Another year older!

Miss Melody turned 11 years old this weekend!  We celebrated on Friday with her very, dear close friend, who happened to be born just two days before Miss Melody in the same hospital, with a brunch at Cracker Barrel and yet another trip to the zoo.  Yep, that annual family pass has more than paid for itself and then some!  My girls just LOVE animals.  Period.  And it was worth it, even though it was quite chilly. Miss Melody loves the Lemurs the best, but I'll spare you all from any more zoo animal pictures, lest you think that's all we do over here.  Let me just say, though, that I'm convinced that fall is the best season to visit the zoo!

 The zoo just put in a new carousel ride, which we had to try, of course.

 These two silly girls insisted on this picture for the blog. LOL.

 Of course, adults can still have fun too, right?  He only lasted about 20 feet with me on his back. My kids thought it was hilarious to see mom and dad like this.

 ...Making a wish... (and never mind that odd-looking #1...it looks just fine from the front!)

Brother Brass got her a mug from the zoo, and she was totally touched.  Why?  Because Brother Brass has a thing about making company either coffee or tea, lighting candles, turning on the classical music (which is sometimes his Star Wars sound track), and creating this ambiance of pleasure in our home.  His new thing is to make tea (I won't let her drink coffee yet :)  for his sis once in a while, and she just eats it up.  He felt it was important for her to have her own mug, since he's got his own mug collection going.  These two are so funny sometimes.  This may seem like nothing to some, but for a mom of a child who has extra challenges in life to overcome with his TS, OCD, and ADD, these are treasured moments in a mother's heart.  The mug was totally his idea, and I love this bond that they share. :)

I LOVE MY KIDS!

School Notes: Week of 10/3

Baby Bach...

*Discovered this week that he likes doing dictation.  I started dictating to him some of the "special sounds" from his A Beka phonics charts, as well as some short vowel words, and he thought it was like a game.  I let him use a white board to write on.  I think he's going to like it once we start the All About Spelling program that I plan to start here in the near future for both him and Miss Melody.
*Got a perfect score on his math test and completed 4 more lessons.
*Copied his first full sentence from just looking at a model from a distance (without having it displayed for him on the paper), and realized that spaces between words are important. He got the capital letter and period correct, though. :)
*Read a few more stories from his A Beka reader and is getting better with fluency and figuring out longer words.
*Enjoyed "researching" with Miss Melody about praying mantises

This visitor came knocking on my laundry room window yesterday morning, and our math time had to be altered in order to accommodate a praying mantis capture/rescue mission.  He now resides IN my laundry room in this butterfly habitat.  My kids (and husband) have been feeding him spiders, and it's fascinating to watch him eat.  I suppose we'll try to keep him for as long as he'll last.  He'd just die out there in the cold eventually anyways.  He's huge!  I think he's almost 4 in. long.  Miss Melody just recently learned about these creatures in her A Beka book, and she was quick to inform me that they are entirely trainable and make great pets.  He actually recongnizes her, I think.

In addition to her insect research, Miss Melody has...

*Completed some more reading and copywork from her Who is God? book
*Completed 6 math lessons in her CLE math (much of it is still review)
*Started learning about southern/central Asia
*Completed 3 lessons in BJU English, with an emphasis on learning the difference between dependent and independent clauses
*Did dictation for spelling
*Learned more about light with an experiment on creating a rainbow using a home-made spectrum and tying in her knowledge of light with how the human eye works.

Brother Brass...

*Did well on his first English test
*Was satisfied with a B on his history test, but confesses that he could probably do better if he studies more
*Got an A on his A Beka Prealgebra test, covering the beginning of the Algebra unit. 
*Not sure he likes the idea of using algebra to figure out story problems... (way too abstract for him)
*Completed 4 lessons in Physical Science and is still keeping up so far
*Saw a picture of a normal human liver, compared with a fatty liver and a cirrhotic liver, and decided that a healthy lifestyle may be worth pursuing...

Sister Strings...

*Spent all week watching Chalkdust Algebra 1 videos in order to review and gain some more perspective in the world of Algebra with some successful light bulb moments
*Started another writing unit and completed 5 BJU literature lessons, which she loves!  BJU American lit follows a chronological historical perspective, so she's getting a lot of history teaching, context, and review with that as well.  She especially enjoyed several excerpts from William Bradford's Of Plymouth Plantation this week.
*Completed 4 Physical Science lessons
*Is almost done with her 2nd American history PACE and is learning to highlight and take good notes on important details to remember in all of her classes
*Was pleased to submit her final copy of her last writing assignment for the blog...

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School Notes: September 2011 -Part 3

And to conclude our review of September...

Together we:

*Watched all of the Demolishing Strongholds DVDs by AiG, which were absolutely excellent!  We LOVE AiG stuff over here!  The kids were begging for more.
*Learned some Geography songs for studying Asia
*Started memorizing some Westminster Shorter Catechism via Training Hearts, Teaching Minds
*Completed Lesson one of Apologia's Worldview book 2: Who Am I? And What am I Doing Here?

Baby Bach:

Doing oh so well with A Beka's Math Track online teaching!  Math started out as easy review for him, but I like that he's getting that, along with polishing up writing his numbers well and consistently.  The auditory aspect of this teaching is very good for him.  He's memorized John 3: 14-19 along with several new poems and songs with his "class." 

 He's currently in the process of learning the special sounds on the 3rd from the last chart in his A Beka phonics, while going back to the beginning charts to review via his Letters and Sounds workbook.  My goal is to get all of those "special sounds" introduced to him early on, because I know once they get reading, they can learn so much more.  He's already able to pretty much read most basic directions on his own, which is a plus. :) 

Once we get through all of the A Beka charts so that he's familiar with most of the special sounds/groupings, I plan to start him in spelling with All About Spelling level one. 

He also really enjoys his Draw, Write, Now book for art and writing, and he completed the first LU of CLE LA.

Miss Melody:

Bible/Worldview:  Completed 2 lessons in Apologia's Who is God? book (she listens to the CD while she reads along, and she also does some copy work from there)

Math:  Is zipping through CLE's level 400 math since much of it is review from her A Beka teaching from last year.  There's a little more geometry taught in CLE, though, which she likes.  I suspect we'll be ready to start the 500 level just after Christmas at this pace.  Actually, I could probably do that now, which I may just do because I have to order the next 5 Light Units soon anyways. I might just order that first LU in the 500 level and just fill in gaps that way with review.  Hmm...  She likes CLE math, though.

LA:  The CLE LA was not a good fit for her. She needs more of a mastery approach here.  She has just started using BJU's oline streaming 6th grade English course.  We have the online teaching available to us through next Dec. 2012, into her 6th grade year, so we'll just take our time working through this book.  She's so excited to have a turn using BJU DLO!  We are also doing some dictation with Simply Spelling, as well as some penmanship practice with A Reason for Handwriting book F. 

Science:  Loving her A Beka 5th grade book.  She completed chapters 1 & 2:  Investigating Nature and The Amazing Mammals.  We just started the 3rd chapter, which is about light.

History/Geography:  Completed 3 chapters so far:  An Intro to History/Geography, Fertile Crescent: The Cradle of Civilization, and Ancient Middle East.  She is currently studying chapter 4, which is about the Middle East today, and we both love all of the Bible connections.  The geography teaching is just excellent.  Not too overwhelming...Written with a 5th grader in mind. :)

Books Read: 
With Daring Faith:  A Biography of Amy Carmichael by Rebecca Henry Davis (BJU book)
Winter with the Moodys by Sarah Maxwell

Brother Brass:

Math:  Started A Beka Pre-Algebra, in the Algebra- unit 3, using the teaching DVD's that I purchased via ebay last year. (This is the old edition).  I think we'll continue with this for a while, as there is quite a bit of business and consumer math teaching as well as a unit on geometry and even some Trig.  He's not quite ready for Algebra full steam ahead yet.

English:  ACE PACES are going well.  He focused on the history of the English language along with lots of outlining in his first 9th grade English PACE, which he completed and will be tested in on Monday.  He's also working slowly through his Etymology PACES for both spelling and vocab.  They are working really well for him and his strongly visual learning style. I hope to get through half of these this year and the other half next year. 

History:  Got an A on his first World History test, covering chapters 1-3, and seems to be retaining well from his A Beka class.  The teacher is actually quite funny at times.  The constant reveiw and drill is very good for Brother Brass.  This course gets an A from me so far! :)

Science:  Got a B on his first Physical Science test and is really liking doing his science with Sister Strings this year.  Again, the video teaching is going well.  They are both learning and retaining.  The are studying atmosphere and weather right now, which is an interesting topic for both of them.  This will be a challenging course for Brother Brass.

Health:  Loves this!  I wrote my own lesson plans for him, using A Beka's 8th grade health text, Apologia's Human Anatomy/Physiology text, and this website with Anatomy games:  Anatomy Arcade

Books Read: 
A Father's Promise by Donnalynn Hess (BJU book) 
Adam and His Kin by Ruth Beechick  *He actually liked this book and afterwards commented, "That Ruth girl is a pretty good writer, Mom." LOL

Sister Strings:

Math:  Has completed 1/3 of Teaching Textbooks Algebra 2, but we've decided it doesn't offer enough explanation, thorough teaching, and examples for our taste.  She's going back to using Chalk Dust company's Algebra 1 book and CD's (which we already own) for review and to complete the final few chapters, which happen to overlap with TT Algebra 2 book.  Actually, it covers pretty much everything that you find in TT Algebra 2. Chalk Dust tends to be more advanced, while TT tends to lag behind in terms of scope and sequence.  After she completes this, she'll go on to Chalk Dust's Geometry course. At least, that's the plan for now.   

English:  Completed her first writing project using Apologia's Jump In Writing course, which turned out to be a very good essay.  I'll post a link once I figure out how to do that on this blog.  I like that this course is teaching her how to organize her writing.  Her content is very strong, but she needed some instruction on how to organize her brilliant thoughts better. She also just started BJU's American Lit course online.

History:  Completed her first PACE in U.S. History with a strong A.  Loves the stories she's reading out of For You They Signed (Boyer), and is liking that history doesn't take her forever to wade through each day.  I thought the History PACES might bore her a bit, but she doesn't mind them so much.  She's learning a lot, actually.

Science:  Got a strong A on her first test.  Really enjoys doing this course with her brother.  She was able to help him learn scientific notation.  Yes, she knows it better than I do.  She will make a great homeschool mom one day. :)

Books read: 
I Kissed Dating Good-bye (Harris)
Do Hard Things (Harris)
The Hiding Place (Corrie ten Boom)
More Than a Carpenter (McDowell)

Everyone also started back up with our homeschool music company, including the younger two this year, which is new.  They are all singing in choir, and Sister Strings continues to play her violin.  Brother Brass had to choose between choir and intermediate band this year, and he chose choir.  I'm not sure if he'll continue French horn or not.  Miss Melody and Baby Bach are thrilled to have their turn to participate in a group.