Week In Review ~ Unit 7

We had a short week last week since I had a couple appointments, so we are still finishing up Unit 7 in Bigger but I managed to remember to take a couple shots of the children hard at work. Industriousness is the theme this week and they are really taking it to heart.

To aid my oldest in completing all his subjects I came up with a very simple schedule using the time chart cards I made here. I tweaked it a bit and made it more portable since he does his work where ever he is most comfortable. He was having a problem remembering to actually check for subjects that are not done everyday. I will be adding that post soon along with some more reviews!!!

This pregnancy is harder on me than any of my others so I am letting that dictate our speed but we are generally doing about 4 1/2 hours for Bigger and 6 for CTC plus. My tot received a package of Busy Bags last week as part of a swap I participated in and we are having a blast with them. I will post all of those later also. Hope your school days are now in full swing and enjoyable.

Bigger

Science & Art

 

 

 

 

Math

 

 

 

 

 

History

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cursive

 

 

 

 

CTC

Math

 

 

 

 

 

History Project

 

 

 

 

 

History Notebook

 

 

 

 

 

Extension Narrations

 

 

I really need to get better and covering my 16 year old’s work but he is usually reading in some hidey hole or does his projects when I am otherwise occupied and I miss it.

Tot School

I have not really began any kind of structured learning with D as she is only 31 months old. It is still mainly playing for her but she does ask to do certain things and so I will have things out for her but she usually asks for something I have out of sight (which isn’t much since we have no real storage here).  This past week it was mostly things from our swap, her favorite being the sticky foam letters and shapes.

This is a hand drawn do a dot with those decorative stones (they are flat on one side) she loved it!

 

 

 

 

 

Intense art/drawing with erasable pencils

 

 

 

 

 

 

Practicing color sorting

 

 

 

 

Matching bead colors

 

 

 

 

 

 

Magnetic alphabet book, she is a little young for this books real purpose which is spelling but she has fun with all the magnetic letter tiles.

 

 

 

 

 

One to one correspondence

 

 

 

 

Fav of the week!

 

 

Apparently my computer was in trouble and needed help.

And here is a - just because she’s starting to enjoy having her picture taken since she used to hide from the camera – shot.

Mandy

Visual Latin ~ TOS Review

We had an opportunity to check out a new to us Latin curriculum. We had been using a program we truly loved that is textbook based. When I saw a chance to try something new based on videos I thought it might be a fun change of pace, especially for my high schooler.

Compass Cinema produced Visual Latin is a DVD based Latin curriculum that incorporates humor in each lesson, recreates the immersion experience in the classroom, and requires little teacher prep or interaction. Moving from grammar to reading to translating the Latin Bible, it is very much a self paced, self taught program. Visit Compass Cinema to view a sample of free lessons.

Visual Latin | A Quick Explanation from Compass Cinema on Vimeo.

Visual Latin is, in my opinion a very well thought out and impressive curriculum. We found it engaging and easy to slow down or speed up where needed. Each lesson is broken up into 3 sections, A-grammar, B-sentences, and C-reading, with PDF worksheets for each. We worked at a slower pace doing one section a day for three days a week for a single lesson a week pace. Each video is between 5 – 8 minutes long so doing a single lesson in one day certainly is not a strenuous pace. Two lessons a week is the recommendation for an average pace.

My son enjoyed the videos and liked the humor. He felt that he retained the info with little effort and the lessons were short and sweet. As Charlotte Mason home schoolers these lessons were wonderful as each is simple, concise and teaches usable information right away instead of a repetitive list of words you could not use in conversation.

I highly recommend this program for anyone who wants an independent program for their student. If I had the money I would be buying the entire series since my son liked them so much. It can be used for students from ages 9 and up. While Visual Latin is not enough for high school credit you can read here the suggestions on how to make it so easily along with other FAQ’s. Compass Classroom’s blog is a great place to check for updates and other info.

Cost:
Visual Latin – Latin 1 Download $25 (10 lessons) or $75 (all 30 lessons)/DVD $80 (lessons 1-30)
                     Latin 2 Download $25/DVD $30 (lessons 31-40 with more coming)

Also check out the online lessons for Lingua Latina HERE which you could use for High school credit.

Contact:
The Compass Store
609 West Iris Drive
Nashville, Tennessee 37204

Website: http://store.compasscinema.com/
              http://www.visuallatin.com/
              http://compassclassroom.com/visual-latin/

For other reviews on this product click the TOS Crew banner at the top of this post.

Mandy

Disclaimer: I was provided the first 10 lessons of the above product for free in exchange for my honest opinion.

Week In Review Unit 6

This past week was Unit 6 for both boys and They are really enjoying school this year. We took a Sabbath week to regroup and after this past week I am wishing I would have switched them. Celebrating my oldest’s 16th birthday has nearly exhausted this momma! I got their grades entered and they are very pleased with only having 1 sick day so far.  I am feeling ragged tonight so I will just let the pictures speak for themselves.

Bigger

 

 

For the record, I really try to keep my middle child in clothes but he has recently felt the need to act like tarzan for some reason!

 

CTC

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And some tot school fun

We also did some glue activities but they got lost when I imported my pictures grrr!

 

 

Mandy

Week In Review Unit 5

This past unit I spread out a bit so it ended up being more like 2 weeks.

Deirdre is getting more interested in doing school so I have been forgetting to take pictures. I hope to have more next week. Both boys are now doing the same unit in their respective programs and are doing really well. It is a very complete program so I am having trouble adding in my high schoolers electives. It seems if it isn’t in his manual then he forgets to do it. I see a lot of weekend intensives in his future!

Bigger

Poetry

 

 

 

 

Science

 

 

 

 

 

Storytime

 

 

 

 

 

Art

 

 

 

 

CTC

Poetry

 

 

 

 

 

History Notebooking

 

 

 

 

 

 

We also did a bit of a later unit using the book One Small Square: Woods because we happened to find some huge mushrooms in our yard and decided to not wait until we got to that lesson as it will probably be harder to find them then. Which is why home schooling is so cool we can learn what we want when it is an interest not at some predetermined time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Also Princess D is 31 months old and begs to do school so here is a bit of what we did last week. A lot was repeating the same things but she is learning new things each and every time.

 

Drinking from a big girl cup

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gluing packing peanuts to a form (these are made from cornstarch and melt when wet)

 

 

 

 

 

What happens when you take a marker under the table for 5.5 seconds.  I never said a word to her but apparently she decided Hitler was not a good guy to pretend to be. I have to fess up here, I was busting a gut!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

More cutting practice

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Color matching game

 

 

 

 

Painting with watercolors

 

 

 

Mandy