What we've been up to...

I thought I would share with you some of the curriculum we're using for this year in more detail...

Ashton is using Cheerful Cursive to learn cursive.  It is a gentle, but fabulous, guide that Ethan used and we've been VERY happy with it.  He's making great strides in his cursive and I even think he does a better job writing in cursive than manuscript.

 Ethan is using Rod & Staff 5 for Grammar studies this year.  It is a VERY rigorous level, one that many say is better suited for 6th or 7th grade (as their 7/8 level is more designed for high school and their highest level, 9/10, is actually post highschool work)  However, after looking at 4 and 5 I thought Ethan would be better suited for the level he's now placed.  It IS a lot of work, but I really like the writing instruction it is giving not only him, but me as his teacher.  While I wouldn't say grammar is his favorite subject, he is certainly holding his own and making me proud of his tenacity and willing to do whatever is asked of him.

 Heart of Dakota has a vocabulary program built into the guides, but I've never been a big fan of it since it's only 3-5 words worked on once each week.  I want to increase their exposure to higher forms of vocabulary so this year we decided to go with Wordly Wise 3000 and 5000.  Here Ashton is working on his daily vocabulary work.  They usually have 4-5 days of assignments followed by a vocab. test.  They both got 100's on last weeks test!  Woot!

One of the programs that I'm super excited about this year for Ethan is the One Handed Typist program.  The program teaches Ethan to type using a standard keyboard with only his left hand...pretty cool, eh?  He works 15 minutes per day.  This year is really about exposure to the keyboard and next year I'm hopeful with two years under his belt he will be an effective typist.

Part of the boy's daily independent work comes from this book: Draw and Write Through History.  Each day the boys either practice their copy work thru paragraphs found in these pages that need to be copied, or they will learn to draw something pertaining to the history time period we are studying.  I think it's pretty awesome the drawings they have put out so far.

 Since we are studying Ancient Egypt, today the boys drew and colored a Sarcophagus, including it's flail and crook.  The flail and crook were often seen with the Pharaohs since it symbolized the Pharaoh's role as protector and provider of food for his people.

During art today the boys went a step further and made their own crooks.  We painted the crooks with blue and gold stripes.

 We painted them in stages so that the two colors wouldn't mix, making green.  In between time we hung them on the chandelier to dry! LOL

To go along with the time period we are studying, our Story time Read- Aloud is Tirzah.  It is a GREAT historical fiction piece about an Isrealite family during the time of Moses and the Exodus out of Egypt.  The boys love hearing biblical stories in a more storylike, in depth, format.  Every day I read about 2 chapters and we look forward to the next day always!