Weekly Wrap Up (3/13/10)

I haven’t written a Weekly Wrap-up post for a while for a combination of reasons. First, we haven’t done anything really exciting to write about, and second, I’ve been pretty busy on the last few Fridays and Saturdays. So, even though we haven’t done anything super interesting, I’ll just update everything for my own benefit. (I don’t know about you, but it really helps me to write these things up.)

We have gotten back on track with our history studies in Tapestry of Grace Year 2. We are 1 week short of completing the first (10 week unit). As I type that I confess I am filled with regret over my “wasted” fall. But we can only move forward, right? So we are wrapping up the Middle Ages and moving on to the Renaissance and Reformation. I have found that doing our history reading in the morning right after our prayer and catechism time has helped tremendously.

Speaking of catechism, my 2 older children have memorized the first 26 answers in the Westminster Shorter Catechism! This was another thing we let slip in the fall and we’ve had intensive review for 2 months. As we’ve been reviewing, the younger 2 children have been learning by osmosis. We’ve also started reading John together just this week. This is something different I’ve been trying. We’re silently reading one chapter in our Bibles, then I’m asking the questions from Balancing the Sword. I won’t lie. My children have been less than enthusiastic about this. I’ve not had them do much independent Bible reading and this is challenging for my daughter especially.

My oldest son is enjoying Life of Fred – Pre-algebra. The Life of Fred books have definitely been a tremendously positive change in the math department for him. In Latin, he’s finished Chapter 17 of Latin Alive. He’s doing well, but I don’t think he is drilling the vocabulary sufficiently. Classical Academic Press has introduced a new drill website, www.headventureland.com, that has been a nice addition to his routine. I may have to take a break from the book and have a review week with him to make sure that he has the concepts down.

My oldest daughter is now 10 years old. (Her birthday was in February, but I don’t think I mentioned it.) She is doing well in all of her studies. She is almost finished with Rod & Staff English for the year. She is also studying Latin, but is using Latina Christiana I. She should be able to finish it this year. I need to do some research and see if she should use Latina Christiana II or First Form.

My younger son is doing GREAT with All About Spelling. I am so excited to have found something that is helping him to read. He’s also progressing in Math Mammoth. I think he will finish 1B this year.

Little one is very interested in learning to write letters. I recently pulled out the wood pieces from Handwriting without Tears. We also go a new DVD to review called Alphabet Beats that teaches capital letters. It looks promising, but I’m not sure if she’s physically ready.

We spent yesterday afternoon at our local science museum for homeschool classes. Then in the evening, we had a bonfire with some friends from church. It was fun, but my hair still smells like smoke! Today is game day. My daughter is playing indoor soccer and my son is starting flag football. It’s also ACC basketball tournament time and my team is still in! Which reminds me I should go check the score.