Week in Review: November 23-27, 2015

[wonderfilled]

Hello 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!

[wonderfilled]

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! We finished up a week in Bigger because we were a few days ahead.

http://wonderfilleddays.com/bigger-hear ... y-unit-11/

[rumkimom]

We had a great Thanksgiving but our school week was not so good.....We did not get any HOD done this week.

Monday - Steven (age 9) had his plastic surgeon appointment and we found out that he still need TWO surgeries instead of just one. He is a cleft kid and we thought all he needed yet was the bone graph, but apparently the tissue in his nose is not the right kind (palate tissue instead of nasal tissue) and the dr is afraid that if she does not replace that tissue that if she did the bone graph surgery it would 'fail' and would have to be done again. Also she wants Steven to see a speech pathologist that is very knowledgeable with clefts to determine if some of his speech problems could be solved by surgery (his palate is shorter than normal). If so, she would want to do that surgery along with the nasal tissue one. <sigh> Poor kid.

Tuesday - I had planned to work with Melody as she had made the volcano for the experiment and she wanted to do that experiment. She woke up with a 100.6 degree fever. There went those plans. I tried to keep her in her room to isolate her....it much have worked because no on else came down with what she had. I also did some cooking.

Wednesday - We did our baking for Thanksgiving (so a home economics day). Melody was better so she helped make 2 pies. The boys worked on cleaning their room and the living room. I told them those both needed to be clean so that we could set of the Christmas Tree on Sat.

Thursday - Thanksgiving day!! We had a great day....we drove down to see my husband's family in NYC (2.5 hr drive each way). The boys went to the park near their uncle's home and saw the spot in Manhattan where it was sold to the Dutchman for very little.

Friday - my oldest had a mini performance at the mall for the Christmas ballet performance that she is in next week (A Christmas Carol). We had lots of fun but were gone all day.

Next week will be interesting due to all the practices that Emily will have for A Christmas Carol. She has normal ballet classes on Monday, but them has long dress rehearsals on Tues & Wed. The first show is on Thursday morning is the form of a school show (which my husband and kids will all be going to). Then there are regular performances on Friday night, Sat late afternoon and Sunday early afternoon. It is lots of fun but also very busy. I hope to get a few days of HOD in yet next week in the midst of all of this.

[wonderfilled]

It sounds like you had a really busy week! I hope things go well with your son Steven.

My kids were in A Christmas Carol production last year, and it was a lot of fun and a lot of work.

[my3sons]

Bigger Hearts for His Glory:
Emmett and I are having such fun with our One Small Square Woods science this year in BHFHG! I am surprised how easily he is learning new scientific terminology, like fungus, chloroplast, stomata. He is just a boy that loves words! I also think that the living books that HOD uses for science help dc remember what has been read to them so much better because it is interesting! The follow-up note booking assignments further cement the new words, new skills, and new concepts in Emmett's mind. Where note booking used to be difficult, now he finds it fun! He is learning to neatly set up his note booking page so it is well-balanced, colorful, and all his own. I am so glad that the note booking assignments are not just run-off worksheets to fill in. His note booking assignments show his individuality and creativity, and he is so proud of them when he is done that he hangs them on the fridge for my dh to see when he comes home. Finally, the tie-in to the Bible - that is so important! How can we study creation without studying the Creator! I love that Emmett has to pull out his Bible and look up Scriptures every single day of school in many subject areas other than just the subject area of "Bible study." The Christ-centered focus of HOD helps us accomplish our main goal for homeschooling - teaching our dc to know and love the Lord, that all knowledge comes from the Lord, and the Bible is the measuring stick or the go-to manual for living a life full of light...


Emmett's wheels were turning as we read about Robert Fulton's inventions. The paddle wheel experiment of taping several spatulas together and turning them through water was such fun, and Emmett could 'feel' how efficiently they helped move water. Reading next how Fulton combined the paddle wheel with a custom built steam engine made by James Watt was exciting to Emmett. He was so upset that people first laughed at Fulton's 'folly' but thrilled when he proved them wrong with the Clermont being such a success that steamboats were soon a common sight. He did a good job on his note booking assignment...


In Drawn into the Heart of Reading, Emmett is nearing the end of Tolliver's Secret. He can hardly bare to wait to see if Ellen (Tolliver) makes it to the Jolly Fox Tavern with the message hidden in a loaf of bread on time!


In Christ,
Julie

[my3sons]

Revival to Revolution:
Riley has been enjoying his Fifty States Under God study so much this year! It is interesting, witty, colorful, and Christian - what more could one want from a state study! He always has some interesting fact to share about each state, and I have to admit, I am surprised by many of them! The more common stories/events/people are also included, as are the state birds/plants/flags/etc., but it is all of it put together that makes it such fun! He is learning so much, and at the end of the year, he is going to have such a neat 50 States Notebook...


In history, Riley read about Benedict Arnold using numbers to write in code. For his history activity, he got to write in 'cipher' just like Benedict Arnold, and of course he called in big brother to decipher the code. Wyatt loves being a part of activities like these and was all too glad to help out...


For storytime, Riley is reading "The Reb and the Redcoats," and he is loving it! I think it shows how the lines of friend and foe can get blurry in war, as the Redcoats really are beginning to love The Reb. This book in so full of adventure, intrigue, and the underlying issues of war that sometimes make friends out of those who were once enemies, and enemies out of those who were once friends.

For Music Appreciation, Riley read about Mozart and listening to his Concerto for Piano and Orchestra #23 and Eine Kleine Nachtmusik. He used wikipedia to read more about Mozart and to complete his music appreciation sheet. As he listened to Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, he drew what it made him think of... which was a magic show. I could picture that as I listened too! It was playful and fun!


In Christ,
Julie

[my3sons]

United States History 1 High School:
This week we only schooled a few days, as it was Thanksgiving and as Wyatt was also deer hunting with my ds after Thanksgiving. This week flew by! We took our time finishing out the first week of US1 plans, as we are setting up for the year as we do the plans. I can already see some new favorites emerging for Wyatt. He has always had such a strong sense of right and wrong, of justice prevailing. I can see that he is going to love his Constitutional Literacy study. This is such a prevalent topic in today's decisions - what is the Constitution? What does it say? What does it require? I can tell Wyatt is going to thoroughly enjoy sharing his viewpoints and opinions about this topic, and he is especially going to enjoy using the Constitution to support his opinions.

I like the media that has been chosen for US1. The DVD "A Noble Experiment" definitely adds depth to the course, as does the "American Testimony" DVD. Taking notes while watching the DVD is a higher level skill that is going to take some getting used to, but I think it is an important skill to acquire. The US1 History Notebook includes graphic organizers that help Wyatt take down the notes in an organized fashion, and they also provide a way for him to share what he's learned with me.


It was nice to return some familiar things as well, such as picking up where we left off in Spanish and returning to Foerser's Algebra II. R & S English is also a familiar subject to return to, but then "In Their Sandals" is new. We really enjoyed Essentials in Writing 9 and 10 the past few years, but "In Their Sandals" looks good too - and totally different. Variety is the spice of life though, right? So, this should be fun!

In Christ,
Julie