Week in Review May 18-22, 2015

This is the final week in review for the World Geography guide.  We finished it on Tuesday and spent the rest of the week doing standardized tests which is one of the options for homeschoolers in our state.  

These past 2 weeks the days were shorter.  I'm not sure why, maybe just because he was working on  final projects and reviewing bible verses rather than doing full lessons.  He finished up the World Geography portion with a Seven Wonders of the World project.  He had several options to chose from and he wanted to do a 3-d model.  He had to fill out a planning page and then follow his plan to get it done.  He decided he wanted to build a 3-d model of stonehenge.  He also had to use 3 sources to find 7 interesting facts about Stonehenge and do the bibliography.  I thought his finished project looked pretty cool.  He still has to present it to his dad, but he will most likely do that tonight.

He also finished his research paper.  He was to pick an event in history that impacted a large number of people and examine the cause and effects of that event.  He chose "The Fall".  I have to say he couldn't have picked an event that impacted more people.  He did a nice job researching and writing his paper and he followed the rubric well.  Next year though I will make him pick something he isn't quite so familiar with so he has to research more and not just put down things he knows from his head. He is very passionate about the topic though and that came out in his paper.  Overall though for his first research paper he did a nice job and EIW broke it down in such a way that it made it very doable and not overwhelming to him at all.

 The weather was beautiful this week so he decided to do his last reading in Practical Happiness outside on his obstacle course that is fashioned after American Ninja Warrior.  You might be a homeschooler if you enjoy reading 9 feet above the ground.

I asked him what he thought of this year and he said he thought it was a good year.  I think the same thing.  I think he was really challenged and yet for the most part he rose to that challenge.  In hindsight the only thing I think I would do differently is have him grade his own science.  I can go over what he missed, but that doesn't seem to sink in as well as when he grades it.   We take a picture of he and his guide at the end of every year.  Amazing how much he has changed.

So now off to enjoy summer and get things set up for the World History Guide for next year.  Here is one last picture of N. doing what he enjoys the most, hanging outside and working his muscles. 

Week in Review May 4-8,2015

We are half way through week 34.  We hit some big milestones this week and I am amazed how quickly he is getting done with his day now and how smoothly everything is going.  I think back to those first few weeks, especially the first day and I thought there was no way he would be able to handle the workload of this guide, but he has handled it very well.

The first big milestone is he finished Level 8 of studied dictation so he is completely done with studied dictation.  He was pretty excited about this fact and we celebrated with a milkshake that night.

The other big milestone is that he finished his World Map Project.  He chose to do the Option that used a template that gave some guidelines and 4 pieces of parchment paper taped together.  I did help trace the guidelines and I labeled the countries, because his tremor makes those things pretty tough to do.  He did all the drawing and coloring.  It was exhausting for him and he often took breaks because his hand was cramping, but he persevered.  I am so glad that I have always made him do all the drawing required in the guides.  I think it has been the best therapy his hands could have ever gotten.

He also finished reading A Book of Discovery, which is easily one of the more challenging history spines he has ever read.  He ended up liking it and learned a lot about the exploration of our world and those that persevered despite great odds.  We listened to the story of Shakelton and both of us were amazed at all he and his party endured. 

He continues to work on his research paper and is getting ready to start his 7 wonders of the world project.  I'm excited to see how both of these turn out.

Week in Review 4/27/2015

This really isn't a week in review it is more like the entire month of April in review.  We have just been busy living life and I just forgot to blog.  N. is now in week 33 of the WG guide, so the school year is truly winding down.  The challenge has been to stay motivated.  I don't know that either one of us is as motivated as we were a few months ago, but I think that is pretty typical for this time of year. 

Here are some pictures of what we have been up to the past month.  He made an Africa Cookie.  It looked really good before he baked it, but once it baked it looked more like a pinterest "nailed it" photo, but we had a good laugh about it and it still tasted good.

 His World Religions notebook is now finished and it looks great.  Such a great keepsake/portfolio of what he learned this year.  He typed most of it, but sometimes it was just easier for him to dictate to me.

 He is now working on his World Map project.  This isn't easy for him, but he so far he is rising to the challenge.  I love that these type of multiple day projects are included in the guides.

One big adjustment we made the past few weeks is we are now stretching his TT Geometry lessons out over 2 days.  The lessons were taking 2 hours a day and that is just too much.  Now he works about an 1 and 10 minutes the first day and finishes up the next day.  This has made a huge difference in the flow and enjoyment of the day.

In A Book of Discovery he is learning about the exploration of the Arctic and Antarctica.  This has been fascinating.  We are listening to the audio drama of Shakelton's voyage and both of us are listening in and learning so much. 

One other big thing is that he had his end of the year co-op performance.  He and his buddy performed the song "Moses Supposes" from Singin in the Rain.  His goal was to perform a backflip off his vault at the end of the song.  He practiced for weeks in the yard.

Finally show night came and they did a great job and he landed his flip!  Such a testimony to the power of God that he is even able to do something like this with his CP.

I love that he has time to pursue the things he loves.  I hear people say that the WG guide is so full it gives no time for dc to pursue other things.  We haven't found that to be true.  He has plenty of time for all the things he loves and is getting a very solid education also.