Week 3: Sept 17-21

This week's verse: Luke 1:31 "You will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus."

We studied Gabriel's visit to Mary to tell her that she would have a son, her reaction and her visit to Elizabeth.


Our science book is not here yet, so we've been studying volcanoes for science. We wrapped that up this week (although we may revisit the subject at a later date.) This is the picture that Noah created. I think it's before and after an erruption.

We are studying the ancients for history and geography, but we also did a quick book about Christopher Columbus. This is Noah's depiction of the three ships: Santa Maria, Nina, and Pinta. I'm not sure what the brown scribble is . . . it could be a storm that came up and damaged the Pinta.

This is a page from one of Noah's reading lessons this week. He's improving by leaps and bounds and it is such a privilege to be here to watch his progress. I do love this book for teaching a child to read, but in some respects it has been a hinderance to Noah. He already knew his complete alphabet and all his phonics, so it was challenging to go through this book from the beginning. I think that's what held us up before. He was trying to fastfoward, putting the "the cart before the horse" at times and I was trying to reign him in and make him take one little step at a time because the book said to do it this way. We took a long break from reading and when we came back to it, we went really fast through the first half of it (he was reading in one week's time.) I think doing this gave him a chance for the book to catch up to what he already knew, but needed to put together. Now we are going through the last twenty or so lessons a little slower so he can absorb the crucial details: punctuation, sentences & paragraphs, how to use his sounding out skills etc.

After a little editing of the timeline, we have begun study of the ancients. This is an exerpt from our history book. I loved history and I'm excited to be able to plant that seed of wonder in Noah too. The First Settlers c10,000BC - 5600BC

Mapping the Firtile Crescent

The First Famers

The First Towns: Jericho, & Catal Huyuk

This is what our science book will look like (I borrowed this one from my Mom.) I decided to use the Usborne Science Encyclopedia instead of the Kingfisher because I'm an Usborne consultant and can get a discount. I love how colorful the pictures are and the text is broken up into manageable clusters. And one of my favorite things is that certain pages are internet linked, so we are able to get activities related to study. This week in science: Body Structure & Body Coverings


Here's my little student hard at work on his Bible lesson.
My biggest struggle right now is with the girls. . . well, Bronwen. She is really wanting my attention when I'm trying to work with Noah. I've set her up with her own "school work" and she'll color or play with playdough for a little while, but she keeps interrupting, asking for help with this, that or the other. So, we're only 3 weeks into school and I know I'm still getting things worked out, but I really don't want her to start resenting the time I need to work with Noah. Any suggestions?