Report Card

Well, I guess I would get a big, fat "F" if I were being graded on updating about what is going on with our school work. But, the kids would definitely get "As" for being amazing students. I'll just focus this update on this semester, and leave the last two months of last semester in the binders for my own reference.

As a reminder, Ruth's classes this year are:  Math, Writing, Grammar, History, Latin, Spelling, Science and Music. Weston's classes are: Math, Reading and Writing. (And Max, as an unofficial student, is working on ABCs and 123s and some amazing construction and railroad engineering).

Ruth struggled a bit last semester with getting her Math work done (not with the material but with motivation) and has been having to make some of that up this semester. She has also been focusing some of her attention on Algebra, which she really enjoys. She is looking forward to getting to do more of that now that she is caught up with her other stuff.

In Writing, Ruth continues to practice for her upcoming PSIA Ready Writing competition and to write amazing papers for the IEW portion of her Essentials CC class. She wrote a mini research paper last semester and has written a narrative paper and a critique paper this semester. That girl truly has a way with words, and it is a delight to read (and hear her read) the papers she writes.

Ruth continues to move through her Grammar, Latin and Spelling books at a brisk pace. And, she continues to practice Spelling words for PSIA.

A new competition for Ruth in PSIA this year is Music Memory, which she practiced quite a lot last semester. In January, she started taking piano lessons and has been spending more of her music class focusing on the pieces her teacher assigns each week. She loves her piano teacher and remembers a great deal of what she learned in piano lessons last year.

Ruth's Science focus this year is Chemistry, which has allowed us to do lots of really fun hands-on experiments, including making a cake today. Ruth is learning a lot about the Scientific Method and the "why" of a lot of every-day reactions.

Ruth has gotten into American History this year, which she really loves. She has spent some extra time taking in all the details of The American Revolution, the signing of the Declaration of the Independence and the Founding Fathers. She is fascinated by the lives of the presidents and loves to report to us interesting facts about their lives.

Aside from her regular school work, Ruth continues to enjoy reading on her own, and has completed a couple of AR posters (reading for a reward). The book she most recently finished was "Little Women," which she enjoyed immensely.

Weston loves his Math class, and does a great job with his worksheets and facts (which include addition and subtraction facts using zeros and ones,  and doubles addition facts). He was moving a little sluggishly through his fact cards at the beginning of the semester, until Jeff discovered that what motivates him is racing against the clock. His best "race" was probably 19 facts in one minute. He also loves to do worksheets and always asks to do another one when Math class should be over. He also declared the other day that he would really like to learn more about Calculus, after Jeff had given the kids a little Calculus lesson.

Weston is also doing a great job on his reading, and we can tell that he has improved a great deal just since the beginning of the semester. He has completed a couple of reading posters, which have allowed us to have some fun movie/pizza nights. He is currently working on his "16" poster and is a little over half-way done.

This semester, Weston is working on writing sentences in his Writing class. By copying sentences that I write out for him, he is learning how to write declarative sentences and interrogative sentences, as well as how to use commas and how to capitalize words when appropriate. It is amazing how much his writing skills have improved just since the beginning of the semester.

Both kids (and myself) are still loving our CC program, and we're all learning so much. I have even taken on a short stint at teaching the afternoon class (Weston's class) this semester, which has been a fun adventure.

I have recently revamped Ruth's school schedule to be more structured, and we are all finding it to be a great improvement to our school day.

So, that's the short version of what we've been doing with ourselves on the school front. We continue to be thankful for the opportunity to participate in this grand adventure we call homeschooling. And, while I'm not making any promises, I will try to be better about updating, for those of you who are interested.

Ruth's map of Ft. Pitt

American flag and revolutionary paper dolls

Ruth's CC watercolor painting

Weston's CC watercolor painting

first sentences

later sentences

adding doubles

math worksheet

Science Experiment