Week 14 - Challenge A

Well this semester has flown by! I can hardly believe that Thanksgiving is here and Christmas is fast approaching. The older I get, the more I appreciated my mother saying time and time again about how precious time is!

PIZZA FOR LUNCH...PLEASE SEND IN $3. BRING YOUR OWN DRINK!

BRING A SNACK TO SHARE IN THE AFTERNOON...(I WILL BRING IN SOME DRINKS AND PAPER PRODUCTS)

WEAR YOUR FAVORITE PAIR OF PAJAMAS...(I AM GOING TO WHERE MY CHRISTMAS ONES)

I AM PLANNING A GAME/FELLOWSHIP TIME FOR THE AFTERNOON (2-4)...I AM NOT SURE WHERE IN THE CHURCH WE WILL BE...SO I WILL LET YOU KNOW AS SOON AS I DO.

Onto the academic stuff...

 

Math 

Tuesday:  We previewed Lessons 57 thru 60! The students are doing a fantastic job taking notes on the lessons. 

 

For next week:  Follow the guide!

 

 Literature and Composition 

Tuesday:  Several students in the class wanted to develop their own issues that were "loosely" connected with the question. This issues that they presented were thoughtful and insightful, so I said, "Go for it!" We have some really great writers in the class. I love reading their work.

 

In the event you haven't noticed...I am not correcting punctuation, sentence structure, misspellings, etc. Because LTW is new, I want to be sure they understand the process and content. Once they have mastered these items, we can focus more on the other stuff. Please feel free to correct these things at home.

 

For next week:  Basic Persuasive Essay II - Amplification following the outline in the Guide page 83. BE SURE TO INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING...

 

Parallelism (do this with the proofs in the introductory paragraph)

Exordium

Strong verbs

Specific subjects

Amplification

One-Sentence Recapitulation

 

I have encouraged them not to forget the wonderful writing techniques that they learned in IEW. I love reading the different sentence structures, the quality adjectives, the -ly words, and the strong verbs.

 

If you have any questions, please let me know.

 

Latin 

Tuesday:  We previewed Lesson 3 pp.46 - 52; and Exercises 45 - 54.

 

For next week: Read and discuss pp. 46-52. Do Exercises 45 - 54 (odd and even, or however you decide to have them work). Read Grammar to #64. Vocabulary pp. 47 and 51. This is from Weeks 10 and 11.

 

We are quickly catching up with the guide. I have not any students complain about the workload. Most of them were ahead until just recently. As you translate English to Latin, remember to keep appositives with the noun they rename, and the verb at the end of the sentence. The noun endings will tell us how the word is used in the sentence. 

 

Rhetoric 

Tuesday:  We played a basketball review game with Catechism Questions.

 

For next week:  Follow the guide...and be sure to STUDY, STUDY, STUDY the Catechism Questions.

 

Geography 

Tuesday: Again...we worked with identifying countries, capitals, and features for Europe.

 

For next week: STUDY...STUDY...STUDY FOR THE EUROPE DRAWING TEST; AND THE GEOGRAPHY TERMS FOR TEST FROM WEEKS 12 THRU 14.

 

Science

Tuesday:  We learned more about symbiotic relationships, fish, sharks, and different habitats watching "Finding Nemo."  It was wonderful hearing the research on fish. The students do a great job.

 

For next week:  Follow the guide!

 

 

Blessings,

Debbie

 

 

Challenge A - Week 13

Waiting for snow today was a treat with the children! I was looking too! We pulled up the blinds in the room and there was excitement in the air. Can you believe snow flurries in November...even before Thanksgiving.

Truly, we had a great day filled with incredible thoughts and discussions. Keep up the good work...push onward for two more weeks!

Pizza on Week 15 for lunch. $3 per student. I would like a parent to bring in soft drinks in small bottles and a sweet dessert would be nice for the class.

I am considering having a LTW workshop for parents the week after Thanksgiving. I am just not sure if it is needed. Please let me know if this is something you would be interested in. It would be during the mid-morning either at the church or here at my house.

Also, it would be fun to have some activities planned for the class to get together over the break. Will some moms plan something for the children to do...I will help, but can not take the lead. If you have some ideas, throw them out there on the email loop and see what we can get going.

Lastly, the time is fast approaching to pay for the second semester. If you are not sure what you owe, let me know and I will get that number to you. I will need it by January 1, 2014. You can bring it to me before class ends this semester, or mail it to my home address.

Now...on to the day!

Math

Today - Thanks to Mrs. Mahoney for working with the class during the math hour. Lessons 53-56 were discussed.

For the week - Follow the guide!

Literature and Composition

Today - We developed issues from the following question:

     Should At-mun have broken the bands at his wrists and killed the white man who had captured them in order to set the canoe full of his Atmunshi people free?

The students came up with different issues according to their interest and focus. I am loosening the reins a bit, because I think most of them are ready. They should have come home today with an issue to pursue. The room got a lot brighter as we discussed using Lesson 5-Comparison and Lesson 7-Circumstance as a way to add items to their ANI charts. That is why it is listed in the guide with each novel. Although they may have filled it out in their workbooks earlier this semester, LTW wants them to continue to go back to these 2 (of the 5) Common Topics. We will get more into the other 3 next semester. Hopefully, they wrote down some examples today and can show them to you.

For the week - They should finish reading Amos Fortune, Free Man and fill out their ANI charts. The guide states to have 30 items per column. Make this challenge to your students. The more items they have, the richer their papers will be. I, personally, do not have an adaptation to this.

Latin

Today - We played "Hangman" with Latin vocabulary from Lessons 1-3. I did a terrible job counting the letters, and it threw the game off several times. But...most of them were forgiving, and we just kept on going while laughing at my errors! Hee Hee

I encouraged the students to think of English words that sound or look like the Latin words or stems and use those definitions to translate the Latin vocabulary. I think it would be neat to see how they would do in defining English words using their knowledge of the Latin word. (Hint: I may have a fun worksheet for them to do Week 15 using their vocabulary!)

We, then, discussed Appositives, the Expletive "there", and Latin speaking.

For the week- Read Lesson 3 pp. 38-48; Exercises 38-44; Vocab. pp. 42 and 44; Grammar to #64. This is from Weeks 8 and 9.

Rhetoric

Today - We read through our summaries of the chapter in ICJH entitled "More Wonders of Design." With the intricate way we discovered that some insects live and communicate, it really continues to cement the idea of intelligent design. God's plan for each of these small insects should reassure us that He has an incredible plan for each of us. Praises! Ask your student what the word "sluggard" means, and what the Bible says that the "sluggard" should do and why.

Don't Check...once again did not disappoint as we learned that Bible is fact and not fiction!

For the week - Follow the guide! Memorize the catechism questions. Week 15 may lend itself to a fun game of Jeopardy!

Geography

Today - With a map of Europe, I challenged the students to identify all that they could from memory. Once they had exhausted all they knew, they were to look at the list in the guide and/or use their atlases to identify and circle what they did not know. This will help them focus this week on what they need to work on.

For the week - Draw and label...Draw and label...Draw and label...EUROPE! I postponed their test to Week 15. If they would really like to draw for the test next week then they can.

Science

Today - Most of the students presented their research on Reptiles. I was so impressed with their eagerness to share their work. I love that!! I introduced next week's topic of fish by watching "Finding Nemo" and creating paper fish with scrapbook paper. They looked really neat.

For the week - Follow the guide!

It is my desire for each student to rise to his/her level best, never backing down from being all that they can be, taking risks, and learning new things... academically, socially, athletically, or spiritually. This is a wonderful environment for them to do so!

Thank you once again for allowing me the privilege of spending this Tuesday with your children.
Blessings,
Debbie

Week 12 - Challenge A

Another great day in our little corner of the world! A special thank-you to Joe for the delicious cookies he brought in...Yummy Spritz cookies from Germany and Scandinavia! Also, to Rachel for the "Tea and Cookies" from the United Kingdom! Lastly, a chocolate thank you to Seth for the brownies he brought in to celebrate his 13th birthday. Needless to say...we all love to eat! :)

Remember that we go to Airbound next Tuesday. We will go straight to Airbound after class...getting there at about 4:30. The cost is $12/hour, but we have a coupon for a second hour free. Please let me know if your child will or will not be going. I have the coupons for each student. There is a snack bar there too.

On to the really important stuff...

Math
Today:
--We reviewed material from Lessons 49 - 52. The students took notes from each lesson. Taking the notes really encourages them to focus. I love watching them work.

For next week:
--Follow the guide!

Literature and Composition
Today:
--The Magician's Nephew papers were returned. Look for them. Based on these essays, it seems that the students are understanding LTW quite well.
--A list of required elocution elements went home with the students today. It will help you and your student with the essay due next week on Number the Stars. I am not focused as much on spelling and grammar. I am looking for the components required.
--We started working on the editing element of subject from Lesson 4 Elocution.

For next week:
--Complete part or all of Lesson 4 Elocution A "Basic Editing:  Subjects."
--Compose an essay on Number the Stars.
--Read (begin reading) Amos Fortune, Free Man.


Latin
Today:
--Lesson 3 was introduced. We discussed third declension nouns. It was cute to watch them understand what the word "various" meant from their memory work in Foundations.
--They worked on declining nouns in the third declension. They struggled a bit finding and using the stems of the vocabulary words, but in the end...they seem to master the concept.

For next week:
--Follow the guide for Week 7 and Week 8, which is
Read pgs. 35-41
Read Grammar 45-64 (memorize the numbers to do with gender)
Vocab. pgs. 36 and 39
Exercises 28-38 (even and odd problems with even and odd lesson numbered exercises)

Rhetoric
Today:
--The class studied four pictures of animals and charted their similarities and differences. Then, they took on the role of evolutionists with the task of explaining to me how the animals evolved. They worked together, all eleven of them, to try to convince me. In doing so, they realized that there wasn't an explanation.
--The activity lead us into a brief discussion our summaries of Chapter 11 in It Couldn't Just Happen.
--We spent a little time checking the Don't Check Your Brains...They had to help me figure out the answer to the last question.

For next week:
--Follow the guide!

Geography
Today:
--The students studied countries, capitals, and features in small groups. Then they labeled the large class map of Europe.
--I quizzed them on the countries and capitals. Jenny and Zach were on fire with the answers!
--The class took the geography terms quiz.

For next week:
--Draw...Draw...Draw...Europe and Label...Label...Label!! The test for Europe will be on Week 14.

Science
Today:
--The students worked on the Amphibian questions that they created last week.
--Most of the students presented. Some did not, but will next week.
--We watched a brief video on reptiles which is the subject of the week's research.

For next week:
--Follow the guide!

Looking ahead to Week 15. The class time will be spent reviewing this semester's work. The children are interested in a Christmas Party. I am going to check with the church to see if we can use the Youth Room. Maybe we could watch a Christmas Special, eat supper and dessert together, and exchange small gifts (new or used...we can discuss that in the next week or so!) Let me know if you like this idea or would like to do something else. I am open to ideas!

Blessings,
Debbie

Challenge A - Week 11

A special thank you to those folks that brought in snacks! This class does love to eat...me too! Thanks also to the sweet, sweet students that treated me to my favorite apples. I munched on my Fugi first, but cannot wait to get into the Honeycrisp and the Gala!

A few items of business...

Portrait orders and money are due on November 5th. Bring them to class, and someone will pick them up for Gina.

On November 12th, Mrs. Jensen has arranged for us to go to Airbound Trampoline Park. The cost is $12 per hour, but Mrs. Jensen has printed a coupon for each child  that will let them bounce for a second hour for free. We will leave the church as close to 4 as we can and will bounce from about 4:30 to 6:30! I have to stay late on Tuesdays, so I cannot leave right at 4. I will need some parents to take or you will need to take your own child to the park. You can come go with us, or you will need to pick your  child up there. Please let me know what you are going to do. Lastly, there is a waiver that needs to be filled out before you can bounce. You can get it on line on their website,
http://www.airboundtrampolinepark.com/greensboro-home

Math 

 

Today: 
--The children took notes on the lessons 45-48. Take a look at their note taking skills! We are going to work on these throughout the year. I think it will help them organize their thoughts and ideas as they are listening to lessons, not only in math, but in other subjects too. I want to be sure that they can find material that will help them through math lessons throughout the week.

For the week:
-- follow the guide.

Remember...test them to see how they are mastering the concepts being taught!

Literature and Composition

Today:
--We shared items on our ANI charts. We then created topics to sort the items in the chart. I introduced "amplification," and we completed pgs. 45-46  in the Student Book. It was not a difficult task, but does require some thinking. They may decide as they begin to write that they would wan to change their amplification for their final papers. That is fine!

For the week:
--sort the ANI chart
--Create an outline from the ANI chart using the Student Workbook pgs. 47-49.

Remember to watch the videos if you have questions. Each lesson is only about 10-15 minutes and are quite informative!

Latin

Today:
--We reviewed Exercises 19-23. The students did not have any questions about these exercises.
--We looked ahead to the next assignment, which includes Exercises 24-27.
--We read Grammar numbers 34-44, and discussed any concepts that puzzled us.

For the week:
--Follow the work outlined on Week 6 in the guide. Again, for even numbered exercises, they can do the even numbered problems, and the same for odd. Be sure to check their work to check mastery of the content.

Rhetoric

Today:
--We discussed Don't Check, but did not get to ICJH in lieu of a Catechism Question Football game. It seemed that they were quite engaged in the activity, and I was amazed at how well they did in answering their questions.

For the week:
--Keep studying those catechism questions.
--Work on Chapter 11 in both books.

Geography

Today:
--In class the students worked on locating the features of Europe using colored pencils. They could work alone or with others. It was great to see them sharing their finds! I have to Google a few features!
--They are getting quite adept at using the atlas.

For the week:
--Keep drawing and locating!
--Complete the Europe map started in class with all the features, countries, and capitals for a special "treat" next week.
--Study those geography terms from Weeks 10 and 11 for the quiz.

Science

Today:
---We dissected Owl pellets. I know they have done it a million times, but they really wanted to do it again...it fit with our work...so we did!
--They presented their research...and did a super job!
--We read a short article on amphibians and created 3-5 questions from the reading. I am going to compile 10-20 of the questions for them to answer in class next week after re-reading the article. I look forward to reading their questions!

For the week:
--Follow the guide and research amphibians.

This was an incredible day! The class was talkative, but on task and having fun! I love hearing them talk and discuss their work. Keep encouraging your child to build one another up. It is so much easier to do than to tear someone down. And...it feels better!

Thank you for sharing your children with me each Tuesday!
Blessings,
Debbie

Week 10 - Challenge A

It is soooo hard to believe that I just wrote "Week 10" as the title of this blog! Five more weeks before we break for Thanksgiving and Christmas...Whoa!

Here's is a recap of our day...

Math
--Today, we only got to look over the lesson titles and briefly discuss each one.

I took some time at the beginning of our day to talk a bit about being kind and being attentive to our speech. I discussed several verses in the Bible about being kind, like Colossians 3:12; Zechariah 7:9; and Galatians 6:10. Also, I read verses which discuss how words can "pierce", like Proverbs 12:17-19 and Proverbs 15: 1-2. Lastly, I read the Max Lucado book You Are Special in hopes of reminding each of the young Christ followers how special and unique they are.

This is an incredible class with a great reputation throughout our campus! They are just experiencing some growing pains that I hope to deal with as a class. If need be, I promise I will contact you individually. Promise!!

For Week 11:
--Follow the guide.

Literature and Composition
--I collected the essays and look forward to reading their work!

--We reviewed Lesson 5 Invention "Comparison:  Similarities and Differences."

--We completed and discussed Lesson 7 Invention "Circumstances" on page 113 in the Student
  Workbook.

--We started the ANI chart in class


For Week 11:
--Add 15-20 items to their ANI charts so we can share their ideas. We will sort their inventory in class.

Latin
--Please check Exercises 15, 16. and 17. No one offered any problems from these exercises when
  asked in class today!

For Week 11:
--Follow the guide for Latin Week 5. Please adapt the number of items that are done with each exercise. As a general rule...For odd numbered exercises, do odd numbered items and for even numbered exercises, do even numbered items.

Rhetoric
--We discussed Chapter 9, "One Among Many," in Don't Check Your Brains at the Door.

--We played football with the Catechism Questions. The score was 18 to 18, so we need a tie-breaker!
   Be sure to have your child study the questions, so we can break the tie next week.

For Week 11:
--Follow the guide.

Geography
--Week 8 and Week 9 Geography Terms Quiz was given, corrected and returned. They did a great job
   with the terms! Keep studying!!

For Week 11:
--Draw or trace Europe...label countries, capitals, and features. Divide the continent, as it is in the atlas,
   if small chunks of work is better for your child.

Science
--It was interesting to hear each of the presentations today. Rarely, do the students research the same
   topic, which engages each of the students.

For Week 11:
--Research owls or birds of prey.

--We are going to dissect owl pellets!

That's all Folks! I look forward to each Tuesday and the opportunity to spend the day with these fascinating children.

Have a great week!
Blessings,
Mrs. Black

Challenge A - Week 9

I can hardly believe that we are in Week 9! The semester is flying by...

Here are the assignments that the children will need to do this week.

Math - Follow the guide
---Because of our photo session today, we did not get to discuss Lesson 40. We were able to discuss and work on the other lessons.


Latin - Exercise 15 odd #'s
                Exercise 16 even #'s
                Exercise 17 odd #'s
---We will check these in class, so please be sure your child packs their work in their bag.
---Most of the class is ready to move on, so I will be picking up the pace, so as to catch up with the guide.


Rhetoric - Follow the guide
---We had a great discussion today about "E"volution vs. "e"volution. Keep up the good work!


Geography - Europe
---Suggested week-by-week study: (this differs a bit from what I said in class,)
    Week 9 - Week10   Trace Europe and identify countries and capitals
    Week 10 - Week 11   Trace Europe and identify countries, capitals, and features
    Week 11 - Week 12   (ditto previous week)
    Week 12 - Week 13   Draw Europe and identify countries and capitals
    Week 13 - Week 14   Draw Europe and identify countries, capitals, and features
    Week 14 - Week 15   (ditto previous week)
---This is only a suggestion of how to conquer Europe over the next several weeks. You may have done it differently in the past, so work on the maps as you see fit.
---Whether your child is tested on the features or not, they should still draw and label the features. It is great work to learn to use an atlas. If they cannot find it in the atlas, I suggest they use the internet to locate the feature.

Literature and Composition
---The Magician's Nephew persuasive essay due Week 10. In this essay, they should include
    parallelism, comparison, exordium, and strong verbs.
---As directed in the guide, complete Student Workbook Lesson Three Elocution, "Basic Editing:  Verbs." You may adapt this work according to your goals for your student. LTW want them to have a good understanding and be able to identify the "3 Common Verb Errors," which are passive, cliché, and vague. The exercises on these pages will have them do just that.
---I suggested that they find their Strong Verb lists from IEW and use some of those. Those who took IEW are already familiar with using strong verbs, but LTW uses different grammar, so we will need to learn and understand that language.
---Read Number the Stars.
             The question is "Should Uncle Henry have helped the Jews?" What is the issue? As you     read, you can work on your ANI chart.

Science
---Follow the guide
---It was great to hear all the students present their information.

A special thank you to Maren Shaw for those yummy homemade cream puffs, which is a common pastry in France. I love the geography treats!

We had a great day...
Blessings,
Debbie

Challenge A - Week 7
Hello all! We had quite a busy day with lots of stuff to get done. Thank you to Mrs. Wolowitz, Zach's mom, for getting drinks to enjoy with the pizza. Thank you to Mrs. Harrell, Katie's mom, for those delicious chocolate cupcakes. And, thank you to Mrs. Gaines, and Meredith, for the Turkish Delights. (Mrs. Fogleman brought in a special treat too...look in the Geography section.)

Don't forget picture day on OCTOBER 15TH! I sent the order form via email last week. Orders will be due by OCTOBER 29TH.

Let's get right to business...

Math

Today...
We discussed the concepts from Lessons 29 - 32. We discussed rounding whole #'s and mixed #'s, as well as estimating answers. We took another look at common denominators and adding/subtracting fractions with different denominators. Reading and writing decimal numbers and decimal place value were topics from Lesson 31 that we practiced. Lastly, we read about the metric system.

For the week - Follow the guide!

Literature and Composition

Today...
We discussed The Magician's Nephew. Reading should be completed this week.We started the ANI chart and worked on developing our "inventory" using the 5 Common Topics found on pgs. 11 and 12 in the Student Book. They did a great job discussing the topics from the book. I love watching them develop an idea from the book and then deciding where it belongs in the chart.

I am strongly encouraging the students to come up with 20 items for each column of the ANI chart, as directed for them to do in the guide. Using the 5 Common Topics should help them with this task. That may sound like a lot, but it is part of LTW to really challenge the student to build ideas to use in their writing. It is easier to write an essay if you have lots of ideas to choose from. Do some each day. It will be tedious to try to do all of these on the same day.

For the week -
--The guide will direct you to Lesson 5...go there and take a look. It is working with comparing two concepts, which is one of the 5 Common Topics. Have them complete the lesson on page 67 on a separate sheet of paper using any two concepts they would like to compare. I would suggest that they use items that they might be able to use in their writing.
--They do not have to do the workbook pages "Introduction to the five Common Topics". I have ask them to use these 5 Common Topics in developing their ANI charts. I think this would be more useful than completing workbook pages for this assignment. I will be asking about the specific topics they used to build their inventory.

Latin

Today...
We reviewed how a noun is listed in a Latin dictionary, or in our vocabulary lists. We reviewed how to find the stem in order to decline the noun. We moved on to Lesson 2 and completed Exercise 10 together in class. We, also, worked through number 13 in Exercise 11. I believe that they are really understanding the Latin.

For the week -
--Exercise 11, odd numbers after #13
--Exercise 12, even numbers

Rhetoric

Today...
We had a "Round Room" discussion about the Theory of Evolution. The students worked in small groups to counter the statement, "The Theory of Evolution is fact." It was quite interesting to watch them work in groups...homeschooled students do not get the opportunity to do this very often! It was even more interesting to hear their ideas. We also had an opportunity to discuss how Jesus, being fully man, demonstrated anger and how his mildness was not weakness, but "strength under control."

Be sure to study those Catechism Questions. I am ready to get started playing games with them. The more they know...the more fun the games will be.

For the week - Follow the guide!

Science

Today...
We were visited by Anne Fogleman, Joe's sister. She is an avid shell collector with a wonderful collection of mollusk shells that she shared and discussed with the class. Several students shared their writings, and they were all different and well presented.

For the week - Spiders...EEEEEK! They do not have to write an research paragraph this week. I sent home a spider chart for them to work on this week. They are to go on a "spider hunt" and list the necessary items in the chart. Based on their descriptions, they are to identify the type of spider they found and write its name in the last column of the chart entitled "other comments". Lastly, they are to choose one of the spiders they found and draw/color it on the back of the paper.

Geography

Today...
The Central America, Greater Antilles, and Lesser Antilles map drawing test was done today. I look forward to seeing how they did. Please send in a note with the items you expect your child to do. I will honor that as I review and assign a number to their work. For the future...I am going to give them the list of features, so they do not have to memorize the words, just the locations.

I sent home a word search for those that wanted one with the 12 geographical terms listed that they can work and use to look up their terms for the term quiz next week.

Students worked in pairs to identify the countries, capitals, and features of South America. We will complete this task next week. 

For the week - Follow the guide! Study geo terms for quiz.

Thank you to Mrs. Fogleman for those delicious chocolate treats from South America. YUMMY!!

Blessings,
Mrs. Black

Challenge A - Week 6

YAY!!! What a much, much better day! They earned their fifth banner, so a treat of some kind is in the works for next week. I am thinking about pizza for lunch...or something! Please watch out for an email to come with details.

Let's get right to business...

Math

Today...
We discussed the concepts from Lessons 25 - 28. We spent a lot of time finding LCM using prime numbers. It was great fun to watch their light bulbs go off throughout the room...(Mine included!) Please spend a little time this week working with the calculator as directed in Lesson 25. It will be helpful for them to know how to use it with reciprocals as they move through Algebra and beyond!

For the week - Follow the guide!

Literature and Composition

Today...
I gave them an enlarged copy of the outline. They can use this or create one of their own using this format for their essays due Week 7. This essay will be more detailed, but just follow the outline. An example is in their Student Book on page 24. You can use some of the IEW dress ups familiar to most of you in order to present a strong case to support your thesis. I can see -ly words, strong verbs, and sentence openers being used. But, you don't have to.

The proofs and the supports come from the inventory on the ANI chart. When writing the supports, you may want to use something from the "Interesting" column. (I told you we would get to this column) Also, when sorting in the future...we do not have to sort the "Interesting" column. We only sort the Affirmative and Negative columns.

We discussed "Parallelism" and looked at the examples on page 20 in the Student Book. They should use this "scheme," or technique, in the essay they write this week. Follow the guide and work on some of the parallelism exercises in the Student Book pages 20-24. Parallelism is defined in the Teacher Book on page 70 toward the top of the page.

If you are struggling with LTW...watch and re-watch the videos. Let your student watch the videos with you. I have found them to be quite useful when I get stuck on a topic. If you get busy this week, let your student watch the videos without you! With only having an hour each week with LTW, I will never have enough time to address every issue, so most of the instruction will need to come from their teachers.

Also...you are welcome to come to class some to learn this with your student.

For the week - Follow the guide!

Latin

Today...
We reviewed the role of nouns in a sentence. Those who are quicker with Latin even enjoyed the review. Once we identified the noun role, we were able to decide which Latin case and number to use. We did not decline them, but we looked at the English and Latin together.

I sent home a paper with about 5 sentences on it. I want them #1 to decide what the case and number is for each noun, and #2 to translate these sentences into Latin. They will be working with 1st Declension noun endings and verb agreement from Lesson 1.

Remember... #1  There are no articles in Latin. They are "understood" with
                          the nouns.
                    #2  The verb is usually at the end of the sentence.


Please feel free to work ahead in Latin with your student. If they are getting it, let them work. I just know that we are all going to be on the same page soon. Once these basics are understood...

Rhetoric

Today...
We had a "Round Room" discussion about the age of the earth. It was really enlightening to see how much of the Bible the students were able to talk about. They did not have specific verses, but they had the idea. I think I will challenge them in the future to find the verse they want to use in discussion.

We all did come to the same conclusion...The age of the earth and the time of a day was not as important as our knowledge and love for Christ Jesus and His undeniable love for us!

For the week - Follow the guide!

Science

Today...
Several students presented their writing and illustration of their trees. They were great...I do like that they all did something different. It makes for interesting listening when the topics are all different. Thank you Katie for the apples off the tree from the campus. Yummy!

For the week - Follow the guide!

Geography

Today...
We located several countries and capitals in Central America. We did not get to the Antilles. We took the Geography Terms Quiz. I collected them and will return them corrected Week 7. We then played Geo Term Bingo. It was lots of fun to watch them try to figure out, once I called out the definition, if they had the word. Keep practicing each week, not only just the week at hand, but all the way back to Week 1! I may pull this game out again sometime. A special thanks to Seth for the yummy Coconut Bread and to Jenny for the yummy Mexican cookies! Wendy, Seth's mom, is going to send me the recipe. When she does, I will forward it to you!

For the week - Follow the guide! Test on Central America and the Antilles.

Thank you for talking with your child about classroom behavior. I do want the during class talking to keep to a minimum, but what a great class to want to socialize with each other. I just love this class...each and every one of them.

Blessings,
Debbie

Challenge A - Week 5

I have decided that creative blog writing is not my strength, so I am going to just write the basics! I hope that is okay. If I run across something during the week that I think you would like to see or hear, then I will send it via email.

Each morning, I start the day by randomly opening the Bible and reading a passage that my eye catches! Today, I opened to Hebrews 11! Oh...the faith of our forefathers. I encourage you to read the chapter with your child and be encouraged to "Keep the Faith,"even in the day to day difficulties of life!

This was quite a day! Whoa...

The class did not get banner #5 for a special treat next week. Here are the things that I noticed today...

---there was talking across the room to classmates

---there was talking to classmates sitting next to each other

---there were several students who just didn't do the work that I was trying to get them to do in class, ie. not doing math problems, or writing down something quickly as I walked through the room to see how they were doing

---several did not follow directions. I had to repeat myself 3 or 4 times to get them to do what I asked

---several of the students were not prepared for class...not just the work, but did not have items that we use for class, ie. they did not have a Bible, or their atlas, or the geography maps from their guide

---I actually stopped going over new geography because I could not speak over several students talking while I was

---Several of the students were looking on other students' maps while testing for Canada

If it were just one or two of the same students, then I would address the issue with that individual parent, but it was a little bit of everyone. Please, please, please reinforce respectful class behavior. The room is too small for there to be any talking above a whisper. It distracts everyone.

I am a very strong disciplinarian and I attempted to halt behavior as I saw it, but it was constant today. Again, most everyone contributed to the chaos of today!


Now, with that out of the way, let's get to the subjects!

Math--
--We discussed practiced items and grammar from Lessons 21 through Lessons 24.

--Follow the guide for the weekly lessons.


Rhetoric--
--We had a great discussion about the continental drift, as well as what has happened to Earth over time. Also, it was interesting to learn about how Jesus describes himself in the Gospels.

--Follow the guide for the weekly lessons.


Literature and Composition--
--We added to the ANI charts using the "5 Common Topics." We sorted the affirmative items and discussed how to sort the negative. We looked at what the next essay outline will look like on page 18 in the Student Guide.

--I returned the Rudimentary Essay!

--Sort the negative items on the ANI chart. Do Lesson Two Arrangement A "A Guide to Sorting," as instructed in the guide.

--Using the outline on page 18 in the Student Guide, write a thesis, and decide what their three proofs will be. We can work on the supporting details in class.


Geography--
--The Canada drawing test was done. We looked at Central America, the Greater and Lesser Antilles.

--We played Geo-Term Hangman, which they were quite good at! Keep studying those terms.

--I returned the America maps.

--This week draw and label Central America and the Greater and Lesser Antilles. Study the geography terms from Week 4 and Week 5 for a quiz and game.

--Here is the list of geo snacks...

Challenge A Geography Snacks
Fall semester
week	date	region	family
1	08-20-13	USA	Varnell
2	08-27-13	USA	Fogleman
3	09-03-13	Canada	Gaines
4	09-10-13	Canada	Neely
5	09-17-13	Central America/Caribbean	Lindsay
6	09-24-13	Central America/Caribbean	Jensen
7	10-01-13	South America	Fogleman
8	10-08-13	South America	Garmer
9	10-15-13	Europe	Shaw
10	10-22-13	Europe	Harrell
11	10-29-13	Europe	Agresti
12	11-05-13	Europe	Fogleman
13	11-12-13	Europe	Richardson
14	11-19-13	Europe	Wolowitz
15	11-26-13	Thanksgiving/Christmas

Science--
--The presentations on herbs were great! There was a lot of variety, which I thought was interesting. Thanks, Katie, for the cheese and herb snack!

--We watched a brief power point presentation on NC trees, then headed outside for a tree hunt. I was amazed at the number of different trees that were on the church grounds!

--Tree presentations are specific this week. The topics are as follow...

   Jenny - Red Maple
   Hope - Weeping Willow
   Meredith - Magnolia
   Maren - Loblolly Pine
   Katie - Plum Tree
   Matthew - Red Oak
   Ryan - American Holly
   Zach - Yellow Poplar
   Rachel - Red Bud
   Cara - Dogwood


Latin--
--There are several students that are struggling a bit with Latin. Before we move any further into Lesson 2, I thought we should be sure of some basics. So...I backed up some!

--We reviewed parts of speech. We cannot decline or understand the case of a noun in Latin without having a grasp of what the noun role is in a sentence in English. Today, we covered subject and predicates with the focus on the subject noun, the nominative case!

--I am going to continue working with Lesson One material for next week. If your child is struggling with Latin, practice declining the noun vocabulary again from Lesson One. And, review the role of nouns in a sentence. (Subject, Direct Object, Object of the Preposition, Possessive, and Indirect Object)

--Please feel free to move on with the guide. I am sure that once the students grasp these basics, we will move quickly to catch up!

That's All Folks!

Have a great week and know that I am blessed each Tuesday by spending time with your children. I love them in spite of this day!
 

Challenge A - Week 3

 

Another wonderful week with your children! Thank you for sharing them each Tuesday with me! I pray they are having a fun time learning, and that they are getting adjusted to the challenge programs.

 

Long post...please be sure to read carefully! I am not a great writer, nor a very interesting one, but I am working on it. Please bear with me as I learn to blog in a more interesting fashion.

 

 

Math

We discussed and demonstrated problems about equal groups from Lesson 13. Without much prompting, the students could tell me about parts of a whole being fractions, decimals, and percentages. We worked a bit on Lesson 14 with problems using parts of a whole. We spent more time on looking at equivalent fractions using a clear ruler. By using the ruler, the students could see the equivalent fractions of an inch. I stressed, stressed, and stressed the importance of reducing fractions. We did not do problems or examples in doing so, but we will start with this on Week 4 as a review. I may do that each week to get them used to reducing. That was such an issue with my own children...can they ever get enough practice?? Lesson 16 was briefly discussed, but we did not do any conversions.

This week...
**Complete Lessons 17 - 20 as directed in the guide
**Take Test 3 at home
**Bring your answers and any problems with the lessons to class

Literature

They are ready to write their rudimentary persuasive essay. PARENTS PLEASE NOTE...this is an rudimentary essay. It should be short and simple following the example on page 7 in the Student Book. It may seem too simple for them after working with IEW, but remember that we are learning a different type of writing. IEW are lessons are on information gathering and expository writing. LTW are lessons on persuasive writing, which they will learn to "dress-up" a different way as they go through the program. Keep reminding yourselves and your students of this point. All writing cannot be addressed with the IEW method. It is a wonderful way to introduce and carry students through their elementary years, but it is time to develop a more critical approach. LTW offers that, but we have to start with baby steps. This year Challenge A programs across the CC community are starting LTW, next year Challenge B will be added, the next year Challenge 1 will be added and so on. Your students are ushering in a new way to express their ideas, and hopefully, persuade others to believe as they do. Can you see how this can be used by God to further His kingdom?

This week...
**Write the simple persuasive essay supporting the thesis we developed in class. Some of the students believe that Edmond should have followed the White Witch, and others believe he shouldn't have. We discussed proofs supporting both points of view. They should have those in their Student Books.
**Read Carry On Mr. Bowditch

Latin

 

Latin was shortened so we could finish the proofs with LTW. We declined the vocabulary on page 7 in the Accusative case and discussed when to use this case. We did not discuss the Genitive case on page 16 in the purple book as much as I would have liked, but Ex. 8 and Ex. 9 will cover it. 

 

NOTE: When the exercise directions read "Say in English or Latin", I want them to write it and say it. 

 

This week...

**Complete the following:  Ex. 6, even numbers; Ex. 7, odd numbers; Ex. 8 even numbers; Ex. 9 odd numbers. (Of course, they can do more!!)

**Study for Lesson 1 Quiz. Which will be open book, and they will be able to discuss the quiz with their classmates...not me! (I envision a big huddle in the middle of the room with the students discussing on their own...Lesson 1 Latin. That looks so cool to me in my mind... I hope you catch the vision as well!)

**NO STRESSING ABOUT THE QUIZ. By design, it will set them up to succeed, not fail. I will not let that happen. I will be watching their interactions closely!! 

 

 

Click on link to hear vocabulary from Lesson 1.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MC2Gn7EnQRA

 

Click on link to hear the First Declension noun endings. Stop the video at 1.06 minutes!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIMMJ3gHIv0

 

 

 

 

 Rhetoric

 

I know now why so many tutors enjoy this part of the day. We had a great discussion about how God created the "odd planet", earth to support life for us. They will be reading and writing more about our "odd planet" this week. In DCYB, we read about how truly different God is from "the force" that Luke Skywalker depended on. This book is so much fun to do with the students. Be sure to be learning three catechism questions each week. By Week 4, they should know the first 9.

 

This week...

**Read Chapter 3 in both books and record the written work in their blue spiral books.

**Study the first 9 catechism questions.  

 

 

Geography

 

Your children are so diligent! They worked diligently on the US map and features drawing quiz. The geography terms stumped some of them, so be sure to keep up with those.

 

I am going to switch things up a bit. Instead of giving them the drawing test and the geographical term quiz on the same day...I am going to alternate them. Every odd numbered week, they will have the drawing and labeling test. Every even week, they will have the geographical term quiz. that is self checked. 

So...Week 4, they will be quizzed on the geographical terms for Week 3! Week 5, they will be tested on Canada. Week 6, they will be quizzed on Week 4 and Week 5 geographical terms, etc.

 

We started Canada and watched a video introducing us to our wonderful northern neighbors. Thanks to the Gaines family for the delicious maple donuts and candy, and the salt and vinegar chips. I love maple anything!!

 

NOTE ON GRADING GEO STUFF! I will give a 1, 2, or 3 depending on the artistry, accuracy, and neatness of the map drawing. If you, as the teacher, want to give a different type of grade, then please feel free.

 

The quizzes are self corrected. I have them circle the numbers that they did not answer and mark the numbers they missed. This will give you an idea of how they did. Some students were tempted to change answers when the checked their work. Please let them know that this is unacceptable. Take a moment this week and discuss integrity and honesty. No grade is worth comprising one's integrity...this vital life lesson has got to take hold now, and with urgency, if you have not already discussed it with your child. Believe me...I did! And I will stay on it!

 

This week...

**Study Week 3 geo terms for quiz.

**Draw...Draw...Draw and label Canada. Since Canada is such a difficult draw with the northern islands, I am fine with them "blobbing" those islands. They must, however, label the provinces and featured islands correctly.

 

Science

 

We listened to all the reports except a couple. On Week 4, I would like to do something a bit different. I want to go on a wildflower hunt and do flower and herb pressing in class. I think class would be more interesting if we did some presentations and some topic associated hand-on activity. Please let me know what you think about this. It is a slight diversion from the guide, but I want to incorporate all the learning modalities.

 

This week...

**Wildflowers is the research topic. Bring in a thick book that we can use to press our flowers. I will send it home for you to stack more things on top. Joe thought of a cinderblock to use at home...great idea!

 

Have a great week!!

Blessings,

Debbie

 

Fall Semester - Challenge A - Week 2

Tuesday was a full day! We did a little of everything...listening, talking, presenting, eating, discussing, eating, visiting, watching, eating...Yes! We had two delicious snacks. Thank you to Seth's mom for those S'more brownies, and to Joe's mom for those sugar topped Chocolate Chip cookies, which were brought in as the snack from the US. I can hardly wait to see what comes in from Canada!

Math

We discussed and demonstrated adding, subtracting, and multiplying fractions; reciprocals; the 3 ways to write a division problem; writing division answers as mixed numbers; and improper fractions. Time ran out before we could get to an in-depth discussion about the topics in Lessons 11 and 12, but I was able to briefly describe the main ideas.

This week...
**Complete Lessons 9 - 12 as directed in the guide
**Take Test 1 at home
**Bring your answers and problems to class

Literature

We spent the entire time adding items to our ANI chart and categorizing the affirmative. Once we had completed categorizing the affirmative items, we realized that we only had two categories; one about Edmund and one about the White Witch. In order to move from the Invention to the Arrangement of our writing, we needed a third category, which we made about promises/temptations.

This week...
**Categorize the items on the negative column of the ANI chart. These items do not have to be categorized in the same groups as the affirmative items were. They are grouped according to what they have in common. (See pgs. 64 and 65 for sample grouping)

Here is the ANI chart we composed! Click on the photo for a better view!

Latin

We declined the vocabulary on page 7. All of the students were able to decline these first declension nouns with little difficulty! Choosing pieces of popcorn (wadded pieces of paper) they randomly paired up to translate and diagram the sentences in Exercise 5 on page 11. Before stopping for the day, we discussed gender # 32 and #33 in GRAMMAR, so Exercise 4 on page 9, should be a breeze. (HINT:  There is only one masculine noun on the list!)

 

This week...

**Work on Exercises 3-5. We did a lot of these in class, so it should not be too difficult for them to do.

**Continue to write and study vocabulary cards. There is vocabulary on pg. 7 and pg. 11.

**Read grammar rules 14-33. That is a lot to memorize, so just read through them a couple of times each week. 

 

Click on link to hear vocabulary from Lesson 1.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MC2Gn7EnQRA

 

Click on link to hear the First Declension noun endings. Stop the video at 1.06 minutes!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIMMJ3gHIv0

 

 

Rhetoric 

I know now why so many tutors enjoy this part of the day. We had a great discussion about the creation of the earth. I especially loved how well they seemed to grasp the idea of how "something cannot come from nothing." I purposely planned this class to come after lunch so we could be full and relaxed...and we sure were!

 

This week...

**Read Chapter 2 in both books

**Record finding from "ICJH" (It Couldn't Just Happen) in the front of the binder

**Record information in the study guide for "DCYB" (Don't Check Your Brains at the Door) in the back of the binder

**Study catechism questions in the center of the binder

 

Geography

We studied the US features in earnest. First, we located them on small US maps, then we took turns locating them on the bigger US map at the front of the room. We, also, located the rivers. Thank goodness for Google on my phone, because some of them were not even in the atlas. Please feel free to adapt the number of rivers to be located to what you, as the teacher, feel necessary. We did not get to the geography terms, but I will spend a little time quizzing aloud before giving the written quiz.

 

This week...

**Study Geo terms for Weeks 1 and 2 for quiz on them. It is a matching quiz, so the word and its definition are visible.

**Draw...Draw...Draw! I will give them a blank piece of paper for them to draw and label the US. Remember that I will collect them, but will only give a mark of 1, 2, or 3. One point each for artistry, neatness, and overall accuracy. Please let me know what changes you make to their map requirements.

 

Science

We only had time to listen to half of the class present their science writings. I am planning on hearing all of them in the weeks ahead.

 

This week...

**Research fungi

**Draw and write informational paragraph in sketchbook

 

(Click below for a brief lesson on Fungi)

http://www.kidsbiology.com/biology_basics/five_kingdoms_life/fungi4.php

 

 

The room that we are in is small! I would like to try sitting on the floor again on Tuesday. It worked fairly well. If your child would like to bring in a bean bag, that would be fine. Then, they would not have to be up against the wall, they could hang out in the middle of the room, freeing up some space against the walls.

 

Please encourage appropriate classroom behavior. Most of the children are settling in nicely to the new school year. Some are still a bit "out there" and need to be reminded to calm down a bit!

 

We are off to a fantastic start...I am worn out by Tuesday evening, but it is a "good" worn out...thank you for entrusting your children to my care and tutorials! I love all of them...