Friday, June 26, 2015

Educational Report: Catching up on May & June

Well... its been another few months since my last educational report. :/ It all seems a blur. Several people have emailed or messaged me asking whats up since I've been so quiet. We've simply been busy living. I traveled to Ohio at the end of last month to do a 2-day documentary session for friends- LOVED it but it wore me out. We've been busy finishing the girl's bedrooms- yahoo! (The little girls need valances but I do not see that happening anytime soon.) I've got 7 weeks to go before my due date & I'm hoping to tackle my master room before then. Can't wait to meet this little boy!

But this is an educational report, so let me dig in...

Covenant Classes: classes finished up on May 21st, so we're on break till August. :) Eric and I are so thankful for the amazing teachers at our co-op and for all the children learned this past year! This was our first co-op experience & it went fantastic, aiding my teaching at home! :) Everyone is excited for a new year- I'll be teaching 2 art classes. :) Here are some pictures from the last day of co-op:




We took about 3 weeks off following co-op- didn't really plan that but it was wonderful! We hit the ground running this week & it's gone wonderfully. I think the break helped but more than anything, I wiped our calendar clean & we've been home for 5 days in a row. WOZZERS, does that help!

Memory Work: we did it, we did it all week long!!! :) I've been pleasantly pleased to see how much they remember. Hoping we keep up the momentum!

Abigail & Emily: I'm looping their time with mama first thing in the morning & it helps fill them up, making them happier to play or be with us the rest of the day. Now keeping them from destroying the house with Katherine is another matter! ;)

History: For Gileskirk American Culture studies, we've listened through lecture 38 which takes us up through the Uncivil War. They've read Nashville 1864 & American Poetry Anthology, as well as several other books independently. They are continuing to memorize the Bill of Rights- 5 down. We've been kind of light on doing Gileskirk & hope to dig in a bit more starting next week so we can finish up & start Modernity studies in the fall. :) This week, the younger crew worked on a diorama of George Washington & his troops at Valley Forge in the winter. We also read aloud from George Washington's World.

Language Arts: Patricia's enjoying a break from writing since co-op has ended. :) Her and Benjamin have been working on Our Mother Tongue- about one lesson per week, putting a focus on diagramming with them. They've also been working through Fix-It: the Nose Tree, which is proving to be favorite. (Matthias is also doing this.) Benjamin & Matthias have completed several lessons of IEW's SICC-A course- they did several stories from picture prompts & this week worked on writing a  sequel to a short story they read using questions. They love it! :) Spelling for several, copywork for all, cursive for one (Matthias) round out our studies. Benjamin & Patricia have completed Phonetic Zoo, which is our spelling program following 3 levels of All About Spelling, so they are continuing to work through Vocabulary from Classical Roots- about 1 chapter per week.

Latin: Patricia has completed 7 chapters of Latin Alive, book 2.  Yipee! :) The boys completed Primer B with co-op & we began Latin Alive, book 1 immediately TOGETHER with me. YAHOO!!! We've finished 2 chapters so far. :)

Logic: Patricia & Benjamin continue to work through Argument Builder with Eric. :)

Math: Jonathan & Elizabeth have enjoyed learning about division & a bit of fractions this week. They've also enjoyed learning a bit of multiplication. They're doing much better with addition & subtraction facts thanks to lots of flashcard review. :) Matthias finished his book & moved into the next one this week- always a fun moment. Benjamin & Patricia has both been working on fractions.

Science: Patricia & Benjamin completed the first 2 modules in Exploring Creation with Physical Science. I decided to scrap AiG's Planet Earth book for the younger children & instead, we've picked up Exploring Creation with Astronomy. The key here is we're back to doing it TOGETHER vs. Matthias doing it independently. (We alternate days of either history or science.) It makes us move slower but that's okay. :) We're still in the first chapter, which is an overview of astronomy.

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