A Look Back at Form II

I have neglected our poor homeschool blog for too long and recently found this post that I had compiled last year around this time, but never actually hit "Publish!" So, I am posting it now, especially because it is encouraging to me (a year later) as we have made some good progress on quite a few things that I was up in the air about or unsure of! I plan to do another similar post for this past year too and will definitely try to be more consistent in posting here!!!

**FYI: Form II is grades 4-6, usually ages 4-12 (sometimes over 12)

We finished our school year at the beginning of June, but I thought I should write a review here for my sake. We followed AO almost entirely but did make a few adjustments here or there...


Bible:

We read from the Bible daily, rotating between the New and Old Testament (Leviticus, Job, Mark & Acts). Narrations were good from both girls though I feel it was definitely a challenge reading through Job and narrating. On Fridays, we took a break from Bible reading and read from Bruce Ware's theology book instead.

Fenway in Boston

Bible Memory:

We memorized Proverbs 2, Psalm 139 and John 1:1-18 over the three terms. We also reviewed every day from our list of memorized passages. I had previously just reviewed one day a week but I found it wasn't enough so this seems to help with that.

Math:

Math continues to be a success, thanks to Teaching Textbooks! Louisa worked through Level 5 and part of Level 6; Kailyn worked through Level 7 and started Pre-Algebra. I really need to be better at keeping track of quizzes/tests and what they are struggling with...*making a note here to set a weekly check-in for math!!

History:

The girls both really enjoyed their history studies this year.

Louisa (Y4) followed AO history selections and learned about the American Revolution. {We also took a trip to Boston to see all the historical sights!!} She kept a timeline, recording important dates and such, and kept the timeline well-illustrated with her drawings. She will have no problem transitioning into a real Book of Centuries in Y6- she loves this kind of thing.

At the Quincy farm (Peacefield) in Quincy, Mass.

Kailyn (Y6) followed AO history selections and learned about WWII during the first term and Ancient Greece/Rome for the other two terms. She ate up all the Ancient history and read a ton of extra material on it for fun. She also began a Book of Centuries from which I required one weekly entry. This was sometimes a challenge for her to come up with something "entry worthy" but she persisted. She also kept a History Notebook for Ancient Greece/Rome studies and in it were weekly written narrations, sketches of important people and places and maps of the ancient world. I required 30 minutes of work each week on this notebook, in addition to a once weekly written narration. This history notebook has become a special keepsake from the year, and will continue to be in the future. Louisa is rather looking forward to next year when she can also start a history notebook.

Science:

For Louisa (Y4), I strayed somewhat from the AO selections of science. This is what I added and kept for each term:

Term 1::
Storybook of Science
Christian Liberty Nature Reader Book 4 (my addition)
Gregor Mendel bio
Ocean of Truth (Isaac Newton bio)
The Human Body by Janice Van Cleave (my addition)

Term 2::
Storybook of Science
Nature Reader Book 4 (my addition)
Sabbath Mood guide for Astronomy (my addition)
Ocean of Truth

Term 3::
Storybook of Science
Sabbath Mood guide for Botany (my addition)
Finished Ocean of Truth book
Galileo books, various (my addition)
Physics Lab in the Home

Overall, I am pleased with the selections. We did not do a great job at following the Botany study guide experiments (this was done together with Kailyn); this was mainly my fault- we were very busy at home and it just got passed over. I also did not love the book chosen for this topic; I didn't feel it was "living" enough- I know that if I struggled to enjoy it, probably the girls did too. The good part of science is that all the books got read and Louisa had a weekly science entry required for her Science Notebook. She did very well at these and I daresay, enjoyed them! She loves to take advantage of any time she can draw! She also had a required weekly nature journal entry. I left this very much up to her as to what she put in... my goal was just to encourage the habit. We pretty much failed at any intentional nature walks this year, but I am choosing not to feel guilty about it {baby twins, cross-country move, remodel, etc.} Despite the busyness, she did very well coming up with observations and recording them. It is becoming a way of life for us and I am pleased with the result.

End of year work displayed for Dad

For Kailyn (Y6), I followed all the AO science selections but did add two Nature Lore readings because I know that Kailyn loves nature readings! She enjoyed both additions, (though, of course I didn't tell her they were additions).

The Song of the Cardinal, by Gene Stratton Porter
Fabre's Book of Insects by Jean Henri Fabre

Nature Journals

AO Science was a big hit for Kailyn. She enjoyed the books and especially loved Theodore Gray's Book of Elements. We purchased the app for the iPad which she loved to look through after her readings. I required one weekly Science entry in her Science notebook, which wasn't always a favorite activity but she did a great job with it nonetheless. She also had a weekly Nature Journal entry which is always a big deal for her. She takes her time and really does a beautiful job each week with an observation or journal entry. I have no problems encouraging either girl with the importance of a Nature Journal. They have come to appreciate God's creation in a deeper way because of this habit.

Spotted Newt, NH's State Amphibian - who knew?

Latin:

Louisa began Getting Started with Latin and worked on one lesson each day, twice a week. This was very painless for all of us and she comprehended the short lessons very well. She did this independently and asked Steve for help if it was needed. She will continue with the book next year, as she didn't complete it yet.

Kailyn began Visual Latin 1 (a video streaming series) and really enjoyed the teacher, Dwane Thomas. She learned a lot and worked slowly through the series. I think she ended with Lesson 19 by the end of the year. We will definitely be keeping Visual Latin for next year for her.  She worked on Latin twice a week for about 20-25 minutes each.

Spanish:

Spanish was a struggle this year. We began Speaking Spanish with Miss Mason but it really didn't work for us. The pronunciation was hard for me to speak- I could have used the audio but I didn't get around to setting it all up which was poor planning on my part. Regardless of the audio, it was still a struggle as it seemed very repetitious and slow-going. The girls did not seem impressed with the pace of learning, so, we defaulted back to Duo-lingo because we were crazy busy with life stuff and I did not have sufficient time to research and start something new. We did Duo-lingo together almost every day, just for a few minutes each day. Anyways, I also picked up a book called Talk Box Mom and we tried to implement a few sentences each week but honestly, it was hard to remember! I'm not sure what to do with the book, now that I've paid for all these translated sentences but I have the rest of the summer to think it over. Looking ahead to next year, I've decided that we need someone else teaching the foreign language, so I have been researching and have been narrowing down my options.

Geography:

Geography was done with AO selections but a bit out of order to accommodate combined learning. We did geography together for the last two terms of the year. The girls loved reading Halliburton's Book of Marvels.

Plutarch:

Louisa read Mrs. Beesley's Stories from Rome for the first two terms, as well as The Children's Plutarch but then joined Kailyn and I as we read Julius Caesar. We are still finishing this up over the summer. Kailyn also read Crassus on her own for the first term.

Mapwork:

The girls each did map drills of the areas they were reading about for history, along with Bible readings.

Handicrafts:

We really only got one legit term of handicrafts in due to the busyness of our year. Kailyn focused on photography and Louisa focused on calligraphy.

Poetry:

During our Morning Circle Time, we read Robert Frost, Carl Sandburg and used the AO Selected Variety of Poems for our last term. The girls also each memorized one poem for each term over the year, from our poetry selections. Louisa additionally memorized Paul Revere's Ride!

In front of the John Quincy Adams Library in Quincy, Mass.

Picture Study:

We studied Norman Rockwell, Rembrandt, and Edward Hicks. Norman Rockwell was a fast favorite for Louisa; he is very inspirational to her. Rembrandt was a special treat and Edward Hicks was period appropriate for Louisa- they loved his folk art style.

Composer Study:

We studied Aaron Copland and George Gershwin for the first term, Franz Schubert for the second term and finished with Antonio Vivaldi. The modern composers were time appropriate for Kailyn and the girls got a kick out of Gershwin's love songs. It was fun to change it up with a modern composer!

Shakespeare:

We read through two plays this year- the first being A Midsummer Night's Dream. Both girls enjoyed this comedy and we read it aloud together. The second play was Much Ado About Nothing, but honestly, this one was hard to read through without help. It was confusing for us to follow the plot for some reason. So, I purchased the audio via Arkangel and we listened as we followed along in our books. The audio voices/drama was excellent and truly helped us through. I think this is a great option for future Shakespeare plays! The girls also each memorized one dialogue from each play.

Grammar:

We used Winston Grammar this year and I do love the repetition and the way it slowly builds knowledge. This was good practice for the girls and they are doing great keeping at it.

Hymn Study/Folk Songs:

We continued to sing though it was a challenge after the move since our piano was pretty buried under boxes and stuff. It will be much easier to accomplish next year now that we have a functional family room with a piano easily accessible.

Piano:

The girls continued to practice (despite the obstacle courses around the piano due to moving and renovations) and I was able to give them a few lessons over the year, but this was a downer for me because the lessons were few and far between. It is very challenging to find quality time for lessons and it needs to be evaluated for the future.

All in all, it was a great year and we ALL learned A LOT!