Can it really be true? Our school year is passing by at such a rapid rate. We've completed more than half of all the suggested assignments and we still have four months to finish up. I want to dig in with a new fervor, attack the lessons with more enthusiasm and encourage my boys to do above and beyond what is asked of them. All three of my boys are creative and enjoy projects that are out of the ordinary, anything that breaks the monotony of an average day. I am finding that starting our school day by 8 a.m. makes a huge difference. Today is an exception, as we have some sickness and no one slept well last night. Everyone is snoozing away at the very moment that we should be starting our first assignment. It has been amazing to watch the boys return from a 16 day Christmas break. I was dreading it, they were dreading it. The first hour on Monday was painful, but all of the sudden, they "remembered" the routine. We simply flew through the rest of the day...and the rest of the week. We are entering the continent of Africa and doing a focused study of Kenya for three weeks. I think I'm going to throw in a study of Tanzania as well, since that where our dear great (great) aunt is helping to build a mission and we support a young boy there.The second nine weeks of school included (but were not limited to) the following:
Bible
Memory Work
Matthew 5:15-16
Matthew 5:44-45
Matthew 9:37-38
Matthew 11:28-30
We finished reading the book about Nate Saint. The boys were thrilled to return to "Kingdom Tales" and B took on a book about George Mueller by himself. D read "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever" to us and on Christmas Eve, we found the movie online and watched it. Although the movie isn't as good as the book, it was fun to watch the boys as they anticipated their favorite scenes. We continue to read fascinating accounts in "Hero Tales," short stories of men and women who have impacted the world with the Good News of Jesus. It blesses my heart to read the follow up questions after each chapter and see that the boys are really "getting it," they are learning about boldness, integrity, faithfulness, courage and sacrifice as we progress. "Window on the World" is another fantastic book that gives us prayer focuses each week, for people groups in the countries we are studying. These resources will stay in our home and be used as references in the future.
Writing/Reading/Language Arts
Using the A Beka curriculum, C and J learned more about writing sentences. combining short sentences to make longer ones, how to form the plurals of words (can I remind us all of just how complicated the English language is?!), contractions, synonyms, antonyms, homonyms, and writing letters.
B (also with A Beka) has tackled another huge library research paper, this time he wrote about the terrorist attacks on 9-11. He reviewed the writing and fact gathering process, then put his information into a five page paper. I am amazed as I watch his find his way around the Internet (with supervising, of course) and then put his own spin on what he finds.
The boys continue to enjoy writing and I am reminded that I need to give them more creative witing assignments. They read every day for 30-90 minutes during quiet time. We have finally found some books that J is enjoying. He is devouring them and proudly reports to me each time he completes a book. I keep track of the books/pages read and each month the boys are rewarded with the Book It Pizza Hut coupon.
Spelling
D has taken the baton with this and is using "Spelling Power" to increase the boys' spelling accuracy. This one book and the resources given with it will take the boys all the way through high school. It takes the 5,000 most commonly misspelled words in our language and they spend about 15 minutes a day learning to spell. D quizzes them for five minutes with new words. If they get them all correct, they are finished for the day (J often gets them all correct, go figure!). Any misspelled words are then rewritten and a 10 Step Study Process begins (say, look, say, close eyes (say), check, trace and say, check, write, check, repeat). After that, D chooses an activity for the boys to work on any that are still misspelled. There are over 100 suggested activities, including the following: cutting letters out of old magazines and taping onto the study sheet, dialing the words on a telephone, using them in a sentence, etc. I am already seeing a difference when they say, "Mom how do you spell ----?" I respond, "You tell me..." and often, they get it correct on the first try!
Math
Teaching Textbooks, Grade 4 for C and J. Teaching Textbooks, Grade 6 for B. Each morning, the boys take turns using the computer to do these lessons. They are making good progress and the computer tracks their grades. We took a two week break from lessons to focus on multiplication and division facts. Since C and J skipped a grade in math, we see this as the one area that needs extra attention. If they cannot get their facts memorized, it will slow down the entire math process from here on. We are using online resources, hand held game, flash cards, card games and manipulatives to help them get these facts memorized.
Geography/Science
We are having so much fun with "My Father's World," each day learning new things about the world. The boys have made vocab cards with illustrations and are able to identify the following:
*jungle
*delta
*swamp
*marsh
*fjord
*promontory
*lake
*stream
*cave
*sea cave
*river
*rapids
*head water
*mouth
*ford
*meander
*grassland
We have "visited" four countries and learned so many interesting facts about the following: *Brazil
*Norway
*France
*Germany
B works from a book titled "World Geography." This allows him to use the Internet to research. He then relays the information to the twins and they fill in their sheets. This allows B to teach a bit and I don't worry about how much the twins are getting, as the material is geared for junior high age. Anything they retain is "extra."
C and J also use a book titled "The Complete Book of Animals." Each unit they study animals that are common to the region we are studying. By the end of the year, they will cover hundreds of interesting creatures.
All three boys get so excited each time I give them a science experiment or building project to run with. They enjoyed an "Egg-periment" night with dad, built replicas of the Eiffel tower out of Legos, Magnetix and KNex, built castles with Keva blocks and learned all about Rube Goldberg when their Poppy came to visit. We pulled up YouTube videos and showed the boys some of Rube's amazing (and somewhat eccentric) creations. The ideas simply fueled their own creativity and they spent days coming up with new ways to show cause and effect.
Physical Education
Of course, this is the most difficult time of the year to enforce good habits in physical education. We are in the midst of the coldest winter I can remember. Just before Christmas, we had record snowfalls of over two feet. Since then, temperatures have not risen much and we still have snow piles and plenty of ice. I refer to the boys' Wii when I see that they are getting a little too rowdy. I send them upstairs with specific instructions to only play games that get them moving! They will join D for Sunday afternoon basketball whenever possible. They played so hard last week and groaned for days about their sore muscles. I work out 4-5 times a week and may pull them into my routine some as well.
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