Monday, August 21, 2006
08/07 week 2
Posted in Learning on the Narrow Path
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Week two This was a very different sort of week for us, both in home schooling and in real life. We stayed home all week, mostly owing to the high cost of gasoline, the high mileage our van just hit, the high mold pollen count and the high temps outside. Instead of going on a grocery shopping trip during the week, I went at night in the rain. Blair started off her year with a bang. The fantasy story she wrote for an online writing forum is getting rave reviews. She finished her novel and has submitted it to the writing forum for input. Her first essay for her Literary Analysis class showed promise, but after a brief editing session, turned solid gold. She had a load of fun with her geometry book, doing the first lessons on deductive reasoning. She mentioned that she’d like to look into Early Childhood Education, but knowing her and how she relates to youngsters (plus the added stresses of public education), I just don’t think that’s her calling. But I won’t dissuade her. She’ll find her passion herself. She has been enjoying Ken Burns’ Civil War with us at night, especially those near-fictional details that are just too quirky to ignore (like the man in whose front yard the war began and in whose parlor it ended). She likes to take notes for writing her own historical fiction, but that’s hard since hubby likes to watch TV with the lights off! While John's writing is usually sparse and “just enough to say it’s done,” he did an essay on the Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin this week for his American Lit class that was very nicely thought out. He grumbles that he hates that course every time he does it, but I can see it’s working on his reasoning skills. He spent about three hours this week working on his Spanish pronunciation. I haven’t seen him doing any work in his Biology course, but I have seen him hovering around when the younger ones do their science and come away with words like “monotreme” that he doesn’t know and has to look up. He has discovered that mornings are not his best time of day, but after he’s eaten and has revived a bit, he finds life in general much more pleasant (as is he!) His attentiveness still lags a bit: the night he was to make dinner we had several smoke alarms go off as a result of the TV being on during cooking time (in another room!) and his not reading the directions carefully. Hm. Taco Bell is every bit as good as I remember it! He listened to a speed-reading CD and in timed tests, doubled his reading speed! Kate asked to borrow my Handbook of Nature Study this week so she could do some research into some of the birds visiting our feeder. They look like finches, cardinals and crows to me, but I’m sure she will discover some specifics. Her list of things she wants to learn about Tennessee reads like a course of study. We borrowed a book from the library children’s section, but it’s clear the information she seeks will need much deeper research. She’s getting much quicker at computation since using a computerized speed drill. Her first time, she got 80% and took 5 seconds per multiplication problem. After two weeks she is getting 100% and taking 2-3 seconds. MUCH better. Our creative writing project was to write a letter to President Bush asking him to come to dinner next time he’s in town so we could discuss some ideas with him. Kate's idea was to form a prayer group assigned to the welfare of the space program and its employees. Her letter walked a line between friendly professionalism and respect that was lovely to read. Christy is still in need of naps. One day this week, I relented and she was in a puddle of tears before 4:30PM. But, that’s okay. We can fit in a nap! It just means we need to really apply ourselves before lunch. That can be hard with a mom who tends to sleep late and wake slowly, but increased self-discipline on my part will fix that. She made a HUGE leap this week in her handwriting; the line “Dear Mr. President” was the neatest she’s ever written. There are still some letters not formed in the proper direction, and she needs to become comfortable with writing slower and larger for a time, but I can see massive improvement on the horizon. Her American History study is going well, and she will frequently mention chapters in which the current topic has been discussed in one book or another. I’m glad to see those associations being made. She did another four math lessons, and continued to advance in her speed drills. Rose continues to learn more from everyday life than from her studies right now. When John refused to let her borrow his playing cards, she made a deck of her own! Her sisters are becoming less patient every day with her constant need to have things spelled for her, so she is using invented spelling and learning to self-edit after the fact. Very few final drafts of hers I have seen have spelling errors at all. I think a lack of confidence is more to blame than a lack of knowledge. We read the Pledge of Allegiance and what it meant this week, and she was able to grasp the nation-sized ideas in it quite well. She spent several hours with the tempera paints on one of the four rainy school days this week, making lovely pictures of people, animals and places she loves. She even let the paint dry between layers of color so she could add subtleties and shading one doesn’t often see at the first grade level. We visited the Virtual Zoo online and talked about some of the different mammals. Field Trips and Extracurricular Activities: Saturday we attended a grand opening of a nearby mini mall. The little ones had lovely designs painted on their arms by a clown, David shared some card tricks with a magician, the middles watched a teen boy make balloon animals, and we all were miserable in the heat. But, it gave us a good opportunity to discuss sweat and its purpose. There were also some nasty clouds building very quickly and that provided us yet another good science lesson. |
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