We had a pretty productive week—even after a Mommy Meltdown!
This month our focus is on all things Language Arts. We’ve started studying verbs in our Rod and Staff English. So far it has been mostly review.
I teach.
You teach.
He teaches
. I taught.
You taught.
He taught.
I shall teach.
You will teach.
He will teach.
In MegaWords we finished our Cv/VCe words.
inquire
subscribe
illustrate
membrane
And have started on r controlled syllables
perturb
sherbet
whisper
abnormal
In Grammar for Middle School: A Sentence Composing Approach, we kinda went wild and covered several sections. E-R and I-E have really loved modeling sentences, and they look forward to reading the sentences and remembering the books they’ve come from or asking about the books they haven’t read yet. E-R was very excited about this paragraph she embellished. It started as
Rachel stared at her ruined doll. She had played with that toy every day. Her parents had given her other toys, but she always loved this doll the most. She looked down at the broken doll. The doll lay there, and she wiped her tears away. Rachel knew that birthdays would bring her more presents, and new toys to play with, but none could replace her doll.
And after E-R got her hands on it
Rachel stared at her ruined doll, headless and cracked. Throughout every year, she had played with that toy every day. Her parents had given her other toys with lots of moveable parts, but she always loved this doll the most. Crying, she looked down at the broken doll. Always ready to play, the doll lay there, still wanting to play. She wiped her tears away, frowning. Rachel knew that birthdays would bring her more presents, and more movable parts and new toys to play with everyday, but none could replace her doll.
We’ve also worked in Essay Voyage. I’m pretty impressed with the program. At first I thought the classic essays were expecting a bit much, but now I appreciate the mind stretching and discussion. I-E produced an awesome paragraph for her end of chapter assignment. I am especially happy with her sentence variety, something we’ve been working on improving.
What is a Red Panda? A red panda is a small cat-sized panda. This panda lives in mountain bamboo forests. It’s sharp claws help it climb trees while looking for food such as fruit, birds, eggs,and small animals. For hunting at night the red panda has large whiskers.
We’ve also fit in our Shakespeare studies as well as math and geography. But they seem almost an after thought with the progress we’ve been making in language arts. It’s good to see progress!
What has been working out in your homeschool?
Yay for progress! :D I chuckled a little because there was a lot of progress written of in my weekly update also but math was our focus and LA was my afterthought - so much so that I don't think I mentioned it in my update at all. Have a great weekend!
ReplyDeleteSometimes those mommy meltdown's are just what we need to get us to re-focus, right? You had a very productive week! Now go do something nice for yourself!
ReplyDeleteMrs. W, thanks for the kindness. I went out and had lunch with a friend and took the afternoon off---felt so much better afterwards.
DeleteGreat week. I keep considering R&S. Thanks for your honesty regarding the Mommy Meltdown. I have to limit my computer time to scheduled breaks and I had to decide between FB and my blog. I choose the later. Adhering to a schedule around the house has helped me so much. But there are times I still have a breakdown generally brought on by stressful situations holidays, planning next years curriculum etc. One thing that has helped me is to schedule a week off after so many weeks so that I can catch up around the house. HTH!
ReplyDeleteThanks Tiffany. I hate schedules---but they are just what I need!
DeleteThe kids really did an impressive job on those paragraphs! I don't really know where to begin with MCT but it looks like an awesome program.
ReplyDeleteThanks Sara. I think MCT is an awesome program. It was all very confusing for me until I got my hands on the actual books. I'm happy with what we are doing with Rod and Staff grammar, so I'm only using the writing portion of MCT. My son that is attending a B&M high school may come home next year, and I plan to use one of the upper levels with him. This http://rfwp.loge.co.uk/pages/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/LA-ELEM1.pdf may help you get a feel for how the program is put together. It does seem kinda of confusing, but isn't after looking at the actual program.
DeleteNice to meet you from the HOP! I love your take on learning History :)
ReplyDelete