Saturday, March 20, 2010

Our Week In Review – 3/20/2010

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It’s been a month since I wrote a review of what’s going on in our little world of home education.  Let me catch you up.

History/Social Sciences

We are finished studying the Civil War and Reconstruction.  Rosie Girl reads every day in The History of US and is now also reading Christy.  Wild Man has watched several DVDs on Reconstruction, Sacco and Vanzetti, and eugenics.  We’ve had a number of good discussions based on the kids’ reading and DVD watching.

Language Arts

Rosie Girl has finished her short story workshop and is still taking her regular composition course.  She and her friend have also been sharing the stories that they write and also went to a Writing Club meeting at the high school on Friday afternoon.

Rosie Girl is also reading To Kill A Mockingbird right now.  I’m supposed to be reading it as well, but seem to have a real lack of motivation (no, it doesn’t only happen to the students!).  She is going to read the SparkNotes after she finishes the book and then we’ll discuss literary analysis and she’ll write an essay analyzing the book.  (I’ve cut out a lot of other literary analysis activities to focus on just this one novel this year.  I’m planning to do one or two pieces of literature with her each year.)

Wild Man is reading tons – he’s working on Brisingr right now.  I’ve been thrilled at how his writing is coming along using Institute for Excellence in Writing.  Wild Man naturally uses a wide vocabulary and is quite expressive.  We’re still having issues with spelling, typing, and handwriting, though.  But, it’s all part and parcel of the dyslexia thing.  His spelling is tons better than it was a year ago, so we just have to keep moving along, even if it is slow.

Math

Rosie Girl is doing ALEKS Algebra 1.  She wasn’t too stressed about the pace of things until she realized that she’ll be doing math during the summer if she doesn’t finish this course before June.  That lit a fire under her!

Wild Man is working hard on math facts with Mr. Math Tutor.  Again, the dyslexia rears it’s ugly head.  Sigh.

Science

Rosie Girl is getting close to the end of her biology book.  A few weeks ago, she did human reproduction, which I thought Singapore Biology handled quite well.  However, they didn’t include much information on sexually transmitted infections and no information on contraception.  Not only are these important topics, but studying them also reinforces the processes in reproduction.  I had Rosie Girl read several CDC websites about sexually transmitted infections and then a very good Boston Children’s Hospital website about birth control.  Of course, then we had some discussion about it – discussions that we’ve been having since she was very young.  One of the things I get passionate about is young women having infertility and other complications because they get STIs at an early age because they are sexually active when they shouldn’t be.  (I dealt with a lot of this when I was practicing medicine because I had lots of young women in my practice.)  My goal is for my kids to understand the morality (God’s plan) and the science behind this passion.

I got Wild Man a Singapore Intermediate A science book which he and I have started reading together.  The first chapter was about scientific method and inquiry.  Good stuff.

Bible

Rosie Girl is reading The Bible Jesus Read by Philip Yancey.  Wild Man is studying the book of Acts and just learned about Stephen.  As a family, we are reading about Moses and the Exodus.

Music and Art

Rosie Girl did a vocal solo for Solo and Ensemble this year.  She did quite well and was just 1 point away from getting a First!  The school’s art exhibition is in April and Rosie Girl will have a couple of pieces entered.  She is also working hard getting her two pieces ready for piano festival, also in April.  If she’s not doing schoolwork, she’s writing or playing music.  She has even started composing music! 

Wild Man seems to be enjoying his Band class.  There are three sixth graders who play percussion, so they rotate among snare drum, bass drum, and bells.  Wild Man is also part of the church’s Worship and Motion group again this year, a group of kids who will sing and dance at the Easter Egg-Venture in a few weeks.

Extras

We still go to the Nutrition Center every week when I don’t have too bad of a headache to help pack Meals on Wheels and serve lunch to the clients there.  Rosie Girl often plays piano while we’re there.  Now that the weather’s nice, we’ll also be able to get out and take nature walks together. 

So, that’s what’s been up with us over the last few weeks.  I’ve been having lots of headaches, so we never do quite as much as I’d like (especially with Wild Man), but the kids are learning which is the goal!  I’m planning for next year, so I’ll write more about that later.

Check out Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers to see how others have done!

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