Weekly update for week of 11/14

I am a little behind in writing this.  It will actually be 2 weeks worth of updates.  I went out of town for 3 days the week of 11/7 and my dh took off and schooled the kids.  Without HOD I don't think he would have been able to do that, but the guide makes it very easy for this to happen.  My dh schooled N. for a few subjects last year and was pleased to see the progress he has made, especially in the oral and written narration area.  He also helped him finish the final draft of his Vikings report for IEW and was very impressed with that.
The project for that week was Chinese Egg noodles.  N. really enjoyed making these, but I will say I think we made them too thick and then we didn't cook them long enough so they were a little tough.

His project for the next week was to make a game so he could see how fast the Black Death spread.  This was a great way to bring this home without dwelling on the gory details of the Pestilence.  He also saw how he would get infected much faster if he was traveling by sea instead of by land.  He couldn't quite figure out why this would be so we had a good discussion about how crowded boats and seaports would be.

He was very excited that he was able to finally draw a Greyhound for Draw and Write Through History.  We have a Greyhound so he has been looking forward to that all year.  He also drew a Falcon.

He continues with Rod and Staff Grammar and is doing well with it.  He has had a few lessons on Poetry lately and he likes those.  CLE math continues to go well also.  He is now learning the Distributive Property as a starting point for Algebra.  I like how CLE gently introduces this and then builds on it.

Overall he continues to make steady progress in all areas.  He has really enjoyed this time period in history. In fact he wants Knights and Castles Legos for Christmas.  I hated history in school so I love that he really enjoys it.

Weekly update for the week of 10/31/11

N. finished week 12 of RTR this week.  He really worked hard this week.  He finished up the Answers in Genesis Science Book Wind and Water.  He said he enjoyed it.  Since in the HOD plans there are 2 more weeks of the Astronomy book we needed something as a filler so for the next 2 weeks so he requested to build and study volcanoes.  Since that fit in well with the Earth Science theme I bought a kit and he will be reading the guide that came with it and seeing how different volcanoes erupt.  Should be fun and messy. 

In independent history he drew Robin Hood.  He enjoyed this as usual. 

For his history project he made Saladin.  He had fun with this and was even able to make the origami turban on his own.  This was a big deal because folding paper is really tough for him. In fact when he read the directions he said "origami oh no!."  It took him 2 tries, but he stuck with it.

He continued to read about the Crusades this week and was able to tell his Dad some of the things he has learned.  His written narration this week on was about what a castle looked like.  He didn't even ask for help with this one.  This was easy for him.  It is when he has lots of names and wars and details about battles that he usually gets confused.

In Boyhood and Beyond we talked about what our response should be when we fall down.  This was very applicable to him this week and he recognized that and made the application.  I really love the way this book presents lessons.  It seems to really strike a chord with him. 

He continues to enjoy doing his Bible Study of Philippians.  I think he likes that he can do it on his own.  He does this early in the morning before really anyone else is up and going. 

Next week I will be visiting a dear friend for a few days so my dh is going to do the schooling.  If it weren't for HOD I would be very nervous about that, but the way HOD is set up and the fact that N. is so comfortable with it should make it easy for dh. 

Weekly update for week of 10/24/11

This week we did week 10 of RTR.  This week the history focus was on the Crusades.  His history project was writing out cards and then going on a Crusade with someone.  During school time I hid the clue cards and he went on the Crusade.  Later that night he went sent Daddy on the Crusade.  This activity was a big hit.  He wasn't able to write the long clues on the fronts of the cards, so I did that for him and he wrote the placement instructions on the back.

This week his history reading on the day of his written narration was 20 pages.  I read half of it for him, but he still had some pre-teen attitude as I like to call it.  I reminded him of some of the things we have been talking about in DITHOR as far as the character trait of diligence and he came around and then did a nice job of writing his written narration on his own.

For his written narration I have realized that I have a tendency to want him to fix everything at once.  I think his content could be stronger so I comment on that, but I often comment on all the grammatical things also.  I think in my head I do too much comparing him to what I have seen other dc do on the HOD board etc. . So I resolved to focus on 1 thing from the written narration checklist and 1 content type thing.  So this week I told him I wanted him to make sure he used different length sentences and also that he should make his narration sound more like a story.  It was tough, but I made sure to not critique anything else that I saw that might need tweaking.  This really worked to encourage him and he seemed to do well with only having 2 major things to focus on.  So here is his written narration, again I know it isn't perfect or even equal to what most kids his age are doing, but it is a improvement for him.

     Bernard was asked to preach about the Crusades. He answered yes and preached to King Louis and Queen Eleanor. He got several workers and towns’ people to go on the Crusade. Then Bernard went to Germany to meet with Conrad and ask him to go. Conrad at first refused to go, but then he did. While Bernard went to France, Lois and Conrad went on the Crusade with several other towns’ people. After a year a knight was sent to France to tell Bernard how it went. The knight said, “It was bad with the Muslims winning Damascus.”  Louis and Conrad went home in humiliation. The knight gave Bernard dishonoring letters from the town’s people. Finally, the Crusades failed after all that work.

 He did more map work using the Map Trek CD.  He enjoys this and I feel like it is a good way to cement some of the geographical locations of the history he is studying.  

In storytime we started reading "Morningstar of the Reformation".  It is about John Wycliffe. We started reading it on Monday and that day we got an e-mail from our youth pastor saying that Wed. night they would be doing an activity centering around the reformation and he would give bonus points to anyone who knew who the "Morningstar of the Reformation" was.  N. was so excited that he actually knew that and couldn't wait to go to church that night to tell what he knew about John Wycliffe.  

N. also finished his report on Charlemagne in IEW Medieval Writing Lessons.  This is a challenging program for him, but I feel he is learning so much.

 

Weekly update for week of 10/17/11

N. enjoyed another week of RTR.  This week he got to cook for his history project.  He always enjoys doing that.  He made Marzipan cookies and then read portions of the poem "The Cyd" to S. and I why we ate them.  They were quite tasty.

He also drew 2 more drawings from his Draw and Write Through History book.  He then later in the week drew more castles and princesses in his free time.

We have one more day of reading in "The Illustrated Book of Knights."  He has found this book fascinating.  I understand there is a episode of Modern Marvels called "Battle Gear" on Netflix that I plan on letting him watch this weekend because it covers some of the things he has read about in this book. 

In Grammar he is working on identifying adjectives.  He is doing well with this although I will say Grammar is probably his least favorite subject.  In dictation he is what I consider behind for his age.  He is in Level 4 and was on around 40 or so.  He was getting where he wasn't missing anything so I jumped him up about 8 passages and he was still getting them all right so I jumped him up another 8 or 9 passages.  He finally missed one, so we will continue to work from there.  I don't want to get caught up in whether he is behind, but I also want to make sure it is challenging for him.  He continues to plug away with the IEW writing. It is a good fit for him.

He still loves the Looking at Pictures Art study.  He does a great job describing the pictures from memory. 

I can tell we are in the pre-teen/teen years.  Some days he is right on his game with everything.  Other days it is as if he has never done any of this before.  Most days thoough he continues to give it 100% and continues to make gains.

Weekly update for week of 10/10/11

We finished up week 8 of RTR this week.  As usual he really had a good week. Unfortunately I wasn't good about taking pictures this week.  He is getting very independent with things.  He is getting to the point where he really doesn't want me to help him which I think is a good thing since he is 12 and moving faster than I would like towards those high school years.  For his history project he made a game called Lord of the Castle.  He and I played it once, but he is anxious to play it with daddy.  It is an easy to play game but reinforces some of the words he had learned in his readings like serf and vassal.

The most exciting part of the week for N. was when he opened his guide to find out that he was going to draw from Draw and Write Through History this week.  He had to do that 2nd each day right after his Bible Study time.  He loves this series of books and loves drawing the different things.  This week it was a Viking Ship and a Long House.

He read about the feudal system and Edward the Confessor this week.  In fact he read about Edward and then when I was busy in another part of the house he sat down and did his written narration all on his own.  This is huge for him.  He had one fact confused that I had to correct him on and we talked about how great it was that he did it all on his own.  I did encourage him to make it more story like next time and not as much like a summary.  That is still a struggle for him, but it is one I see in his creative writing also.  He is a "just the facts mam" kind of person.  With the IEW writing I feel like banging my head against the wall some days when I am trying to get him to come up with more descriptive words and phrases.  I am realizing it is not natural for him and I just have to keep showing by example and encouraging him. 

In Science he did an experiment with Ocean tides that worked exactly like it should and I wish I had a picture of it.  In Story Time we are now reading "The Illustrated Book of Knights."  This book fascinates him.  He has no trouble narrating this and loves to tell his dad about all the cool weapons they used. 

In DITHOR he started in his new 6/7/8 student book.  He is doing the Biography Genre and picked Benjamin West and his cat Grimalkin to read. He didn't do the Bigger guide so he never read it.  Since he loves animals and loves to paint it is a good fit.  It is easy for him to read, but he found that he had no trouble finding 5 new vocabulary words for his workbook pages.  So far he hasn't struggled at all with the new level of student text. I can really see how the thinking required at this level will get him ready for High School Lit.

I love how each week things are different enough to keep it interesting and yet there is enough of the same to make it where he can move toward independence.

Weekly update for week of 10/3/2011

We finished up week 7 of RTR this week.  This week's history focus was on Charlemagne.  I loved how he read from several different books about Charlemagne and other people that were part of his story.Hearing the same story told in different ways really helps him retain things.  Last night at dinner at a friends house he was telling her all about Charlemagne and Pope Leo III.  For his history project he made a shield with the German Eagle on it.  Cutting is very challenging for him due to his tremors, but he was very determined to make a good eagle and cut it out himself.

In Storytime we finished reading "The Mystery of the Silver Coins" and it ended with somewhat of a cliff hanger ending.  N. wanted me to order the next one in the series so I did and he will do it for DITHOR.  I told him it would be a longer book than he usually reads for DITHOR and he didn't care.  He just wants to know what happens with Bree, Keely, Devin, and Mikkel.  I love seeing him excited about a book.

In Science he made a rain gage and we tried to make a Barometer, but our plastic tubing wasn't working quite right.  I think it was too rigid.

He finished his final draft for his IEW writing.  He required a little more help with writing descriptive phrases that refer to your senses.  He just wanted to add a descriptive adjective, but with some examples from me he was able to do it eventually. 

We continue to love Boyhood and Beyond.  This week we discussed what it means to covet something.  I really see him applying the character lessons he is learning as well as the skills he is learning to every day things.  This morning he was on the team that was to cook for the men's bible study.  He got up at 5:45 after being up late last night and didn't whine or complain.  He then went in and my dh said he helped get things set up and turned on and then he fried the bacon on the big skillet all by himself.  He is becoming much more confident in the kitchen thanks to HOD.  He also then helped put chairs away and put tables back after bible study.  Whenever I get a little discouraged about the struggles he has due to his CP I think on these things and remember what is really important in the big picture of things and that is that he is learning to hide God's word in his heart and apply it to his life.

Weekly update for week of 9/26/11

Pretty routine week again this week.  N. is handling all his I boxes well with the exception of needing  occasional help with the Research postcard and sometimes he needs physical help with the history project due to his hand weakness. 
His history project was baking 5 loaves of bread that had scripture verses in them.  He did very well with this.  This is one area I am thankful that HOD has scheduled in.  I don't know that I would work on cooking skills with him due to his hand weakness and tremors, but it is something he needs to learn and he is capable of doing so this pushes me to push him towards independence in this area.

He is working on his project now for DITHOR and is making a timeline for the book "Gentle Ben".  This is a nice way for him to review the different things that happened in the book and for me to see how much he comprehended.  I am really glad I returned to DITHOR this year.  He really gets much more out of it than doing Bob Jones lit. 

In Science he learned about Hurricanes which is a topic of great interest to him so he did a very nice written narration.

In history he read about Mohammed and the founding of Islam.  This led to some good discussions regarding the differences between Christianity and Islam. We also discussed what a Jihad was.   I feel he is the perfect age to be having these discussions. 

I continue to have him do 2 lessons in Megawords a week and I am seeing some pay offs as far as his comprehension of certain words.  I am also seeing some improvements in his spelling although I am not doing it for this reason because I truly believe that dictation is the best way to learn spelling.