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