Our Week in Review- February 21-25,2011

In My Life This Week-

We made it! Despite the fact that I got sick with a weird stomach virus in the beginning of the week we still managed to have a very productive week. I was unable to attend our Cub Scout pack's Blue and Gold Banquet but Jeremy and Zach had an enjoyable time. Our weekend was a relaxing one. Saturday started with Zachary's Upward basketball game. His ESPN worthy, spin move, with lay-up resulted in a basket and was the talk of the game. Jeremy and I are in awe of his improvement over last year's season. He enjoys playing on a team with 5 of his friends. The day ended with having friends over for dinner and a little work being done on our Pinewood Derby cars.

In Our Homeschool This Week-

We are currently studying Kenya. This has been a very personal country for us as we have sponsored a child there for the past 5 years. It was fantastic to learn more about where Gilbert lives, read over the letters he has sent us, and write back to him. Utilizing Google images we were able to see pictures of the slums where Gilbert and his family live. That was an eye opening experience for Zach, to say the least. We are able to send small, flat, and inexpensive gifts so Zachary made Gilbert a paper airplane, which we included in our most recent letter. This also was a great opportunity for Zachary to learn more about the Compassion International organization in general. We learned how they get mail to Gilbert, how it is translated, and how long the whole process takes.

We are well into our new science curriculum since we finished Botany in December. We are studying all creatures that fly. The first part of the textbook is all about birds. We learned about how they fly, the parts of their wings, and how they are useful, and different types of feathers. Zachary is REALLY enjoying this subject and I am having fun as well. The notebook he is creating to record what he is learning is awesome!

It is hard to believe that we are one week away from finishing our grammar and cursive curriculum. It gives us both such a great sense of accomplishment to have followed these both all the way through. The time that this will now free up in our schedule will work out very well as we will really dive back into creative writing. This is Zachary's most frustrating subject so your prayers would be appreciated. : )

Places We Are Going and People We Are Seeing This Week-

This week, like I wrote earlier, was our cub scout pack's annual Blue & Gold Banquet. This is something all cub scout packs celebrate sometime in the month of February. It recognizes the anniversary of scouting, kind of like a big birthday party. We had about 70 people attend, which was a great turn-out. Jeremy and Zach both had a lot of fun.

What's Working/Not Working For Us-

We did a little re-arranging of the schoolroom. Anyone that knows me this should come at no surprise. : ) I moved Zach's work table to the middle of the room. Zachary and I are able to both work on each side of it, across from each other. This change has been helpful in keeping Zachary on task and allows me to easily help him on his schoolwork. Eventually I would like to add another table the same size to double our workspace.

Homeschool Questions/Thoughts I Have-

February seems to be the month when everyone starts thinking about curriculum choices for next year. Due to a fantastic Groupon offer I was able to get Zachary's history curriculum at a fabulous price. Zachary thumbed through it when it arrived and he is ecstatic to begin. It might have something to do with the fact that it includes chapters on Greek Mythology. We will be studying the time period considered ancient times: the earliest nomads to the last roman emperor. I have chosen the rest of our curriculum however, I am still undecided on our math. Although, I do have it narrowed down to three.

A Photo To Share-

Here are a couple....Zach playing basketball and an experiment we did to reinforce what we learned about air pressure in regards to flight. Please excuse the blurry pictures as they were taken with my cell phone.

A Week in Review- November 5, 2010

Whew! We sure had a busy week! Here's a recap...

Bible: This week we studied more of Matthew. Chapter5, verses 27-42 to be exact. Our memory verse for the week was a continuation of last weeks. "Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in Heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you." Matthew 5:12. We dived back into Hero Tales again, which is a favorite of ours. This week we studied George Muller. He was a man of very strong faith that lived in Germany in the early to mid 1800's. He is most known for the children's orphanage he started. During the course of his life he housed, and educated over ten thousand boys and girls at Ashley Downs. Through reading stories about him we learned about character traits such as faith, graciousness, and trust.

Handwriting Without Tears: We continued on with our cursive practice, working specifically on the letters o and w. Zachary is doing very well with handwriting in general. The size and neatness of his writing has improved greatly.

G.U.M. Drops (Grammar): This week we talked a lot about subject/verb agreement as well as subject/noun agreement. Zachary caught on very quickly to these skills and we moved quickly through the lessons each day.

Writing Strands: We took a break from this, this week and will return to it next week.

Spelling Power: Zachary did very well on his tests this week and only required additional study and testing on a few words.

Math: Math went very well this week. We worked on a little bit of everything, double digit multiplication, graphs, fraction. We finished up unit 2 and Zachary did very well on the unit test.

Geography: This was our final week in Canada. Zachary learned a lot about the Canadian-French language as well as the Inuit people, which live in arctic regions of Canada. As a special treat to celebrate Canada we stopped at Tim Hortons for doughnuts. This doughnut and coffee shop is HUGE in Canada with lines out the door most mornings. This company has seemed to take Lansing by storm within the last year with many opening up all across town. Zachary very much enjoyed his box of Timbits, which are doughnut holes in many different flavors.

Science: This week focused mainly on plant life. This is something we already covered in our study of Botany this summer and early fall with our science co-op. We did do a little review but for the most part skipped over it.

Other fun this week...

included his Gym & Swim class at the local YMCA as well as his Vet Science class.

On Thursday this week Zachary was able to go with his friend Hudson to see Mary Poppins on Broadway at the Wharton Center in East Lansing. He LOVED it! The picture at the top of this post shows Zach and his friend Hudson with their tickets.

Below are some fun pictures from Halloween and carving pumpkins.

Unfortunately, yesterday ended with Zachary coming down with a nasty cold. It sure has knocked him out!

A Week in Review- October 29, 2010

This week has been great! Here is a recap of what we did.

Bible- We are continuing our journey through the book of Matthew. Zach's memory verse this week was Matthew 5:11 "Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me." Next week we will memorize the second part of that verse. I have been using Jesus Calling as my own personal morning devotional for a while now and absolutely love it! I was so excited to see they had written a version for kids as well. We started using it this week. It is based on different scripture each day and is written as if Jesus is speaking to you. It has been the catalyst for very rich discussions about life, struggles, and obeying God. It is a perfect way to start our day.

HWT- We are continuing our cursive practice. Zach is doing very well.

G.U.M. Drops- Grammar is going well. Some days it makes my head spin but it is for the most part manageable.

Writing Strands- Our creative writing is still going well. I find that the deeper we get into the curriculum the harder it is for him to be totally independent. He loves for me to encourage his progress.

Spelling Power- I am really liking this curriculum. It has been somewhat of an adjustment for Zach to have a spelling test everyday but I think that is just because it is something so new to him. The way this program works is that we took a test at the beginning of the year to determine his placement. Now Monday-Thursday he tests everyday from predetermined lists. He has not seen the words before that day nor has he studied. We take the test and then only study the words he got wrong. We only spend a total of 5 minutes testing and then he has a specific process in which he studies the misspelled words. The next day we start the test with the words he misspelled the previous day and the continue down the list.

Math- We worked a lot on fractions this week. The math is not overly easy in my eyes but not particularly challenging for Zach so I may look the first part of the new year at either a different curriculum or the 5th grade program in our current curriculum. We will see what develops.

Geography- As you can see from the very first photo we started a new country this week. Canada! We stamped Zach's passport, looked up the current exchange rate, and changed our American $20 for Canadian money. Zach's been reading a lot of books on Canada. He did some map work labeling all the Canadian providences. Did you know that more dinosaur bones have been found in Alberta, Canada than any other place in the world? Canada also has more lakes than any other country. One in Manitoba is called Lake Pekwachnamaykoskwaskwaypinwanik. Crazy huh?

Science- This week for the most part we have been learning about food chains and talking about scavenger's and decomposer's. Zach drew a picture and described what a food chain is for his science notebook.

Zach has been reading this book to review for his journal. He seems to be enjoying it. Maybe I will have him post his review of the book here as well. The gist of the book is about Grace Cahill who was a rich, powerful, and mysterious woman. Right before her death she changes her will and that change starts a fast-paced exciting adventure. Grace's grandkids Amy and Dan are orphans, their parents died years ago in a fire. They gather, along with many crazy members of their extended family, for the reading of Grace's will. In her will, Grace selects only certain members of her family to either take a million dollars each, or exchange it for a chance to find the "39 clues", which will lead to a source of unimaginable power. Amy and Dan decide to take the challenge, along with some ruthless and crazy family members. This is a series with currently 10 books. Each book is written by a different author.

Other fun we had this week.....

Zachary is still enjoying his art class at Reach! He takes part in the class every Tuesday from 4-6pm. He is making a lot of neat pottery and I can't wait for everything to be fired so I can see the final products!

On Thursday we got together for a Halloween party with Zach's friends from his science co-op. There was tons of fun had by all!

There seemed to be a very distinct Star Wars theme going on! Zach is all the way to the right in the silver and blue.

On Friday, Zach got to dissect with his Vet Science class. They explored a cow heart, and sheep's lung. I was lucky enough to come home with a sheep's tongue, I say that with great sarcasm! It is currently in my freezer. I am not sure what in the world we are going to do with it but how could I say no to a boy that wants to observe? No way am I going to eat the thing!

Goodbye Botany...Hello.....?- October 22, 2010

We are just starting to wrap up our Botany unit with our science co-op. All the moms in the group and I met for dinner last week to discuss what direction we would like to head in after the holidays. This is the textbook we decided on:

Exploring Creation with Zoology 1: Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day

by Apologia

Zach is very excited because it means he gets to study this:

His FAVORITE animal! We will also cover flying insects, birds, and the like. We brainstormed for a while different places we could visit and activities we could incorporate. I am sure without a doubt Zachary is going to LOVE this unit!

Hello....anyone out there?- October 22, 2010

I promise I didn't throw in the towel! I still am very much invested in writing this blog. Life just got busy. Jeremy took a vacation, well actually it was a stay-cation since we didn't go anywhere. I developed a rather nasty head cold that refuses to leave me alone no matter how much I beg and plead. We also took a break from school this past week so that we could enjoy some much needed family time with Jeremy. He has been working such crazy and long hours lately that we've missed him! We have enjoyed hiking through a nature center not too far from our home, as well as a couple movie nights. Jeremy and Zach even got to have a "guy day" visiting Greenfield Village and the Henry Ford near Detroit.

What had we been learning about before our impromptu break you ask? My last recap had us studying the USA. After ending that unit we learned all there is to know about Mexico, and desert biomes. On Monday, we will be leaving Mexico and heading to learn about Canada. Our science unit will be a little more general. We will be looking at food chains, and things of that nature.

Our other subjects have been going great as well. We adore our spelling and writing programs. We enjoy reading through our Hero Tales book in Bible and learning all about different Christian Heroes and the character traits they posses. Next week we will learn about William & Catherine Booth, who were the founders of the Salvation Army. Math and our cursive handwriting programs are all plugging along too.

Zach is greatly enjoying Gym & Swim at our area YMCA. His Vet Science program has been the most fantastic thus far. The opportunities he has had through this class are things he will remember for a lifetime! He is making a lot of new friends and also has kept a few close relationships from last year. He just recently earned his Webelos badge in Scouts and is taking great pride in that. Zach also got accepted into a art class for the next year. It is a free program but there were only a few places in the class. We turned in our application and waited. We were very excited to get the phone call that he was in. This is the same art studio that he participates in a day camp during the summer. The fall term is focusing on sculpting and pottery, which Zach has really been enjoying.

Jeremy and I had a conversation recently about how we both felt homeschooling was working for our family so far. I speak for the both of us when I say we are amazed at the changes we have seen in Zachary. He has completely come out of his shell. He is working better with others even when he doesn't get his way, he is less fearful of taking chances and risks, he wants to try new things, and he has more confidence in himself. I could go on and on. Zachary is a gifted child. The testing we had done last year regarding his intellectual ability has better equipped us in our first year of homeschooling. I truly believe since he has been given the ability to question things, search out his own answers, is being talked to like the intelligent kid he is, and being given the ability to determine some of what he chooses to learn has been a great catalyst for all these positive changes!

Enjoy below some great photographs from our time away from school.

The Week in Review- September 24, 2010

This week was a busy one! This was our first week including all of our outside commitments in with homeschooling. One thing is for sure, I sleep well each night! Above is a picture of Zach doing his schoolwork in his pj's. He thinks this is a pretty cool perk! Don't worry he does get dressed each day, I promise.

On Tuesdays I take Madison to preschool in the morning. Zach and I usually come home and get a good portion of his schooling done before we need to pick her up. To switch things up a bit and to show my appreciation for the hard work Zach has displayed the past couple of weeks we packed up the majority of our studies and headed to our nearest Panera Bread. We got a lot of schoolwork done there while we waited to pick up Madison. The change of venue was fun and the free pastry and coffee I had earned on my rewards card was a great incentive. : )

On Wednesday, we headed to our second YMCA Gym & Swim class. Again Zach did very well in his swimming lessons. Our area Y has a giant tube-like slide in one of the pools. During their free time at the end of swimming lessons, all the kids ran for the slide. Zachary LOVED it! During gym time all the kids played soccer. I definitely have one tired kid at the end! Sorry the YMCA pictures are so blurry....I have a horrible time taking good pictures in that building.

On Thursday we had a a field trip with our Botany class to the home & farm of a bee keeper. I will write more about that in a different post since I have a ton of great pictures.

Friday Zachary had his second Vet Science class. They did some work dissecting owl pellets and also had a visit from a rather large poodle. Using the poodle for an example they learned how to treat and cast an animal with a broken leg. He is loving this class and jumps out of bed each Friday morning looking forward to it.

Here's what we have been working on this past week in our studies.

Bible- We are really starting to dive into our curriculum. We are going to be spending the majority of the year studying the book of Matthew. Zach learned that Matthew is the first book in the New Testament and the start of the gospels. Matthew was a tax collector and left his job to become one of Jesus' 12 disciples. The book of Matthew tells the story of Jesus' birth, boyhood, teaching, healing, crucification, resurrection. We also started reading through a book called Hero Tales. This book is an autobiography about different Christian heroes. This week we read about Dwight Moody. Mr. Moody was one of the founding members of the YMCA and the founder of the Illinois Street Church in Chicago, IL. With each story we read, there is a character trait attached. This week was boldness, repentance, & strength.

Handwriting Without Tears- Continuing with cursive practice.

Spelling Power- We just began this program. We worked this week on a couple different tests to get Zach placed and to know which spelling lists to start him on.

G.U.M. Drops- We have been working on plural nouns, and abbreviations. The end of the week was spent proof reading and correcting a passage from Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde.

Math- Zach worked on fractions, and more on double digit multiplication.

Geography- We have started the study of our first country... the United States. We took a look at the different states. Zachary is studying and working to be able to identify them all.

Science- We have been learning about different environments, climates, with a special emphasis on deciduous forests. A good portion of the United States has deciduous forests. I love how our Geography and Science go hand in hand. The above picture is a map Zach worked on this week.

Writing Strands- We have continued to develop the core sentences and have used that information to start work on paragraphs. I cannot believe how far his writing has come.

That was our week in a nutshell. I'm looking forward to slowing down a bit this weekend and then running headfirst into next week.

SHE blogs

I'm blogging here today. SHE blogs is a Women's Ministry blog for Trinity Church, which is where we attend. Please stop by, leave a comment, and laugh along with me at Zach's funny breakfast announcement.