Weeks 4 and 5 in Review
I got busy and didn't find time to write last week, so this will be a review of the past two weeks. I am very pleased so far with how our school year is progressing. Hopefully this continues, although it seems something always comes up to put a halt to school at some point each year.
So far, Emma is:
Algebra: 2/3 of the way through Pace 3. If anyone thinks ACE is "too easy", don't judge till you've tried it. Most days we do NOT do ACE independently. I give a brief lesson, do one problem to show her how to on the whiteboard, then do 2 or 3 problems WITH Emma, and she then will finish the lesson herself. We've spent all of this week learning to multiply more and more complicated polynomials.
History/Literature: Emma has read several chapters in, "Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt", several stories in, "Tales of Ancient Egypt", and we finished reading the entire book of Genesis, and have read the first five chapters of Exodus. We have officially finished lesson 12 (out of 90) in Beautiful Feet Ancient History and Literature.
Chemistry: Emma has completed chapter 2 (molecular bonding), and answered all the questions. She did an "experiment" for her lab credit, although it was more a demonstration than an experiment. She had to build a model of how the different molecular bonds occur and explain it to me. Emma did not want to build a model or draw pictures, so she simply showed and explained to me the bonds using a Coke bottle and three water bottles (which were electrons). She answered all my questions and knew her stuff. I discovered Emma is afraid to speak in front of an audience. She even mentioned in past years she didn't even like reading aloud to me. How did I not know my child of 14 was afraid to speak to her own mother just because it was a formal school setting?!? We also completed disc 1 of the Chemistry 101 DVD s. I still REALLY love these videos. They are SO interesting and informative!
Writing: since it has been two weeks, she has written 2 papers. She wrote a persuasive essay recommending a series of books, and got an 88% on that paper. And this week she had to write a BAD essay using as many components of the "don't" list of writing do's and don'ts as she could. She wrote a humorous paper on people chewing with their mouth open, and incorporated almost all of the 13 "don'ts". She got an A+. We are halfway through chapter 4.
French: we are still in chapter 2. We have worked and reviewed every day, some days for an hour or so, but Emma is hung up on not only conjugating French verbs, but for whatever reason she keeps mixing up how to say "Here is", "is there a?" , "it is", and "where is". So we have reviewed, reviewed, reviewed. Her next section is a long list of new vocabulary, and I dont feel the need to add MORE in until she has previous lessons down pat. It's French, it's an elective, we don't have to do a credit in a certain amount of time. That's one major plus of homeschooling: we work on each child's strengths and weaknesses and interests, at the pace SHE needs to go to learn it thoroughly. She really has surprised me with how well she has done learning a new language, so I'm not concerned in the least that we've hit a minor roadblock. I think she finally has it all well enough to move on Monday.
Gymnastics: Emma is back to 95% performance, with NO back pain. She even did front tucks again last night! She still has one or two moves that cause her pain, but she stops immediately when they do. Also, because she has leveled up her coach now wants her to come in Saturday's from 10-2 in addition to the 8 other hours a week she already spends in gym. I'm not super thrilled about this, especially as she is sore after gym and she doesn't get done on Fridays till 7:30. I said we will come some Saturday's, but dont count on every week.
This past week has been focused on Emma. Last Friday her sister and I discovered some personal issues Emma has been having. Last weekend we had a family get together, just us girls, me, Emma, and her two older sisters and baby niece, just to spend time talking to Emma and then we all went out to dinner. I dont want to go into specifics at this point, but life is not all rosy here for my sweet daughter. Just because this blog is to focus on her high school journey, there is a lot more to high school than school alone.
So far, Emma is:
Algebra: 2/3 of the way through Pace 3. If anyone thinks ACE is "too easy", don't judge till you've tried it. Most days we do NOT do ACE independently. I give a brief lesson, do one problem to show her how to on the whiteboard, then do 2 or 3 problems WITH Emma, and she then will finish the lesson herself. We've spent all of this week learning to multiply more and more complicated polynomials.
History/Literature: Emma has read several chapters in, "Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt", several stories in, "Tales of Ancient Egypt", and we finished reading the entire book of Genesis, and have read the first five chapters of Exodus. We have officially finished lesson 12 (out of 90) in Beautiful Feet Ancient History and Literature.
Chemistry: Emma has completed chapter 2 (molecular bonding), and answered all the questions. She did an "experiment" for her lab credit, although it was more a demonstration than an experiment. She had to build a model of how the different molecular bonds occur and explain it to me. Emma did not want to build a model or draw pictures, so she simply showed and explained to me the bonds using a Coke bottle and three water bottles (which were electrons). She answered all my questions and knew her stuff. I discovered Emma is afraid to speak in front of an audience. She even mentioned in past years she didn't even like reading aloud to me. How did I not know my child of 14 was afraid to speak to her own mother just because it was a formal school setting?!? We also completed disc 1 of the Chemistry 101 DVD s. I still REALLY love these videos. They are SO interesting and informative!
Writing: since it has been two weeks, she has written 2 papers. She wrote a persuasive essay recommending a series of books, and got an 88% on that paper. And this week she had to write a BAD essay using as many components of the "don't" list of writing do's and don'ts as she could. She wrote a humorous paper on people chewing with their mouth open, and incorporated almost all of the 13 "don'ts". She got an A+. We are halfway through chapter 4.
French: we are still in chapter 2. We have worked and reviewed every day, some days for an hour or so, but Emma is hung up on not only conjugating French verbs, but for whatever reason she keeps mixing up how to say "Here is", "is there a?" , "it is", and "where is". So we have reviewed, reviewed, reviewed. Her next section is a long list of new vocabulary, and I dont feel the need to add MORE in until she has previous lessons down pat. It's French, it's an elective, we don't have to do a credit in a certain amount of time. That's one major plus of homeschooling: we work on each child's strengths and weaknesses and interests, at the pace SHE needs to go to learn it thoroughly. She really has surprised me with how well she has done learning a new language, so I'm not concerned in the least that we've hit a minor roadblock. I think she finally has it all well enough to move on Monday.
Gymnastics: Emma is back to 95% performance, with NO back pain. She even did front tucks again last night! She still has one or two moves that cause her pain, but she stops immediately when they do. Also, because she has leveled up her coach now wants her to come in Saturday's from 10-2 in addition to the 8 other hours a week she already spends in gym. I'm not super thrilled about this, especially as she is sore after gym and she doesn't get done on Fridays till 7:30. I said we will come some Saturday's, but dont count on every week.
This past week has been focused on Emma. Last Friday her sister and I discovered some personal issues Emma has been having. Last weekend we had a family get together, just us girls, me, Emma, and her two older sisters and baby niece, just to spend time talking to Emma and then we all went out to dinner. I dont want to go into specifics at this point, but life is not all rosy here for my sweet daughter. Just because this blog is to focus on her high school journey, there is a lot more to high school than school alone.
Comments
Post a Comment