Week in Review 11/9-13,2015

The last few weeks of school have gone by quickly.  N. says he really is enjoying this year of school.  He is being stretched, but it is a good kind of stretching.

In history he is reading Trial and Triumph more often.  I love that he is revisiting at a deeper level some of the stories of the Christian Martyrs he studied in earlier guides.  There is much to be gleamed from these stories.  The notebook activities that go along with these stories and the In Context quotes are very good and have him probing the scriptures in order to answer them.  The notebook pages are scanned into his Ipad so sometimes he has 2 Ipads up and running, his old one which is now his Dad's for the scripture references and his new one for the typing.  Technology can cause a lot of issues with teens, but for N. it truly makes a world of difference in his ability to do the work as written.

He had his first health project and he chose to do an exercise program for a neighbor boy that he has been training. He has been training him for several months and had some rough plans marked out, but he took a baseline for all the exercises and then came up with specific written goals and exercises to meet those goals.  He really enjoys doing this and the neighbor reports that the training has really helped him get more fit.  The irony of the kid with CP being the personal trainer of other teens in the neighborhood is not lost on either one of us.  Only God could do that!

I really do love the Total Health curriculum.  The discuss questions each week make it easier for me to discuss topics with him that I might be hesitant to bring up other wise. 
He just started a chapter on mental health and stress and anxiety.  We had a very good discussion on positive and negative stress.

We just finished reading the Lantern Bearers from the Living Library.  Once again an excellent book that really brought the history to life for both of us.  He now reads about 2/3rds of the daily reading silently and I read only 1/3 out loud. 

He is reading King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table for lit and says he likes it also.  It is interesting to hear his thoughts on the different chapters. 

He still loves the Art History study and I feel like the short answer and writing project questions really do push and stretch him.  He has already asked to go back to the Art Museum at the end of this year.

He continues to do well with Algebra 2 and Biology.  In Biology he is studying parasitic intestinal worms which has not been a very enjoyable topic, however the day he read about them we got the Compassion International gift catalog and he stated that for $7 you could buy medicine that would keep 1 child parasite free.  He plans on taking some of his money and doing this since now he understand the implications of those parasites. 

The other big news is he got his driving temps.  He could have gotten them a year ago, but he felt like he wasn't ready.  He is going very slow in learning to drive with his dad and we pray his confidence will grow as he gets more practice.