I'm finding it hard to focus on the week past! That's because after our work was done on Friday we started a week-long fall break, woohoo! My mind is filled with thoughts of decluttering and dejunking of clothes and toys and papers, meal planning, thoughts about more consistent quiet time and reconnect time in our homeschool days, and ways to shift gears with the arrival of fall weather (early fall, so cool nights but warm days). I shall attempt a weekly update despite my scatterbrain. (Pictures will come tomorrow; I'm posting right before a big ol' thunderstorm line hits -- I can hear the rumbling, and the wind is picking up, sounding the wind chimes and the house's creaks. No time to scan and insert pictures now!)

In general this week we stayed close to my original daily schedule/routine while Son1 used his daily assignments checklist to figure out what to do. Right now it's working okay; my current goal is to give him responsibility without it driving me crazy!

We started the week with a little bit of emphasis on Columbus Day. Not too much, because we'll come back to the related themes several times this year. Later this year in world history we'll study native Americans in the Americas and, some weeks after that, their encounters with European explorers. In their American studies reading, the boys were reading about Christopher Columbus. So... this week Son1 finished the fast, enjoyable book Christopher Columbus, by Mary Pope Osborne (great pen and ink illustrations!), and Son2 read the Columbus picture book by the d'Aulaires. The DVR was set to record two special programs on Columbus for viewing later in the week, and we talked about Columbus and related topics for a bit. On Tuesday morning I was surprised to find that Son2 had gotten up before me and watched an hour of the two-hour program about Columbus's voyage to the Americas! We'll watch some or all of both programs this coming week, and call it a wrap for now.

Also, on Monday we took an unusual music appreciation break mid-morning. Son2 found a live Pink Floyd album in my dear husband's music collection, so I astonished the boys by cranking it loud for, oh, 45 minutes or so! They loved it! It was a great break in our day, and I chuckled all day about it.

Math

Son1 plugged away all week at the word problems in Singapore Math 6A Intensive Practice for the topics of ratio and fractions, and ratio and proportion. Each word problem is a different twist on the relationships among these concepts and ways they can be put to use. Both his brain and mine are getting a workout!

Here's a sample: Three sisters, J--, A--- and N--, share a sum of money. The ratio of J--'s share to A--'s share is 3:2. The ratio of A--'s share to N--'s share is 4:5. If J-- gets $78, what is the total sum of money shared by the three girls?

Son2 worked through the two review sections at the end of his Singapore Math 2A textbook and finished it on Friday. We did a little celebrating with him. It's not every day you finish your math book, right? He also spent some time with an online math game, doing addition and subtraction flash cards!

Latin

Son1 spent Monday revisiting his most recent lesson in Latin Book One because he had, um, er, not bothered to read the grammar section when he did that lesson the previous week. I pointed out that the grammar section was kind of important for doing the exercises correctly. (I also made a mental note to check the gist of the exercises when I preread the chapter so I know what he should be doing, rather than rely on a backwards translation from his work to see how it compares to the original; I must be more hands-on now.) We went over the lesson's grammar and vocabulary together, and he corrected his previous work using the "new" information. The next lesson was a review lesson that was indeed a good review for him, followed by the first substantial Latin reading, the (rather bloody) story of Latona's children. We read that together and talked about the story, trying not to translate but rather read for understanding.

Piano

The boys continue to love playing the piano. They're having a ball revisiting every song they've played in the last year. I realized it's a lot like reading: there is the forward-facing challenge of learning new concepts, the current challenge of applying learned concepts (learning several pieces to basic mastery), and the pleasure of revisiting familiar stuff and finding it much easier and, often, rather fun. This tells me that I should choose an enrichment music book that's a bit easier than their current level of study! We also did a rhythm exercise, and I'll continue teaching Son2 rhythm basics while we catch up with Son1 in this. A friend and neighbor stopped by, and both boys insisted on playing a song or two for him; that was neat.

Short stuff

We did memory work this week! My goal is to memorize 3-4 stanzas of the 20th century hymn, "I Sing a Song of the Saints of God," by All Saints Day, November 1.

The boys did less handwriting practice with workbooks this week, because... well, that's just how it worked out. They did copywork, and this week both boys had the Latin version of their Bible quotes. I chose sections of my favorite saying of Jesus, from St. Matthew's Gospel.

Son1's copywork, Matthew 11:28,29

Son2's copywork, Matthew 11:28

We got back to our Bible study this week, squeezing it into our relaxed Friday.

Composition and writing

Son1 spent his writing/composition energy on his History Odyssey lessons, so Classical Composition took a backseat this week. Son2 enjoyed a book about body-related idioms ("tongue tied," "butterflies in her stomach") that I reserved, sight unseen, in a search for kids' books about the human body! The boys' copywork contributes to their writing skills as well.

History

I finally got to a good stopping point (yes -- stop! cut it out! perfection is not a reasonable goal!) with my plans for Son2's medieval history this year using The Story of the World vol. 2. Now the weeks match up reasonably well with Son1's History Odyssey Middle Ages level 2, I've noted pages to explore in the Kingfisher History Encyclopedia, and I have notes on what projects, which pages we'll need in the activity guide, and what music and art, architecture, etc. I want to pull in if we can. Soon I'll post it here, after removing the references to SOTW2 activity guide info.

Early in the week, while both boys were studying the medieval Jews, I played klezmer music clips I found around the Web. We all loved it!

Son2 did a very nice map full of purple arrows showing the medieval Diaspora of the Jews. Also, to my surprise, he really wanted to color Herod's Temple. He also read about St. Brigid (Early Saints of God) and about Alfred the Great (Our Island Story, British history).

Son2's map of the Diaspora

Son1 finished his mini-timeline about the Jews from the destruction of the Temple to being expelled from England and France.

Son1's mini-timeline (about 2 1/2 inches tall)

After that, he started what I'd heard was an unusually frustrating lesson, No. 7, in which he was to write short summaries of 4-5 religions of the middle ages. The low-down I've heard is that there's not enough info in the Kingfisher History Encyclopedia, but I've got to say, it didn't seem that hard. Maybe it's because I adapted the lesson... and we borrowed The Usborne Book of World Religions from the library (which Son1 poured over for a couple of days)... and he worked on it for most of the week.

What I meant about adapting the lesson is that I printed some History Scholar World Religions pages for the religions Son1 chose, and told him we were going to use them our way. For each religion I asked him to note several "fast facts", copy an interesting statement of his choice from his reference book, and make note of what reference book he used. For most of the religions he also drew a related picture in the space provided. He did five religions, and taken as a whole I like his work for this lesson. I expect he'll add to these pages later, but perhaps not (there's a place for a brief bio of person of importance, and maybe more facts).

Son1's page about Islam in the Middle Ages

After our fall break, Son1 will research and write a biography of an important person in one of the major religions of the middle ages. He's chosen Saint Francis of Assissi.

Son1 also finished Peril and Peace, and got within a hair's breadth of finally finishing The Door in the Wall (which means he will do a writing assignment that has been pending from Lesson 3).

I let the boys get a little behind in their reading this week while I dealt with keeping our days on track, cracked down on dawdling, stepped up the level of household chores being done during the week, and attempted to get back to quiet assigned-reading time twice a day, a simple key to daily happiness in our homeschool. Maybe they'll catch up on their assigned reading during our week off (in that twice-daily reading time...).

Science and nature

The human body was a big part of our week: Son2 had a bloody nose outside, he watched "Inside the Living Body" AGAIN, and he poured through a bunch of different kids' books on the human body (that I got from the library because he is generally interested).

Both boys watched a very good, fairly up-to-date TV program about climate change that was first shown last January. Later in the week we watched a program about Venus and global warming that presented climate change on Earth very differently. Sure enough, the second show was nearly six years old.

We've sighted a hawk numerous times this week, less than half a mile from our house. The kids played a lot outside, which I chalk up to the cold front that brought early fall weather for the week, and to my new walking program that draws me to our neighborhood park for a walk after dinner most nights. We ended the week with a visit to the little nature center at our city's reservoir/lake, and then went to the earthen dam and walked it. That was fun!

Hmm, I guess that's it. This week, our fall break, is mostly unplanned, but the concluding weekend will include Oklahoma history and reenactors, and plenty of time in a beautiful natural setting. Mmmm, wonderful.

Posted by reptilequeen

hi i like your blog

reptilequeen

Posted by Stephanie

Hah, *my* kids don't like it when I crank up Pink Floyd, or anyone else of that ilk ;-) I have sold them on the Beatles, though, which is all that really matters.

Posted by Tiany

What a fun and busy homeschool you all have! I sure hope you will get lots of productive work accomplished on your break! Thanks for sharing all of this great info!

Posted by LocalHomeschooler

What a good week!

Enjoy the week off school :-)

Posted by susie in tx

I love to read your blog posts. They are so encouraging! What I especially love is the way you show what you are doing and explain your reasoning. It helps me to be a better homeschool mom. Thanks!

susie
http://mom4safe.livejournal.com

Posted by 40winkzzz

"Perfection is not a reasonable goal..." I will have to remember that one for sure! I spend far more time making anally detailed plans than I spend actually implementing them! Another one I heard recently and am committing to memory: "Better done than perfect."

And a couple quotes from your earlier posts to which I can definitely relate: "...the agony of writing on paper." Oh yes, sounds like my 12-y/o son. I scribe for him a lot but am working him, little by little, into writing (or typing) more of his own work. And then the thing about running his schoolday, er, life? Yup, we're there too. (In our case, my son's severe ADHD makes it almost impossible for him to run his own day, as his older sibs did by this age, but I am working on that too, little by little.)

I don't remember how I found your blog the first time I was here (which was within the last few weeks). Tonight I found it by browsing thru my bookmarks; apparently I figured your blog was worth coming back to! I have enjoyed reading thru your recent posts.

Edited by 40winkzzz on November 1, 2007 at 11:45 PM

Posted by Anonymous

Hi

Just wanted to say that I miss your blogging. :) I hope that you and your family are doing fine and that you are just too busy homeschooling to blog about it!

(Meliss on WTM curric. board)

Posted by my5wolfcubs

I hadn't been to your blog in awhile and thought I'd tag you w/ a book meme & come visit! Hope you had a great break...now isn't it time to get back to school? :) Actually, I'm sure you are doing school, just not blogging about it...kind of like me! Come visit my blog if you want to post about a book within reach!
Lee
my5wolfcubs.blogspot.com