Here's a brief rundown of what we've been doing:
In history, we've covered the first English settlers to North America and their relations with the native peoples. We learned about how and why the slave trade developed and about the proliferation of tobacco. We read books about the English settlers, books about the areas of Africa from whence came the slaves, and we've read some African folk tale books to go along with the unit. Next, we moved on to what was happening during roughly this same time period in the middle east. We learned that many different peoples conquered the area formerly known as Persia. We learned that it is now called Iran and read a book about Iran. We also learned about the Ottoman Turks who restored parts of the Ottoman Empire and captured Constantinople, renaming it Istanbul. The Turks even conquered parts of Europe before their empire grew too big and fell apart like the Roman Empire had.
In science, we've been learning more about atoms and molecules and how everything in the universe is made up of these tiny particles. We have begun exploring how atoms join together to form molecules and have touched on covalent bonds and electron shells. We will be delving more into these matters (pun intended) as our study of chemistry continues.
In health, we watched videos about how to properly brush one's teeth and what happens to teeth when we don't take care of them. I've already posted our pictures of the eggshell decay experiment. Other topics we've covered in health have been saying no to drugs and alcohol, adrenaline and stress, having a good self image, and getting enough rest.
In life skills, I'm proud to report that both boys have finally learned to tie their shoes!!!! It's fabulous. We've also reviewed personal information like address, phone number, etc. I also taught them my cell phone number, which I'm realizing may have been a mistake. I've already received calls on my cell from Andrew, wanting to know where I hid the candy and whether or not he could watch a TV show. We also talked about caring for personal property and had a unit on conversation skills.
Math is progressing. We've covered multiplication by 0, 1, 2, 10, 5, 9, and 3 so far. The boys have a pretty good handle on those factors. Interspersed with learning multiplication, we have done review of addition and subtraction of numbers in the hundreds and column addition. Programmed into their multiplication lessons are some lessons on measurement. They've learned there are 2 pts. in a quart, 3 ft. in a yard, 3 tsp. in a tablespoon, etc.
Language Arts is great. We've learned a couple of new poems- The Cow by Robert Louis Stevenson and The Wind by James Stephens. We've also learned about linking verbs, adjectives and adverbs and we are identifying them in sentences. Only 3 more parts of speech to go, baby! We are also practicing using the parts of speech we know in sentences. Spelling and vocabulary have been going well. The boys like writing poems from lists of words that have the same roots. Here are copies of their "de" poems:
For kids who detest writing, this MCT program really gets them motivated to write a little something. The handwriting is still sketchy, but at least they are enthusiastic about writing, instead of throwing fits about it, like last year.
The boys have read several books and done a couple of book reports. They have also read books for the homeschool book club, which they whine about, but I think they really like. They are still reading Beast Quest and Star Wars books on their own time, so they like to read. We finished Blood on the River about Jamestown, and are now reading The Mouse and the Motorcycle for our evening read-aloud. We will take a pause to read a short Halloween novel next week, but then we will finish up the Ralph S. Mouse books before we move on to the sixth Harry Potter book.
Cursive handwriting is going fairly well. They have now learned a, c, d, g, i, j, p, q, t, u and w. Next week we'll cover r and s. They are able to spell a few words in cursive now, and that is starting to excite them a little. Soon, we'll be able to do all our lessons in cursive. Yippee!
Music is going slowly. They've learned a new note -D- on their recorders and a new song. We are still practicing playing the notes for the proper count, and reading the music without writing the letters above the notes on the sheet music.
Art is still the bane of my existence. They still seem to like the Artistic Pursuits lessons, but they're still drawing very simplistic, stick-like drawings. The topic or medium doesn't seem to matter. I'm may farm out the art next year. Here are the landscapes they drew:
Andrew Eddie
Chess is advancing rapidly. The lessons on the DVD are getting more complex. We may need to slow it down a bit. My friend Susan started a chess club at her house, so we go and play with her son, and a couple of other boys. I think this will really help all the kids improve their game.
We went to another Swim and Gym at CSU. The sport was floor hockey, and from my observations through the gym window, the boys had a blast. We've done random other things, like some calisthenics, walking around the block, stretching, etc., but I really need to get on the ball with daily exercise. That has been the thing I've slacked off on most this year. Last year, we did a great job of daily exercise. This year- not so much.
I'm looking forward to catching up on some things that got left out in the rush of October, and to a couple of theme weeks that are fast approaching. Homeschooling is so much fun!
ETA: I almost forgot about French! We've been reviewing numbers, colors and household vocabulary.
We've also kept up with our Latin words and phrases- we've done de die in diem, sanctum sanctorum (in honor of Yom Kippur), annus mirabilis, and fortis et liber, to name of few in the recent past weeks.
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