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Week-in-Review March 30 - April 3 , 2015

Posted: Sun Apr 05, 2015 7:36 am
by my3sons
Ok Fellow HOD Homeschoolers,

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: Week-in-Review March 30 - April 3 , 2015

Posted: Sun Apr 05, 2015 8:09 am
by my3sons
Bigger Hearts for His Glory:
This is a busy season for our family, and I am sure it is for everyone else as well! We are winding down toward the close of our homeschool year using BHFHG, RTR, and WH; and we have worked hard all year to get to this point. We took 1 day off each week this year, working on a 4-day week plan. We didn't take any other time off though, other than at Christmas. This was a good fit for this time in our lives! The one day off each week enabled us to catch up on other things, as well as plan a play date with the cousins at our house in the afternoon. Our HOD convention season happens to coincide with my dh's fishing season, which works out well since he is primarily the one taking care of the boys when I am gone, along with a homeschooled and now married young lady that helps out some during the day. My Dad used to help, and we miss him dearly, yet we know he is in heaven with a brand new healthy body, and we are so thankful for that.

A huge help to us during this very busy time at the end of the year is simply the design of the HOD guides and the training our dc have in successfully following directions and working through their day in a routine way. The dc know their routines, and they take pride in being able to move forward in their plans when I am less available. I like to be the teacher the large majority of the time, but when I can't, others can step in and my dc can move forward. That is a blessing I am oh so thankful for. As our dc have used the previous HOD guides, it is easy for the olders to step in and help the youngers. Both the olders and the youngers like this! They especially enjoy hearing each other's oral narrations, helping each other with science experiments or history activities, and helping each other with math (especially if the math assignment for our youngest includes snacks in the hands-on activity) :wink: .

The last few weeks we have had multiple unforeseen house problems (sewer system, cement needed, flooring changed, portions of walls ripped out - it was a busy week). I had Riley step in and teach the science experiment in BHFHG for Emmett. As I ran inside and outside the house dealing with all of the men at work throughout the day, and drills, machines, and trucks made incredible noise all around us, I marveled at the boys' ability to just read louder, and keep working happily through it all. I had a headache, but they kept on cheerfully doing school! They both were so proud of their final results from their science reading, experiment, and lab sheet! :D
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My plan is for him to get through around 9-10 units of BHFHG, and then next year we can do the rest of BHFHG 4 days a week to finish it. We'll either begin PHFHG or not at the end of the year, depending on how the year goes and what is best for Emmett. Either way, Emmett will then be on a guide a year. I have been very thankful for the flexibility of the HOD guides. Moving from half-speed to full-speed as needed, and adjusting pacing for Emmett's abilities as well as for what is needed for our family and what is happening in life has been such a blessing. After completing Emmett's standardized testing, we will take the summer off. As we recently lost my dad to cancer, I am mindful of taking time to be with my mom, who just turned 75 years old this past month. Family is important. I want our dc to see that, to know that, to live that. Priorities are gleaned from dc watching where our time goes as parents. It is the unspoken sign of what is truly important to us. I want our dc to 'see' me taking time to spend time with my mom, to know my sisters, to date my dh, to homeschool them, to do my Bible time in the mornings, to enjoy singing praise music, to make our home a place our dc love. I am not good at all of this all of the time, but I hope most of the time that my priorities are worth them repeating in their adult lives. It is a good reminder to live my life for Him.

In Christ,
Julie

Re: Week-in-Review March 30 - April 3 , 2015

Posted: Sun Apr 05, 2015 8:37 am
by my3sons
Resurrection to Reformation:
Riley is in his prime right now in RTR. He is in Unit 33, and his days are just smooth going. :D He loves to work hard to 'get ahead' on the next day, and sleep in a little the next morning (sleeping in is getting up at 7 AM instead of 6:15 AM- part of what we need to do to make the rest of our day function right now). A very freeing thing for me and for Riley is to write in the RTR guide. I've given up trying to keep it pristine. Being able to jot notes in the margin, as well as grades, is an incredible help to the both of us in the day to day communication needed for homeschooling a middle school student. Riley marks the corner of his boxes with an "R" as he finishes them. When we meet for our teaching block of time together, I correct each "R" marked box. I hear any narrations, correct any written work, help Riley edit his work and fix things as needed, discuss any questions, check the note booking pages, etc. and then I use a gel pen to check the corner of each box we've totally finished during our meeting time. I jot in the margin with my gel pen what we need to do to finish out the day then. For example, if I still need to hear an oral narration later, I'll jot next to the appropriate box of plans "hear narration in TB#2), which is a reminder for Riley to prepare for his oral narration and for me to remember to listen to his oral narration in our teaching block 2. Or, I'll jot "check in TB#2" next to anything I need to remember to correct to complete the day. I also will jot the grades I am giving in the margin next to the box; for example, +10/11, 91%, A-. This is a quick way to keep track of grades and for both of us to see how he is doing overall. It also is a way not to reinvent the wheel by buying another planner for him and/or for me, which would cost money anyway. I'd rather just get a new guide for my next son. Not having to be so careful with my guide is incredibly freeing and makes keeping a record of what we have done and grades super easy!

We've talked often about how to make a neat notebooking page for assignments. Riley is now able to do this on his own - hooray! :D He is proud of his notebook. He even reminded me to take a picture. :)
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Riley also takes care to do neat work in his Shakespeare notebooking...
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After we finish this school year, Riley will be on the pacing of doing a guide a year from here on out. We are looking forward to RevtoRev. Riley especially cannot wait for Exploration Education! He has been looking forward to doing that kit ever since he saw Wyatt do it 4 years' back. :D

In Christ,
Julie

Re: Week-in-Review March 30 - April 3 , 2015

Posted: Sun Apr 05, 2015 5:19 pm
by my3sons
World History High School:
I am so thankful for the discussions Wyatt and I have had this year. They are timely, and they have us discussing pretty important things that I may not have been as responsible to address if left to my own to do so. "Total Health" has opened the doors to talk about difficult topics, like puberty, remaining pure until marriage, sexual diseases, depression, temptations, choosing good friends, knowing the Lord personally and applying faith to life, etc. This week we discussed how decisions made during the teenage years often affect a person's life not only during the teenage years, but also later in life. For example, the decision to remain pure and resist all forms of sexual temptation before marriage impacts the ability to resist temptations like adultery or pornography later in life when married. I shared how many Christian men when traveling for business will call the hotel's front desk and ask them to block all pornographic channels, ads, etc. from their room right away when they check in, so they won't be tempted to look even at the ads. I also shared how a nephew of ours has chosen to block Internet access on his cell phone, just to avoid temptation. Another thing I shared how some men have difficult resisting the temptation to talk badly about women when with a group of guys. When traveling in a shuttle van to a restaurant from our hotel, a group of men in the shuttle who were all coaches were talking very poorly about their wives, after just calling them on the phone and 'getting it over with so they could have fun all night.' There was a lot of other talk that wasn't good that I won't get into the details of, but they obviously were too intoxicated to notice the women in the very back of the shuttle listening. We talked about how it is important to be a man of God all of the time, rather than just when around other Christians. We also talked about sexual desires being natural and part of how God created men and women, that curiosity is natural but must be held in check, and that staying pure until marriage doesn't result in ignorance. One last thing we talked about this week was how teenagers often have a 'right now' mentality that can be dangerous. It can cause teens to make decisions that favor them now, but come back to hurt them in 10 years. I am so thankful for discussions such as these, as I try to equip my son to be a Christian man in a world full of more temptations more readily available than ever.
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Another great discussion starter this year that has been timely is the "Pilgrim's Progress" study that is planned in WH. I am glad that we are not doing every single part of the study, as it would be overwhelming and could become tedious. It seems we are doing just enough digging deeper that the storyline is still able to move forward at an enjoyable pace that makes it narrative. I especially love that Wyatt is pulling out his Bible all of the time to refer to Scriptures. The study this week of "Hopeful & By-Ends, & By-Ends' Friends" went hand in hand with the "Total Health" study of choosing friends and the company you keep carefully. The people at the town of Fair-speech remind me of the Pharisees - their speech is charming yet abominations fill their hearts - like a coating of silver over evil. John Bunyan's view of God's sovereignty reflects one of my Dad's favorite Scripture verses... Romans 8:28: For we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, for those who have been called according to his purpose. Looking up Bible verses that clearly show God's sovereignty is the best way to see how this verse can be true. Learning about Talkative and By-ends helps shine a light on how seemingly harmless principles really ARE harmful. Talkative did a lot of meaningless talking, showing he had no religious understanding, while By-ends used and understood religion to be useful only for his own profit and/or advancement. This study is incredibly deep, and it goes hand in hand with the struggles Christians face each day in this world.
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Doing "A Survey of the Bible: Old Testament" has been another powerful thing to do this year. Really digging into the Bible, and answering important questions about what has been read has been a great Bible Study opportunity for Wyatt. We both enjoy reading through his answers together, and the Selah Greatest Hymns CD, prayer journal, and Scripture Memory Work keep the study up close and personal.
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As we all celebrate Easter, I find I am especially thankful that my high school student and I are studying the Bible and having important Christ-centered conversations every single day with HOD. It is not an easy world for our teens to navigate. Knowing God personally and purposefully making decisions with what He wants in mind doesn't just happen. It is something to discuss, pray about, study together... and then to turn around and do it all over again, as many times as we can with our teenagers. I've often marveled about 'education without Christ.' I have come to believe the only education worth having keeps Him at the center. How else will our dc be prepared for this world? How will they lead their families? How will they teach their children? We discuss the sermon each Sunday on our 30 minute drive home from church. Today, a lady in our church who sang on our worship team suddenly died of a burst blood vessel in her brain. Just last week she was on a plane on vacation with her husband. Having recently lost my Dad to cancer, our family - including our dc - are well aware of our mortality. If strong Papa could die, surely anyone could. Today was reminder that life is like chaff in the wind, and we'd better know we believe in the Lord now. I let our dc know that if something happened to me today, of all the things that I have tried to teach them, the most important will NOT be that they are hard workers, that they have good jobs, that they provide well for their families, that they have the best college degree, that they manage their money well, that they are in good health, that they choose good wives, that they take care of their belongings, that they tithe at church... and so on and so forth. The most important thing will be that they know Jesus as their Savior; for if they don't, I will have considered all that I have 'taught' them to be a failure. There is nothing more important. Nothing. I am going to spend eternity in heaven, and I want my dc to as well. Today we sang 'Worth Is the Lamb," and as this is what the angels sing in the Bible, it is very special to me. I feel when we sing it here for Easter, we must be singing along with the angels in heaven, along with my Dad in heaven, and along with all the other people I know and love who are there already. Isn't that amazing? We have a connection that cannot be broken, even by death, and belief in Jesus ties us together for eternity. If I don't teach my dc THAT, I have taught them nothing. I thank God for daily talks such as these and pray for our dc's faith to be strong and steady - for it to be forever.

In Christ,
Julie

In Christ,
Julie