First quarter almost complete

Friday was our 43rd day of "school" this academic year; since we are required to log at least 180 days of school, that means this coming Tuesday when we hit day 45 we'll be 25% done. Eleven of those days were logged in July and August through field trips and camps (ex. history camp) before we actually got out the textbooks and such. Additionally, seven of the days logged between August 22 to October 4 were wholly devoted to field trips - Antietam, Refreshing Mountain, Saratoga, Fort Ticonderoga, NYC, etc. So that means as of Tuesday we will only had 27 "regular" school days thus far. We did have some short field trips on some of those "regular" days such as to the Post Office and waste water treatment plant. Here are some thoughts on what would be the first marking period in a traditional school. I don't actually give the kids any grades. Nadia uses Teaching Textbooks (online) for her math curriculum, and so she does receive a grade each day when she completes either a lesson or a quiz. Other than that, the kids don't receive any grades, which is fine with me. So as of this

coming Tuesday....

1. In math, Nadia will have completed three quizzes and twenty lessons. Her current average is 90%. Oliver is definitely making some progress with addition, subtraction, and measurement, but he still  can't recall how to write most of the numbers; he looks on his paper or a calendar so he has a reference to look at when writing a number. He is very prone to writing most of them backward if he doesn't look elsewhere first. I am very, very impressed with Beast Academy. I wish I had used it in earlier years with Ian; he's currently in the third chapter (exponents) of 4A. If Oliver makes enough progress this year, I might purchase the third grade books for him to use next year. I haven't been letting Ian write in the workbook so that hopefully Oliver will be able to use these when he's in fourth grade. I am also contemplating switching Nadia to an Art of Problem Solving text next school year, but I may stick with Teaching Textbooks for her. We shall see. As for the next marking period, two additions I would like to

make to math would be #1 to spend a little time reviewing math facts with Ian as it seems he's a bit rusty and #2 begin working with Oliver on learning his addition and subtraction facts. We're working through Life of Fred together. So far this school year we completed the  Edgewood book, and we're about half way through Farming. 

2. In Language Arts Nadia and Ian are working on punctuation, capitalization, and the parts of speech by copying one sentence per day about Robin Hood. We started using this resource at the beginning of 2019 (Nose Tree was the first one they completed), and I have to say I really like this way of teaching grammar! We work on reviewing and introducing new vocabulary words through the Robin Hood text as well as through the writing curriculum. They wrote their very first poems recently (about America). I thought they turned out nicely! This is definitely not their favorite subject, but they are definitely making progress in their writing skills. I haven't done anything thus far this year

with Oliver in terms of writing. Once he finishes his handwriting textbook (end of January), I am planning on having him write in a journal every day. Ian and Oliver are both about 1/3 of the way through their handwriting textbooks. Ian is completing his last cursive textbook (5th grade), and Oliver is completing his last manuscript textbook (2nd grade). I love seeing Ian's cursive writing; he does a beautiful job!

3. Spelling is going smoothly for all three kids. In one month Oliver should begin Level 3. Nadia is in Level 7, and Ian is in Level 5. I like the writing station activity that Nadia is using this year. She draws four slips of paper to create her writing prompt.

4. Oliver is making good progress through Level 4 of reading. Right now he's working on words with silent letters like "jostle." Nadia has read the first four Harry Potter books, and she plans to start the fifth after we get it from the library tomorrow. From July 1 through October 6 Nadia read 31 chapter books which contained a total of 7,349

pages. From July 1 through October 6 Ian read 20 chapter books which contained a total of 2,133 pages. Today Ian finished a Paddington Bear book, and he is also in the middle of a book about Clara Barton. We have been inconsistent in regards to reading picture books (that don't relate to history or science) or poems. We got off to a good start with this, but haven't done very well with that lately. Hopefully we can get back on track with that, but I'm not worked up about it. Ian has been reading a lot more picture books on his own. From July 1 to today we've enjoyed 29 chapter books together.

5. In Bible we've been working through the Young Peacemaker by Corlette Sande, memorizing verses for AWANA, and completing the weekly Core 52 assignments for church (reading an essay in the book, Scripture reading, and memorizing verses each week). Oliver memorized the books of the OT and NT last year, but he forgot some of them. He's relearning that now. Nadia has completed almost half of her AWANA book already as she's trying to finish it before

Christmas. We have been using puppets fairly regularly in conjunction with the Peacemaker curriculum.

6. Nadia and Ian are singing in the Susquehanna Valley Youth Chorale on Monday nights, Ian and Oliver are singing in the Soul Patrol choir at church on Sunday mornings, Nadia is singing in the middle school chorus at Meadowbrook Christian School on Thursday afternoons, Nadia is running the sound board for the youth during the second service on Sunday mornings, and all three kids are taking piano lessons. Ian and Nadia are working on the same songs in piano for the first time. I have been inconsistent in working with Oliver. He does a better job of remembering than I do! Ian has been given a speaking part in the Christmas musical at church.

7. Oliver has gymnastics in Lewisburg on Monday nights, and Ian and Nadia have art on Thursday afternoons at Meadowbrook. I have them do some drawing in conjunction with social studies through

the Draw Write Now books.

8. In history we've been primarily focusing on the Civil War. We've read biographies about Ulysses S Grant, Booker T. Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and Robert E. Lee. Rifles for Watie was a novel that took place during the Civil War and The Journey of Little Charlie was a novel set in 1858. I would recommend both of those books if you are studying this time period. Oliver listens to some of what I read to them for history - primarily the picture books. I definitely did more with his siblings in science and social studies when they were his age, but I'm definitely more relaxed with Oliver - in part because of his current maturity level. Next year (when he's in third grade) I definitely want to have him kick into full gear with social studies and science.

9. This week we will be almost done with our study of chemistry, which means we'll be switching to physics in the near future. While studying physics we will still be briefly discussing one element each

day from the periodic table through a coloring book we've been working through together. Although we've done a few hands-on experiences, this is still definitely an area where there is ample room for improvement. Last week we were talking about how oil is nonpolar. I poured a little vegetable oil on each of their hands to show them that water alone couldn't clean their hands.

10. As for the other miscellaneous activities, we've played board games sporadically. The same can be said for Nadia's photography lessons, typing, and sign language. Nadia has done more typing than Ian. We have been rather consistent with having Nadia cook at least once a week. For example, last week she made a pasta casserole and a New York style cheesecake. She's not able to cook independently yet, but I'm hoping by the end of the year there will be meals she can cook without any assistance.




Here are the three prayer request updates:
1. Mimi passed away yesterday (three days after she turned 78). She's in a much better place, but prayers for her family (especially her husband of 50 years) are appreciated as their grieve this very significant loss in their lives.

2. My mother-in-law is still in the ICU. We are praying that she will be able to be taken off the ventilator and that all other requirements will be met so that she can have the heart catheterization tomorrow to determine what is causing her heart not to function properly. Paul spent time with his mom in the hospital on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.

3. After taking a three day break, Paul resumed working on the kids' bathroom yesterday, and he worked on it more today. Until we have one functioning shower, we'll continue to use the jacuzzi tub in the master bathroom.