Week in Review 1/26-1/30/2015

This is actually 2 weeks in review.  The weeks seem to fly by.  N. continues to just move right on through the guide.  We countinue to tweak just a little bit here and there to make things easier for him to complete the guide as written.

The Bible study is very good and one day a week we have a discussion during the chapter review assignment.  It is a good time to make sure he understands what he has learned.  I do grade his daily work, but because the teacher's guide is very detailed in it's answers I just make sure he has the idea that they wanted, even if he doesn't have all the words.  Still hoping to find a way he can type his answers for bible.  He did do that for one day this week and the difference was amazing. When he doesn't have to grapple with the challenges of his writing, he does very detailed responses vs the 4 word sentences he usually does.  He uses the Bible app on his Ipad.  This is nice because he can switch versions if he needs to.

In World Religions he is reading Queen of the Dark Chamber.  I found this to be a very good book and so far he seems to like it also.  The bookmark he does after each reading helps me see the connections he is making between this book and his life.

In Science he is studying Acids and Bases and he and his dad did an experiment looking at the ph of various chemicals and things around the house.

In Literature he is back in the BJU lit book.  It isn't his favorite, mostly because he struggles to come up with the answers to the questions at the end of the story.  He and I do those orally and that way I can figure out if he truly didn't understand the story or if he is just struggling to explain what he read.  Each section begins with a painting and they use that to teach a literary term.  This time there was a picture by M. C. Escher.  N. has very strong visual perceptual skills so he found this picture fascinating and one day at lunch I found him researching more M. C. Escher paintings.  One of the great things about homeschooling is that if he finds something he finds fascinating he can just stop and take the time to find our more about it.

He had a project this week of this Octahedral Globe.   He really enjoyed the history projects in the younger guides, so when something like this comes up he really enjoys it.

He also did a review map of Europe for Mapping the World with Art.  He is really understanding how all the European countries connect now.

In World Geography he read about the search for a Northwest Passage by Frobisher and also about Sir Francis Drake.  He still struggles sometimes understanding A Book of Discovery so I downloaded an app called Voice Dream that will read Epub books out loud, highlighting each word as it goes.  I figured we would try and see if it helps his comprehension and sure enough it did. After some trial and error he found a voice he likes and it happens to be a male with an Australian accent.  There are some software programs out there that will do this also, but they are very expensive so we will do it this way for awhile and then figure out if it is beneficial to him.  At this point I am always on the look out for things that will help him in college. 

Week in Review 1/12/15-1/16/15

I don't have very many pictures this week, not sure why, but I don't.  So this may be short and sweet.  We finished week 10 of the WG guide this week.

In World Religions he finished reading Sundar Singh.  At the end of each book the dc spend 2 days answering questions about the book.  N. does this on his own and I am increasingly surprised at how well he does with this.  He really enjoyed this book and seemed to learn some valuable lessons from it.

In English he is almost done with his persuasive essay.  He is learning some valuable skills in regards to putting together a persuasive paper.  I have been emphasizing editing, because since he always types his rough draft we have often just edited on that day, but now I am making him do true editing.

One thing I forgot to put in last week's post was how in his bible curriculum he had to write a few lines of praise to God in the form of a Psalm.  In the past this would have really challenged him, but I think all the things he has learned through the years are really starting to show fruit spiritually and educationally.  His lines of praise really blessed me on a day I was struggling some with fears about his future.  Then I read this and realized he is getting grounded in the Lord and that is the most important thing.  I am realizing my job is just to give him the tools and let God  take care of the blueprints. 

In history he has been reading about Cortes, the Mayan Civilization and watching videos that supplement what he has read.  It ties in very well with his Living Library book "The Kings Fifth". 

One last fun picture from this week.  One day this week it was National Hat Day.  N. wears either a beanie or a snapback hat all the time, so he was pretty excited about this day.  He decided to put all his hats on his head so I could take a picture in honor of the day.  His goofiness just makes me laugh all the time.

Week in Review 1/5-1/9/2015

This week we were back to school.  Every year this is usually the week I dread because N. usually has a tough time getting back into the groove as far as his attitude and work ethic.  This year was different though.  I guess it is because he is now older and he really is starting to show some maturity in his attitude.  On Monday he came back with his A game as I call it.  He worked hard without complaint and really did a good job. 

One thing he just decided to do on his own was to write his Spanish on a separate piece of paper and complete it in his neatest handwriting.  He is really trying to write neater, but he can only do this for a short period of time and it takes him much longer when he does this.

In English he finished Men of Iron and started back with BJU Lit.  He did a pretty good job with Men of Iron although he does still struggle sometimes with catching all the things that are happening in the story.  He continued work on his persuasive essay with EIW.  His thesis is that "teens should not play video games". 

He continues to enjoy Logic and is doing well with "The Art of Argument". 

In science he has been learning about color and light.  He has learned about this before but this time it goes in more depth and he is truly understanding the concepts.  He and his dad enjoy doing the experiments with the lab kit. 

Bible continues to be kind of challenging for him.  I think some of that is due to the fact that he really struggles to write down complete answers in his workbook.  He can usually tell me what he means by his short answers, but he really isn't conveying that meaning in writing.  I am looking into options next year of being able to convert things to pdf documents that he can type on.  I have to figure out copy write issues and it may involve asking publishers for permission to convert the workbooks for his use only.  I know schools and colleges get permission to do this so I am just figuring out the legal aspects for us.  I know he would do much better work if he could type his answers. 

In Math he is proving to really have an knack for Geometry.  Having his program computer based works out very well for him.  If he had to write out all the steps of a proof it would look as if he didn't understand it when in fact he truly does.

In history he drew maps of the east coast of North America.  He is learning about Cartier and the search for a Northwest Passage. In world religions he continues to read Sundar Singh.  He says he finds this book interesting.

For his Physical Education half credit he has added a new activity.  He and his dad have been going to an indoor place that specializes in boulder climbing.  He doesn't like the vertical climbing of rock walls using a harness, but he loves boulder climbing.  With his grip strength and tremors you would think it would be too hard, but he loves a challenge.

I am looking forward to seeing what the second half of this school year brings.