Benjamin also finished up week 18 right before our trip to MN, I’m just catching up still. 😉
Bible:Â Ben continues to join Hannah in her bible reading goal for devotions. Then we have a book called Starting Strong, school readings, and passage memorization each week.
History/social studies: The second half of American history is not my favorite content, but Benjamin seems to be doing pretty well with it. He has always like strategy so he gets more out of the battle stories than Hannah did. We’ve gotten through WWI and into the depression. Major spines are Children’s Encyclopedia of American History, Landmark History of American People, Vol 2, and The World Wars. We have song/poem selections from Wee Sing America along with a Current Events and Timeline assignment each week.
Read Alouds:
We have enjoyed some varied looks at people in different parts of the US during this time unit. Little Britches, A Letter to Mrs. Roosevelt,Â
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry have been good but, of course, I cry. We also have weekly readings of poetry from Oxford Illustrated Book of American Children’s Poems.Â
Reading / LA: Language has settled into a weekly routine. We have spelling in Sequential Spelling 2, a cursive assignment, grammar in The Grammar Ace, vocabulary in Wordly Wise 3000, Book 4, a weekly creative assignment and dictation.Â
Benjamin has read a good group of books to himself, a few about prominent Americans that have been really good. Helen Keller, The Wright Brothers, Hero Over Here, All of a Kind Family, and George Washington Carver.
Science: Science has been primarily about magnetism with a little bit of light and electricity thrown in. Main spines are Mysteries and Marvels of Science, Usborne Science Encyclopedia, and Electricity and Magnetism. We also had some readings out of Light and Color, worked through the experiments in TOPS #33 Magnetism
using the Discover and do Level 4 DVD as a guide.
Math:Â Ben still does well in math and it working on long division in Horizons 4.
Extras: We love all the time we get to do things we enjoy and get school done too. During this unit Benjamin turned 10 and had a fun gamer party. We still have weekly Royal Rangers, Benjamin was awarded a year award in January. He also works on Harmonica and Duolingo as school subjects. His extracurricular was basketball this semester and Daddy was the coach. We also had all the holidays Thanksgiving and Christmas in Center Point and Bandera as well as a trip to Colorado over New Years. He didn’t think he would like sledding, but he did! 🙂