Learning Curve: Weekly Wrap Up

Another week has zipped through here! We’ve been steadily plugging along. We’ve had to adjust our schedules a bit this week due to the time change, my husband working 12 hours shifts at night and the baby being here on Tuesdays and Thursdays. We also finished our shoe boxes for Operation Christmas Child

The biggest achievement for the week was finishing up the Felicity Unit Study we’ve been working on! We learned to dance the Minuet, embroider and so many other fun things. You will definitely want to read the entire post!

Math: Again, I’m frustrated with our curriculum. Last week liquid measurements were introduced for ONE DAY. No mention since then. This week we introduced three new math concepts (subtraction with borrowing, scale drawings, four number addition)...each for ONE DAY. The most difficult for Olivia being subtraction with borrowing. I added my own extra work on this topic because really, why frustrate a child with one day of instruction and then not mention it again?

Lindsey had a good math week, we worked on counting by 10’s; the 1, 2 and 3 addition families and telling time to the hour. She’s still having some issues with number recognition, although she’s able to do verbal math problems and counting without issue.

Geography/History: This week we did a quick study of Rhode Island. If you are from Rhode Island, please don’t be offended that we only did one week instead of two, but I wanted to have it done this week so we can focus on Thanksgiving next week.

We completed our state report, map, flag and coin. We also learned about Roger Williams and his quest for religious freedom as he founded Rhode Island.

Books we used:
The Colony of Rhode Island; by Susan Whitehurst
Finding Providence, The Story of Roger Williams; by Avi

Science: We learned about insects, how to determine if a bug is a true insect or not (3 body parts, 2 antennae, 6 legs and 4 wings if it’s a winged creature) and metamorphosis. Then for our science notebooks, we diagrammed the life cycle of grasshoppers, mosquitoes, beetles, butterflies, bees and flies. We also did a separate study on spiders, their body arts and life cycles…shudder.

Latin: We finished up lesson 12 this week, and the topic was manners (please, thank you and excuse me). Those have been easy words to work into our every day lives. Next week will be a review week, and then I’m skipping a couple of lessons so that we can work on our Christmas words for several weeks before Christmas break.

First Language Lessons: This week we learned about our initials, the proper usage of “I and me” when answering questions and more memory work. This is probably my favorite part of our day!

Awana: Both girls memorized 2 new scriptures this week. Unfortunately, the helper in Lindsey’s class didn’t have her recite the verses so we’re now behind…again. So I emailed her class leader and he’s going to pay closer attention from now on. Lindsey did received her wings and first red jewel that she was supposed to get 2 weeks ago.

Ballet/tap: This was our last regular week of dance classes until January! Olivia still has LOTS of practices leading up to the Nutcracker, but at least we’ll have our Friday’s free throughout the rest of the calendar year.

Piano: Olivia’s lessons are going well. I’m really pleased with her progress and so is her instructor. I think the winter recital is in early January.

Life Skills: The girls got a first hand experience of a fussy baby this week. Ellie was pretty crabby and inconsolable on Thursday. I’m quite certain it has made them rethink the whole “baby brother” prayer they’ve been working on! So we learned about patience and long suffering.

We also cooked and baked for a family from church who lost a loved one this week. We managed to incorporate cooking, measuring, dishwashing and being an extension of God’s love and care into that endeavor.

We ended our week with our Friday Afternoon Tea. Lots of good things accomplished this week. One week closer to Thanksgiving!

Don’t forget to visit the Weekly Wrap Up!