Charge of the Light Brigade

We've been memorizing 'Charge of the Light Brigade' by Alfred, Lord Tennyson.  Since the older kids have a poetic lament project coming up next semester, we've been using some of the tips from Practice: A Pool of Teaching Tips to learn a little about poetry each day during Morning Time.

Today, we scanned the first stanza of 'Charge of the Light Brigade' and learned about dactyls-appropriate for the poem as they sound like galloping horses!

All I did was Google 'stressed unstressed unstressed' and there was a complete list of the kinds of metrical feet used in poetry. Very cool!

English Assignments: poetry

School is getting off to a good start!

We began the Tuesday after Labor Day (even though schools here start in early August, I'll never think that's a good idea; fortunately, homeschoolers have the flexibility to do it our own way!)

Rebekah, Melody, Eliza, and Joel are working through IEW's U.S. History-Based Writing Lessons this year. The two olders will work through Volume 1 and Volume 2, while the two little work through Volume 1.

The first lesson was about strong adjectives and used a poem as the model, sort of. I must say I wasn't really impressed with this assignment and the kids thought the model was lame (not their word). It purported to be a poem, but had no instructions about rhythm or rhyme (since the lesson wasn't about that, I understand, but I think choosing a real poem as a model would have been a better idea). I know poetry without rhyme and rhythm is considered acceptable, but I've always had a hard time seeing blank verse as real poetry. However, I thought that, since it's only one assignment and things should improve as we go through the book, I wouldn't make a big deal about it.

The two older kids' assignment was due today. Rebekah had the same idea that I did - simply get through it, but Joel added in rhythm and rhyme. Here are their creations:

America

by Rebekah

Land of sunny, shell-strewn seashores,

Dark, mossy forests of evergreens,

Majestic, snow-capped mountain ranges;

Broad, rushing, and lazy rivers travelling

Among rolling, golden plains.

America, a land populated by thriving,

Independent men and women whose

Lives are paving the way for generations.

America

By Joel

Sparkling and sunny seashores,

Sandy and with shells galore.

Forests leafy, mossy, dark,

Mountains majestic and stark.

Rivers rushing, rocky, broad,

Plains great, created by God.

Men who fought for freedom old

Men, courageous, free, and bold.

I'll post the little girls' poems tomorrow. They've been playing with rhyme and rhythm, too! I can't wait to see what they've come up with!

Annual Reading List, 2008/2009: Joel

Literature:
Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen (read by Mama)
Kidnapped, by Robert Louis Stevenson
The Scarlet Pimpernel, by Baroness Orczy (finished in August)
Fairy Tales, by the Brothers Grimm

The Phantom Tollbooth, by Norton Juster

Pearls of Letra, by Brian Jacques

Redwall, by Brian Jacques

Martyrs of the Catacombs, by anonymous

Martin the Warrior, by Brian Jacques

Salamandastron, by Brian Jacques

History:
George Washington Carver, by Geoff Benge

Cameron Townsend, by Geoff Benge

Amy Carmichael, by Geoff Benge

Science:
Christian Liberty Nature Reader, Grade 3 (finished in August)
Christian Liberty Nature Reader, Grade 4

How the Weather Works, Reader's Digest Books

Science: Joel, week 6 (3-7 November)

Monday: read pp. 42-43: 'Water in the air'

Tuesday: complete experiment: 'Humidity tester'

Wednesday: read pp. 44-45: 'Couds and fog'

Thursday: complete experiment: 'Making clouds'

Friday: complete experiment: 'Clouds and nuclei'

Science: Joel, week 5 (27-31 Oct.)

Monday: read pp. 36-37: 'Optical effects'

Tuesday: complete experiments: 'Using a prism', 'Shimmering heat', and 'Making a rainbow'

Wednesday: read pp. 38-39: 'The water cycle'

Thursday: read pp. 40-41: 'Plants and the weather'

Friday: complete experiments: 'Releasing gases' and 'Catching water'

Flag Football!

Practice before the game.

He caught a pass!  Run, Joel, run!!!

A moment of contemplation.

His coach, Mr. Tong, shouts encouragement.

More photos!

Science: Joel, week 4 (20-24 Oct.)

Monday: read pp. 28-29: 'The albedo effect'

Tuesday: complete experiments: 'Insulation' and 'Comparing albedo'

Wednesday: read pp. 32-33: 'Everyday Weather'

Thursday: read pp. 34-35: 'Sunshine'

Friday: complete experiments: 'Focusing heat', 'Aiding evaporation', and 'Making metal grow'

Science: Joel, week 3 (13-17 Oct.)

Monday: complete experiments: 'Measuring melting ice' and 'How much latent heat?'

Tuesday: read pp. 24-25: 'Pressure and the weather'

Wednesday: complete experiments: 'Is air heavy?' and 'Measuring air pressure'

Thursday: read pp. 25-27: 'Heat and temperature'

Friday: complete all three experiments: 'Convection: warming fluids', 'Making air expand', and 'Radiation'

History: Middles, week 2

Revolutions of 1830 and Australia

Mon: look over questions, read and research

Tues: continue research

Wed: write answers to questions/ Ben: write 2 paragraphs on each topic (due Friday)

Thurs: continue reading and writing; timelines

Fri: map work, written answers due, compositions due

Weekly Report: Joel

Week 1 of 6, ending 10/3/08

Morning Time: We began reading Philippians; continued the Gospel Primer and Northanger Abbey.  We also worked on memorizing William Blake's 'Little Lamb' and the 23rd Psalm.  

English: Joel has worked diligently this week in both Mother Tongue and Simply Spelling.  He's reading Stevenson's The Black Arrow for his boys' book club.

Math: He loves math and I don't really have to push him much at all.  He's working faster than I expect him to.

History: Joel was a bit frustrated at my lack of specific direction this week.  I'll be more detailed in his assignments for next week.  He read about Simon Bolivar and Latin American independence.

Science: He's excited about learning about weather and eager to begin the experiments and activities.  We need to take him shopping to see that he has everything he needs.

Flag Football: his team lost this week and he caught his first touchdown pass, but it didn't count on a technicality.  Oh, well!  He's pretty optimistic when they lose, as long as they did their best.  He's learning a lot about the game and sportsmanship, and enjoying that time with the other boys and their dads (as is Drew).  I hope to get pictures next Saturday.  The running around is good for him, too.  I can tell when he hasn't had enough exercise during the week - he gets the grumps and doesn't know what to do with himself.

Science: Joel, week 2 (Oct. 6-10)

Monday: read pp. 18-19: 'The atmosphere'

Tuesday: complete experiments: 'Atmosphere ingredients' and 'Air expansion'

Wednesday: read pp. 20-21: 'Light and weather'

Thursday: choose two experiments to complete

Friday: read pp. 22-23: 'Water and the weather'

This Week's Photos

Benjamin submitting a Latin assignment.

Melody and Elizabeth began cathedral window quilts. They start on the machine and then it's all handwork. They're excited - they've been asking for quite awhile to learn more about sewing.

Joel working on history research.  He read about Simon Bolivàr and Latin American independence.

Judith working on composition.

'Smile for the camera, Joel!'

Nathan, listening to a Gileskirk lecture.  Look at him taking notes!  It does a mom's heart good.

Breakfast on Monday morning.  The little girls cut up the peppers and grated the cheese.  Yum!

French, week 1 (29 Sept.-3 Oct.)

(Sorry about all the edits on this post.  I had to re-work my vocabulary list so it only included things that were fairly stationary and that weren't too small and wouldn't walk away or be tucked away in the fridge or pantry!)

This week, review greetings.

Introduce the following vocabulary, while teaching grammatical gender:

la chaise
la table
la télévision
la porte
la pendule
la fenêtre

le livre
le tiroir
le bain
le lit
le mur
le panier

Have kids write the words on index cards and post them appropriately around the house. Introduce a few adjectives next week, along with the third person singular and plural, est and sont.

Math, week 1 (29 Sept-3 Oct): Joel

Monday: 13F, 14D, 15B

Tuesday: 13 test, 14E, 15C

Wednesday: 14F, 15D, 16 DVD & A

Thursday: 14 test, 15E, 16B

Friday: 15F, 16C, 17 DVD & A

English, Joel: week 1 (Sept. 29-Oct. 3)

Monday
grammar: MT 1: sec. 14
spelling: level B, lesson 1, day 1: copy and answer questions
reading: three fairy tales; read one to Melody and Eliza

Tuesday
grammar: MT 1: sec. 15
spelling: day 2: copy and answer questions
reading: three fairy tales; read one to Melody and Eliza

Wednesday
grammar: MT 1: sec. 16
spelling: day 3: copy and answer questions
reading: three fairy tales; read one to Melody and Eliza

Thursday
grammar: MT 1: sec. 17
spelling: day 4: copy and answer questions
reading: three fairy tales; read one to Melody and Eliza

Friday
grammar: MT 1: sec. 18
spelling: dictation
reading: three fairy tales; read one to Melody and Eliza

History, Middles: Week 1 (29 Sept.-3 Oct.)

Research: 19th C. missions and missionaries: William Carey and India; Hudson Taylor and China, Japan, and the Opium Wars; missionary biographies; David Livingstone and Africa

Label your map of India with the items on your list.
Write Answers to Accountability and Thinking Questions.

Science: Joel, week 1 (Sept. 29-Oct. 3)

Monday: read pp. 8-9: 'The home laboratory'; go shopping

Tuesday: read pp. 10-11: 'Observing the weather'

Wednesday: read pp. 14-15: 'Learning basic principles'

Thursday: read pp. 16-17: 'The earth in space'

Friday: complete activities from pp. 16-17

Weekly Report: Joel (9/27/08)

Math: all done

English: all done!

His team won their first flag football game this morning.  He's quite pleased!  Pictures coming soon!

Literature: Middles

{edit} This covers ideas for the whole year, not just the next six weeks!

The Warden, by Anthony Trollope
David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens
Pilgrim's Inn, by Elizabeth Goudge
Kim, by Rudyard Kipling
A Wrinkle in Time, by Madelaine L'Engle
The Good Master and The Singing Tree, by Kate Seredy
Good-bye, Mr. Chips, by James Hilton
How Green Was My Valley, by Richard Llewellyn
An Episode of the Sparrow, by Rumer Godden
The Book of Three, by Alexander Lloyd

Additional ideas, not in any particular order:
Many Moons, by James Thurber
Indian in the Cupboard, by Lynne Reid Banks
Island of the Blue Dolphins, by Scott O'Dell
Cheaper by the Dozen, by Frank Gilbraith and Ernestine Carey
A Means of Grace, by Edith Pargeter
"A Modest Proposal" and Gulliver's Travels, by Jonathan Swift
Robinson Crusoe, by Daniel Defoe
Two Years Before the Mast, by Richard Henry Dana
Mama's Bank Account, by Kathryn Forbes

Joel, Catch-up 22-26 September

Monday
Math: 13C, 14 DVD & A
English: MT, sec. 9; read Grimms' Fairy Tales #19-21; read one aloud to Eliza & Melody

Tuesday
Math: 13D, 14B
English: MT, sec. 10; read Grimms' Fairy Tales #22-24; read one aloud to Eliza & Melody

Wednesday
Math: 13E, 14C, 15 DVD & A
English: MT, sec. 11; read Grimms' Fairy Tales #25-27; read one aloud to Eliza & Melody

Thursday
English: MT, sec. 12; read Grimms' Fairy Tales #28-30; read one aloud to Eliza & Melody

Friday
English: MT, sec. 13; read Grimms' Fairy Tales #31-33; read one aloud to Eliza & Melody