Weekly Report...Week 15

I have finally made it over the hump. This week was better than the previous two. It might have something to do with classes starting with the boys, we found an AWANA Club finally, and I got to connect with some other homeschool moms including the great ladies I met at the park last Friday. Call me crazy, but human interaction is necessary.

Tapestry of Grace (Both)
I still feel like I am not using the program up to its potential. I know the boys are learning what they need, at least that is the impression I am getting, and that these are the years for introducing events and people, but I am still having to fight the urge to do more. We are not doing more, but it is a struggle. I will probably look back on these posts when Magnus is in the Rhetoric stage and think, "What I wouldn't give to be back in the simplicity of it all".

History...We are in Week 9 of Year 2 Unit One. I am regretting my decision, at the beginning of the year, to complete each "week" in two. We are behind now. No worries...learning is still taking place no matter what the pace, right!?! We learned about the 100 Years War...which Magnus pointed out actually lasted 120...Joan of Arc, the War of the Roses, and what all the interest the Towers of London hold. Magnus asked me, "Mom, which side was God on? The French or the English?". Wowzer! "Well honey, it's complicated. Want a cookie?". Here is a picture of a battle Magnus recreated with his Playmobil guys and blocks. The person on the horse is Joan.

He drew a picture of a Joan of Arc battle as well...


Literature...Magnus read A Door in the Wall by Marguerite De Angeli. He claimed he read it all, but I have a feeling he skipped a bit. Note to self: Get on the ball with the narrations! He did say he really liked it too. I think I will have him reread it next week and after a couple of chapters, have him narrate it back to me. There are also some Student Activity Pages in TOG I may have him complete.

Language Arts (Magnus)

Grammar...worked on homonyms and rhyming words. Easy peasy...hey, that rhymes!

Spelling...worked on Step 7 of Level 2 and played around on spellingcity.com. Didn't have a chance to look at what to do about reviewing. Maybe I'll have a chance next week.

Phonics (Thane)
Working on the short "i". He is still doing well. I need to go through our Happy Phonics to see what games are appropriate for what we are learning and break those out. I really need to considering it took me 9 hours to cut all the game pieces out! We checked out some of the starfall puzzles from our charter school and he also got to mess around on starfall .com for awhile.


Math

Magnus...We worked a lot on mental math this week. The lessons said to introduce the concepts we were working on with the abacus, but since he is really catching on, I skipped that part and just had him to it in his head. He is really proud of himself and it is great to see his confidence grow.

Thane...Moving right along. His lessons are easy for him, but I don't want to miss something that might bite me in the you-know-what later if I skip it. He enjoys doing the worksheets and since Right Start doesn't really use worksheets, especially in Level A, I am going to find some online for him to do. Can't hurt to practice!

Science (Both)

So, we finished reading our One Small Square...Desert Cactus book last week and we did not get to our lapbooking over the weekend (I told you not to hold me to it!) so we finished it up this week. I plan to write a separate post about it soon.

Latin (Magnus)
We did part of a chapter and need to finish the rest next week. I am in the process of creating flashcards for him to study with and might create a bingo game soon. Been thinking about what to do after we are done with Song School Latin, and I am leaning towards doing Minimus. I already own it and the boys enjoy the comic book format. Is it considered "twaddle" if it is written in Latin?

Thane playing around on the GeoSafari we are borrowing from the school.


Tuesday the boys went to there first night at AWANA since moving here. Thane is now a Spark instead of a Cubbie. I won't hear, "And we hop because we're happy and we hop and shout for joy!" anymore. There are several boys from our charter school who attend so that is good. Collin and I were able to enjoy a quiet dinner together with no distractions.

Thanks for stopping by this week! See you next! Oh, if you think about it, would you mind coming by on Sunday? There is going to be a very special post and would love for you to comment! See you then! :o)

***If you read the post about my neighborhood, you should check out the comment my brother left. He added some more memories and thoughts. It really was a great neighborhood!***