Week 12 and 13

We've had a busy 2 weeks, with illness and Jay coming home from the ship, so I thought I'd just combine them. We're definitely ready for a break here!

Language Arts
Everyone had a formal writing assignments this week. I will be grading them using a rubric and evaluating where they are and what we can do to improve. Each child will revise as corrections are made, until a satisfactory paper is completed. I have to admit that we've been really inconsistent with writing curriculum. I have one child that is an excellent writer. Another child that has the structure down, but lacking in creative or descriptive writing. Still another child that can write a creative story that will create pictures in your mind, but struggles with following any structure... I'm thinking about a few things, but will post my thoughts another time. One thing I have found to be helpful, is finding a pre-writing organizer that works for each individual child. Each one prefers a different approach. Here's this five paragraph essay graphic organizer.


Oh, and here's the pics of the "crunch book" from last week. It starts out as a square, then opens up to reveal all the details.




Besides the essays, we have been working on the usual... Almond has decided to read a chapter book on her own for the first time.

Math
I just received the Singapore curriculum for Almond. So far, it looks great! In the meantime, we were working on telling time and addition drills. Almond also made an addition lapbook, found on Homeschool Share.



History
Cashew is grudgingly making his way through A Beka Economics. I'm thinking of adding some Uncle Eric Books and making a trip to the library next week to find something that will make it more interesting and applicable to what's going on right now. Hmmm.... maybe a report on fluctuating gas prices? Gas is down to $2.03!

Almond and Pistachio worked on getting caught up on timelines. I like to call it the Book of Centuries, a la Charlotte Mason... (same thing!) I looked everywhere for a timeline page to use. There are a lot of free resources online. I wanted something that will last through highschool for Pistachio, so I finally designed my own. Very simple, notebook style with lines at the top. I wanted to be able to change the year span, as there are more events in a shorter time period as we near modern times. I will be placing the pages in sheet protectors. Almond will continue with notebook style pages, and once we get to junior high/logic stage, we will incorporate the Book of Centuries. Here's what it looks like with our homemade timeline figures. I will be uploading this page to share soon...



Here's Almond's notebook page...



Music/Arts
If anything gets done at our homeschool, it would definitely be this category! All of the kids practiced instruments. Almond has worked her way through "Jingle Bells" and it sounds great! (video to some soon!) The girls worked on origami this week...


We are continuing in our study of Tchaikovsky and will probably continue through the holiday. I'm considering a study of the Nutcracker to go along with it, as the girls are performing the ballet.

I got to spend some girl time with Macadamia. We watched the premier of the movie Twilight...at midnight! Obviously, the book is always better than the movie! But it was fun anyhow!