School Days

 Our Week

Feb 28-March 4

I have been wanting to blog about our school days this year...mostly so that I can remember and look back on the fun times we've had and see some progress.  :)  But...I haven't actually had time to sit down at the computer and do it - until now.  So, here goes!

Garret

Garret & I were working in Little Hands to Heaven (LHTH) Unit 22 this week.  We're reading about the beginning of Jesus' ministry in the Bible, and we had a lot of fun acting out some of the stories and lessons we learned.

Here he is listening closely to my voice & finding me.  (Just like the people listened carefully when they heard God's voice at Jesus' baptism.)

And, here he is carefully filling 6 "jars" with water, just like Jesus told the servants to do at the wedding that ran out of wine.  I could trick Garret and make the water look like wine, but only Jesus could really change it.  It's a MIRACLE!

Garret's BIG NEWS this week is that he can READ!

We started using The Reading Lesson last week, and he is cruising through it!  (I kinda figured it was time to pull it out when he could read all the words on his candy hearts at Valentines Day...)  We just started lesson 3, and he loves learning phonics with Mom.

Allison

Allison is oh-so-close to finishing Little Hearts for His Glory (LHFHG), and moving on into Beyond Little Hearts for His Glory (Beyond).  We were finishing Unit 32 and starting 33 this past week.

It's fun to watch her do school.  She is so totally opposite of her older brother in the way she approaches things. :)  Despite the obvious 'doing school in a princess dress' difference, she is just so quick to get her work done.  Grant likes to think & think...which has tended to lead to day-dreaming and imagining creative things and the school work not being done... :)  Allison is all business.  I give her work, and BAM, it's done!  It will be fun to see how God uses their different personalities for Him as they grow up!

She's loving math (especially the days that it's "snack math").  We're most of the way through Singapore 1A using the activities in the Beyond guide.  Here she was adding, counting on from the biggest number.

This week we were looking at some important American landmarks in our history.  We read about the Liberty Bell...and experiemnted with pendulums of our own.

We read about the Statue of Liberty.

And, the U.S.S. Constitution in Boston (the Cradle of Liberty).  She loved sailing and dropping anchor.

She even took Asa for a little spin around "Please-Fold-Me" Island.

Grant

Grant completed Unit 26 in Hearts for Him Through Time: Creation to Christ (CTC).  It's definitely fun to watch him grow from being that dawdler to a responsible, much more independent young man.  He has grown A LOT this year!

The highlight of his week was the Roman Meal that he planned and made for us.  We invited Grandma & Grandpa to join us, and thoroughly enjoyed it!

Here he is with the spread (including the Roman Custard he made).

And here is the complete appetizer plate (with the rolls that weren't quite done when we took the 1st one).

He's also really enjoying Write With the Best this year.  I have seen his writing continue to improve so much.  He writes some really good written narrations now (without any guidance from me!).  And he just loves the creative outlet from WWTB.  Here is his fable (that he actually completed last week).

Billy Buck Learns a Lesson

Bobby Coon is a sly, quick-thinking raccoon that has a dishonest past. He can talk anybody into doing anything if he has a chance.
Bobby Coon lives in a beautiful forest in North America. There are trees, bushes, fields, ponds, rivers, mountains, caves, waterfalls, and other animals he lives with.

One day when Bobby Coon was fishing in the river, Crafty Cougar came out of the bushes.
Crafty Cougar is a highly feared cougar that sometimes uses others to bring in his prey. He hides until his prey is near and then pounces on it.
“You had better bring big meat to the alfalfa field tomorrow or you may end up as my appetizer,” growled Crafty Cougar.
Bobby Coon slyly replied, “If I do bring you some big meat, what do I get out of it?”
Crafty Cougar, now furious, yelled, “Your life!”
Bobby Coon quickly said, “I promise I will get it done Crafty Cougar.”

The next day Bobby Coon met Billy Buck near the alfalfa field.
Billy Buck is a prideful deer who believes almost everything he hears. He has neared death many times.
Bobby Coon slyly said, “There is a doe in the alfalfa field today.”
Billy Buck questioned, “How do I know you aren’t trying to trick me?”
“Have I ever done such a thing?” asked Bobby Coon.
“Well there was that one time,” Billy Buck started to say.
But Bobby Coon interrupted, “We both know I would never do such a thing. So go on out.”

As Billy Buck proudly walked into the alfalfa field, he felt something bite his back right leg. In a shock of terror he ran with Crafty Cougar at his white tail. Fortunately he escaped with his leg. Unfortunately the wound was deep.

The moral of the story is to beware of trusting everyone you talk to.

Besides school, the kids also had their violin recital last week.  We're so thankful to have Grandma as our teacher!