Week in Review: February 24-28

We rarely take breaks from Heart of Dakota, and when we do school tends to go well for a few days, then the girls start begging for their regular "stuff" again!This is where we were last week and we're back to our more rigorous routine which all three genuinely missed! This is spelling time. Rose and Beth are in levels 2 and 3 of All About Spelling and Grace practices spelling with cards and magnets. I'm enjoying and appreciating the benefits of learning subjects together even if on different levels. We've been doing this some with math as well with Rose and Beth and I've liked it. It has helped me be able to stay more on target and focus on the subjects easier.

Preparing Hearts for His Glory: Unit 10 (1st half)

Rose was begging me this week to go full-speed with her curriculum again. I told her we'd see how diligent she was this week and maybe we'd try full-speed days with the last two days of the unit next week. She was done in about 2 hours time, which tells me she could definitely handle full-speed now. We'll test-drive 2 days at full-speed next week and I'll let you know how it goes! 

We've been doubling up on grammar for a few weeks and Rose is doing so well! We had a great conversation this week about why grammar feels easy to her right now. I explained not everyone uses proper grammar, but we shouldn't correct them when they are speaking to us. I also told her the reason she finds it easy is because her daddy and I both speak with correct grammar for the most part and so she is used to hearing what is correct.

I loved the poetry writing assignment this week using personification. Rose wrote a beatuiful poem which she has entered into a poetry contest we participate in sometimes. Here is her poem:

The wind moves to every sort of place.
I hear her sing as she jumps from tree to tree.
She dives down to talk to me
And says,
"Shhhh, be quiet as you feel my mighty breeze."

The history projects for this week was a lot of fun! She made a skytale, a message on a song strip of paper wrapped around a cylinder. It was really neat!

She chose to write John 3:16 as her message. Now to see if her daddy can read it!

This week Rose said something which surprised me...she said she really likes history vocabulary! She always likes learning new words, but looking up the definitions, drawing pictures, and writing sentences seemed tedious to her. I'm so glad she enjoys it now!

Beyond Little Hearts for His Glory

Beth was so so so  excited to be reading Stories of the Pilgrims again. It is really interesting to me that so many who try Beyond say they get tired of the focus on the Pilgrims. I really appreciate this focus on one group of early settlers and how they stood strong in their faith, faced persecution in England, then hardships, hunger, and death because they wanted a place to worship God the way they felt the Bible taught. Neither my oldest or Beth tired of this for history and I expect when Grace reaches this guide I'll find her enjoying it just as much.

Beth does different things while I read history. Sometimes she snuggles with me on the couch, sometimes she asks to take a turn to read, sometimes she acts out what I read, and sometimes she colors. This week she wanted to work on the coloring page in her cursive workbook and each day did a little more. My girl loves coloring more than anything. She is very detailed oriented and will work for hours on a single picture to get it just right. 

Although poetry is one of my favorite aspects of Heart of Dakota, it has taken Beth a little more time to warm up to a more formal study of poetry. I should use the word formal rather loosely because even though we have a poem we study each week, it just feels like a bunch of fun! She's finally gotten a little more excited about it, which is the point. It isn't really so much about analyzing the poetry, but learning to appreciate and understand it. I often lament how most children aren't regularly exposed to poetry until much later in their education. 

This week I used a white board for spelling and Beth liked the change. The girls never complain about using the All About Spelling tiles, but sometimes there are so many words to build it can get a bit tedious for me as I work through 2 different levels. I'm trying out some new strategies now as I anticipate three levels at once in the coming years. 

Beth is almost finished with Ralph S. Mouse. Similar to poetry it has taken some time to convince her she is ready for a book this size. She's been ready for several months now, but was so very certain she wasn't "old enough" to be reading large chapter books. Now the world of books is wide open to her! 

Preschool: Patiently Awaiting the Next HOD Guide!

Grace has become very cooperative over the last few weeks. She always wants to know when we're going to do her lessons, but she's been great about letting me get some things done with her older sisters first. I'm trying to switch it up so she isn't always last, but she's been such a good sport! She does get frustrated if something takes longer than she would like...for instance finding the right letters for spelling! But she does like that I give her "spelling" words now. It isn't anything formal, but it is reinforcing her knowledge and reading ability. 

Reading has become more frustrated for Grace as we've moved from the phonetic script to more traditional typing. She prefers the phonetic script, but is adjusting to the new way of writing the words and learning more formal rules like silent e. 

Just as with her older sisters I'm letting her complete her math book at her own pace. There are times when I have to limit her, but she often does 3 or 4 pages each day. I treat her ABC Rod and Staff books the same way. Her 4-year-old attention span keeps her from moving too quickly. We're holding off on formal handwriting until she turns five. I've learned not to push her formal writing until her fine motor skills are there. Rod and Staff will help us get there! 

We had an excellent week again! I hope you stop by again next week!