Sunday, September 6, 2009

Weekly Report...Week 3

Woo Hoo! What a great week! Attitudes were better (from all of us). Ideas were flowing. Opinions were expressed. All was good.

History (Both)
I decided to read a book about explorers to lead into our Colonial unit. The boys listened intently as I read Betsy Maestro's Exploration and Conquest. Love her books. We are doing something different this year...narrations. I never included them into our homeschool as I didn't see the benefit of them. That has completely changed as I have been reading more about Charlotte Mason's ideas. The boys both narrated after each reading and they actually liked it! Bonus!


(Be sure to click on the images so you can read what they narrated!)

Magnus has really been struggling with the events that took place when our nation was young. The thought of settlers coming here and forcing the Natives from their homes is wretched to him. I remember struggling with the same ideas. Especially when I saw the commercial with the old Native American filled with sadness as he looked at the trash and pollution.



Science (Both)
We read a simple explanation of the scientific process scientists use to conduct experiments. Then, of course, we conducted our own scientific experiments and utilized what we learned. Be sure to click here to read the Mad Scientists post for this week. It was a good one.

Never a dull moment when Thane is around!

Bible (Both)
Still learning about Joseph. We read about him interpreting the dreams of the Cupbearer and Baker while in prison and then his interpretation of the Pharaoh's dream. The boys completed their worksheets, timeline, and maps. So glad we are all doing this together!

Language Arts (Magnus)
Grammar...He completed a lesson a day.

Spelling...This was a big week for him. He was able to move on from list 2 to 3! He was VERY proud of himself!

Writing...Haven't added this in yet. I am still waiting to receive my curriculum.

Copywork...He is doing beautiful work...when he takes his time.

Literature...I didn't have him read any specific book this week, but that doesn't mean he didn't spend hours with his nose in a book!

Language Arts (Thane)
Grammar...Still working with common and proper nouns. This week he had trouble with the concept even though he understood it last week. Not quite sure why. We'll just have to keep at it!

Phonics...I've decided to alternate between ETC and OPGTR. We are doing one or the other each day. This seems to be a good compromise even though he whined about having to read, "the silly (meaning stupid) sentences" in OPGTR.

Copywork...He is really taking his time and producing beautiful work. Having to only concentrate for 5 minutes really helps him.
Math
Can I just say, "I love Right Start Math"!
Magnus...We worked some more with roman numerals and reviewed partitioning 15.

Thane...Learned how to use side 2 of the abacus. He understood it very well.


Latin (Magnus)
Would you believe me if I said we reviewed the songs? Well, we did. But that was all. Don't judge.

Nature Study (Both)
Gotta get on the ball with this.

Fun Day Friday (Both)
Okay...I will be the first to admit that it wasn't really "fun". But, it will be once I plan out our Artist and Composer studies. I had been doing so much planning leading up to the school year, that I just don't want to plan anymore. I know that'll change soon and I'll be itchin' to plan. No worries.

We did do Unit 2 from Artistic Pursuits Book One. It was about how artist use their imaginations to create their works. The boys used their imaginations and created their own work using watercolor crayons. I was pleased with the attention they gave it.

Activities
Monday...Had a science party with a bunch of our homeschool friends. It was a total blast!


Wednesday...Fencing Lessons (Magnus). Thane has declared that he would like to take fencing lessons too. You have to be 7 years old to do it, but maybe our instructor would make an exception.
Friday...Mad Scientists!

We won't be getting much done in the form of "seat work" next week. One of our dearest friends is coming to visit. We haven't seen him in over a year and we have some fun things planned. Check back to see what we did! Thanks for stopping by!

1 comment:

Just some guy... said...

Looks fun and productive! Way to go, homeschoolers!