End of Year Recap


Math All three boys are a few short lessons away from completing their year of math. We fell behind with a month of illness in March and an unanticipated 2 week trip to South Dakota in May for a memorial for their grandfather. They've all done very well with their lessons, though none of them are particularly excited by them. I'm looking into some new ideas for math next year.

Reading Jonathan is still plowing through everything he can get his hands on. He's reading the fourteen Oz books, at the moment, at the rate of a book or more per evening. He still freaks me out slightly.

Benjamen picks up books and magazines everyday, on his own, and especially likes books and magazines about animals. He has his own subscription to West Virginia Wildlife magazine and looks forward to each new issue. He and I are reading the Little House books, still, and are more than halfway through the series.

Nicholas and I are doing 100 Easy Lessons together, and he is enjoying them. He brings me the book on his own, usually several times a week, and I try to remind him if several days have gone by without a lesson. He brings books to me throughout the day for reading and both he and Benjamen each pick out a bedtime book every evening.

Writing Jonathan's handwriting is lovely to behold, and he's getting much more confident (and less resistant) to using cursive handwriting. I find little notes around the house, most of them in cursive these days. He writes letters to his grandmother, stories of his own making, comics, etc, and has a stellar grasp of spelling, grammar, punctuation, and the mechanics of writing. His form isn't bad, either.

Benjamen's handwriting varies, naturally, but when he's diligent and concentrating, it's perfection. Like Jonathan, he also writes to his grandmother and writes notes and cards for his friends and family. He also keeps a journal a la Junie B. Jones, and is working out the mechanics of writing, gradually. His spelling is fabulous and he's really surprised me with what a great speller he is.

Nicholas has writing pads and a writing white board, which he adores. He can often be found sitting at the table writing and pelting me with spelling questions as I work in the kitchen.

Science I didn't pursue any formal science with the boys this year when their interest started waning. Jonathan finished two chemistry books last year and started physics lessons this year. He was bored by what we were doing, so I opted for some science kits that he often did with his father. He also plowed through several science texts on his own in his evening reading. He also has a subscription to Weird, Wild Creatures, a series of fact cards that arrive through the mail with information on creatures from the animal kingdom, mythology, etc.

Benjamen and I still pursue his avid interest in animals. He received binoculars for his birthday and can often be found out on the deck watching birds. We're currently following a nest of wrens who have made a home in one of my planters. We check on them several times a day, watch their mother and father bring them worms, and are waiting for them to fly off any day, now. Benjamen is also my foodie boy and we've spent untold hours doing kitchen chemistry, carefully measuring, following recipes, and, unbeknownst to him, uncovering the basic principles of laboratory technique.

No formal science for Nicholas, of course, but he's following along with his brothers' "lessons".

History Benjamen has been following along with Jonathan's modern history lessons this year and they both memorized all of the presidents this year. They challenged each other in that pursuit and I was surprised to find that Benjamen memorized them more readily and easily than Jonathan (who also memorized the Gettysburg address this year). Next year all three boys will begin all over again with ancient history and I'll be glad to have everyone on the same page from here on out. We're actually going to start history when we get their math tied up since it's so full of fun projects.