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Weekly review of February 11-16

Posted: Sat Feb 16, 2013 6:11 am
by rogmisbailey
What was YOUR week Like?

You can post:

a- A picture
b- A blog Link
c- A written synopsis
d- Your favorite memory
e- Anything you want that shares your HOD excitement!

Important Note: If you are linking us to your blog, please make sure it's not just a general link, but to your specific post of HOD. That way if someone reads through these a year from now they can find your share without needing to hunt!

Re: Weekly review of February 11-16

Posted: Sat Feb 16, 2013 6:12 am
by rogmisbailey

Re: Weekly review of February 11-16

Posted: Sat Feb 16, 2013 10:50 am
by my3sons
Little Hearts for His Glory
We started reading "Buster Bear" this week. This book is definitely already a hit with Emmett! He thinks the jokes Little Joe Otter and Buster Bear play on one another are hilarious, and yet we are having good talks about how it is important to be careful with humor - sometimes one person views something as funny, and another person does not. :wink: I think I have a few Little Joe Otters and Buster Bears living in my own household some days (including my prankster pulling hubby) :lol: !
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Emmett enjoys his messages he gets to write in regard to his Storytime readings too. He takes them quite seriously, pondering his answers carefully, and often needing to say 'one more thing' than the number of things asked of him in the plans. (He has not equated saying one more thing = writing one more thing yet.) :wink:
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Another Storytime follow-up Emmett adores is acting out the story with his stuffed animals. Here he is with his buddies acting out Little Joe Otter muddying the fishing waters, so Buster Bear couldn't find more fish...
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One of Emmett's favorite things to do is to decorate his Bible verse to give to someone. He went a little overboard with the glitter glue this time...
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Speaking of writing, Emmett is doing better with writing with a marker right now, so that is what he has been using for his handwriting papers...
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In history, we read about George Washington this week. The fingerplay had Emmett zealously chopping down the cherry tree, only to say sternly with a pointing finger "Better tell the truth!" He can really pour on the stern voice! :D We also read the story about Washington riding his horse, and all the boys got into the follow-up, which was to have one person be the rider, and one person be the horse as various movements were called out (in this case, by Wyatt). Everybody took a big bow at the end of this 'show'! :lol:
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What a fun week!
In Christ,
Julie

Re: Weekly review of February 11-16

Posted: Sat Feb 16, 2013 11:08 am
by my3sons
Creation to Christ
This week we enjoyed going full-speed with Riley's LA and math, and half-speed with the rest. This is a better pacing for him and for our family right now. He loves to throw himself into his creative assignments, so this has allowed him a little time to do so. My new plan is for him to finish CTC and RTR over 3 years instead of 2 years. :D But I am learning, sometimes my plans go awry. :wink: So, we'll let God plan it out, right?

Riley loved making the mosaic of the horse and chariot, which was a neat follow-up history project after reading about the Egyptians. The projects in CTC are so fun! He gets to do something new every week, and I am so thankful for the hands-on work included in CTC,as this would be difficult for me to try to incorporate into his day on my own...
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The CTC history notebooking pages are just lovely. I like that each 2 page spread lays out the theme of the unit we have just studied. It is going to be such a neat keepsake of this year for us! Riley is learning to write within a framed, set area. As you can see in the above notebooking page, he didn't plan for this and wrote only a few words on each line in wide cursive, so that the writing didn't fit in his box. I think this is a good skill to learn, as we often have set guidelines to work within as adults too. I remember my oldest sister, Cindy, getting her journalism degree in college. She is an incredible writer! But, ironically the biggest challenge for her when she got her first job at a local newspaper, was to write within a set word count within a set deadline. This was such a tough part of the job! It would be for me too. :wink: I am glad our dc are learning to write within a set space, within a set deadline, already in CTC. I am also glad that the HOD guides themselves are written in boxed plans for me as the teacher. This is what makes the guides open and go! I can remember countless long-winded notes in paragraph form in other teacher's guides I've used in the past. I confess I often quit reading after paragraph one in those other guides. With HOD's guides, I can easily see my part in the teaching, and my dc can easily see their part. Love that! :D Here are a few snapshots of Riley's notebooking...
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The Geography of the Holy Lands book has been so narrative to read, and the maps Riley is labeling are turning out so neatly. He really is enjoying seeing the places he is reading about in his history books!
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CTC's plans have a really neat fine arts component. Watercolor painting along with Robert Frost's inspiring poetry is a wonderful way to celebrate what we are learning creatively in a new artistic medium. Here Riley is with his ocean watercolor painting and stanza he copied from Robert Frost's poetry - great fun! :D
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Hope you enjoyed your week too!
In Christ,
Julie

Re: Weekly review of February 11-16

Posted: Sat Feb 16, 2013 11:45 am
by my3sons
Missions to Modern Marvels
My chemistry loving son is having a blast with the chem kit in MTMM. He dons his gloves, apron, and goggles, and he is set! He really looks forward to these experiments, and I like the lab sheet follow-ups too...
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Wyatt has been reading about religions around the world and learning about their differences and similarities with Christianity. We have thoroughly been enjoying our readings for our joint Bible study in "Who Am I?...". The narratives of different children about Wyatt's age growing up in different religions are so interesting. He can find similarities with each of them in different aspects of their daily living which is neat, but he can also pick out the differences in beliefs and worldviews, which is even more important to me as his mom trying to teach him what a Christian worldview looks like. This chart in his notebook helped him organize his research on this subject...
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I am to the point where I just enjoy reading Wyatt's written narrations, with minimal editing corrections and few tips for improvement. We have been working on narrating, first orally and then in written form, under HOD's expert guidance for the past 8 years. Oral narration practice began with LHFHG in the Storytime follow-ups and continued on in every subsequent year, with helps more and more fine-tuned to growth and maturity in this skill. Written narration practice began with PHFHG in history and continued on in every subsequent guide, with helps more and more fine-tuned to growth and maturity in that skill. Every year has been slow and steady progress. I don't believe there is any way to rush this, as narrating is a skill that must be improved with practice. I love how HOD has dc narrate in all different subject areas through the years - history, science, emerging reader's set, storytime - all of these varied living book resources require different aspects of narrating to be honed. For example, in history, there are countless names and places to be remembered. In science, there are numerous new vocabulary words to be used. In storytime, the characters' nuances in personality, mood, and actions are to be conveyed. No one can do all of this perfectly, even the best of narrators. But, over time, through practice, and with loving guidance, each student improves little by little and begins to develop his own style. If you are new to narration, give it time - as in years of time. The growth is slow and hard to see at times, but believe me, it is steady. HOD's plans and Appendix helps have helped my dc grow so much in this area, and it is now a joy to read my oldest ds's written narrations and listen to his oral narrations. I just want to encourage you - follow HOD's plans, use their tips, and keep encouraging your kiddos - the results are so worth it!!!! :D
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Wyatt's maps have taught him many mapping skills, and they are often the things I see on his standardized tests each year. I am thankful these skills are covered through HOD in a way that is still interesting and directly related to what he is reading in his living history books...
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Wyatt's history project this week had him baking war cake. This was so interesting because it was made without milk, eggs, and butter, as these were ingredients families often had to do without...
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Each week the cousins get together and play with our sons. This week was especially fun as we had a lot of snow. The boys pulled each other on sleds behind their 3-wheelers and managed to build this pretty magnificent fort together. They even used water to freeze the sides of the fort for support. Too fun! Aren't we blessed to be able to homeschool and make our homes be whatever entertainment we want for our dc? Love that! :D
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In Christ,
Julie

Re: Weekly review of February 11-16

Posted: Sat Feb 16, 2013 12:49 pm
by waterandclay
I love seeing all your of your updates! Thank you for all those pictures Julie. It gets me so excited about the guides we get to do next :)

Here's our update for Bigger Unit 22:

http://www.monarchroom.com/2013/02/hear ... eview.html

Re: Weekly review of February 11-16

Posted: Sat Feb 16, 2013 12:52 pm
by lissiejo
Week in Review: http://gracefilledhomeschooling.blogspo ... 11-15.html

Bigger Hearts: Unit 20
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Little Hearts: Unit 19
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Little Hands: Unit 13

Re: Weekly review of February 11-16

Posted: Sat Feb 16, 2013 5:21 pm
by rogmisbailey
Your guys posts on Bigger Hearts is getting me excited to start next year! I am buying my Bigger set at the Cincinnati Homeschool Convention in April and can't wait!!