Weekly Review: October 1-5

I gave my girls their report cards this week. I debated whether I should actually admit this or not because I am very well aware this is rather controversial within the homeschooling circles. I decided to share this and explain why because I like doing it for several reasons.

1. It give the girls an opportunity to feel good about their successes.

2. It helps them see areas they need to work on.

3. They know they are being held accountable for their work and it matters.

4. It also keeps me accountable to gauge how well they are doing in any particular subject.

A really good example of this happened last year. There was a particular subject I felt like Rose was struggling with, but when I calculated her grade it was actually pretty good. It helped show me that, yes, this wasn't her strongest subject, but, no, I didn't need to do worry about it.

I'd love to hear if you give your child a report card and why...or if you don't and why! Just like with everything else in homeschooling each family is uniquely structured and what works for me won't always work for your family. I do firmly believe you should make the decision based on what you really believe, not just what someone else has convinced you is the right thing to do.

If you're interest in getting a nice, already made, report card I found mine at Just Mommies. I'm hoping at some point this year to make my own form and have our school name on it, but for now this one worked quite well.

I have also chosen to keep the week after report cards a little lighter. We will still do the basics, like grammar, reading, handwriting, and math, but everything else will be lighter. We missed some science last week (oops!) so I chose to catch up on that.

Did you know Thomas Jefferson was an avid natural scientist? No one ever told me this when I was in school! He studied specimens and fossils, wrote for scientific journals, and advocated in Europe for the scientific benefits of Colonial America. In conjunction with studying more about this fascinating man we made fossil impressions with our toy animals.

The girls had SO much fun with this! They made impressions of animal footprints, heads, and bodies. Rose was particularly interested when she realized every detail was noted, even the intricate hair patterns. (Pardon the camera shadow! These pictures didn't turn out as well as I'd hoped.)

We also celebrated Grace's 3rd birthday this week! I can't believe how quickly she has grown. The girls think it's great that birthdays are holidays since we homeschool. What about you? Are birthdays a holiday from formal lessons at your house?

Grace thoroughly appreciated her much anticipated Hello Kitty Cake! She's a bit of a fanatic when it comes to Hello Kitty. She was in awe of the cake and I have to say I'm quite pleased with how cute it turned out!

So our week was light, but next week it's back to full-speed-ahead!

And don't forget to check out the giveaway this week! It ends on Monday so hurry and sign up!