Weeks 11 & 12

Here I am, late again, posting about our school weeks :)

Activities & Field Trips

A and N were able to attend their book club meetings. They really enjoy their groups and the other kids they participate with. We read Josephina Saves the Day for N's club, and we are reading The Declaration of Independence for A's club (taking our time, dictionary in hand, and getting a basic understanding of what is being said).

We didn't go to the latest art club meeting - it happens at 2pm when the 3 little girls are napping and I just didn't want to wake anyone up to go. Depending on day and time it is offered next semester we may not continue the class.

Our city's library opened in its new location so we have made many trips. Its sooo nice! The weather has been wonderfully warm so we have been spending late afternoons outside and soaking up the sunshine.

School

Old Testament- We read chapters 26-32, covering the stories of King Saul, David's life as a boy and king, King Solomon, and the division of the Kingdom of Isreal, completing a variety of activities in their journals, pgs. 75-88.

Habits- Still working on bathroom habits and speaking politely to each other. Oy.

Values - In October we focused on the value of Self-Discipline by using The Book of Virtues by William J. Bennet and suggestions from the Shiver Academy's Book of Virtues Project. I also use ideas from Teaching Your Children Virtues by Linda and Richard Eyre and Home Life Ministries Character Journal. For November we are focusing on Gratitude.

Writing/Grammar - One day a week A and N are to write a comic or short story. We also focus on a grammar lesson from q.

Math - Reviewed chapter 12 (adding money) and other past concepts, and completed chapter 13 (adding columns of numbers). They really had fun with chapter 13 - the problems in the book only had them adding 3 or 4 numbers at a time, but we decided to have a little fun adding as many as 20 numbers at a time, as the picture below shows:

Reading - I just realized I haven't been keeping track of what the kids have been reading. They do a lot of reading on their own so we don't focus on it during school time, but I thought I would share what they are reading. A has been reading the How to Train Your Dragon series, he is starting book 6 or 7 and he has been reading the Bionicles Hero series. N has been listening to these on CD. N has been reading a variety of picture books from the library (and I catch her figuring out bigger books when she thinks no one is watching, but I'm on to her!!!).

Science - We finished chapter 6 about the Earth and started chapter 7 on the moon. We have been trying to observe the phases of the moon, but it was time for a "new moon" and since then we've had lots of cloudy nights. Hopefully we have some clear nights during the next month.

History - We are still doing some American Revolution/Foudning Fathers history, but the focus for this month is going to be on Thanksgiving History and the Colonial period. I am using Discover the Scriptures' Give Thanks! e-book. We are reading Phoebe and the Spy (revolution) by Judith Berry Griffin.

Geography - Minn of the Mississippi is still traveling down the river :) We continue to enjoy all the predicaments she finds herself in, as well as adding to our maps.

Nature Study - We completed 2 challenges - Autumn Series #6 and Autumn Series #7, which included a field trip to Cabela's to watch the fish!

Literature - We read more from Little Pilgrim's Progress - they LOVE it and are always begging for more. We read Jabberwocky (and watched the latest Alice in Wonderland which is a lot more fun when you've read Lewis Carrol's original works and aren't relying on Disney's version). We also read The Nose by Iain Crichton Smith, which I can't find online but is a delightfully silly poem about a nose leaving its face and going on an adventure. Both are from The Oxford Book of Story Poems. And we have been listening to Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder.

Artist Study - Renoir's Garden Scene in Brittany, 1886.

Composer Study - We have been listening to the Classical Kids CDs - Tchaikovsky, Beethoven, Bach, Handel, Vivaldi, Mozart, etc.