Week in Review: March 11-15

Since the adults in the house started off with the week with a horrible cold, we didn't start off with our usual gusto. Thankfully none of the girls caught it, although we can't figure out how! I did score some more bargains on books to go with next year's curriculum. Click here or on the picture to read about how we found Heart of Dakota as our home curriculum.

We also have had a great time reviewing more products for the Review Crew! This week I posted my review for Touch Math. If you are looking for a multi-sensory math program this is one of the best I've ever seen. Click here or on the picture to read my review.




Even with taking Monday and Tuesday off from lessons, we still managed to squeeze in the entire unit for each of my girls and I didn't even feel like I was rushed to do so!

Little Hands to Heaven: Unit 15

This week we focused on Solomon. Grace built Solomon's Temple out of building blocks and insisted she needed to Bible story book to make sure she built it correctly. She even placed two half- circles together for the bowl shown in the picture! I was surprised at her attention to detail for this activity.

She also insisted on including water-slides (the blue blocks) at the temple as well as bringing a bus-load of people to it. I wasn't certain if she understood the point. So I asked her what the people were doing. She looked at me very indignantly and said, "They are worshiping God!" I'm so glad she understood the meaning behind the story even if she wanted to add the water slides. Anyway, who wouldn't want a water slide at church?

I really like how the Heart of Dakota Guides build math concepts for preschool into their week. This week Grace enjoyed matching socks. I had this activity already made up and pull them out to play with every once in a while. These are some wild socks I saved of her baby socks. She has a fun time putting them together.

Grace realized this week she couldn't read. She never seemed bothered by this before, but she suddenly feels frustrated that she can't read books. I started teaching her sisters around this age with Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons, but when I asked she said she didn't want to learn yet. I don't like to push my girls faster than they are ready, so I'm just going to wait until she asks about it. My other two daughters did great even at this young age, but they both begged me to learn. We'll see how this plays out with Grace!

Little Hearts for His Glory: Unit 22

When Mommy isn't feeling well school often moves to the living room. It's nice we aren't tied to the table all the time. Beth curled up with me on Wednesday and we caught up on her reading and history. This week she learned about Martin Luther. It dawned on me at some point during one of our readings that I was in college before I had even heard of Martin Luther, or at least retained the information I had heard. I thankful to be able teach my children history which includes church history. It is a blessing I do not want to take for granted.

Beth finished up her K-5 handwriting book a little early. My mom found a great 1st grade level handwriting book which also incorporates phonics. She's now practicing whole words and there are still pictures for her to color. She also finished up her first grade readers this week. We will be working on the emerging readers found in Beyond Little Hearts for His Glory soon, but for now I'm just having her read from the books on our bookshelf. I don't want to push her too far ahead, but reading and handwriting are two areas I'm happy to let her take the lead to pace herself!

Beth loves math...and loves to sing during math! She sometimes sings songs she knows and sometimes sings the addition facts she is practicing. She also tried out a funny new pencil which helps teach grip. She's using it here and seemed to really enjoy how different it is!


Bigger Hearts for His Glory: Unit 24

My Rose can be so thoughtful while she works! She often prefers to skip breaks just to keep on working. This picture is not posed and shows just how thoughtful she can be. She is very anxious to start learning multiplication. Knowing my girl she'll want to start in her 3rd grade math as soon as it arrives!

She enjoys doing her vocabulary with World Wise each week. Heart of Dakota begins teaching vocabulary each week from the history books, but she wanted to learn more about words and I like the more traditional format of Wordly Wise. She is learning about context clues and how to use words with more than one meaning correctly.

Rose studied about inventions like the telegraph and tires this week. She very much enjoyed writing out the alphabet in Morse Code and also writing a message using it. I appreciate how the history and geography activities engage my girls and give them a love for history.

We can't wait until next week!