Weekly Report...Week 1

We did it! We completed our first official week of school! It had some rocky moments, but all in all, it was fantastic! It felt so good to finally be on some sort of schedule and routine after having this cross country move taking up all of our time and energy. Magnus started 2nd grade and Thane started Kindergarten. It is a bit of a challenge having to "really" teach two this year, but I am sure I'll get the hang of it soon. I don't know how the moms with lots of kids do it!

Tapestry of Grace (Both)
This is our first year using TOG. We are doing Year Two, Unit 1 this semester and learning about The Middle Ages. For those of you who do not know, this incorporates our history, geography, literature, church history, and art. Each Year is broken down into four Units and set up so that you complete it in a school year. We, however, will be completing only two units this year, allowing us to move at a slower pace and "dig deeper" into areas that interest us.

History...We read about the different Barbarian tribes (the Goths, the Franks, the Vandels, ect.) attacking the Romans. Attila the Hun was a very vicious man. I don't remember studying him in school. I knew of him, but not much. The boys, of course, were very much interested in it and hanging on my every word. In fact, the created their own battles with blocks and Playmobil guys...



Geography...We broke out the Atlas and looked at the area we are going to be studying. Then, they both labeled maps of the 7 contients, the oceans, and the rivers. Magnus also labeled a Medieval Europe map. The boys like doing maps.

Literature...Magnus has been reading a variety of books about King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. Magnus has been reading aloud to Thane a lot...

Language Arts (Magnus)

Grammar...Magnus has picked up right where we left off last year in his Growing with Grammar book. We didn't get this curriculum until we were 3/4 of the way through last year, so he is still tecnically doing the first grade level. No matter, he is doing really well learning about the different forms of nouns...proper and common.
Spelling...we have just been reviewing the rules we learned last year. He still has a couple more steps to finish from level one, but he'll move onto level two in no time.
Phonics...He complete a lesson in his Explode the Code Level 4 book.

Phonics (Thane)

We started working through the first workbook in Sing, Spell, Read, & Write. I am pretty sure he is going to do well with this program. Here is one of the sheets he completed...

Math

Magnus...He is finishing up Level B of Right Start due to the fact that we bought it mid year and I slacked off a bit in the subject. He worked on side two of the abacus and was working on addition within the 'teens'.

Thane...this is a new subject for him this year. He is constantly asking me, "Is it time for math yet?" and "When can we do math?" I love his eagerness. He is doing Level A of Right Start. He learned to recognize objects up to five without counting. He did really well. He also learned the poem, "One, Two, buckle my shoe".

Science (Magnus)

He is taking a science class at our Charter School, one day a week for an hour. His first class was this week. They are going to be studying, really quickly, the different eco systems and animal kingdoms. He came home with a picture of the sun, which he drew and colored. I was pretry impressed.

I have also bee tossing around the idea of doing NOEO Biology 1 with them. I have been drooling over this for the past two years and I am able to get it for free through our charter school. I think I will look into it more and decide if our schedule can handle it.

Mrs. P's Kindergarten Class (Thane)

I am so excited about the opportunity for Thane to be in a class room type setting with other homeschool kids! Magnus attended a classical preschool when he was four and that was a great experience for him. They meet once a week for 2 1/2 hours. It is designed to help them be able to listen to another adult besides mom, learn to share with others, focus on thetask set before them, and to have a chance for interaction with other Kers. Thane was a bit unsure of it when I dropped him off for his first day, but he quickly warmed up to it. He told me all about the new friends he made. It warmed my heart! Especially since we just left all of our other friends back in TN! Here is a worksheet he did...

Latin (Magnus)
We are waiting on our Song School Latin materials to come in.

P.E. (Both)

The boys are taking tennis lessons. They have been going twice a week for lessons and then usually another day to practice and hit around. And I must say, I have the hots for their instructor! He not only has great form, but he is gentle and patient with Magnus and Thane. Collin, I mean, their instructor, is fantastic!

Oh, and I finally got to meet one of my online friends IRL! Sharon, aka Sailmom, and I met through my blog and the WTM message boards. She has been a tremendous help to me in transitioning to N. CA. (Hi, Sharon!) We have been corresponding the past few months via email and it finally worked out for us to meet! Then, she had to go out of town on me, BUT she'll be back next week! The kids hit it off real well too! So that was the highlight of my week! Not that she left, but that we got to meet! (tee hee!)