & Matthias. Ooopps.

Language Arts: Spelling & Explode the Code for all that do it. Benjamin & Patricia each covered a week of Writing with Skill, though Patricia didn't get hers done so she will finish it next week. Benjamin worked on outlining for chapter 6, which was a bit tricky for him. He wants to add in far too much detail. :) Matthias should have done a week of Writing with Ease, so we will need to do that also. Jonathan & Elizabeth did copywork consistently.

Latin: as I mentioned for the Covenant Classes, the boys began Primer B. Even though they are taking the class at the co-op, I'm going to continue to work with them daily at home & we will Skype with their friend David in Texas once a week. It's as much for ME as it is for them. :) The first chapter this week reviewed verbs. Patricia finished unit 3 reading. She enjoys these small units that focus on translation.

Logic: Patricia & Benjamin's logic focused on review this week in preparation for an upcoming test. Most of the children did MindBenders Critical Thinking pages.

Art & Music: another week of lessons. Abigail has started to beg me consistently for her turn. She will be five in just a few weeks so she's more than old enough but I just don't know... that girl has a hard time being still...

One more fun but kind of random picture before I go... Lizzie has lost her first two teeth:


No comments: