We are in an exciting time period in history right now- the first battles of the American Revolution! TS 1 has a great deal of reading each week in both history and literature, but he enjoys this subject and never complains about the workload. We are trying to do the Tapestry of Grace Dialectic discussions each week as well, but it is challenging. They often take at least an hour, which I break into two sessions. Finding this time each week plan (a two-week stretch for us this year) is not always possible. TS 2 and TS 3 are in the Lower Grammar level, and have much less reading each week. I beef up their learning with read-alouds, lap books and videos.
Speaking of read-alouds, we are all enjoying Daniel at the Siege of Boston 1776 as our current read aloud. It is from the Boys of Wartime series, and was recommended to us by our local children's librarian. It is very engaging, yet the plot is simple enough that even TS 3 can follow along.
We have been watching Liberty's Kids episodes about this time period as well. I recorded them on my DVR, and we have been watching each episode as we come upon that time in history in our readings. I think you can also find some of the episodes on YouTube, if you're interested. I stumbled on this great, little video on the Declaration of Independence on YouTube, which helped cement the main principles we had studied this week about the document.
In science, we started the lesson on Senses this week. Here the test subjects are doing an activity to demonstrate that our sense of smell and our memories are closely related since they are both processed in the temporal lobe of the brain.
While Tom taught science last year and for the first half of this year, we had to make a change recently. The content is much more complicated this year, and it became hard for the boys to attend as they need to in the evenings. I am teaching science now during the regular school day.
Math. Oh, math. I'm still not sure how I feel about Math-U-See. I am very close to switching all three to another curriculum for next year. Namely, Teaching Textbooks for TS 1 & TS 2 and Christian Light for TS 3. I just find the explanations for some of the higher level concepts more confusing than they need to be. None of my children seem to need or even benefit from the use of the manipulatives, so I'm really thinking of making the switch.
Collage Pictures- Clockwise from Top Left:
1. TS 3's reading is progressing wonderfully! She is reading level 1 readers almost completely independently now.
2. TS 2 at the dentist
3. TS 3 sniffing herbs in science class
4. TS 1 at the dentist
5. TS 1 & 2 integrating the sense of smell and memory in science class
6. TS 3 at the dentist
We have an exciting weekend planned. Tomorrow is TS 2's NINTH birthday! Instead of a birthday party this year, he requested a day at an indoor water park with the family.
Wishing you all a lovely weekend!
1. TS 3's reading is progressing wonderfully! She is reading level 1 readers almost completely independently now.
2. TS 2 at the dentist
3. TS 3 sniffing herbs in science class
4. TS 1 at the dentist
5. TS 1 & 2 integrating the sense of smell and memory in science class
6. TS 3 at the dentist
We have an exciting weekend planned. Tomorrow is TS 2's NINTH birthday! Instead of a birthday party this year, he requested a day at an indoor water park with the family.
Wishing you all a lovely weekend!
