SOTW Chapter 5: The First Sumerian Dictator

I'm working on going back and blogging about our SOTW activities and experiences.  I meant to do it as we went along, but that didn't happen, so here we go!

Chapter 5 jumps from Egypt back to Mesopotamia to cover the rise of the Akkadian Empire, the first (or at least one of the first) major empire.

We read and enjoyed The Golden Sandal (A Middle Eastern Cinderella Story) by Rebecca Hickox and The Three Princes: A Tale from the Middle East by Eric Kimmel.

Our hands-on project for this chapter was making a Sumerian seal.

First, he carved a design into a circle of clay and let it dry.

Here, he has just pressed his dry seal into wet clay to make an impression.

Rolling out more clay for another impression

Impression (left) and seal (right) side-by-side

He poked a hole in the impression and painted it to make a pendant.

Our Week in Review, 2/28- 3/5 and 3/7- 3/11

We have been doing school--making excellent progress, actually.  I just haven't been blogging about it!  I'm trying to get back into the habit of doing the weekly reviews.  I love the perspective it gives me--it's encouraging to see how much we've actually gotten done.  So here goes!

Over the last two weeks . . .

Connor

Math: Connor has been working on making change and measuring (RS B, lessons 95-99).  He loves playing store with coins during the money lessons, and he had a lot of fun measuring things all over the house with the ruler he made.  I loved how easily he was able to mentally add the measurements of the sides of a rectangle thanks to the strong addition skills he has from this program.  I love RightStart!

History:  We've had fun with history over the last couple of weeks!  We're finally getting into the ancient Greeks, and he's enjoying the history and is fascinated with the stories and myths.  We learned about the Minoans, the story of Theseus and the Minotaur, and the decline of the Minoan civilization due to a nearby volcanic eruption--so we built our own volcano.  That was a hit, as you can imagine!  This week we've been working on the Mycenaeans.  We haven't gotten to the hands-on project yet, so I'll write that up next week.

Finding Greece and Crete on the map

History narration about the Mycenaeans with picture of a warrior in a chariot

Volcano Time!

Building the mountain

Adding the paper mache surface

Clean-up took a while . . . 

Painting the volcano

Adding "plant life"

Our volcano!

Mixing up the baking soda, water, soap, and food coloring

KA-BOOOOM!

Reading: We've been reading Greek myths from D'Aulaire's Book of Greek Myths and The McElderry Book of Greek Myths, and he's really enjoying them.  He's read a few on his own, but most of them we're reading together. 

I like the thoroughness of the D'Aulaire book, and I love the illustrations in the McElderry book.  The stories from the McElderry book are a bit easier to narrate back as well.  It's been a good combination.

Drawing Pandora's Box

Science:  He's been learning about lizards as well as doing some science things for our never-ending apple lapbook.  He enjoyed checking out gila monsters at the National Geographic Kids website (a handy resource when we haven't been able to get to the library).  We cut open an apple and talked about the symmetry, and they tried their hands at making a symmetrical apple picture.

We also did an evaporation experiment.  In the book How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World (which we're using as the focus for our lapbook), the little girl scoops up sea water and lets the water evaporate to get salt.  So we made some salt water and let it evaporate and discovered that the salt stayed behind!

Boiling water to help the salt dissolve faster

Mixing in salt

Tasting the salt that was left after 3 days

Grammar: He did FLL lessons 74, 75, and 76, doing copywork, a poem narration, and reviewing nouns, action verbs, and pronouns.

Working on copywork

Latin: He finished SSL chapters 27 and 28.  I'm trying to streeeetch SSL out a bit so I can figure out what to use next!  I'm leaning towards Prima Latina.  I like what I've seen of Latin for Children, but I don't know that we're ready to jump into that next.  I need to take a good look at it.  Plus, PL is a lot less expensive, which would be good at the moment.  Decisions, decisions . . . 

Spelling:  He finished step 7 and step 8 in AAS level 2.  If there's anything that's going to get skipped due to lack of time (or because it's been a rough day and we just need to stop), it's spelling.  Working on that.  The last few lessons have been pretty easy for him, though.

Handwriting:  He continues to enjoy learning cursive, and since his cursive is much neater than his printing AND it's much easier for him to maintain consistent letter sizes and to consistently use lowercase letters (rather than sprinkling in random capital letters), I'm very glad about that!  He finished lowercase V this week, and he should be done with the book in a few more weeks.  He loves writing everything he can in cursive, and he's even peeked ahead to find out how to write some letters he didn't already know.

Memory work: We're currently working on Ephesians 6:13-18, Jesus' disciples, syllable division rules for spelling, a couple of Latin phrases, a history sentence, and we started a catechism question this week.

Brennan:

I've officially/unofficially started Brennan in Kindergarten.  He's really been doing K-level work for a while, so it doesn't make much of a difference!

Math: Lately it seems like I can only get either math OR phonics done with Brennan.  It's been better this week, so hopefully we can continue that trend.  Lately we've been working on RS A lessons 29 and 30, talking about pennies, dimes, and nickels as well as figuring out how many objects we have without counting individually (by grouping into 10's).  

Playing an addition game online

Phonics:  He's been reading to me every night before bed for a while, and over the last week we've been working on finishing up 6 hours of reading to get free Six Flags tickets.  The extra practice has helped his fluency quite a bit.  He has a really bad tendency to guess based on the context, picture, or the first letter of the word.  It drives me crazy, because he's more than capable of sounding out the words he's not familiar with!

Handwriting:  He finished his handwriting book!  He's pretty proud of the fact that he gets to go on to big-boy copywork.  I think I'm going to go ahead and get the next Handwriting Without Tears book as well in a few weeks, just to make sure we keep reviewing in a systematic way.

All done!

Reading (literature): We've started using the storytime suggestions/instructions from Little Hearts for His Glory, which I used in its entirety for Connor for Kindergarten.  I love the program, but I don't want to try to do a complete separate curriculum for Brennan--way too much!  I really like the way it prepares them to do narrations, though (as well as the Thornton Burgess books, which are lots of fun).  He's been enjoying listening to the exploits of Reddy Fox this week, and yesterday he dictated a short letter advising Reddy not to be so bold (an activity from the book).  We'll continue to read lots and lots of library books too!

Together:

Bible: We've read several stories over the past couple of weeks.  When we learned about Jesus and the woman at the well, we made origami cups and talked about how Jesus gives us living water and what that means.  It wasn't a super-easy concept to discuss at a kid's level!

They also had a lot of fun acting out the story of the men who bring their friend to Jesus to be healed and have to let him down through the roof.

The over-crowded house

Making a hole in the roof

Carrying the friend

Lowering him down to Jesus

He is healed!

We've had  a really good couple of weeks.  I feel like we've finally hit our stride after the holidays, weather, and everyone being sick!

Random recent pics just for fun

Perfect Parenting . . . or not

One mistake that I've managed to make several times in my six and a half years as a mom is buying into several different parenting books while checking my common sense and instincts at the door.  Now, I have a healthy skepticism about many other things, so I'm always baffled after the fact by how easily I fall into this (and, of course, frustrated once I realize I've done it again).  No thinking it through, no further research on the ideas or the author(s), just, "Hey!  I think I'll jump in with both feet!"  I think it's because the stakes are so high in parenting--we want some assurance that our kids will turn out okay.  It's much easier to follow a formula than to figure it out as you go, and if it seems to be working for a friend or an acquaintance (especially if it's someone you respect), or if it seems to follow biblical principles, well, then, it must be the "right" way.  Right?

Thankfully, I don't think I've seriously damaged my kids, although I have successfully found several parenting styles/techniques that decidedly do NOT work for us!  And even though it doesn't seem to have had any negative impact on the boys, several times I've ended up brokenhearted, like the time I sat next to Connor's crib in tears when he was just a few weeks old, murmuring apologies to my sleeping baby for buying into some ideas that I was realizing clearly didn't fit what he needed OR how God had created me to be a mother.  

I read this article in Christianity Today a while ago that really resonated with me.  It was freeing to realize that while what Aaron and I do as parents certainly matters, God is big enough to overcome our weaknesses and failures--and our children's lives are ultimately in His hands.  And this is our God: " . . . merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love." (Psalm 103:8)  I am convicted that my knees are not on the ground nearly enough--my slogan ought to be "Parenting by Prayer." 

Then today I read a blog post by Sally Clarkson, "First time obedience, really?", and once again, it was refreshing to be reminded that biblical parenting does not have to be adversarial (something that can be tough to remember when dealing with a strong-willed 6 year old!), harsh, or demanding.  She writes,

"But I believe the reason Deuteronomy 6-8 talks about us speaking to our children morning, noon, night and presenting truth and the gospel to our children every moment of the day, is that training is to be a whole-life passing on of values and obedience and wisdom, a morning, noon and night—let’s live together in fellowship and relationship and you will see that I have your best in mind and I will teach and train you how to be mature, wise and excellent."

and

"Jesus’  life is my example. There was a lost world because His children rebelled against Him–no first time obedience. But His love and compassion was so much a part of His character and being, He was compelled to come to save us. He fellowshipped with His disciples, loved them, listened to them, confronted them, corrected them, fed them, taught them, and laid down His life for them. Because of their relationship with Him, and their love for them, they were willing to lay down their life for Him and His kingdom.

His love compelled them–it was a long-term process, this one of securing their obedience and hearts, but their hearts wanted to please Him and obey Him because of what He had meant to them."

How that speaks to me!  I am convicted to try to model my parenting after how God deals with me, that I should model him in being merciful, gracious, slow to anger (!), and abounding in steadfast love.  That I need to look beyond the immediate frustrating issue to the long-term relationship with my boys and address the issue with that in mind.  That raising a child isn't plugging numbers into a formula to get the right answer.  It's more like creating a work of art . . . and although I may have the privilege of doing some of the polishing,  I am *not* the Artist.  My precious masterpieces--His precious masterpieces--are in good hands.

Our Week in Review, 1/3 - 1/8

Well, we're finally back in the saddle after the holidays!  Between holidays and illness, I feel like we didn't get much accomplished last month, so it was good to actually get in a full five days of school this week!  Most weeks, my goal is to get in four days and then use day 5 for field trips, library, and/or projects, but we're really gunning to try to be ready to start Connor on second grade work in mid-February (when we started 1st grade last year).  Mostly that'll just mean a slight increase in some expectations and beginning RS Math level C.  We are definitely not going to finish SOTW volume 1, but I'm not too concerned about that as long as we're making steady progress.  I'm looking at what's coming next for science, writing, and a few other things as well.  Mostly we need to keep up the consistency and work on attitude and working hard!  Also, in the interest of keeping them on the same yearly schedule (and the fact that he's more than ready), Brennan will be officially starting Kindergarten.  I'm not sure what that's going to look like, since he's pretty much already doing K-level stuff anyway.  I had planned to use Heart of Dakota's Little Hearts for His Glory (which we used for Connor's K year), but I'm not sure now.  I really like the program, but I'm not sure that I want to start him on something that's completely separate from Connor, especially since we already do some things together (Bible, read alouds, and history when Brennan wants to tag along).  And since Bible is really the core of LHFHG, it just wouldn't make much sense to try to do the program without it.  So, decisions, decisions!

On to our week!

Connor

Math:  After spending Monday reviewing, he finished lessons 80, 81, and 82 in RS B this week.  I'm tickled at how proud he is at being able to do the 2-digit addition (although I was less than tickled at the resistance he put up to learning another way to do some problems in lesson 80.  Somebody doesn't like change . . . ).  He also made some logical thinking connections about evens and odds (i.e. even + even = even, odd + odd = odd, and even + odd = odd and WHY!) on his own in today's lesson, which was fun to watch.

History: We did chapter 15 in SOTW, covering the ancient Phoenicians and the founding of Carthage.  For our hands-on project this week, we made a "colored glass" project with wax paper and crayon shavings since the Phoenicians were known for their glass-making skills.

On another VERY positive note--I've discovered a tool that has made narrations FUN!  Instead of fighting me on them, he's eager to do it.  What is this magical tool?

Our digital voice recorder.

It kills two birds with one stone.  Or maybe three birds.  First, it's electronic and it has buttons, so it's "cool" and hits that technology spot that seems to come along with the Y chromosome.  Second, it eliminates me having to ask him to slow down or stop while I write his narrations down as he dictates (which he really hates)--he can talk without interruption and then I can play it back and write it down.  Third, he can play it back and hear himself, immediately evaluating how well he did.  I'm just thrilled that he's doing it without a fight now!!

Reading:  Reading has been my nemesis lately; specifically, finding things to have him read.  Connor's reading skills are fine, so I haven't been too worried, but part of what I like the most about the classical method is the focus on reading great works of literature and tying literature to history.  I've looked ahead a bit, and I think it'll get easier once we get to the Greeks.  There's just not always much to choose from (at least that they have at the library!) from this time period!  There are some good kids' versions of the Iliad and the Odyssey, so I'm looking forward to those when we get there.

Science:  He learned about ostriches this week.  Our library didn't have any books specifically about ostriches, so after we read about them in our animal encyclopedia, we checked out kids.nationalgeographic.com for more information.  We've gone there for information a couple of other times, and the site is very useful.  There's information to read about the animals, pictures, videos, and even a map to show habitat and range.  Here's his information sheet:

Grammar: This week he did a story narration (thankful for the digital voice recorder again here!), created a page for a booklet on seasons (Winter), we discussed capitalization and the correct usage of I, he, and she with "It is . . . " or "It was . . ." (FLL lessons 62 and 64).

Latin:  He completed lesson 23, which was a review lesson covering body parts, foods, and eating.

Spelling: He finished step 4 and moved on to step 5 in AAS level 2.  We're working on the first two rules for dividing words into syllables.  His only challenge is that he "gets" it intuitively right now, so he has a hard time verbalizing why he's dividing words where he does, even though we've gone over it 20 times.  Sigh.

Handwriting:  He's continuing to make steady progress with cursive.  He's usually very neat, and he still enjoys  it, which is nice.  He still hasn't learned enough to really use cursive to do any writing outside of handwriting time, but it won't be long!

Memory work:  Our memory work time has sort of evolved along the way.  Right now we're working on finishing up Psalm 23 (really just reviewing from before the break), our catechism question ("Can anyone go to heaven with this sinful nature?"  "No.  Our hearts must be changed before we can be fit for heaven."), history memory work (a sentence to go with a card about Sargon the great), the hymn, "Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee," syllable division rule #1, and the meaning of the Latin phrase "et cetera" ("and others.")  Oh, and we're also working on the books of the Old Testament--Connor's got them down through Proverbs at least.


Brennan

Math:  This week we've been reviewing recognizing 10's, combining 10's and 1's, and beginning addition.  He impressed Daddy the other day by telling him what an equation was and what "consecutive" meant.  I've noticed that he's having a hard time distinguishing between quantities of 8 and 9, so that's on the agenda for next week!

Handwriting:  We've spent some time practicing and reviewing this week.  I've noticed a few times that he's beginning letters at the bottom or forming them incorrectly, so we've been working on that before we move on.  I think most of it is from lack of practice over the break and a bit of lack of supervision over his writing even before that.  Oops!  Overall he's still doing really well, though.

Phonics:  He's started on final digraphs, beginning with words ending in "-sh."  He already knows these, so it should just be a quick review!


Together

Bible:  This week we learned about Elisha and Namaan, Elisha and the angel army, and King Joash.  My creative juices weren't flowing too much, so we pretty much just read the stories and discussed them.  Hoping to do better about that next week!


I'm subbing three days next week, so I'm not sure how much will get done.  I guess we'll see!  I'll leave plans with Daddy for two of the days, so hopefully we can at least keep up the forward momentum!