Weekly Wrap Up: Weeks 13-14 - The One Before Vacation Commences

We're more than half way through our year! How exciting is that? And just in time to take 2 weeks off for Christmas celebrations and ringing in a new year. We'll see you in 2016!

CORE WORK

Cate received a 97% on her Section 4: Sentence Parts with English Grammar 101, and will start Section 5: Modifiers - Adjectives and Adverbs. She started list 12 of her vocab building. Her began writing a creative story based on a show that she enjoys.  She read The Hobbit.

She's completed 75% of pre-algebra on Khan Academy. 

Sam worked in his Grammar and Writing Handbook, reviewing plural nouns, and researched, wrote and edited his "perfect paragraph" on his favorite video game "Minecraft" and Christmas. He finished up his Handwriting Without Tears Cursive  and began writing his "perfect paragraphs" in cursive. He continued to review Grammar with Grammar Ninja, but I've decided to stop formal spelling instruction at this time. Instead, he will look up misspelled words on my Android Merriam-Webster app and correct them. (It has voice recognition to make it a little easier.) He read Holes.

He's completed 47% of math 4 on Khan Academy.

Both kiddos have stalled out in Math, so we're spending a bit more time on it these days, reviewing concepts with videos and practice problems with hopes of moving forward.

SCIENCE SNIPPETS

Sam and I finished up Earth in Apologia Astronomy, and moved onto the Moon. We've been looking forward to studying the moon since starting Earth. Why? We got to model moon phases with Oreos!

• Layers of the Earth
• Made a Compass: "How Does a Compass Work", "How Compass Works - Magnetism Lesson for Kids", and "Origins of Earth's Magnetic Field" 
• Weather: Weather Chart and Tornado in A Jar
• Where the Word Lunar Comes From, Natural and Man-made Satellites, Sun's Reflection off the Moon
• Moon Phases: "The Moon", Rocket Moon Phase Game, Moon Phase Order Game, Oreo Cookie Phases Activity and Phases of the Moon Printable
• "From the Earth to the Moon" video

Cate finished Mod 5 on History of Life, Archaeology, Geology and Paleontology in Apologia General Science which was just reading and answering questions. She received a 100% on her final test.

CRAFTY CATE

Cate was not thwarted by my lack of being able to teach her to crochet; she taught herself! Being left-handed (or maybe it's just my spatial skills?), my work tends to be backwards and/or inside out when following patterns. Somehow it works for me, but doesn't work when teaching someone else. She figured out how the chain and do a half double crochet in the front post by trial-and-error. She made her first afghan.

HISTORY

Sam wrapped up "America: Story of Us" videos. It's our 2nd or 3rd time through the videos, and we've loved them each and every time.  We started reading aloud A History of US (Hakim).

Cate finished Ancient Music on Easy Peasy and is about three-quarters through Early American (week 26). She's been studying types of instruments, Native American music, classical music by Bach, Handel, Beethoven, Brahms, Haydn, Mozart, and Vivaldi, reading music (which she's already a pro at), Benjamin Franklin's armonica, and Pioneer and Revolutionary War music.

DAYS COMPLETED: CATE - 92 | SAM - 90

As always, special thanks to these bloggers for their weekly homeschool blog link-ups. Click on over to see what other homeschoolers are doing!

Happy Homeschooling!