The HMJ/Weekly Wrap Up

     In Our Life For the Past Two Weeks: Last week we had to go take S. A. T. tests so after that we did not do any schooling. The weather was beautiful so we enjoyed our back yard.

     This week the weather has been beautiful and we would have loved to have spent the week again out doors, but I figured we might better do our duties and work on our school work so out side time came after school. Other than the norm of every day life, not anything spectacular has happened.

     In Our Home Schooling: We began Module 8 in our Apologia: Exploring Creation With Physical Science. This is the second Module about weather. Before last week when the weather was so beautiful my children have had a lot of time to study the clouds and the weather around them because it was raining every day, or every other day. There's not any thing like first hand experience to educate. They even had the opportunity to see a tornado coming down from a cloud. Thank goodness it went back up in to the clouds. They were riding with my mother-in-law when they saw it. When they returned to where their daddy & I was we got our ears full of the excitement of weather.

     Math has become fun in my house. We have finally made it to the day when math is not like pulling teeth around here. We are learning so many different things in our Saxon 8/7 math, but Ratio & Proportion has become by far my children's favorite types of problems. Thanks to the pnemonic, "Please excuse my dear Aunt Sally," they are having no problem with the order of opperations in the Algebraic expressions.

     Literature/English/Art has been great for my son. We are reading the book "Johnny Tremain." After we finish our reading each day they paint a picture about some part of the reading. Then, they have to write a paragraph about the picture/days reading. At first my son was having a problem with letting his writing be a bit choppy. We would have to sit down, read each sentence, & add/change the words to make his writing flow smoothly. The past three or four paragraphs he has done completely by himself. He is also doing a superb job with putting a topic sentence & drawing his paragraph to a close. Everything has an even flow from beginning to end. I'm seeing improvement in his writing skills.

     For history we read the book "Our Constitution: I Know America" by Linda C. Johnson. This book is small, but informational. It does a great job of breaking the Bill of Rights down on a very low level so that they are easily understood.

     My daughter had sewing lessons this week. She has been wanting to make a quilt from a small quilt top that she had acquired. My mother-in-law quilts, so she has been giving lessons to my daughter on a small quilt square before she starts her quilt top. I'm not sure who is more excited, my daughter or my mother-in-law that my daughter is wanting to learn to quilt. Here's a few pics of the sewing lessons:

     My daughter has decided that she likes quilting much more better than crocheting. It only took her one lesson to determine this.

     What I'm Thankful for This Week: that my children came through their S. A. T. tests with confidence. They were not intimidated by them.

     What we are cooking this week: southern food, collard greens with corn bread, pork steak, corn casserole, lima beans,red beans & rice with CONECUH sausage, bacon egg & cheese sandwiches for breakfast, & of course a bit of fast food style, pizza & french fries.

     I think that will about give you a peak at our home schooling. I'm linking up with the HMJ & the Weekly Wrap Up. Drop over to these links to enjoy some more great blogs. You will be encouraged.