Thomas
Thomas is doing so well with algebra. I’m not sure he loves it, but he is definitely finding it much easier than last term.
He is also doing well with his chemistry, completing another two modules with ease. He has also found a new set of videos on YouTube he is enjoying. He spends an hour each day on his IGCSE Chemistry and a half an hour watching fun Chemistry videos. These increase his understanding, as well as ensuring he is learning around the set curriculum thus giving him a well rounded education on the subject. This week, he has been playing about with learning how to make a wooden peg gun, which shoots lit matches:
Whilst he is not enjoying going right back to the start with his writing, I believe he is learning bits and pieces and is storming through his work books. I am having him do lots of copy work to improve his writing, which seems to look great in his copy work pages but has not trickled down into his normal writing yet. Small steps….
He is thoroughly enjoying his Christian Film Making course (a review product) and is yearning to get himself an SLR camera. But for now is using mine. He is hoping to use this course to produce a film about Thomas Edison, which is his project this year.
Tuesday saw Thomas attend his second session for his course in Engineering at the local college. He was nervous about the amount of writing he had to do, but actually it was not a problem at all! The class will be focusing their engineering efforts on mobile phone design, with the goal of testing lots of designs and then improving on them.
Today, after our parent-teen conference, he will be spending the afternoon on his Thomas Edison project.
Lillie
Lillie is working much harder this week, as she felt pressured at the end of last week to complete her study on Monet. This week is all about Renoir, and she is enjoying learning all about him. I will be posting about her Monet study on Saturday.
She also completed a Spring Splendor mixed media picture:
I think she has plans to give it to her new Godson for his bedroom 🙂 I really liked this one.
On Tuesday she went with her sister to do the school assembly at the local church school. The girls played Adam and Eve 🙂 Later on in the day she completed her second mixed media project of the week from the I am a Masterpiece course. She is going through this course with one of her friends and they have produced some beautiful work:
On Wednesday, she focused on her project a bit more. Part of her study on Renoir is to learn to draw faces. She has really excelled in this (I think) and is really improving:
Her final piece will be a copy of a detail of one of Renoir’s paintings entitled Little Irene:
She intends to focus on the face, using all she has learnt about face construction:
She has made a start on the background, and next week will concentrate on the actual face.
Charlotte
Charlotte spent most of Monday in music lessons. Her piano started back, which she thoroughly enjoyed. During her singing lesson, she was given a variety of songs to choose from for her exam at Christmas. She is having a hard time choosing, there are so many good songs!
Charlotte has also done the next chapter of her Christian course on Dreaming big for God, as well as reviewing a product for me (Everyday Education: High School Writing)
Both girls became Godparents this week to little baby T. They were so excited to be asked. The service was lovely and afterwards we went back to Tracy’s house for a nosh up and a cinema experience (yes, they actually have a cinema in their back garden with proper theater seats! How cool is that?!
After a week on strong anti inflammatories, Charlotte’s knees seem to be hurting slightly less. We bought her some knee supports last weekend and this Thursday, she managed to play ultimate frisbee without too much of an issue.
A8
Having felt like I had let A down last week by not doing enough school work, this week has been another matter entirely. I bought some writing and maths books from the Letts Wild About series, which I thought would go brilliantly with her project on Endangered animals. I bought the first set of seven books, meant for 5-7 year olds, thinking they would be great revision and she would be able to do them herself. She loves to work independently and these allowed her to do just that! She completed two pages of each book each day (14 in total each day!).
She also worked at her conquer maths, completed a week and a half of Science Shepperd (catching up from last week) and a lesson a day of EdTechLens Rainforest Journey. She is loving the amount of science she is learning at the moment 🙂 We made a volcano and erupted it with the help of bicarb, food colouring and vinegar…..it never gets old, and Thomas begged to be included (!!)
A has also begun a Spanish course (a review product) which I can not tell you how much she is enjoying! She begs to do it all day long and I have to limit her 🙂 She does this independently, and honestly, is having so much fun!
We worked our way through chapter one of her Tiger Rescue book, and learnt all about the cat family and all the different cats within this group, the physical attributes which make a Tiger a Tiger, types of Tigers including the extinct varieties and where they live in the world. I did a web search and photocopied a heap of infograms for A’s scrapbook. We went through each one before sticking it in her book. This was a great way for A to learn to read graphs and maps in a way that was interesting and meaningful to her.
We also managed to begin our plans to raise enough money to adopt the next animal we will be learning about.
B5
The picture above is of B at the weekend. She had lost a needle from her sewing kit and was devastated 🙁 Daddy was trying to cheer her up.
B5 hasn’t done a huge amount this week. Granny is away so she is just ticking over on the essentials. I need to look at her schedule and maybe schedule in some time with her siblings. She completed the first chapter of her maths book on patterns and graphs. As I have sat beside her, explaining everything, I am certain she understands everything and is ready to move on to Chapter two.
We are currently reviewing a phonics program and it is really suiting her. She is coming on leaps and bounds in a very short amount of time. I get quite choked up listening to the last child of mine I will ever teach to read 🙁
B5 has also completed five lessons on the rain forest and if she continues at this pace will easily be finished by half term. This week she has been learning about plants and in particular ferns and moss. Oh and talking about plants, she has picked the first tomatoes from the plants she has watered religiously for the last few months. She was so happy!
We have also been plugging away at her project this term/year, which is learning to sew. She is learning really well and quickly. Even better, her slightly older sister has chosen to join her, which I am not unhappy about.
On the blog this week
On Monday I wrote about how I made a simple sewing kit for my youngest daughter who will be sewing for her project this term (click on the picture to read):
On Wednesday I reviewed a book called The Pray-ers, a novel and study guide wrapped into one:
I hope you all have a wonderful weekend full of love and happiness with those you love the most 🙂
