Week in review 3/16-3/20,2015

This week went pretty well overall.  He didn't start as early as he did the week before, but he still got things done in a timely manner.

He had a science experiment that was a carry over from the week before that involved building hydrocarbon molecule models.  It was fun for me to listen in as he and his dad discussed various things.  Since my dh is an engineer that works with environmental remediation he was able to tell N all kinds of interesting facts.  In addition to the fact that N. needs a set of steady hands to do some of the experiments, these conversations are the reason we chose to have him do the labs at night or on the weekends. 

In World Geography he learned more about the discovery of Australia and Tasmania and other islands in this area.  The videos he watched were excellent and really gave a visual picture to go along with his readings.  It tied in so well with the living library book Florence Young.  He continues to show improvement with his written narrations. 

In World Religions he has just started reading Japan Diary, which I already read and enjoyed. I like that he is learning about all the major religions of the world.  This is so timely considering all that is going on in the world.

Grammar went a little better this week.  I had considered switching out of Rod and Staff because of his struggles, but for now I have decided to finish up this year with it.  It is just hard because I know he is giving it his best effort, but sometimes he just really struggles to remember all the labels and concepts.  He has told me that grammar makes him feel stupid and that is the last thing I want.  I have told him that all I ask is that he try his best and that it is ok if he misses a lot of them, that we will just keep plugging at it.  The fact is he won't be an English major and to me it isn't important if he can correctly label gerunds and infinitives etc and easily discern which sentence is complex, it matters if he can write a paper that uses what he has learned. 

Logic has also been more of a struggle lately.  I think because many of the fallacies are so similar and he gets confused about which is which.  He always knows it's a fallacy and can describe what seems wrong about it, but he can't always match that to the definition.  I love the books he is using but I do wish in the answer key it would say why it is a certain fallacy instead of just listing the answer, because sometimes I really struggle to figure out the why even after looking back at the descriptions and examples.  

This week though I was reminded of how much he really is taking in even though he doesn't talk about it much.  As we are planning at trip to Washington DC he got excited when he heard that there is a painting by DaVinci there.  He also has definite ideas of places he wants to see based on the historical events we have studied that stick out in his mind.  We also watched the movie 42 and he was very moved by it.  I know it is because of all he studied in MTMM last year.  He truly is more well rounded than I give him credit for and probably much more so than most boys his age. 

Week in Review 2/9-2/13, 2015

This week in review once again covers more than 1 week.  I just don't take as many pictures now that he is older.

This week he decided to get started earlier each day and he was a man on a mission.  He would get bible done before I even had breakfast.  He liked finishing up his day earlier so I'm not sure if he will continue this or not, but it worked well.  He told me this week he finds the Science interesting.  He is doing well with it.  I didn't get any pictures but this week he did an experiment of a hydrometer and last week he looked at parts per million.  My dh is an environmental engineer who has one of the big oil companies as a client so he was able to give N. very practical applications for what he learned.  He usually does very well with the workbook.

He drew Japan in World Geography and also has been reading about the discovery of Australia.  He is learning to take bullet point outline type notes.  He dictates these to me since there is no way he can write that small.

He finished up his Expository Essay.  I didn't use a prompt from the book because none of those appealed to him.  He writes much better if he is interested in the topic.  I let him answer the prompt of "If you could invite 3 people to dinner who would it be and explain why you would invite them".  He did a really nice job.  He decided he would invite his Youth Pastor, his best friend and Colton Dixon the contemporary christian singer. I really likes the reasons for inviting each one.  He is enjoying writing essays and says he really likes EIW.

Grammar has been a challenge lately.  He is really hitting a wall and honestly is just guessing many days.  I am not much help here because I am struggling with it also since I don't ever remember learning some of these things.  I have Easy Grammar Plus, but I am undecided if we will just stick with Rod and Staff through this year and then re-evaluate or if I will switch now.  I love Rod and Staff and think it is a fantastic program, but he just isn't grasping the higher level concepts.

He finished reading Queen of the Dark Chamber and answered the questions in his notebook. He didn't go as in depth with his answers as I would have liked, but that's just a boy thing I think.

 

For his P. E. credit he continues to take his Parkour gymnastics class and has now taken up bouldering.  Here are just two videos of his newest things.  It still amazes me what God has given him the ability to do despite his CP and an MRI that says he should be in a wheelchair.