Weekly Update: September 10-14

First of all...don't forget about my All About Spelling giveaway! If you haven't entered you still have plenty of time! Heart of Dakota uses dictation as the primary learning tool for spelling and we have chosen to add in All About Spelling because of the rule oriented nature of my oldest daughter. The balance of the two has improved her spelling on so many levels!

You can read my review and enter here! (And spread the word!)

Now on to our week in review...

Deerstream Learning Center

This week we got down back to our regular, full-time schedule including Deerstream Learning Center. I teach Junior Division English which includes literature and writing. I started teaching at Deerstream before we were homeschooling and it feels like my dream job! The picture is from 2 years ago, but that's me teaching my wonderful students on the left! The video is a promo for my class. I've been a little shy to share it, but here it is!

Rose is in the 6/7 year-old class with Mrs. Smith this year. She has so much fun and is excited to see her friends again! Her favorite activity of the week wasShe also made a poster this week all about the things she loves and I learned even more about my daughter. I am so grateful for Deerstream. It feels like the last piece of our homeschool puzzle which makes everything else just fit right!



Little Hands to Heaven
This week didn't go quite as planned. I found it very hard to keep all the plates balanced, so school didn't happen exactly as planned for little Grace! But we did do some fun things together, like sorting colored frogs I found in the dollar bin at Target a couple of months ago!

She enjoyed reading books with her sisters and we made it to story time at the library for the first time in months! She chose three books and Beth read them all to her as soon as they got home!

I used another fun Target dollar bin find for a little game! Every year they have pocket charts of various colors. They are a mini version, but great for manipulatives! I have a set of matching alphabet cards (Thanks Grammy and Grampy!) I've used with all three girls. I put one set in the pockets and Grace matched up what was left. She had a lot of fun with this!



Little Hearts for His Glory
We finished unit 6 this week! Beth also had her yearly check-up at the doctor this week. Ouch for shots! But she was brave and did really well!

Unit 6 was a lot of fun filled with a lot of fun! The poem was a hit as always. She snuck into Jericho, climbed up the wall, and walked around to make the walls fall down all to the tune of Row, Row, Your Boat. She loved all the weekly activities and did very well with Daddy taking over the teaching on Monday. One thing I love about Heart of Dakota. My husband can take over the teaching while I go and teach once a week. It truly is open-and-go in its best form!

She also practiced putting letters into ABC order for spelling lessons. She loves this! The only trouble was when I mixed up the letters and some got upside down. I was very seriously informed I should know better!

Something new I started 2 weeks ago was having her write words on her own word wall. A retired teacher friend was cleaning out her teacher stuff and gave me these great word wall folders! We've been finding words each week for a specific letter. She chooses all the words to put on her word wall, and Beth really enjoys going on a word hunt in her books. Sometimes she gets so caught up reading the book she forgets to look for words!

Lastly is a little teaser for a fun giveaway coming in about two weeks. It's great and my girl had a blast playing this sight word game! I love she sees learning as fun!

I know you can't wait for this giveaway!






Bigger Hearts for His Glory: Unit 5
Full speed is beautiful! Even with our added co-op full speed is definitely where Rose is at! The only part of the day she really doesn't like is cursive practice. It isn't that she dislikes it, she just likes everything to be perfect and she's still learning this skill, so it sometimes frustrates her.

Heart of Dakota follows a Charlotte Mason style of learning which incorporates living books and teaches students how to narrate. This has been a new way or learning for both of us, but I think we're finally getting the hang of it. This week she also did very well with her vocabulary assignment! This is another area she has complained some and it was good to see her complete the activity and have a little fun at the same time!

Science is always Rose's favorite. I considered not doing extra science this year because it is covered so very well at Deerstream, but she loves it so much we went ahead! This week she was learning about vertebrates at the beginning of the week. Then we moved on to science which centers around life in colonial America. She learned about the spreading of germs and why it's important to wash our hands!









We finally got around to doing some art projects this week. (Don't judge!) Scroll down to see that post! Overall it has been a great week!