Heart of Dakota Week-in-ReviewOct. 30-Nov. 3
USII History:
One of Wyatt's history assignments was to write a persuasive written narration reflecting his opinion on the question "Which building project from today's reading was most impressive?".
He chose to write about Mount Rushmore, which is fitting as we just recently visited it, and it truly was beautiful! Mount Rushmore is located in South Dakota, which is where we reside. We have visited it many times, but it was an especially beautiful day this last visit!
One can hardly believe it possible that Gutzon Borglum's dream of carving this monstrous mountain into the likeness of some of our most famous Presidents came to fruition! Maybe these lovely pictures and Wyatt's written narration will persuade you and your family to visit Mount Rushmore!This past week Wyatt read about FDR's court-packing scheme, the Anschluss of Austria, and Fascism spreading. He finds America: The Last Best Hope Vol. II fascinating to read, and all of the follow-ups in his full color notebook are a wonderful way for me to assess his response to his readings.
In World Geography, Riley has been reading about India's influence, Angkor's temples, and Marco Polo's Tales of China. He loves to cuddle up and read his books, and he and Wyatt have learned to work together in the same room in a way that doesn't distract them from each doing their best at school. Riley will often do his reading near Wyatt in our addition, but then he will do his written work in our dining room on his own. This helps him have his own quiet space for doing his written work and for storing his school books and supplies, while also having camaraderie with his big brother. As they do their readings from their different HOD guides' assignments, I often hear them share what they find interesting from their readings with each other - usually just a few sentences here or there - but always with the intent to share that which piques their interest the most with each other. I love how they encourage one another, while I am often working with my youngest son in the living room. 
I really enjoyed hearing Riley's oral narration this week. He likes to stand as he narrates, and he shared some visual aids as he gave his narration by showing his WG Notebook's photos. He often makes sound effects as he narrates, which I wasn't sure about at first, but which I have now come to love! He has his own style of narrating, and his love of what he is reading and sharing shines through in that style. Likewise, his own personal writing style is emerging. I challenged him to add some more descriptive words to his written narrations, as well as gradually increase their length, and he is doing a wonderful job of working on each of these goals I have for him!
Riley has always had nice cursive, and it has been neat to see his Charlotte Mason style Common Place Book entries each week. He writes these in a special book we got him from Crossroads Christian bookstore, and he has written in the same Common Place Book for the past 3 years. This book is full of special quotes, Scriptures, poetry, etc. that he has chosen to write through the years. 
Emmett has been learning about the Israelites suffering from idolatry and the reign of King Saul in Creation to Christ this past week. We've been doing school 5 days a week, so since this guide is only a 4 day a week guide, we sometimes cover several different history themes within 5 days. The history projects continue to be a favorite of Emmett's, and this week he had a blast making a Philistine helmet and a sling like the one David used to kill Goliath. He wore his football helmet when practicing with the rock in his sling, which chose to be a wise move as it did drop on his head a few times. Turns out using a sling with accuracy is pretty tough! He had such fun with these projects!
I thought I'd include a few beautiful pictures I snapped on a jog I took - isn't South Dakota lovely this time of year?!?
I hope you all had a wonderful week and a good weekend!
In Christ,
Julie
No comments:
Post a Comment