Week in Review--Week 17

A very fun art project we did found here at Art Projects for Kids.

History: We took a break from Josephus this week to read books on the first Thanksgiving, the Pilgrims and Native Americans.

Math: This week was the beginning of adding with renaming. It is a difficult concept to grasp, but Riley is progressing surprisingly well. As with all math, it will take much practice and repetition to cement this new process.

Language: In Growing with Grammar this week we continued with pronouns.

Bible: We studied about Noah and Abraham. Riley memorized Psalm 117: 2. I am still very impressed with the Rod and Staff materials. Each lesson is rather long, and some days the sight of the workbook coming out is met with sighs. However, the work itself is not difficult, though sometimes challenging.

Latin: This week we learned commands while studying chapter ten of Song School Latin. In the past the vocabulary has come very easy for Riley. She has had little difficulty learning and memorizing it. This week was our first challenging week. She struggled a bit. However, as with math, all that is needed is practice and repetition.

Reading: In addition to her Bible reader, Riley also continued reading from her Second Reader. We have really enjoyed this reader from Yesterday's Classics. It has beautiful selections of poetry from Christina Rossetti and Robert Louis Stevenson, as well as challenging, yet very readable interpretations of Aesop's fables, fairy tales and folk tales.

Science: Using Rod and Staff's Patterns of Nature, we studied Weeds. As with each lesson, there was a rather long descriptive narrative introducing the objects of study. The narrative was followed with some exercises to help her commit the lesson to memory. There were also two coloring pages with realistic renditions of each weed, labeled with the appropriate colors to color each one. We held off on the next lesson--trees--for next week. We are planning on going on a nature walk with labeled trees next week during the holiday.

I have ordered a Spelling Workout book to review and possibly add to our days. I had the best of intentions of tackling and adding Spell to Write and Read, but I do not think I will ever use this program in its entirety. I have used the phonogram cards and will use the spelling rules cards. Maybe this summer I will read through the manual and muster up the courage to begin it. We'll see. I also will begin working in Geography Songs. I have enjoyed looking through this book this weekend and think it will be quite a learning adventure for us both. I don't have any recollection of receiving formal training in geography, and, not surprisingly, my geography skills are quite lacking. Many people love this book and cd combo, so I expect we will enjoy it as well.