Well most of the boxes are unpacked and we're getting settled in. The first space I attempted to get in order was my school space.
Why does it take an entire week to move from one house to the next I will never know so needless to say we did no work last week. I was determined to get back on track this week.
It is nearly impossible to get everything on your wish list when house hunting so I didn't get built-in bookshelves. But I'm awfully proud of the IKEA bookshelves I got off of craigslist for less than $30 for both! I just love a deal!
We explored our local public library this week and we all got library cards and left with an armful of books and and DVDs. I needed a little motivation so I checked out some homeschooling books to get some fresh perspective. In my last wrap up I mentioned my desire to give devotional time priority. Mission accomplished this week on that front. We really focused on Phillips 2:14 - "do all things without complaining and arguing . . . " and had many opportunities to put that verse into practice - mom included.
Here is what we did academically:
DD13 - Usual Classical Conversations work. I can not say enough how much she has improved academically because of CC Challenge A. Her ability to write literary analysis, learning Latin, and the collaboration with peers has made a tremendous difference. I also notice her using mature vocabulary in everyday conversation. When I pulled her from public school, this was one of my top priorities.
DD11 & DD9
History - Review the meaning of Renaissance, the unification of Spain under Ferdinand & Isabella and Henry the Navigator. Introduced the African Empires of Ghana, Mali, & the Songhay Empire. Played a game from SOTW Activity Book to understand how Ghana became one of the richest countries in Africa by taxing traders who had to travel through Ghana to get to the Salt and the Gold.
Science - I finally got to trace both girls on butcher paper. I purchased the paper over a month ago for this activity. They got a kick out of seeing their body outlines on paper. We used dark red and light red yard to trace the flow of blood in and out of the human heart.
I bookmarked a wonderful blog of a public school 4th grade "teacher of the year." She has great free printouts for teachers to use. I plan on using her Geography printouts as this is a subject we don't do outside of the mapwork included in SOTW.
Still trying to figure out Art. I purchased Drawing with Children by Mona Brookes. After the art instruction with Stebbing we did in December, I see the benefit of actually learning to draw and using that skill across the curriculum.
Hope you had a productive week. Join the weekly wrap up by visiting the weird, unsocialized homeschoolers blog and sign up and see what other homeschooling families have been doing this week.
