My 3 Sons: Heart of Dakota USI Week 26 and RevtoRev Week 25

Need some encouragement? Check out my devotional for homeschool moms here...
God's Hand in Life's Little Moments devotional

Hi ladies!

I loved posting weekly check-ins for many years, and then photobucket crashed! I missed posting pictures, and alas, my weekly check-in posts faded away. Well, Photobucket has apparently had some revisions, and I believe it is now working again. I snapped some pictures this week and thought I'd test drive sharing pics via Photobucket again here in the weekly check-in!

USI:

Riley is working on Unit 26 this week. He's been learning about The Compromise of 1850, Statehood for CA, and the Fugitive Slave Law. Here he is with his work in his USI Notebook...

I especially enjoy hearing his talking points narrations from America: The Last Best Hope! I like how the USI guide's plans help him prepare for these narrations by providing suggested headings for him to jot on an index card. He lists his headings, and then under each heading he lists words, phrases, and brief sentences to reference as he narrates. He also must always plan to share a visual aid that is noted in the plans. Such amazing oral narrations come from this simple prep! It reminds me of when I taught speech class in college. A small index or note card was allowed, and a visual aid was expected to be used as well. Such great prep for future speech-type situations! In a similar way, the USI Notebooking pages help Riley organize his thoughts on topics by having him choose from a bulleted list of topic suggestions. Then, he writes his thoughts for each topic, each in their own box in his notebook...

I also enjoy the neat Map Trek maps Riley is making as he journeys through USI...

Revival to Revolution:

Emmett is working on Unit 25 this week. He's been learning about Arctic Expansion, Uncle Tom's Cabin, and Japanese Trade. It is interesting that Emmett is often learning about the same things Riley is in USI! Only on a much younger level. They have had some interesting talks about it! I was thrilled this week that Emmett did his Carpenter's Wheel history project 100% solo! He followed all the directions on his own, and it turned out so neat!...

I also asked him to try to focus on writing neatly and in straight lines for his written narration in his RevtoRev notebook. What an improvement! We had a 'case of the messies' for awhile, and this narration was so much neater!...

I am just so happy, in general, with how much Emmett's work has improved this year. Week 25 is a great place to be! Here he is with his notebook...

Finally, I love having my 3 sons home to hang out together and be each other's best friends! Homeschooling is such a privilege, and online college is too...