Week in Review: August 26-30, 2013

Preparing Hearts:

Alivia enjoyed her lessons this week. She has been reading the dinosaur book for several weeks now and while she enjoyed it, I think she was glad to move on to a different one.

Alivia also made this ship model. In fact it was so much fun that Caden ended up making one too. By the end of the day my bathtub was full with a fleet of ships complete with a Lego men and Lego friends navy. :) So cute! I love when learning extends into play time. Caden also commented that he can't wait until he gets to do Alivia's school next year because it just looks like so much fun!

Creation to Christ:

Here Alexis is diligently making animal tracks into the salt dough that she rolled out onto a cookie sheet. Here is where the real jewel is hidden with Heart of Dakota learning. The instructions for the activities are written directly to the students. This really frees them up so that they can easily do the activities with occasional help and supervision from mom. This actually teaches them a valuable skill--reading and following written directions. There are no diagrams or pictures, just written directions. They have to read carefully (sometimes more than once), make the activity or project, and then CLEAN UP! That's it. It's that easy! This skill is so valuable and will serve them well into their adult years.

And here she is with her wonderful self-taken pictures. I chuckled when I downloaded the pictures from my camera to my computer. I didn't realize she had even used the camera. She must have needed a "study break" :) I don't blame her. The history readings at this time are extremely challenging with lots of big names and places that are hard to pronounce. I have been reading along with her and that has helped some with her understanding. She is such a quick worker. Many days I find that she has finished her school work before anyone else is finished. She is very motivated and often gets up earlier than the rest of us to get a head start. Smart girl!

Revival to Revolution:

Mackenzie continues to chug along at a steady pace with her school work. I have no pictures of her working this week. The level that she is currently working at does require much of her time and concentration (much to her dismay). I've been encouraging her and giving lots of reminders that she is getting older. The requirements begin changing once they are in 8th grade. I'm really trying to prepare her for the work load that she will have next year for high school. Slowly but surely she is making progress. She and I have been reading a chapter each week from the book Girl Talk. This is a fabulous book and just this week we had an awesome discussion about things that are going on in our family and our lives. The chapter we read opened so many doors for us to have a much needed heart-to-heart about life. The book gives discussion questions and follow-up activities. Really a great read for mothers and daughters about Biblical womanhood. I look forward to going through this study with my other 2 girls.

History of Science:

Caden and I are making our way (slowly) through the book about Along Came Galileo. There is so much fascinating information in this book that we are only reading 1 chapter per day instead of the recommended 2-3 chapters per day. I'm amazed at how much he is retaining from the readings. We have also been introduced to several other scientists who lived and worked alongside Galileo.