We are in the final stretch!
Grant officially finished Classical Conversations for the year, and Anna's last class is next week. This week has been a week of studying for the Challenge A final (for Anna) and a week of unstructured schooling (for Grant).
We also made it through a very strange week of weather - so many bad storms all around us left us without power Tuesday morning and lots of damage we've spotted driving around this week.
I'm also very excited about a new adventure for Homegrown Learners (more on that later in the post).
Challenge A Updates
Tuesday will be the final exam in Challenge A. Anna has been working very hard to review.
I must say, I feel like the exam is just a formality. The volume and depth of what they have learned all year is the true measure of learning - not the final exam. I am encouraging her to study and do her best, but in the back of my mind I'm just so proud of all she has accomplished and (truthfully) ready for a break.
While I LOVE Challenge A, it has been a lot of work.
Part of the final exam is drawing and labeling the major body systems from memory. Anna loves to display this information on her white board. This was done from memory.
I know she will look back on this year with a tremendous amount of pride and wonder how she ever crammed all of this information into her head. It's good stuff.
Her final apologetics paper is "Why Secular Humanism is a Flawed Worldview". I'm telling you - this is deep stuff for a 12 year old, and I hope she will allow me permission to post her paper. The searching she has had to do for this topic is TOUGH, but she is learning so much. These papers will be presented on the last day of class for parents.
Latin Day
The kids had a Latin Day - complete with a huge feast and presentations from all of the Challenge students.
Anna's presentation was about music in ancient Rome.
I'm so glad we just decided to sink our teeth into Latin - it's been so worth it.
I wrote earlier this week about How To Learn Latin - this has probably been our biggest accomplishment this year.
Sometimes You Just Have to "Let it Go"
I didn't even attempt to do formal school with Grant this week.
Between everything going on with Challenge and me trying to purge and pack up the entire main floor of our house (new floors will be installed next Wednesday), I just decided to let him have an "interest led" week. We did continue math lessons as normal, but that's it.
There are seasons in homeschool when this type of learning just WORKS.
Grant spent the week doing a lot of LEGO building (look at his room -- a mess, but he was happy!), working on Typing Web, doing a lot of biking and running for his triathlon, and helping me with a little vlogging!
He also took a practice Stanford 10 standardized test online because he will be taking the real thing next Monday and Tuesday (online through Classical Conversations).
We started reading aloud The Indian in the Cupboard - and, as I suspected, he is loving it. There is nothing better than a read aloud where your child is curled up next you, giggling most of the time. I have purchased the movie and after standardized testing next week we will have a movie night to celebrate!
Fun Announcement
I have been a faithful reader of the Classical Conversations Blog Carnival at Half-a-Hundred Acre Wood. In fact, this is one of the things that drew me to CC in the first place. I would read about what everyone was doing in their CC homeschool and it just excited me.
A few weeks ago, Brandy asked me if I would consider taking over the carnival! I happily accepted this endeavor, knowing that it WILL be a lot of work, but knowing that it will also help me forge new relationships and better serve my readers who are affiliated with CC.
Please stay tuned for more details - and if you are interested in knowing more, visit Half-a-Hundred Acre Wood, where Brandy is making the formal announcement today. I'm new at hosting a blog carnival, so you may have to be patient with me as I learn.
Homeschool Deals
This special deal from Notebooking Pages is only good until Monday -- $50 off a LIFETIME membership, and lots of other goodies. I am so thankful for our membership to this site - I use it daily in our homeschool. (Click the image to take advantage of the savings.)
Also, Amazon has a very good sale on Kindles. $49 for a regular Kindle, and $99 for a PaperWhite. Hello, Mother's Day?
How was your week?
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