Weekly Report: Weeks Fifteen, Sixteen, & Seventeen

Yes, I've missed a few weeks. Week fifteen ended with PC's birthday, followed by Thanksgiving, and last week... I have no idea what happened. Suffice it to say that the weekly report just didn't happen.

We've had productive weeks, though. EG has moved firmly into the 20th century in her history studies, which is a time period I just adore. She's read several books about World War I, the suffrage movement, and important figures of the first few decades of the 1900s. Most of her literature reading has been historical fiction about the same time periods. Memory work has gone well, too, and she added "In Flanders Field" to coincide with her study of World War I.

In science, the unit on light was finally completed, and we've proceeded onwards to water physics. At last! That will be finished before we break for Christmas. Math is going well - she's officially started algebra and is having a lot of fun with it! She's also finished all of the Key to Decimals books and all the Key to Measurement books.

Latin is still going well, though I think we're going to take it a little slower in the next semester. Because she still has issues with spelling in English, she uses her flashcards to help her spell the words in Latin. So there's definite value in her study of Latin, but I don't want to proceed too fast so that she becomes frustrated with her inability to put her correct answers in a readable form. Plus, I have to concede that we're not a Latin-centered homeschool, so a time investment of thirty minutes a day seems disproportionate.

EG also started her new writing curriculum - Classical Writing Homer A. So far, so good, though she's told me she thinks it's a little easy. I think it will start to crank up in the next few weeks. She's still proceeding through Junior Analytical Grammar. I love it. It's not seeming to help her retention any more than any other grammar she's used, though. It's strange. She can use proper grammar in writing, and she can complete any grammar text-specific exercise with flying colors. Ask her to extrapolate the knowledge to another context, though, and she just doesn't seem to make the connection. Since she's clearly able to do so in, well, every other subject, she clearly needs a different approach. We're looking at a couple of options.

We haven't done spelling in a few weeks. It was torturous for both of us and I decided it was better to take a break than to forge on hating every moment. We'll resume it after our break, in the new year. She has been able to start doing some work in cursive penmanship - hooray!

Co-op, band, and Master's Academy have all ended until January, but piano lessons will continue through next week.

FB insists that he doesn't need to learn how to read, but continues to work hard on his handwriting and wants a spelling book. Go figure.