Week in Review

We started this week with Titus's fifth birthday on Sunday. We had a big party in June for all three boys, so he helped me make a honeybun cake (his favorite!) and we played whiffle ball with some friends (his request!).

Titus completed Week 15 in My Father's World. He learned the letter C this week and we had a cow theme. He loves the farm theme we've had the past two weeks! One of his favorite activities was "Give the Cow Spots" - I printed off a cow outline, he rolled the dice, and put that many black Unifix cubes on the cow.

He can sound out and read many CVC words now. He is so excited to learn to read since his big brother (and best friend) Silas is reading now. He is determined to read! I have to make words for him all day long on the small whiteboard for him to sound out.

Silas finished Week 15 in My Father's World (1st grade). He is reading very well now. He loves the Bible stories he gets to read in his own Bible reader. I am so proud to call him a "reader" now! He learned how to make and read graphs in math this week. I love how My Father's World incorporates so many hands-on activities for math! There is a workbook for him to use, but the activities are truly the heart of this math program. He got to graph M&Ms and animal crackers - yum!

Mercie started her first week of 4th grade. She did great, although I still have to sit with her for most of her lessons. She learned about classifying animals in science, about geography in social studies, reviewed some math and grammar concepts, and read a few chapters of "Little House on the Prairie" and the first five chapters in Genesis.

Eli started his first week of 7th grade. He asked to learn astronomy this year, so I bought him the first edition of Apologia Astronomy. I am also making his own worksheets instead of using the notebook journal, and I am adding lots of hands-on activities and experiments. This week, he made his own working compass and a model of the solar system with balloons. He also did a fun experiment on gravity by lighting two ends of a candle and balancing it on two glasses (the candle started spinning), but I didn't get a picture (darn).

In history, he did a quick overview of the world. He did some review in math on mental math, estimation and rounding. He loves his math because it uses sports statistics quite a bit! He is also doing the writing portion of his language arts books. It does have a short "grammar link" each day, which I really like, to keep grammar fresh! He is doing a literature guide on the book, "Johnny Tremain". He did a few art projects using his Art Lab book - drawing still life, and then drawing still life with black ink (which, by the way, STAINS).

Mikaela started her first week of 9th grade. She is using Apologia's General Science. This week was a history of science. She had several experiments and demonstrations, including density, hot and cold water molecules, and how to blow up a balloon with vinegar and baking soda in a 2 liter bottle (which exploded on us and shot the balloon off like a bullet).

She is doing consumer math, and learned about buying a car. She thinks it is much more fun to learn with real life experiences. She did an overview of geography this week, reviewed parts of speech in grammar, and read some of the Hobbit for her literature study. In art, she drew a few really nice pictures - one outdoor scene and a picture of Eli.

The three little kids and I did an art project based on Kandinsky's Concentric Circles. We also played outside quite a bit, took a few trips to the library, and went to a Community Fun Day at the park. There was free ice-cream, free face painting, and a magician. Titus and Silas both got to be magician's assistants, which was really fun.

How was your week?