Bible: On Monday and Tuesday we had another lesson from Christian Studies I, and read about Eve in What Really Happened in Ancient Times. We also read A LOT from Little Pilgrim's Progress. While my initial plan had been a chapter per day, we averaged 5 or more each day because the kids never wanted me to stop reading. I didn't do much else since we'll be switching over to Winter Promise next week (hopefully!).

English: We slogged through Rod & Staff English every day this past week, learning about simple and complete subjects, simple and complete predicates, helping verbs, prepositions and more. While the kids hate it, for the most part they seem to be getting it. It's certainly much more advanced than their public school work had been and I probably should have started them at a lower level. However, I created flash cards each day for new terms and word lists to be memorized & we drill on those frequently -- it seems to be helping a lot! We also worked on some letter writing and thank you cards this week.


Latin: We've dropped Matin Latin and will be switching to Latina Christiana ASAP!

Handwriting: I am essentially re-teaching handwriting this year, so our work began this week using the Peterson Directed Handwriting program. Several years ago, our school district decided that teaching handwriting was unnecessary, and as a result, my three youngest only learned how to write their names in cursive. Rand Nelson, the owner of Peterson, has been enormously helpful with getting us started and answering all my questions.

Reading: We continued reading The Wheel on the School, and also read:

• Grandmother Winter by Phyllis Root
  
• Keep the Lights Burning, Abbie by Peter and Connie Roop. Based on the life of a young Abbie Burgess, who was known for her bravery in tending the Matinicus Rock Light in Maine, during a raging winter storm in 1856.
• George Washington Carver by Tonya Bolden. George Washington Carver was born in January, 1864.

Math: We're waiting on some manipulatives to arrive for the Singapore curriculum, so we spent the week working on mental math skills with worksheets and timed drills from Whole Spirit Press. We also played some games with our Tree Blocks Math Kit.


History: We continued our Roman coin cleaning project (the coins are currently soaking), played Thebes, a game of "competitive archaeology," and completed several lessons from Archaeology by Judith Cochran. Tuesday, we took a break to watch the inauguration and learn a little presidential history; Thursday we enjoyed a layer cake dig.