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Weekly Report (with Listening Lacy)

17 February, 2012; Filed Under: homeschool

With wrapping up this week, we are two-thirds through our school year.
Time flies, friends. Truly. I think I’m getting old and sentimental.

A few instagrams from our week: Kathryn finally lost a stubborn molar; I made a crumb cake for a little homeschool moms’ get-together here at my house; and a visit from my dad, with notepad in hand (since he has lost the ability to speak).
Weekly 021712

We read about John Gutenburg this week. Although we knew he was the inventor of the printing press, we had no idea of all the struggles he went through to finally create a successful version. In reading The Story of Inventions (by Frank Bachman) this year, we’ve learned that making a living off being an inventor is hard to do, and many died poor before their idea or invention finally caught on. And anyone who has ever invented something great had to fail numerous times before he or she finally got it right. Persistence is a good thing! In a time when a daily wage was just 15 cents, a full Bible would’ve cost $150 or more — until the Gutenburg press, which brought that price down to a far more reasonable rate of about $4.  Just think what our lives would be like, for instance, if the printing press had never been invented! Kathryn and I both shuddered at the thought of not having books to read and love!

Kathryn is learning about simple machines in her LEGO class, and thanks to a timely tweet from Jolanthe, we discovered a fun interactive learning activity on EdHeads.orgs that taught us even more about simple machines! This week in LEGO’s class, the kids made a tapping machine, like the hammer in a piano. Next week, Kathryn is looking forward to building windshield wipers!

We began our Civil War lapbook, and finished reading Abraham Lincoln’s World, another Ambleside Year 5 selection, and a horizontal approach to the history of the world during the lifetime of Abraham Lincoln. This has been Kathryn’s favorite of our history readings, but we’re eager to start on the next one soon.
Civil War Lapbook

Yes, yes, I promised a Teaching Textbooks review. Kathryn is helping me with that, and I’ll post it early next week. Other than being tired of adding and subtracting decimals this week, she is still liking it.

Oliver Twist is still a hit. I was remembering back to high school, when I was assigned A Tale of Two Cities in high school, and I didn’t even make it through the first paragraph. It was the only time I ever used Cliffs Notes in my school career. I don’t know, looking back now, if it was really all that painful, or if I was just entirely unfamiliar with Dickensian language. Either way, I’m happy that I can now understand this sort of thing — and even better, Kathryn can, too! When we come across an extremely archaic word, we do sometimes pause to look it up on my iPhone dictionary, but mostly, we can figure things out in context, and only very rarely have to clarify something going on in the story. Yay for good literature!

Also this week, Lacy the WonderDog turned five years old! We don’t know the actual day of her birth, but we know it was in February, so we decided to call it Valentine’s Day. Though she rarely cooperates for photographs, she humored me one day this week, so I took the opportunity to capture a few shots of her attentive head tilts when she is closely listening to a person speak.

Talk to LacyI’m telling you, the dog is a genius — and a great listener. I’ve had more than one friend completely stop mid-sentence to say, “I think your dog is listening to me.” Yes, she is. But she’s great at keeping secrets.

** I’m linking up with Kris’ Weekly Wrap-Up; with Sue’s A Homeschool Mother’s Journal; and with Dawn’s Camera Phone Fridays! Come join the fun!

Jamie

Wife, mom, grandma. Introvert who finds joy in good books, sunshine, and authentic conversation. Fitness enthusiast and personal trainer. Often seen with a steaming mug of tea in hand.

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Jaimie
Jaimie
17 February, 2012 6:22 pm

I want to hug your dog. She is adorable. Ditto on both counts with your daughter! 🙂 Sounds like a fun week of homeschooling. 🙂

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Kristin
Kristin
17 February, 2012 11:57 pm

Lacy the Wonderdog is adorable. If only my children listened as well! Oh, and A Tale of Two Cities is painful for the first 2 chapters, maybe 3. After that it gets good. But it was a rough beginning. 🙂 I’m looking forward to your TT review. Even though we’re still doing Kindergarten (why not plan ahead, right?)

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Stef Layton
Stef Layton
18 February, 2012 12:08 am

can’t wait for the teaching textbooks review — I am looking into this for next year !!

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Julie
Julie
18 February, 2012 2:04 am

Adorable dog!! Great pictures.
I look forward to your opinion on TT. We switched over to it after 2 and a 1/2 years with Saxon. So far, so good for us.

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Giggly Girls
Giggly Girls
18 February, 2012 7:29 am

LOL Our dog used to do that too.

Sounds like a great week of learning. Ironically, one of our all-time favorite history readings was about Lincoln as well. Lincoln, A Photo-biography. It was soooo good that we read it twice, right in a row. lol

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Tricia @ Hodgepodge
Tricia @ Hodgepodge
18 February, 2012 7:30 am

Two-thirds of the way through the school year??? Whoa. That is amazing. What a great week you’ve had. And happy birthday to cute, head-tilting Lacy dog!!

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Eddie - The Usual Mayhem
Eddie - The Usual Mayhem
18 February, 2012 8:08 am

Jamie, I can’t decide if I like the photo of your dad (great angle, too) or the first photo of the WonderDog more! Sounds like a really great week.

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ZombiemommySaves
ZombiemommySaves
18 February, 2012 8:31 am

Lacy the dog and now stockphoto star.

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MissMOE
MissMOE
18 February, 2012 1:48 pm

Looks like an awesome week. I am thankful I like in a time when not only can I read a book, but I can have an electronic version of a book at my fingertips in a second. And Lucy is adorable!

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Andrea Roseman
Andrea Roseman
18 February, 2012 5:33 pm

Love the doggie pictures, so sweet! I agree about reading classic literature, hated it in school, love it now :o)

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Ellen
Ellen
18 February, 2012 6:05 pm

Jamie, I think we’re taking too long with Abe Lincoln’s World. Did y’all read one section per day? That’s what we’re doing; maybe I should step it up. Can’t wait to start Oliver Twist!

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Jamie
Jamie
Author
Reply to  Ellen
18 February, 2012 8:56 pm

Ellen,
We didn’t do quite a chapter a day. I think I had us reading 3-4 chapters each week, and we’d often do all of that reading in just one day, so we could do other readings on other days.

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Kris @ Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers
Kris @ Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers
20 February, 2012 11:08 pm

You know I love me some Lacy Dog photos. 😉 Looks like another great week!

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laurie
laurie
29 February, 2012 3:14 pm

Just wondering what your opinion is with the TT curriculum for an LD student?

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