Wordless Wednesday

Week in review

It's been a little bumpy getting back in the routine after Christmas. Part of that is the usual just getting back into it. The other part is that I've changed a few things. We actually had things going pretty nicely for awhile, but I wanted to add some things in and alter some others. And we've also had SNOW. Lots of snow.

This is some of what we've changed a bit:

I felt we were too light in history this year, so I've added Tapestry of Grace, Year 2 into our schedule. I am planning on using this fairly loosely. So, it may take us ten weeks to get through unit 1 (the Middle Ages) or it may take longer. Either way it's okay.

Also, I have added in some extra hands on materials--Get a Grip by Tops Science and McRuffeys' Build it cards.

Lastly, once again, I am working on organization. I think this could be a whole separate post.




The snow was very deep. I didn't measure it, but a friend said it was 27 inches. You can see in this picture it's up to K's thighs.







Some of what we've been up to the last couple of weeks:

E:
He's been loving the new hands on items I have added.
Math: We're still at odds over math, however, it's getting more challenging for him so that is good. He is bored with the routine of it, but I think he needs to just keep with it. We started reading Penrose the Mathematical Cat again. We started in the fall, but I stopped because I thought it was way over their heads (and maybe mine.) I'm reading it just with E now and it seems much more within reach now. He's been playing Timez Attack and again and acing it now. We're still working in the math journals, doing whatever strikes our fancy that day that is math related.
Language Arts: Still working through Classical Writing Primer. I really like this book. I would like to have E doing more writing, but since the physical act of writing is still such a burden to him, it hinders his ability to compose. This is why I chose the Primer level for him to start with. I thought the additional copywork would help. However, anything called "copywork" leaves a bad taste in his mouth at this point. When he has writing to do that is not just for the sake of copying, he seems more willing to do it. I am reconsidering Classical Writing for him and may just jump into Intermediate Language Lessons. We also are still working through Grammar Land, which he loves and has been a wonderful introduction to grammar.
Geography: Started Seabird with accompanying map.

K:
Reading: Last week K was still working through McGuffey's. This week he picked up one of the Pathway Readers (Days Go By).
Math: We just got the first Miquon book and are working through bits here and there. Some of it he is way past and some is new to him. With math at this stage I think the more solidly they know the basics the better off they will be down the line. So, some review is a good thing.

Together:
History: Started Tapestry of Grace. K loves the notebooks. E is not loving sharing this subject with K, so I'm not sure how this will sort out. Some of the things I will do separately, but to some extent E needs to get over it and be able to work on this at the same time.
Science: I started reading Jeff Corwin's biography aloud to both of them. This sparked all kinds of rabbit trails--rain forests, snakes, Belize. We're just going to follow these for a bit.
Picture Study: We're continuing our study of Henri Matisse.
Composer Study: I tried something new with this. I made my own notebooking pages for this subject. I wanted the boys to connect more with the music rather than just listening to the music and hearing about the composer's life. The sheets I made up have some room for factual information and then a big space for a picture. I told them to draw whatever the music made them feel or just whatever they felt like while we were listening to the music. We listened to A little Night Music by Mozart. The boys really liked this way of doing composer study. And I'm pretty proud of myself for figuring out how to do those pages.










Read alouds: I usually have a family read aloud going and separate read alouds with each of the boys. Over the last few weeks I finished with E: The Four Story Mistake and Winnie the Pooh. We started Charlotte's Web. I am still reading On the Other Side of the Hill with K. With both of them I finished Paddington Takes the Air and The Family Under the Bridge. We started Mountain Born and A Wild Life (Jeff Corwin's biography).



Rock the math:












Working on mathematical stars, as described in Penrose the Mathematical Cat.

Wordless Wednesday

Week in review.....

E:
Language Arts: Started on Classical Writing Primer: Winter. I am liking CW primer as it includes several elements beautifully. There is copywork, narration or dictation, nature study, and picture study. This is more copywork than I have had E doing in the past. He is not thrilled with that aspect, but I think he needs to get more comfortable with handwriting. We had a lot of fun taking the list of vocabulary words from King Alfred and the Beggar and making up new stories from them. Actually we got pretty hysterical at one point. This is our own twist.
Math: He is continuing with Teaching Textbooks, but I am trying to incorporate math in other ways into our schedule. I have a day for math games, a day for math stories, and a math journal day.

This page in E's math journal came about in
two ways. I asked him what he might want
to put into his math journal this week. And he
suggested doing a page on angles as that is
what he was learning about in TT. I took that
a little farther and taught him about the degrees
in different angles. E seems to be enjoying
approaching math in these different ways. He
loved TT at first, but I think he is getting a
little burnt out and the repetition of it.




I like to have a family read aloud and separate read alouds going with each of them. This week E and I finished up Caddie Woodlawn and Winnie the Pooh. I think our next book might be The Four Story Mistake. We read The Saturdays this fall and we both enjoyed it. The Four Story Mistake is the second book about the Melendy family.

K:
K had a lighter week. He continued with his Little House education: reading in McGuffey's and "doing sums" on his slate.


Continuing with his love of Little House, K (on left) made a bobsled "like Almanzo's." He also made a yoke, which I don't have a picture of yet. But who needs a yoke when you can chain your brother to the front and have him pull?

These projects were completely self driven.







Together:
We did quite a bit together this week.
Literature and Poetry: We read mix of poetry, Greek myths, picture books, and Pinocchio. We just finished up Pinocchio, which the boys loved. I was not as thrilled. It was good, but I didn't love it as much as some of our other books this year: Wind in the Willows, Tumtum and Nutmeg, and Understood Betsy. I'm not sure what our next book will be.
Picture Study: We continued with their individual picture study books. Since we ran out of tape last week, it was put on hold till I could get out and get more. We added in a short biography of Breugel and a portrait. K said, "I love doing this. Can you print more pictures for me?" Well, not so easily. I have discovered the joy of e-mailing files to Office Max and having them print them for me. The quality is beautiful. It doesn't come out the same on my printer at home. K will just have to be patient.
Life skill: Both boys got some lessons in electrical work from their dad. I have photos posted in another post.

Science: We looked at the snow with magnifying
glasses. This is something we will add on to slowly
over the winter, combining with our nature
study.









World History: The Discovery of New Worlds
We read about Pompeii.




This week we also had our monthly homeschool country dance. I have a hard time getting a decent picture at these because I am either dancing or my camera battery is dying. Here are a few. I blurred the faces of other people.

























Nature Study: For nature study, I've decided to start following the Outdoor Hour challenges. We having been doing nature study off and on for some time now, but I like the consistency of having a challenge to add in to that. We started with #1. K said when we got back that he would like to learn about different pine trees and their needles. E wants to investigate puff ball mushrooms. I'm sure that's not the name, but it will do for now. Here are some photos from our time outdoors this week:
































And finally, a nature craft project. We started
this last week, collecting items on our nature
walk to freeze into our ice sculptures. Then it
warmed up. Well, it's cold enough this week.
Here the boys are putting their pine cones,
berries, acorns, etc. into the water.

















.....the finished ice.

Art class part 2

This is E's picture from his new art class. It is so nice to see how much enthusiasm they have for these classes.

New art class

Both boys have started a new art class which they are loving. K brought home his first project and I thought it was really beautiful.



When I asked him if he minded if I posted it here, he said, "Do you want to post this one too?"
I hugged him and said, "Do you want me to?" I don't remember when he did this. It wasn't in a class. I believe it was last year and sketched from a photograph.


When E brings a project home I will post it, too. We will continue to do our own art here at home, both kid initiated and mom inspired, but it is nice to see them both enjoying their new class so much.

What's happening at our house

This is what our kitchen looks like right now.












Some of these workers seem to
take this job more seriously than
others.

I've never seen him before in my life.