Weekly update week of 8/22/11

We started our new school year on Tuesday.  We started with the official first day of school pics.

N. has grown so much this year.  He is almost as tall as S. and she isn't happy about it. 
N. jumped right in to RTR.  We have taken each box a little slower than usual so I can make sure he sees what is different this year and also I can make sure he knows what is expected of him.  He always starts his day with his bible quiet time.  He is studying Philippians this year and memorizing Philippians 1.  I think he is going to like the bible study book he is doing.  He and I are reading Boyhood and Beyond together and he learned this week to see God in His creation.  Tomorrow he wants to go to a park to spend some time really observing all the wonderful things God has made.  I see a maturity in his bible discussions that I didn't see last year. 
One day a week he is doing a picture study using the book "Looking at pictures".  He really enjoyed studying a painting and then trying to see how much of it we could each remember.  For my visual learner this was right up his alley and much easier for him then narrating after he reads.
In Science we switched things up a little since he had already done the Apologia Astronomy book so he is doing Answers in Genesis Wind and Weather book.  He enjoyed the 2 small experiments we did this week.  He did a great written narration about Joseph Priestly.
In History he is reading "Peril and Peace" and learned about Paul, Polycarp, Justin the Martyr and Constantine.  He enjoys this book, but oral and written narration from it are a little tough for him at this point. I think all the hard  names confuse him.  With a little help he did do a nice written narration.
His history project this week was a Roman Arch with a background.  This is where I am seeing the biggest gains.  He paid close attention to the quality of his work and really took his time each day with this.  Here it is with the background almost done and before he painted the arch.

When we finished the week N. said he thought it was a good first week and a few nights when his Dad would ask him what his favorite part of the day was he said "I can't pick, I like it all."