This Week in Learning {Week 16}

I had to change the name I was using for these post. Learning Notes just didn't sound like me. I will be tagging these post with a new label. You can find previous post under Learning Notes. I'm not sure if I like this new name either but I couldn't come up with anything else, so I promise to stick with this name.  ; )

If you are looking for last week's Learning Notes This Week in Lessons Learning, it didn't happen. There won't be a post next week since we are taking Thanksgiving week off.

This week's pictures came off of Caleb's Kindle (Scott has taken the camera during hunting season) and quality isn't the greatest.

I was able to work some more margin into Caleb's day and now there is too much. He is finishing 30 minutes early 2-3 days a week before lunch break. I will have to add something back in. I think it was just rearranging some of the subjects that helped free up some time. 

We missed a couple of days of Morning Basket this week and we did about the same number of Afternoon Baskets that we have been doing (which isn't enough). I'm struggling in getting started in the mornings. We started reading Hamlet for Shakespeare study and I'm loving this Bruce Coville book that our library had. The boys should love this book . . . . they aren't showing much interest though. We listened to a new Christmas CD that arrived on Friday for Music Appreciation. I recommend Family Christmas by Piano Guys! Can't wait to listen again in a few weeks.

Caleb's science text is so boring! It's just a listing of facts. I know it's just this chapter because I previewed other parts of the book and it's not that bad for a text book (far from great though). I have yet to decide how to handle it. We did close it up for the week. I purchased The Curious Naturalist by Sy Montgomery and it arrived on Friday and we read the first chapter out of the winter section. It was delightful! This is how all science books should be written. We are studying God's creation and that is delightful and therefore you would think it could be written that way. LOL! I'm taking suggestions for science!
 
Tyler is enjoying his new science program (Chemistry) but when the experiments involve marshmallows what else can you expect. It is hard though and I'm not sure if it's appropriate for him or not. He loves experiments and does them no matter if he understands or not. ; )

Some how Caleb didn't get behind in math lessons this week. We have been struggling and missing one day a week which was starting to add up. He doesn't know it yet but he will be doing two lessons next week. (This is the only assigned school work for next week along with extra free reading.) He has been doing a lot of fraction work lately. I have to keep reminding him that this is review. Honestly, the Saxon book does a nicer job of explaining things than what we used last year. Or maybe it is just because it is review. He still can not finish a lesson in the 45 minutes of math.

Caleb some how did get behind in Writing With Skill this week. I'm not sure how that happened. He did require more help. We had a little pep talk about how he does just fine doing this on his own. 

Since we stopped reading Grammar Town we started Sentence Island. I originally was going to just get this book and I wish I had stuck to that plan. We like this one! I'm hoping this will help Tyler with sentence structure as he seems a little clueless in this department. I'm making Caleb listen to as he could use some help too.

Caleb is working hard in history since we finally have a book that he likes. He has an hour each week to read the chapter and write a narration. His narrations are good content wise but he needs some help with sentence structure. His sentence are beyond run-on. He is also not editing his work before printing it and turning it in (he is writing them on his Kindle). He catches most of his mistakes when he reads it out loud. Getting him to do that seems like an unnecessary challenge.

Tyler saw the eye doctor last week. I didn't suspect any problems but since we all (myself, Scott, Caleb, grandparents, aunt, uncles) need glasses it is just a matter of time. Tyler was pleased that he didn't require any glasses. He does require some eye therapy for focusing problems. This would explain his horrible handwriting. He does this at home on the computer. We have already seen improvement! This is his spelling sheet with words and dictation sentences. The top is before therapy and the bottom is a little over a week of therapy. We are already seeing improvements!

Overall, we had a good week. Tyler got everything done in his lesson plans and Caleb almost did (just WWS). 

I need to work on planning out the last two weeks of school for the calendar year. Can you believe it? We typically add in much reading during Advent. We will continue with math and language arts but I'm sure history and science will be replaced with the extra reading. 

How was your week?