Weekly Wrap-Up: Week 10

In my life this week…
I’m enjoying the weather!  We took our books to the screened in porch as well as the swing set.

I’m also preparing for our youngest daughter’s tenth birthday (note to self: put out the Happy Birthday tablecloth).  The double digits birthday is by far my favorite birthday milestone to celebrate with the girls.  You only turn double digits once & she is the last one in our family to experience this rite of passage.

I’m also hosting my veryfirst giveaway!  You can find all the details here.  I hope you enter & win! J 

In our homeschool this week…

We continued with our study of the human body.  This week the girls studied the skeletal system.  Rosie added several bone stickers to her human body poster.  She completed a simple experiment to demonstrate why we need synovial fluid in our joints.  A ping-pong ball acted as the patella (knee cap).  Placed in a plastic socket, the ball’s movements were squeaky and awkward.  Then she added canola oil to ball and it moved effortlessly with ease.  We discussed how painful and irritated our joints would be without the cushions that God designed for us! 

In a similar experiment, Chloe learned the function of the cranium & cerebrospinal fluid and their role in protecting the brain.  She placed an uncracked egg in a small container w/a lid & then proceeded to run around our living room & shake the container for a minute or so.  It came as no surprise to learn that the egg cracked.  She repeated the activity, this time adding water to her container.  Again, she ran around our living room while jostling the container.  When her time was up, she examined the egg.  It remained unbroken.

The girls have now learned all of their Greek root words from our English from the Roots Up curriculum.  Next week we will begin our study of Latin root words, so this week was review.  I had the idea for the girls to play root word bingo (from Easy Grammar, no less).  They filled out a blank bingo card with the Greek Roots.  I read the meaning of each random root choosen & they had to determine if they had a match.  Chloe called Bingo first, but then lost the win b/c she incorrectly translated a root.  Her sister had a bingo at the same time & won the first round.  However, Chloe went on to claim a victory in the blackout round.  It was fun & we’ll definitely play again!

Speaking of Easy Grammar, I’m teaching irregular verbs to Rosie.  This is my one beef with Easy Grammar.  I don’t like how the material is presented.  I think more information is needed in the teacher’s manual.  Otherwise, I love everything else about it.  Teaching the prepositions first really clicks in Chloe’s mind b/c it eliminates phrases & makes deciphering the subject and verb easier.  I think it’s going to have to be one of those things that I tweak and teach the way it makes sense in my brain.  Now that both girls have used it for a year, I can make it work when we cover the material again.

Places we’re going and people we’re seeing…

This week the girls resumed their painting lessons.  During the last session, they painted a landscape.  This session they will learn how to create a still life painting.  They have the sweetest teacher & take class with their 2 best friends.

Questions/thoughts I have…

I’m uncertain about All American History.  I love it & it came highly recommended from several friends.  It may be that Chloe just doesn’t enjoy learning about the early explorers.  Maybe I need to add more to what we are already doing.  I think videos & documentaries would be a good start.  We haven’t had much opportunity to do the For Further Study.  I hoped that we could cover history 3 days a week, but maybe she needs the additional two days to aid in retention and comprehension.  If you are using AAH I with a middle schooler, I would love to hear how you make it work for your family.  I’m not ready to throw in the towel just yet; I would love to see if things improve once she is past the Age of Exploration. 

Things I’m working on…

I’m slowly working on our scripture memory boxes from Simply Charlotte Mason.  Our system utilizes binders instead of boxes.  I found 2 ring index card binders at the Dollar Tree.  I’ve printed out the divider tabs from the SCM website but that’s about as far as I’ve planned.  I won’t be able to work on it this weekend as I’ll be busy with birthday celebrations.

I’m cooking…

Birthday cupcakes!  The birthday girl requested chocolate cupcakes, vanilla frosting & chocolate sprinkles.

I’m grateful for…

Our church family.  Tomorrow we celebrate not one but 2 double-digit birthdays.  Rosie’s & our church!  I love our faith family.

A photo, video, link, or quote to share…

The girls enjoyed the following videos during their science lessons.  We read the book Dem Bones & then viewed the video on YouTube. 
 

We also enjoyed this fun video of the Animanics singing about the different bones of the body.  In fact, we watched it twice!  In the video, the Animanics clearly sing that our bodies are formed from years of evolution and no one really knows how it came to be.  The first time we watched, the girls were laughing so hard they didn’t hear it.  But the second time we watched, they clearly heard what was said.  We discussed what we know to be true, that we are fearfully and wonderfully made, God has a perfect plan for our lives, and he spoke this world and human beings into existence.  I don’t shy away from or seek to shelter the girls from beliefs that our different than our own.  However, it is of the utmost importance that they know what scripture says & have a firm foundation the Word.

I'm linking up to The Weekly Wrap-Up at Weird, Unsocialized Homerschoolers & The Homeschool Mother's Journal at The Homeschool Chick.

Enjoy the weekend!  I know I will.  I’m looking forward to celebrating how blessed we are to parent & live life with our youngest daughter!

~Abby~