Saturday, May 2, 2009

Weekly Report: Term 2, Week 5



An example of Baroque (in terms I understand!)


I think we've had a breakthrough. On Friday, at the kids insistence, we started with history. The day just zipped by.

Somehow, I got it into my head that our Latin and Math must be done first thing in the morning. The kids have often protested, declaring their brains just weren't awake yet. I just re-read Campbell. What he actually says is this:



Classical languages (Latin and Greek) and math should be given the bulk of the student's time and his best hours, whenever those may be. LLC, 1st ed., p. 61

Well, duh.

So, I'll try reading to them first thing in the mornings, then. Let their brains kick into gear with something not quite as demanding as Latin and math. It just means my eyelids will have to be fully open--and that'll be a challenge!

Morning Subjects:

Bible Study.
Explorer's Bible Study: Discovery. Words of Wisdom: Job, Psalms and Proverbs.
We did Lesson 3. It's bothering me only slightly that I don't have an answer key and that the kids are using their NIV's while the text of the lesson is presented in NKJV. I would rather they both had NKJV's. Of course, my son wants to use his NIrV exclusively. We compromised and agreed to consult it when things weren't entirely clear. For once, though, I am finding I don't like the NIV. Not for this book.

Latin.
Lively Latin, Big Book 1.


With this review map, we're finished! Done! Kaput. We did vocabulary review and and our drill sheets. Here's a blog entry about how we used the program and things I wished we'd done differently. We will continue to review this week.


Spelling.
Spell to Write and Read.
Skipped it.

Grammar:
The Older: Rod and Staff 4, Lesson 83 and Lesson 86.
With great nervousness, I skipped all the writing lessons.

The Younger: Rod and Staff 3, Lessons 58 to 61.
Everyday (since we do grammar everyday) I'm thankful for the grounding FLL1 has given my daughter.

Math:
The Older, Singapore Math 4B. Weeks 6 & 7.

The Younger, Singapore Math 3A. Weeks 14 (and a smidgen of 15).

Composition.
The Older: Homer A. Week 3. The Wind and the Sun.
We took it slowly and worked on finalizing his draft.

The Younger: Aesop A, week 17.
We used an early model: Androcles and the Lion rather than the more difficult biblical model offered by the workbook. My daughter loved it.

Afternoon Subjects

Science.
Singapore i-Science. Chapter 3C: The Human Respiratory System.
We did this in the evening and only got done about 1/2 what I wanted. The husband decided to blow up a balloon and then insert it into a bottle. That distracted the kids totally from their own stuff.

History.
Meghan's Reading Plan with adaptations.
We're taking a break from SoTW Vol.3: Early Modern Times until we catch up to the events in Chapter 15, when King Louis sent the Carignan-Salieres Regiment (and the Filles-de-Roi!) to help the colonists and fur traders in New France.

Key:
  • CHD: Canadian History for Dummies, by Will Ferguson

  • SC: The Story of Canada, by Moore and Lunn

  • Map bk: Canada Map Book 6: Exploring Canada's History by George Quinn (Apple Press)


  • Day 16: CHD: p. 48-50 Quest for a North-West Passage (Fool’s Gold and Martin Frobisher),
    Spirit of Canada, p. 20 Hunting for Unicorns
    Trace where Frobisher went on a map, Timeline. Worksheet: Cabot, Cartier and Champlain.

    Day 17: SC: p. 38-41, Northern Seas,
    CHD: p. 50-52, Quest for a NorthWest Passage (The Lonely Fate of Henry Hudson), timeline.


    Day 18: CHD: p. 52-53, Rule Britannia, An Empire Founded by Fog?
    SC: p. 27 The Pirate Admiral
    Fisheries notebooking page, Map bk.6: p. 16 & 17

    Day 19: CHD: p. 53-55, The Two G’s., SC: p. 41-43, Rats, Weeds and Viruses.

    Day 20: CHD: p. 55-58 The Beothuk, Spirit of Canada: p. 105-106, The Ballad of Mary March

    Dictation. (1x)
    The same passage for both.




      Fine Arts:
      Music: Beautiful Feet Guide to Classical Composers.
      Art: Artistic Pursuits, Book 1.

      Finally! On Saturday we got to it.
      We listened to the CD on Corelli and defined words like Baroque and fastidious. (Which means something other than what I thought it meant. I thought more nit-picky and tidy than exacting and difficult to please.) They also drew their first "official" composition.

      4 comments:

      scb said...

      Great breakthrough about the scheduling! I hope it continues to work well -- it could make a great difference in so many ways!

      I've just discovered two resources for finding books (books for reading, rather than books for instruction) for kids in different age groups, and thought I'd share, just in case they seem useful to you...

      http://www.twentybyjenny.com

      http://www.readkiddoread.com

      As my Grandma used to say, "Keep on keeping on!"

      Anonymous said...

      Congrats on the breakthrough!
      We are trying to organize a biweekly group here to do fairy tales through the year in groups.
      My kids LOVED seeing yours kids "real work"

      Alicia in New Zealand
      aliciasplace@gmail.com

      scb said...

      Just discovered a wonderful blog by another Canadian homeschooler and thought you might find it interesting (I was looking for the words to the poem "I meant to do my work today" and found her blog.)

      http://farmschool.wordpress.com/

      It looks fantastic!

      scb said...

      P.S. and it's not just because she has a meadowlark icon that I'm drawn to that blog!!! ;-)