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.