Weekly Wrap Up 8-20-10 - The First Week

Well, the first week is done... at least for Laura.  Tasha really hasn't begun.  She's worked on a paper, but her books haven't arrived yet.  She should begin English 12 and Old Testament survey next week.  It may take a few days for the rest of her subjects to come in.

As for Laura, this week has been so different from previous years.  No longer am I wondering if I am doing enough... or too much.  I've prayed and planned and now feel wonderful about what we are doing.  As in the past, I hope to have a weekly report every week.  This serves as my online journal of our progress and a record of our work.

I will try to give each child a post each week.  Tasha is sometimes difficult because she does her work so independently. Megan, being three, kind of does a little of this and a little of that.  I like to report what she does, but actual tracking of progress at this point is a bit more difficult.

LAURA
Math - We are reviewing in math. I plan to take the first two to three weeks to review before we begin new concepts in math.  We worked over the summer, but it was sporadic.  This year, I decided that the regular ways to have Laura retain math facts wasn't working.  I purchased Times Tales to see if it would help my struggling math student.  To my surprise, she LOVES it!!!  I'll review it later, but Laura (in just a few minutes a day) has memorized all her upper math multiplication facts.  She's been struggling with this for years.  Oh, she would remember them short term, but long term retention never happened.  Now, she KNOWS them.  Why?  Because instead of a number she could remember a story.  Laura is amazing at remembering stories.  This is helping her so much, and I couldn't be more excited for her.  When I asked what her favorite thing was so far this year, she told me it was Math!  I couldn't believe it.

Social Studies - I've already reported on  the Social Studies lessons that begins Laura's fifth grade year.  She is learning words like dominion, organic, possession, prosperity, and steward.  She is learning about how work is from God, and isn't a bad thing.  She is learning about the basic needs of man and how our possessions are from God.  She is learning what stewardship means and why being a wise steward is important.  These are not the run of the mill lessons, and I'm loving the questions that Laura asks after she reads a section.

English - Laura is a few paces behind in English.  I jumped around a bit from curriculum to curriculum last year.  I don't want to skip material in English that might be important, so I decided to just work from where we left off last year.  Laura has breezed through the work, though, and completed a pace in a week.  I don't know if she'll stay working this quickly, but I'm not going to object.   Her first pace test for the year was passed at a 98%.  This week Laura studied antonyms, synonyms, and homonyms.  Next weeks she gets into confusing word pairs like to, too, and two or there, their, and they're.

Word Building - Laura worked on her first spelling test of the year.  She missed two on the final test, but we'll go over them next week too.  As with English, I had some Word Building paces left.  I felt it was important to not skip.  We will be hitting English, Word Building (spelling and vocabulary), Reading, and Math very hard this year.  I felt, during prayer, that it was time to quit playing around and get to the basics once again.

Science - Laura has spent her first week of school studying inclined planes, levers, wedges and simple tools.  This kind of science study is easy to turn into hands on because we have these things around the house or the garage.

Literature and Creative Writing - Laura is reading Choice Stories for Children.  She is learning about short stories.  Today she had to write a different ending to a story and then color a picture that went with the story.  I asked Laura why she made the picture so dark.  She said it was because the story happened at night.    So far Laura has read eight short stories.  While Laura loves to read, she isn't a huge fan of Literature and Creative writing.  She likes the stories, but she just wants to read them.  She doesn't want to have to answer questions about what she has read or get any deeper into the story.  I almost gave up on using the paces last year, but decided to stick with it.  It's important for Laura to learn how to find information and learn from what she's reading beyond just enjoyment.  So far, I have really liked all the ACE literature choices.  Plus, despite her objections, Laura is growing in her skill levels.

Bible Time - We are doing three thing to get our noses into our Bibles.  First, every morning begins with a devotion that Laura and I share.  Right now we are using Josh McDowell's Youth Devotions.  I read the Bible passage and the devotion to her and then we discuss it together.  Sometimes Dad is around for this, and he likes to get in on the devotion too.
Secondly, I want Laura to get into the habit of having personal time with God every day.  I give her fifteen minutes alone with a devotion book just for her.  She is reading Devotions for Girls.  She usually ends up doing a couple lessons per day.  This week she covered such things as Talents and Gifts, People in my Life, Fear, Anger, and Sadness
Lastly, we are working of New Testament reading for the Stars Program.  This week we read from John 12 through Acts 7.  Daddy, on Thursdays and Fridays, loves to take this over.

Reading - For independent reading, I'm having Laura read a chapter per day of Captive Treasure.  She is enjoying the book, and keeps asking me what happens next.  I refuse to tell her.
For Read Aloud, I am reading the book Stories of the Pilgrims (published by Christian Liberty Press) to Laura.  We are both LOVING this book.  I didn't think she'd like it much as she sometimes gets tired of historical novels.  Since we are beginning American History soon, I decided it would be a nice addition to our studies.  Boy, was I right!  We have a hard time putting the book down when the time is up.  In one week we've covered the time period from the persecution in England, the Pilgrims leaving England for Holland, The Voyage to America, the landing in Plymouth, and The First Hard Winter... and everything in between!

Character Lessons - In each pace Laura studies a different character trait.  So, for two to three weeks (on average), Laura is learning about a single trait per subject.  This week Laura learned about Generosity, Sincerity, Consistency, Being Tactful, Being Resourceful, and why God's laws are important.  I've come to realize that character training is important.  These things stay with Laura, and she remembers them in times when she needs them.  One of the pluses of ACE is the character training built into the steady academics.