I can hardly believe that Week Seven is in the books. Do you realize
that by next week, we'll be halfway through the first semester?!?! WOW!
By now, you should be starting to feel like the Challenge A workload is
settling down and becoming "normal" for you. Like I said at the
beginning of the year, it takes about 6 weeks to really get a firm grasp
on the weekly workload and seminar expectations. If you're still
feeling overwhelmed, THAT'S OKAY! Give yourself some grace and continue
to persevere...and call me if you need some encouragement. :)
BIBLE
Speaking of perseverance, our character trait this week was DETERMINATION.
We
discussed what determination is and how it manifests itself in the
lives of your students. Everyone agreed that our Challenge A workload
requires quite a bit of determination to complete. We searched Scripture
for examples of what GOD says about determination and for examples of
determination in Scripture. Some answers included:
David was determined to defeat Goliath
Christ was determined to save the world through His death on the cross
Noah was determined to be obedient while building and finishing the ark
I
would encourage you to study Bible as a family this week and look for
examples of persistence and determination in Scripture. There are plenty
to choose from, but to get you started have a look at:
Psalm 25:2
1 Corinthians 9:24-27
2 Timothy 4:7
LATIN
FINALLY!!
We've reached the end of the Latin declensions! Today I introduced the
5th and final Latin declension. Your children are now fully equipped to
look at any Latin noun, regardless of whether or not they know the
meaning of the word, and do five things:
1: Determine what declension the noun belongs to
2: Identify the stem of the Latin noun
3: Determine the gender of the noun
4: State the number of the noun (singular or plural)
5: Fully decline the noun in all 5 cases, both singular and plural
THAT'S
SOMETHING TO BE REALLY PROUD OF!!! You are all new to this craziness we
call Latin, and after only 7 weeks, you're practically Latin noun
experts!
Keep
practicing the endings of all 5 Latin declensions. It's so important to
have them memorized and to be able to recall them quickly!! We'll
always use them when we're dealing with nouns, but we use these endings
again when we start learning about adjectives. Here's a quick reminder
of all the endings:
AT
HOME: Please refer to your guide for this week's homework assignments.
Don't forget to make a new flashcard for EVERY NEW VOCABULARY WORD and
practice them daily.
Suggestions for parents @ home: If you want to try some new Latin review activities at home, check out this website:
http://www.onlineuniversities.com/blog/2010/06/50-fun-and-educational-websites-keeping-latin-alive/
It offers a comprehensive list of 50 different websites/activities that you can do together with your student.
LOGIC/MATH
As always, we began our seminar with
a mixture of 10 mental math problems. This is such an important skill!
If you are not using the Saxon math curriculum (which is FULL of mental
math exercises), here are few that you can try at home:
http://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/7-11-years/mental-maths
Though
the mental math problems on that site are directed toward 7-11 year
olds, practicing even the "easier"concepts will result in faster and
more accurate computations on the problems we try in class.
I introduced a handful of new math terms, and we completed an example of each on the board. Keep drilling those terms at home!
We
continued what we did last week - reviewing the previous week's concepts
through dialectic discussion. In each problem we worked we asked the
same questions (based on the 5 common topics):
Definition - What do you see? What does .... mean? What is...? (i.e. solve, evaluate, reduce, fraction, exponent etc)
Comparison - How are these two numbers similar? Can you tell me more about their differences?
Circumstance - Can any parts be written in different way? (i.e. 5
4 (5 to the 4th power) same as 5x5x5x5)
Relationship - What do we need to know to answer the problem? (i.e. when dividing fractions, you multiply using the reciprocal)
Authority - What math law(s) are we using to answer? (i.e. identity law) What is the answer?
Can we work the problem in a different way?
The students brought in problems to share - and again we
discussed each one, and then worked to answer it. They get better each week
with the questions, definitions etc.
I quickly previewed concepts of rounding (with whole & mixed
numbers), estimation, as well as adding & subtracting fractions with
different denominators.
Be sure the students bring in the completed lessons you assign to class (even if they are not doing Saxon).
**Students
should bring in a problem from their math lesson to share (this can be one
they struggled with, one they think will stump the class, or anything
they found interesting & would like to share & explain) This will help them be rhetorical!!
SCIENCE/RESEARCH
Today
the students presented on the ocean. We had a lot of diversity among
the topics that were chosen, and everyone learned something new. That's
the idea, isn't it? We want to expand our knowledge of this beautiful
world that God created and look for the endless ways that everything in
this world points back to HIM!
Please
continue to have them practice their presentation skills
at home. Remember to look for interesting, unknown facts about the
topic and put those IEW tools to work! The expectation is not for your
child to bring a full research paper on their chosen topic, but rather a
fully developed paragraph. We want to focus on growing both our
research AND our presentation skills.
If
time permits during your week at home, don't forget that you can bring
in a "sample/example" of
the topic you have chosen. This is an especially good idea for weeks
like this where we actually have TWO weeks to do only one week of
assignments.
After
our presentations, I introduced our new topic for this week: protozoa
and algae. They were less than enthused about this topic, mostly because
they were unsure what types of organisms fall into this category. I
heard a lot of, "Well, I'll just do my presentation on algae." YOU as
the parent have the discretion and are the final authority on your
child's topic, but PLEASE encourage them to step outside their comfort
zone and go learn something new! There are all kinds of interesting
things that fall into the protozoa/algae category and I am excited to
see what your kids come up with. Need a few ideas? Start here:
https://www.sciencedaily.com/terms/protozoa.htm
http://www.encyclopedia.com/plants-and-animals/microbes-algae-and-fungi/moneran-and-protistan/protozoa
http://allaboutalgae.com/what-are-algae/
LTW
This week marked our 3rd return to the topic of INVENTION. Remember,
each week we will learn a new skill that helps us develop in a better
thinker and a more persuasive writer.Today, In class we learned another
tool to help us create ideas for our ANI
charts - the comparison chart/worksheet. I introduced the topic of
comparison by asking the students to tell me about the characteristics
of an apple and an orange.
BOTH HAVE: skin, seeds, flavor, a stem, juice
BOTH DO: grow on a tree, taste sweet, roll
BOTH ARE: fruits, round, delicious, healthy
I modeled how to complete the
chart by comparing the two fruits, and together brainstormed about two
characters (Polly and Digory) and their actions from
The Magician's Nephew. We then chose one character, created our class
question, and then converted it into an issue. In class, we used the
issue "Whether Digory should have
kept the apple for his mother". We then compared Digory to Polly. I
explained to the students they could have compared Digory to
anyone (or anything) in the book. We used the information in our newly
created comparison chart to see WHERE in our ANI we could place the
information. ***NOTE: All the information generated by this comparison
chart (and all other charts we will learn to use this year) can ALWAYS
be placed into the "I" column of our chart.This is certainly the easiest
way for your child to complete their work, but please encourage them
to be thoughtful. ALL information in the "I" column should be evaluated
to see if it can fit into either the "A" or "N" column instead.
This week the students will to come up with a question & convert it
to an issue. Then they will compare one of the terms in the issue
(terms are nouns - usually will be a person) to something/someone else
using workbook p 67 (just like we did in class.) The students can always do more than
1 comparison worksheet (i.e. Digory to Polly; another Digory to Abraham
of the bible). They will also complete the 5 Common Topics worksheet that was introduced 3 weeks ago. Using
those 2 tools, they will complete their ANI charts with a minimum of 20 in each column.
Please have them bring their 5 Common Topics worksheet, the comparison worksheet & their ANI charts to class next week.
I collected their 5 paragraph essays and will return them next week. I'll be
checking for parallelism in the thesis & for "wording" in each
paragraph according to the guideline/sample provided (i.e "The first
reason...was that...; The second reason....was that"). For those who
did not get to read this week, they will read next week.
Suggestions for parents @ home:
Review student workbook pages. Assess ANI Chart to ensure it meets with
this week's requirements. Re-watch DVD Lesson 5 Invention if needed for
this week's assignment. Watch DVD 3 Lesson 5 Arrangement to prepare for
next week's lesson.
DEBATE/GEO
This week in class, the students
took their quiz over Central America and Greater & Lesser Antilles.
I will return those next week. Please remember that I do not grade
them, I only "assess to bless." If you would like to assign a grade to
their quizzes, please refer to the geography grading rubric that I
provided at the beginning of the year.
We continued our walk south across the globe to study South America this
week. We will have 3 full weeks to learn the countries, capitals, and
features of this fabulous continent, with the added bonus of having an
extra week of study this week! I expect you guys to come back to class
next week prepared for a huge review session...you should ace it! After
locating South America in their atlases and viewing each country on our
giant world map, we began to practice drawing & labeling the
countries while I read to them about Nate Saint and Jim Elliot, who were
extraordinarily brave missionaries to Ecuador in the 1950's.
We will have a geography terms quiz next week.
Students should bring in maps that they've drawn. They'll show the class their best map.
****Remember that at the end of the year we will be drawing the world -
states, countries features - everything from memory. Students need to
continue to draw areas they've been tested on. So this week, students
should draw USA (states, capitals, features), Canada and Central America
& the Antilles. Also, at least ONCE per week, please have your
student draw a world map that includes ALL of the information that they
have studied to date.This will help them enormously as they begin to
prepare for their mid-term Blue Book Exam. The more they draw the better
they'll get - the more they will be able to remember.
Suggestions for parents @ home: Drill
student on provinces & capitals as well as geography terms. Check
daily drawings for accuracy & labeling. Be sure students continue
to draw previous geographic areas - adding them to new areas. Continue
to drill previous states & capitals.
RHETORIC
This week, we discussed Chapter 6 in
ICJH. The students broke into 2 person teams and answered questions
based on each section They did very well!
We reviewed the new catechism questions for the week and played "BOUNCE OFF" to review.
Suggestions for parents @ home: Read and discuss
chapter 7 in ICJH at home.. Check that your student is filling out the study guide
for ICJH & highlighting sections of interest to them. Drill catechism questions
(remember they must be able to state word for word).
REMINDER:
There is no class next week! Please enjoy your Fall Break and do something fun with your family. See you in two weeks!
