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Friday, February 15, 2008

Weekly Report: TOG2, Week 12

We are in transition, I'm reading all about Charlotte Mason so my mind is completely occupied and our lessons are a little lighter until I figure everything out. I have general items that need more prayer and consideration before I'm ready to put them on paper and make them a part of our lives.


Here are the kids reading Usborne's First Encyclopedia of Our World after I read to both of them, we have finished our earth science lessons and will be moving onto astronomy next week. Right on schedule!

History books we've read this week: Camille read the Christopher Columbus book on the right all by herself and narrated it well, with enthusiasm! History is very light right now because I'm doing minimal planning and preparation as I digest Charlotte Mason ideas and philosophies.

Math is going so much better now, I am teaching in between these activities and eliminating where I feel it is beneficial. I told Camille that if she did all of the purple addition problems and got them right, she wouldn't have to do the green ones. She was so thrilled to hear that!! Horizons says not to eliminate any exercises but I think this is best for Camille at this time.



This is our newest French program and I say newest because I've tried a lot of them. This one only takes 15 minutes daily and it reviews the lesson 9 times before you're to move on to the next one. We also have the workbook, which I'm using at the end of the lesson to determine whether moving on is the right action to take or if more review is needed.
It is called Écoutez, Parlez! (Listen, Speak), you look at the book while an audio cd plays with instructions in French and English. No fuss, get 'er done! Lol. (It's at RainbowResource.com)

This is our poetry notebook that I've reformatted for Camille. I want all of her poems that she memorizes in one place, when it gets to be too big, we'll get a bigger notebook. Each poem is copied and illustrated by her. We have poems to put in from first grade and I plan on tabbing it- First Grade, Second Grade, Third Grade. That way she can see her growth through the years and we can use it as an easy review of previous memorized poems.

What it looks like before she does any work.

These two pictures show two poems she has copied and illustrated (with my help).


The picture below is of a page within Comprehension Quickies. I have Camille do 1 page a week to practice formulating her own sentences which I feel is practice she needs. Explode the Code is going well, especially after using the Teacher's Manual this week. She is getting the phonics reinforcement that she needs and she's reading and spelling better. We have dropped Spelling Workout completely. Primary Language Lessons is going well, Camille did her first dictation exercise this week, she realized she needed to study the selection more before attempting to write it from dictation.



Jack and one of the kids' Valentine's Day balloons.
This picture took awhile to take because he was chasing me through the house!
The kids taking a break in-between lessons by watercoloring.
This would be what Charlotte Mason calls "Masterly Inactivity"

I am very relaxed in demeanor about our lessons and gaining confidence about doing things the way I've felt I should instead of following what someone else says we should be doing. It's a mixture of learning how to teach, and gaining confidence in my own knowledge and instincts. I think this is a MAJOR milestone in our journey. It's not that I will have it all figured out but I will feel much more confident listening to my heart and assessing what we need to do when hiccups occur instead of feeling like a complete and utter failure. I'll be able to talk about this more later.

Danny is doing well with read alouds, playing with Camille like above and playing at Starfall.com, which he absolutely loves. I'm not big on computer learning so this is a struggle for me but he's enjoying it right now and developing hand/eye coordination as well as enthusiastically repeating whatever Starfall says. A happy sigh.


 

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oops! :) I didn't see the graphic by your other awards so I assumed....lol

Julie said...

I am transitioning a lot right now as well. I was 100 percent WTM as well when we first started. While I am sticking with the basic philosphy of WTM I am moving in a more CM direction as well.
I so enjoy your blog because it helps me to come up with ideas for our school work as well.

Brittney said...

Camille is quite the artist! I enjoyed her drawings in her poetry notebook. I really like this idea and may have to do something similar to it for my boys.
I hope you have a great weekend!
Brittney

Anonymous said...

It looks like you had another great week. Your posts on WTM concerning Charlotte Mason have me taking down my books off the shelf and re-reading them! I love that you are following your own heart and charting your own course for your children. No-one knows them like you do. :)
(We skip math problems sometimes too. It just seems like over-kill sometimes to have them do every problem.)
~Have a blessed week-end.
~Rhonda

Anonymous said...

I am always encouraged as I read about your journey to find what fits for your family. Thanks for being transparent! Looks like you all had a great week. I love the look of Horizons math since we use Saxon but it's working for my ds. Have a great weekend!

Mand said...

Thanks for all your sharing xx I am particularly fond of Charlotte Mason myself!

Can you tell me where I could get a scroll template to put my daughter's poetry in, yours look so beautiful.

Amanda

Lisa~ said...

Jessica... If you read all 3 history books this week, you did great! *Ü*

I really like your poetry notebook and also want to use the idea... I love it.... You get your selections form a book right?? Harp and the Laurel wreath? I have this....

ugh... now I want to blow off my day and work on it... :( but cant... oh that angst! lol

Great week Jess... and enjoy your reading! Can’t wait to hear more...


Lisa~

Anonymous said...

Great week, and I am so interested in all you have to say as you're figuring out how to do things. I still feel tied to TWTM, and I love it, and my oldest just fits it. I see my 4yo though, and I will need to change things for him, he's an entirely different kid, and I have no idea where our homeschool journey is going to take me. It's exciting to think about but I'm a little nervous too. Thank you so much for sharing all of your thoughts through this.
Kristiana

my5wolfcubs said...

Your poetry notebook is so very nice, I do hope you stay with it -- what a treasure to look back on!
Lee
PS My little ones go in waves w/ using Starfall, it really is a well done program.

Dana Leeds said...

I love your poetry notebook idea! My daughter and I both memorized some poetry early this year, but have gotten out of the habit. I like the idea of making a book and dividing it with tabs for the year. I might do something like this for her Bible memory work, too.

ajrenae said...

What a wonderful idea for poetry! That is one subject that seems to fall off the schedule too easily for us. I think we'll try something like this next year to keep us on track. Thanks for the inspiration!