Weekly update for week of 11/14

I am a little behind in writing this.  It will actually be 2 weeks worth of updates.  I went out of town for 3 days the week of 11/7 and my dh took off and schooled the kids.  Without HOD I don't think he would have been able to do that, but the guide makes it very easy for this to happen.  My dh schooled N. for a few subjects last year and was pleased to see the progress he has made, especially in the oral and written narration area.  He also helped him finish the final draft of his Vikings report for IEW and was very impressed with that.
The project for that week was Chinese Egg noodles.  N. really enjoyed making these, but I will say I think we made them too thick and then we didn't cook them long enough so they were a little tough.

His project for the next week was to make a game so he could see how fast the Black Death spread.  This was a great way to bring this home without dwelling on the gory details of the Pestilence.  He also saw how he would get infected much faster if he was traveling by sea instead of by land.  He couldn't quite figure out why this would be so we had a good discussion about how crowded boats and seaports would be.

He was very excited that he was able to finally draw a Greyhound for Draw and Write Through History.  We have a Greyhound so he has been looking forward to that all year.  He also drew a Falcon.

He continues with Rod and Staff Grammar and is doing well with it.  He has had a few lessons on Poetry lately and he likes those.  CLE math continues to go well also.  He is now learning the Distributive Property as a starting point for Algebra.  I like how CLE gently introduces this and then builds on it.

Overall he continues to make steady progress in all areas.  He has really enjoyed this time period in history. In fact he wants Knights and Castles Legos for Christmas.  I hated history in school so I love that he really enjoys it.

Weekly update for the week of 10/31/11

N. finished week 12 of RTR this week.  He really worked hard this week.  He finished up the Answers in Genesis Science Book Wind and Water.  He said he enjoyed it.  Since in the HOD plans there are 2 more weeks of the Astronomy book we needed something as a filler so for the next 2 weeks so he requested to build and study volcanoes.  Since that fit in well with the Earth Science theme I bought a kit and he will be reading the guide that came with it and seeing how different volcanoes erupt.  Should be fun and messy. 

In independent history he drew Robin Hood.  He enjoyed this as usual. 

For his history project he made Saladin.  He had fun with this and was even able to make the origami turban on his own.  This was a big deal because folding paper is really tough for him. In fact when he read the directions he said "origami oh no!."  It took him 2 tries, but he stuck with it.

He continued to read about the Crusades this week and was able to tell his Dad some of the things he has learned.  His written narration this week on was about what a castle looked like.  He didn't even ask for help with this one.  This was easy for him.  It is when he has lots of names and wars and details about battles that he usually gets confused.

In Boyhood and Beyond we talked about what our response should be when we fall down.  This was very applicable to him this week and he recognized that and made the application.  I really love the way this book presents lessons.  It seems to really strike a chord with him. 

He continues to enjoy doing his Bible Study of Philippians.  I think he likes that he can do it on his own.  He does this early in the morning before really anyone else is up and going. 

Next week I will be visiting a dear friend for a few days so my dh is going to do the schooling.  If it weren't for HOD I would be very nervous about that, but the way HOD is set up and the fact that N. is so comfortable with it should make it easy for dh.