Well, we finally started our third trimester! We’re a bit slow this year. (Sigh.)
This week we—all of the children, even Miss 7—finished Rosetta Stone Dutch, Level 1. Mind you, Miss 7 and Miss 9 did only the listening and speaking components. This week I also started a Dutch read aloud for Miss 9, and she actually understands it. This is so exciting, because with language learning it sometimes seems as though the children aren’t getting anywhere. The older children each have a Dutch book going that we read aloud to each other, and those will be finished by the end of June.
On the learning-to-read front, Miss 7 finished the Beehive Reader 1 by Marie Rippel that we reviewed a while ago. She now also reads a verse or two at our mealtime Bible reading time, and is doing surprisingly well.
Miss 7 and Miss 9 are studying Exploring Creation with Astronomy, and we’re nearing the end. This week we played a great Planet, Moons, and Stars game that I plan to review soon. Then, while studying galaxies, we also explored the wonderful photography in Night Watch: A Practical Guide to Viewing the Universe by Terence Dickinson. This book one of the most overwhelming pictures I have ever seen, a 100-hour exposure photo taken by the Hubble telescope that shows thousands of galaxies in just a tiny portion of the sky. It is also available online; although the file is huge, it is worth clicking on to see the high resolution image. What an amazing God we have!
You can read more homeschool highlights, each containing some inspiration or helpful information, at Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers.
We're a little behind too. I might need to go by the 3/4 of a textbook rule. We'll be doing a little bit here and there over the summer.
Wow you guys are doing soooooooo well. ((clapping))
It sounds all so neat and intresting. Is your family Dutch ? Do they have relatives to talk to or even better yet …do you speak Dutch ? [0=
Blessings in Him<><
-Mary
Hello!
Yes it is very hard learning to juggle a job and do all your school and still have a social life too! We firmly believe in the work ethic. She was only suppose to work 3 hours a day x 3 days this year ( 10th grade) but they really needed her to do more. Great christian employer and friend as well. Says shes an awesome employee. We work it so in their 4 year plan for highschool they have less classes the last two years to make room for work. Your dh is probably correct about your dd knowing more than most grads. We found this to be very true with our first two graduates.
We did Dutch with Rosetta Stone while it was free through the library. The program was cut when we were a little more than half way done. It was disappointing! The gals had finished Italian and Spanish though. I would not say they mastered it. But it was before highschool and they enjoyed it. We have dutch heritage ( my grandmother in 1/2) So that made it fun. We also studied many dutch artist that year.
Have a blessed week!
I edited my post to answer your question. 🙂
Great progress! Do you speak Dutch?
Jenn
Yes, we're Dutch. 🙂 I was born in the Netherlands, and so were my husband's parents. We even lived oversees for a while after we were married. That's why we learn Dutch. Besides the fact that there are a LOT of good, Christian Dutch books.
Annie Kate
Setting up the highschool years to allow for a job in the final two years is SUCH a great suggestion. I wish we had thought of it earlier.
Annie Kate