Week in Review: January 28 - February 1

We are finally...FINALLY...back to regular school around here! Christmas break lasted longer than expected. While we've done some basics and had a lot of fun with some unique field trips, I am incredibly grateful to be back to our Heart of Dakota curriculum. Now, without any more waiting, here is our week!

(I got a little picture happy. I'm just so excited to be back on routine!)

Little Hands to Heaven: Unit 12

This week we studied about Samuel. Grace enjoyed our finger play this week for the letter J which retold the story of Hannah and Samuel. This also taught her the days of the week in order which she learned very quickly!

Grace constantly asks how to spell words because she hears her sisters do this. She just writes some lines and has been happy with that. Until this week! She started copying letters when I wrote them down for her with good precision for her age. (Don't you love Beth's quirky face in the background?)

We did several Do-A-Dot pages for J as well. If you are unfamiliar with Do-A-Dot markers you should try them out! I bought mine with a coupon from a craft store to make them pretty inexpensive and all three of my girls love them! There are some really neat art projects you can do with these as well.

I also finished up making a few manipulatives. I found this idea on pinterest and it has been in the back of my mind for several months now. I pulled out some Easter eggs and my sweet Grace started working on matching lower case and upper case letters!

She still loves her workbooks from Rod and Staff. I can't believe how much her tracing skills have improved! She takes more time now thinking about the answers and looks forward to doing a page every day. I can't say enough good things about Rod and Staff! They showcase a simpler time and way of life. I love that about these books.

We are also very excited because Grace is now fully potty trained! It has been a long journey, but after 7 1/2 years of changing diapers this season is ending. We celebrated by going out for pizza (my husband usually makes it homemade). 

Little Hearts for His Glory: Unit 17

Beth has benefited the most from our regular schedule. She tends to not know what to do with herself when we aren't doing what we normally do and ends up pestering her sisters to pieces! We studied about Jesus' appearances after the resurrection, His ascension, and Pentecost. She was much more focused on our history readings than she had been before Christmas. I think she's starting to grow into her schoolwork more.

One of the highlights for Beth was practicing telling others about Jesus and how to become a Christ-follower. She practiced by telling her pony, who she happily reported later decided to become a Christian. My favorite way she described what it meant to be a Christian when I asked was, "It means that you grow closer to Jesus!"

I started a new activity this week called word ladders. Beth started with a three letter word and changed the word, one letter at a time based on the clues given. It was a great way to practice critical thinking and spelling. 

She studied her Bible verse and did an excellent job memorizing it. The verse says, "Where two or more are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them." My favorite part was when she said, "midist" instead of "midst" :) So sweet! 

For science we made raisins rise and fall which fascinated the girls! I love all of the fun experiments found in Little Hearts for His Glory. They are interactive and always relate back to the history we are studying. 

These are the moments I love about homeschooling. Of course we have difficult days, weeks, and even months...but getting to see the joy of learning as it happens. What an amazing blessing! 

Bigger Hearts for His Glory: Unit 18

Rose is always studious. She is very serious about her schoolwork and tries hard to do her best. She likes the hands on activities, but gets a little shy when I pull the camera out.  

History is always fun for Rose. I'm excited because when she got to narration this week she did such a fabulous job! Narration is asking the student to retell what they just read in their own words. This is new to us both, so I wasn't even sure how to teach this to her. She struggled to retell and especially in her own words until this week. She retold me the information about Robert Fulton, who is credited with creating the first successful steamboat. It was fun to listen! (Yes, that is an Angry Bird...and a Piggie)

We're trying out a new Science curriculum which Rose really likes. This week we focused on sharks and manta rays. I'm not going to share too much...yet! The information is presented very scientifically, but with a clear understanding of God as Creator. The pictures are stunning! That's all I'll say for now because I'll be reviewing this in another week and I can't wait to tell all about how much we are loving it!

 You can see on the board the facts listed about the creation of the steamboat. Rose found these all on her own from our history readings. She's working on the third book from All About Spelling. Her spelling improves constantly with this program and she is able to think through how to spell at times when she isn't working on spelling. 

The last area of great improvement I'm seeing is Rose's cursive. She writes 3-5 sentences about a journal prompt I write in her journal. She has been practicing cursive since last winter and I asked her to start writing her journals in cursive this year. What a beautiful job she is doing! The hardest for Rose has been remembering how to form the letters as she is writing. For now, everything else is printing, but I hope to slowly transfer her into all cursive. 

We also had a few visitors this week...

This is Ebi the Panda. She was reading Frog and Toad. 

Yes, this is a Bomb Bird and a Bad Piggie...don't judge!

And our last visitor was Zoe, our sweet kitty! Beth in particular loves her! 

I hope you had a wonderful week as well! Be on the lookout for some great giveaways over the next couple of weeks and lots of reviews for the TOS Review Crew! We have been enjoying lots of great products and you're going to enjoy taking a peek into what we've had to try out new!