Day 66 / 103 - Reviewing with Pictures

We have spent the majority of this week reviewing our Foundations memory work by playing various versions of Pictionary and Win, Lose, or Draw.  Drawing a picture always helps my children visualize a concept, which then helps them commit that concept to their long-term memory.  Science, Geography, History, and even English Grammar are always fun subjects to draw.  Most of our artwork is usually quickly sketched on white boards, so it's not quite photo worthy.  However, here are a few document-worthy History sketches that my daughter used for her presentation this week.  Can you guess the History sentences?

Day 65 / 103 - Gym Days

 

Since the beginning of January, my son has been spending his Wednesday afternoons participating in an intramural gym class focusing on basketball and volleyball.  One of the homeschooling mothers in the area noticed there was a large amount of homeschooling students ages 12 and up, so she coordinated a 12-week gym program for the age group by renting a local gymnasium and bringing in some local coaches to teach and drill skills.

At 12, my son is one of the youngest students participating in the intramural program, but he truly loves it and looks forward to it each week.  It will run through March.

Day 64 / 103 - Gainsborough

Every winter, we study a great artist and complete a related art project from the book Discovering Great Artists.  (You can see some past projects here, here, here, here, and here.)  I love this book, and I would recommend it to any home educator or parent.  The book teaches the styles, techniques, and works of many great artists and then includes a related activity for students to complete.

Last week we studied Thomas Gainsborough, an English painter of landscapes and portraits in the 18th century.  He preferred painting fancy, imaginary landscapes and often included his portraits on the elaborate landscapes.  Our related assignment was to explore Gainsborough's style of Portraits on Landscape.  My children were to paint an imaginary landscape and then glue cut-out portraits into the scenery.  The fun truly began once they realized their portraits could come from the American Girl and Lego catalogs.

Day 63 / 103 - That Hat

I can't quite recall exactly all that I did was I was 10 years of age.  I do know for certain I wasn't independently teaching myself how to Loom Knit a hat.

Day 62 / 103 - Essentials Word Wall

We made an alphabetical word wall this morning full of words from our Essentials memory work.  This was a creative way to take a break from the usual charts and also quite encouraging as I could witness what words and concepts immediately popped into my children's minds.  This was our first pass, with only about 30 minutes of work.  But, we have the wall hanging on our patio sliders, and we're planning on adding to it throughout the week.

We're at a loss for words beginning with K, Y, and Z if anyone has any suggestions.

Day 61 / 103 - William, King of England

I've mentioned before that we use curriculum from the Institute in Excellence in Writing to complement the writing portion of our Classical Conversations Essentials class.  We have used this material for several years, so I am somewhat familiar with it.  However, since I am a contracted Essentials tutor this year, I have had to participate in a few trainings that have equipped me with even more knowledge of the IEW writing courses.  As a result, my children have benefited.  One aspect I appreciate about classically educating my children (and I've also mentioned this before) is that we pretty much do the same thing every year, we just expand on it in more detail as my children age and understand the concepts.  I truly wish I would have been educated this way.

This year, we are writing papers based on Medieval times using the Medieval History-Based Writing Lessons (pictured above).  Another reason I appreciate this program is because my children are writing about historical events.  Last week my son had to write a paragraph on the Battle of Hastings.  Because he knows what is expected of him, it took him less than 30 minutes to outline two different source texts and write a paragraph including Dress-Ups, Decorations, and Sentence Openers from the IEW course. 

William, King of England

In the year 1066 a major battle occurred.  During the reign of King Edward of England, he promised his throne to his cousin William.  Upon his death bed, King Edward granted the throne to his brother-in-law Harold.  This was a mistake.  When William heard the news, he armed his men on horseback and rode to battle.  Harold ordered his men to guard the hillside with tree trunk barricades and provided them with sharp, double-sided axes and spears for weapons.  The Battle of Hastings, which was a bloody battle, lasted an entire day.  During the battle Harold was slain with an arrow.  Learning their leader had been murdered, his men slowly retreated.  Victoriously, William won the battle and on Christmas day was crowned King of England.

Day 60 / 103 - The Next Day

My children slept outside in their igloo last night.  My husband equipped them with head lamps, waterproof tarps, 20 degree sleeping bags, a walkie-talkie and plenty of ventilation.  Around 9:00 p.m. they hunkered down for the night.  It's natural for the inside of an igloo to melt a little because of the warmth from body heat.  As a result, they came inside around 6:00 this morning because my daughter was tired of water dripping on her. Plans for the next igloo include wider walls and a little higher ceiling, even though my son could sit up comfortably.

I have to admit, I was the only one in my family who was a little reluctant about this adventure.  But, they truly enjoyed themselves and proved to me that the adventure was worthwhile.

Day 59 / 103 - Snow Fort

Scrolling through this blog, I went back in time thinking for certain I had posted at least once about snow forts.  Nope.  My last post about one was here.

It started snowing last night.  It's still snowing.  It is supposed to continue snowing.  Since living in Beckley, this is the second time that I've seen snow that has rivaled anything I ever witnessed in lake-effect Cleveland.  Our best estimate is that we have 15 inches so far.

I'm about 90% certain someone will be sleeping in this fort tonight.  Constructing a shelter and spending the night in it is one of the requirements for a Boy Scout Merit Badge my son wants to earn.  I'll keep you posted ....

Day 58 / 103 - YouTube

My children, being born in the 21st century, are convinced that today's fame and fortune come from a successful YouTube channel.  Whereas they are probably correct with that assumption, I'm not quite sure they themselves will be raking in millions with YouTube stardom. However, they've made a few videos over this past year, so I thought I'd share two with you.

His - Lego Prison Break
Hers - How To Break In Your Pointe Shoes

Day 57 / 103 - Day-to-Day

Some home educating days, weeks, months, there isn't much else to report on other than that which occurs on a routine daily basis.

Day 56 / 103 - Watercolor Flowers

This afternoon we attempted painting with watercolors using the wet on wet method.  I lifted the idea from this site.

Day 55 / 103 - Colored Complex Sentences

It took me almost four years as an Essentials parent, and 13 weeks as an Essentials tutor, to discover that if I have my children color-code their complex sentences (independent clause in one color, dependent clause in another) they quickly grasp the concept.