Homeschool Diary: October 7 / 9 Tishrei, 5772

This is probably our last “normal” school week for a couple of weeks because of Sukkos next week and all our fun exciting Chol HaMoed (holiday) activities.  NOT that it was a normal week… do we ever really have one of those?  Does anybody?

Here’s what we’ve been up to this week!

We sure DO love chumash!  Elisheva created this picture while she was waiting for Naomi Rivka to go get dressed when we finished up our work for today.

Naomi can now read pessukim (verses) 1-4 of Lech Lecha (in case you don’t know what this is… Bereishis/Genesis, Chapter 12; it’s known as “Lech Lecha” after the first two significant Hebrew words; oh, and in case you didn’t know, “chumash” = Torah = pentateuch = five books of Moses).

She has mastered 18 of the Bright Beginnings flashcards, and I just added 6 more, bringing us up to 24 words in her “official” Torah vocabulary.  Unofficially, she probably knows quite a few more, but I like doing them systematically with the flashcards.

Hmmm… what else did we do?  It’s been such a blur!

Monday:

• JUMP Math
• Evan-Moor “daily” activities:  Word Problems, Language Review, 6-Trait Writing
• Handwriting Without Tears
• Explode the Code
• First Language Lessons – new poem, “Days of the Week”
• SOTW History – reading, narration and then WE MADE BRICKS!
• Hebrew – Kriyah v’Od, continue, though our pace these days is slow & discouraging…
• Chumash – sheet from L’shon HaTorah, flashcards, reading pessukim
• Swimming Lessons

Tuesday:

• Field Trip / Nature Study!

Wednesday:

JUMP Math

Explode the Code

Evan-Moor “daily” activities:  Word Problems, Language Review, 6-Trait Writing

• Start Yom Kippur Hebrew/English Copywork page (free download HERE)
• Evan-Moor Beginning Geography:  Map Scale & Maps Unit Review
• Apologia Science – reading, narration (we’re almost through the deathly-dull first chapter!), with only a little confusion…
• SOTW History:  Built the Harappan House out of Monday’s bricks!
• Yonah / Jonah reading / mapwork / cut-outs to prepare for Yom Kippur
• Start reading Mendelssohn Mini-Book (we’ve been listening to Mendelssohn in our spare time for 2 weeks now)

Thursday:

• I was out all day, so…. schooling with Aunt Sara:
• JUMP Math
• Remedia:  Cut, Color, Paste Logic  – this is a new book for us and it looks like fun!  I had about 10 pages of free samples, so we tried this before we bought it.
• Explode the Code
• Evan-Moor “daily” activities:  Word Problems, Language Review, 6-Trait Writing, Science
• Park with Aunt Sara
• Missed the Homeschool Drop-in – drat!
• Library
• Listened to Classics for Kids About Mendelssohn show in the car on the way to/from the library!
• Finished reading Mendelssohn Mini-Book (we’ve been listening to Mendelssohn in our spare time for 2 weeks now)

Friday:

• JUMP Math
• ETC
• Finish Yom Kippur Hebrew/English Copywork (see right)
• Finish up Evan-Moor Daily:  Word Problems, Language Review, Science
• Chumash – sheet from Bright Beginnings, flashcards, introduce new flashcards, read pessukim 1-4

Here’s how we do the pessukim in Chumash, by the way.  We do the same thing for pessukim she knows well AND those she is just beginning.  For the ones she knows well, it goes very fast… and then we get slower and slower towards the end.

1. Read the passuk through, line by line; Hebrew first, then English.  For new pessukim, she can use the “cut-ups” sheets I created to help her with some of the more difficult words.
2. Read the passuk through, line by line; Hebrew only.
3. CLOSE the book… say the passuk through from memory.  For newew pessukim, I will prompt her with the first sound or syllable, but I try to let her muddle through the older ones on her own.

As I said, we’re only 4 pessukim into it, since July – one passuk a month – BUT the pace is picking up and I can certainly see being able to add one a week in not very long.  Of course, it would go better and faster if we had more time to spend on it.  But isn’t that always the case???

In any event… deep breath… now we’re DONE!  Yay!  Anybody else been busy this week???