Week in Review - Feb. 27- March 3

This forum is for sharing what your week was like with Heart of Dakota. The goal is to post on Thursdays. You can share a picture, a blog link, a written synopsis, your favorite memory, or anything you want that shares your HOD excitement.

Post Reply
my3sons
Posts: 10698
Joined: Sun Aug 26, 2007 7:08 pm
Location: South Dakota

Week in Review - Feb. 27- March 3

Post by my3sons » Sun Mar 19, 2017 1:49 pm

Ok Ladies,

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!
Enjoyed LHTH to USII
Currently using USI
Wife to Rich for 28 years
Mother to 3 sons, ages 23, 20, and 16
Sister to Carrie

my3sons
Posts: 10698
Joined: Sun Aug 26, 2007 7:08 pm
Location: South Dakota

Re: Week in Review - Feb. 27- March 3

Post by my3sons » Sun Mar 19, 2017 2:09 pm

Preparing Hearts for His Glory:
One of my favorite things to do in PHFHG is the creative writing lesson based on Robert Louis Stevenson's classical poetry! It has been amazing to see the growth Emmet has made from start to now in this area. The mini-lessons in PHFHG have helped draw his attention to what makes RLS's poetry so wonderful, and they have also taught him to begin to add these poetic devices to his own poetry. This week the lesson was on onomatopoeia, which is using sound words to add mood and drama to writing. First, he found examples of onomatopoeia in RLS's poem "Windy Nights." Then, we did a prewriting activity about some things Emmett sees, hears, and feels during a winter blizzard. He has really learned to take his time and add some details in the way he phrases things at this point in the lesson. He's figured the more thought he puts in up front, the easier it is for him to write the poem later. As he came up with various phrases, we jotted these on paper for his reference. Then, using RLS's poem as a structure in which to add Emmett's ideas, Emmett wrote his own poem. Sometimes, when Emmett begins this part of the assignment, he tends to forget about using some of his prewriting, and starts to kind of simplify his phrases so they rhyme. We've really worked on this, as his original ideas are much better typically. So, this time, I had him check off each idea as he used it in his descriptive paragraph. This helps him stick to the thoughts in his prewriting, and it resulted in a super writing piece! When I snapped a picture of him with his poem, he wanted to wear his 'lucky writing hat' (you have to love the free spirit of the youngest child, don't you?!?). I'm also the youngest of 3, so I thought this a fantastic idea! :D
Image Image Image

Another highlight of this week was our Medieval Feast. We've been reading about the Middle Ages, and let's just say table manners and cleanliness overall have come a long way since then! Emmett planned cheese, browned beef, oranges tossed with cinnamon and sugar, beans, and a desert. Of course, we used the trenchers he'd made previously, which were quite salty and hard (as intended). Shockingly, I loved the trencher! I've rarely met a 'bread' with 'salt' I haven't liked though. :wink: They were quite hard, and only a blunt knife and spoons for dessert were to be used. I never realized how handy a fork was until this meal. Anyway, we had a blast, and Emmett was beaming! He read his poetry to entertain us, which we loved. I ate my trencher, but the rest of the trenchers went to the dogs (literally, as we have 3). What fun!!!
Image

In Christ,
Julie
Enjoyed LHTH to USII
Currently using USI
Wife to Rich for 28 years
Mother to 3 sons, ages 23, 20, and 16
Sister to Carrie

my3sons
Posts: 10698
Joined: Sun Aug 26, 2007 7:08 pm
Location: South Dakota

Re: Week in Review - Feb. 27- March 3

Post by my3sons » Sun Mar 19, 2017 2:39 pm

Missions to Modern Marvels:
A favorite part of MTMM for Riley is his Nature Journal. These small sketches he gets to do each day are teaching him many drawing skills that he can apply to almost any project he completes. They are also drawing his attention to the beauty of God's creation, and I love that! The assignments are short enough that they don't take long to complete, but the end result is a nature journal that is full of creativity and individual personality. I like that Riley's Nature Journal in MTMM looks quite different from Wyatt's Nature Journal 4 years ago. They each followed the directions, but they each have their own personal style in their drawings...
Image

Grammar is clicking now, and even the fairly difficult diagramming of sentences is usually something Riley tackles fairly well...
Image

In Storytime, Riley and I read about Billy Graham in "Hero Tales." We read about how even Billy had some times in his life where he had some indecision about his belief in God. Ironically, it was a friend of his that began teaching at an institute that believed only parts of the Bible were true. Billy had a great respect for his friend, and this shook his faith and got him wondering if this could be true. Thank God the Lord led Billy to the belief that everything in the Bible - all Scripture - is God breathed, and he began his tent rallies that God used to bring so many to believe in Him. This was exactly our sermon this morning at church - that Paul says ALL Scripture is God-breathed! I love connections such as these that the Lord just 'gifts' us with homeschooling with HOD. Anyway, Riley had a typed oral narration for his reading about Billy Graham that I'll share here...
Image

In Christ,
Julie
Enjoyed LHTH to USII
Currently using USI
Wife to Rich for 28 years
Mother to 3 sons, ages 23, 20, and 16
Sister to Carrie

my3sons
Posts: 10698
Joined: Sun Aug 26, 2007 7:08 pm
Location: South Dakota

Re: Week in Review - Feb. 27- March 3

Post by my3sons » Sun Mar 19, 2017 3:07 pm

US History I High School:
This was Wyatt's last unit of US History I, and he had such a strong finish to this guide! There were so many new skills to be learned, and the growth from start to finish that we saw is so worth celebrating!

His Chemistry notes and labs were brief at first, but by the end, he was answering questions with lengthy detailed answers and doing a super job of answering correctly...
Image Image Image

Wyatt really enjoyed his Government course this year, as well as his Constitutional Literacy course! He learned so much from both, and the two courses really complemented one another...
Image Image Image

In Christ,
Julie

Taking notes on particular assigned topics from the American Testimony DVD Set has been an area Wyatt has really grown in. Speakers typically talk fast, so taking note quickly (or learning to pause the DVD if needed) is a great skill to learn. I see him applying this skill each Sunday as he takes notes from our pastor's message as well...
Image
Enjoyed LHTH to USII
Currently using USI
Wife to Rich for 28 years
Mother to 3 sons, ages 23, 20, and 16
Sister to Carrie

Post Reply