Since our last *weekly wrap-up* it's been about a month. Where did November go?! It really wasn't that exciting of a month for us over all. Simply a month of being consistent with our routine and preparing for Thanksgiving. So I'll just hit the highlights for you here.
Bible:
We have been studying a character trait each month using the Character Sketches from IBLP a guide. So far we have studied Loyalty, Responsibility, and Courage. I have been amazed at how much the kiddos have retained from these studies. We are all enjoying them, they bring good discussion. I would like to incorporate more scripture memorization though. I hope to do that after the holiday break.
Language Arts:
These are going well. Mr. B has nearly finished his 2nd reader and is reading other books as well. He has also been working through some simple grammar exercise books and loves those. The Princess is nearly halfway finished with her grammar for the year and is thoroughly enjoying reading through Robinson Crusoe.
They are both doing well with handwriting. Mr. B is actually ready for the next book in the Getty-Dubay series~I think we'll start that after the holidays.
History:
My kids really love history (so far, at least) and I am so glad because I am such a huge history buff. I am really loving reading through the Story of the World with them. I feel like I am learning so much, too. We are using the SOTW activity book along with volume I, but I also incorporate some things from Galloping the Globe and some literature books I have with stories from around the world.
We did finally give up on our Nile River project. Even though we followed the instructions in teh activity book, we never did see any of our grass seed sprout:( Oh, well... It was fun to build it anyway.
Science:
This continues to be one of their favorite subjects. Doing *family* subjects is so much fun! In November we studied Venus and Earth. We didn't make any big projects this month, but we did quite a bit of notebooking for our chapters.
Artist and Composer Studies:
Peter Tchakovsky was our composer for November. I chose him because of The Nutcracker since the holiday season was coming. My children LOVE The Nutcracker! I have an old vhs copy of a version with McCauly Culkin and the NY Ballet that they watch over and over again each year. I have taken The Princess once to a {rather sad} live performance; however, this year we are taking both of them to a wonderful live performance and I am so excited! We have been listening to Tchakovsky all month long~not just The Nutcracker~and it has been lovely.
The artist I chose for November is not considered one of *the greats* and yet I love his work. And he seemed appropriate for the time of the year that is so uniquely American~Thanksgiving. Norman Rockwell was who we studied. I must admit there were not a lot of resources (at least that I found) other than a large book of prints that I already had. But we thoroughly enjoyed pouring over each one. He put such detail into his paintings and truly captured the spirit of America in so many ways. The kiddos absolutely loved his paintings!
A couple of the other crafts we did this month was to create a *blessing bowl* and also to paint ornaments for the kiddos to exchange at my family's annual ornament exchange.
Piano:
I must admit that so far this is an epic fail for me. I find that by the time our other studies are finished for the day we are all ready to move onto our other tasks: me, housework~them, playing. I hope that I can figure out a better, more workable schedule for us in this area.
P.E.:
We have not been doing anything formal in this area, but I have been using a {free} fitness calendar that I signed up for through Subway. I'm not sure if any of you received this, but it's really a great resource. The calendar comes with lots of fun stickers and a great little fitness activity for each day. I tend to keep my calendar in the kitchen and toss out the ideas at random, so that it doesn't seem like another *subject* to the kids. They love the activities! Of course, they get lots of great active play throughout the week, too.
Field Trips:
Like I mentioned earlier, November was a quieter month for us. I'm usually more field trip oriented, but a couple I had planned didn't work out. Our big one for November was going to see the elk herd in our region of Arkansas. It was very interesting and included a visit to a National Historic site, too.
Other Activities:
The Princess had a great time with her Girl Scout troop this month. They visited a dance studio and learned a whole routine together and also about different types of dance. The Princess hasn't had any formal dance lessons, so this was all new and completely fun for her. It was definitely fun to watch!
We also enjoyed packing our shoe boxes for Operation Christmas Child and delivering them! This is a holiday highlight for us each year. The kiddos save things all year long to pack in their shoe boxes. And that finally wraps up November:) Whew.... I always like to see it here in print. I makes me feel like I accomplished more than I thought I did. heehee
This post is linked to The Weekly Wrap-Up at Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers.
Bible:
We have been studying a character trait each month using the Character Sketches from IBLP a guide. So far we have studied Loyalty, Responsibility, and Courage. I have been amazed at how much the kiddos have retained from these studies. We are all enjoying them, they bring good discussion. I would like to incorporate more scripture memorization though. I hope to do that after the holiday break.
Language Arts:
These are going well. Mr. B has nearly finished his 2nd reader and is reading other books as well. He has also been working through some simple grammar exercise books and loves those. The Princess is nearly halfway finished with her grammar for the year and is thoroughly enjoying reading through Robinson Crusoe.
They are both doing well with handwriting. Mr. B is actually ready for the next book in the Getty-Dubay series~I think we'll start that after the holidays.
History:
My kids really love history (so far, at least) and I am so glad because I am such a huge history buff. I am really loving reading through the Story of the World with them. I feel like I am learning so much, too. We are using the SOTW activity book along with volume I, but I also incorporate some things from Galloping the Globe and some literature books I have with stories from around the world.
We did finally give up on our Nile River project. Even though we followed the instructions in teh activity book, we never did see any of our grass seed sprout:( Oh, well... It was fun to build it anyway.
Science:
This continues to be one of their favorite subjects. Doing *family* subjects is so much fun! In November we studied Venus and Earth. We didn't make any big projects this month, but we did quite a bit of notebooking for our chapters.
Artist and Composer Studies:
Peter Tchakovsky was our composer for November. I chose him because of The Nutcracker since the holiday season was coming. My children LOVE The Nutcracker! I have an old vhs copy of a version with McCauly Culkin and the NY Ballet that they watch over and over again each year. I have taken The Princess once to a {rather sad} live performance; however, this year we are taking both of them to a wonderful live performance and I am so excited! We have been listening to Tchakovsky all month long~not just The Nutcracker~and it has been lovely.
The artist I chose for November is not considered one of *the greats* and yet I love his work. And he seemed appropriate for the time of the year that is so uniquely American~Thanksgiving. Norman Rockwell was who we studied. I must admit there were not a lot of resources (at least that I found) other than a large book of prints that I already had. But we thoroughly enjoyed pouring over each one. He put such detail into his paintings and truly captured the spirit of America in so many ways. The kiddos absolutely loved his paintings!
A couple of the other crafts we did this month was to create a *blessing bowl* and also to paint ornaments for the kiddos to exchange at my family's annual ornament exchange.
Piano:
I must admit that so far this is an epic fail for me. I find that by the time our other studies are finished for the day we are all ready to move onto our other tasks: me, housework~them, playing. I hope that I can figure out a better, more workable schedule for us in this area.
P.E.:
We have not been doing anything formal in this area, but I have been using a {free} fitness calendar that I signed up for through Subway. I'm not sure if any of you received this, but it's really a great resource. The calendar comes with lots of fun stickers and a great little fitness activity for each day. I tend to keep my calendar in the kitchen and toss out the ideas at random, so that it doesn't seem like another *subject* to the kids. They love the activities! Of course, they get lots of great active play throughout the week, too.
Field Trips:
Like I mentioned earlier, November was a quieter month for us. I'm usually more field trip oriented, but a couple I had planned didn't work out. Our big one for November was going to see the elk herd in our region of Arkansas. It was very interesting and included a visit to a National Historic site, too.
Other Activities:
The Princess had a great time with her Girl Scout troop this month. They visited a dance studio and learned a whole routine together and also about different types of dance. The Princess hasn't had any formal dance lessons, so this was all new and completely fun for her. It was definitely fun to watch!
We also enjoyed packing our shoe boxes for Operation Christmas Child and delivering them! This is a holiday highlight for us each year. The kiddos save things all year long to pack in their shoe boxes. And that finally wraps up November:) Whew.... I always like to see it here in print. I makes me feel like I accomplished more than I thought I did. heehee
This post is linked to The Weekly Wrap-Up at Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers.
Comments
Nice to meet you from WLW Peace on Earth Challenge.
Looking forward to a peaceful month!