We did finish our study in Revelation. When you are just reading through this book of the Bible, it can be confusing. But as we have studied it verse by verse, I feel that I have a better understanding of the imagery used to explain the end times. There were several things that stood out to me the most in this book of prophecy. The first lesson came from the letters to the seven churches. To those who believe in Christ, we are promised eternal victory over death as well as victory in our daily Christian living. The second lesson served as a reminder of what it means to truly worship God. As we neared the end of our study, the third lesson had to do with the Great White Throne Judgment. The good news for those who believe in Christ as Savior is that in the end, Christ will defeat Satan. But until that time, Satan works over-time trying to keep people from seeing the Truth. Oh, how I continue to pray my kids will always see, believe and follow the Truth. The final lesson was a reminder that a saved life should reflect a changed life. Jesus is coming soon. Are we ready?
Ellie did not finish her language; she still had a handful of lessons to finish. I blame myself for letting her take too long on her two research projects. Her final book study was on "The Horse and his Boy". Dennis read the entire Chronicles of Narnia series with both kids, so she was already familiar with the book. It was a good one to end the year with. Her lessons this quarter focused on prepositions/prepositional phrases/objects of prepositions, adverbs, quotations, and interjections. Josh learned about newspapers, the correct use of various adjectives/adverbs, helping verbs and homonyms, the difference between compound verbs and compound sentences and more on correct punctuation. His final lesson was on story writing. By the time he got to this, he had just completed a 19 page story on the computer and had an idea for a second one. I proofread his finished story and had him make corrections. Since he was done and Ellie was not, I added in a book study on "The Great Horn Spoon". I had some supplemental materials to go along with this book. I also had him finish up some left over Skill Sheets from Abeka.
Neither of the kids finished their math. They had 10 lessons left as well as one final math test. I suppose I could have let them go as they will review next year; but I really like to know we have completed the material, especially in this core subject.
We did complete our science curriculum. We ended the year learning about and comparing: turtles, terrapins and tortoises; alligators and crocodiles; newts and salamanders. We enjoyed learning further about the classification of dinosaurs. (From the description given in Job chapter 40, Behemoth was likely a Sauropod.) We learned about the different types of webs made by spiders in our study of Arthropods as well as the defenses of scorpions, millipedes and wood lice. It was not all that pleasant to be reminded of all the mites living around and on us! Our final study was on gastropods and worms.Those living outside the body are yucky enough, but reading about the various ones we can have living inside of us was very creepy. Make sure you cook your food!
And as for history, we did not finish the last week's worth of material. This quarter we learned about Saint Francis of Assisi, Saint Clara and Saint Dominic (all had good works, but we were reminded that we are saved by grace!); the philosopher of the Middle Ages, St. Thomas Aquinas; the scientist of the Middle Ages, Roger Bacon; the Great Khans; Marco Polo; Sir William Wallace and Robert Bruce; the poet of the Middles Ages, Dante; the Hundred Years' War and the Black Death; the Morning Star of the Reformation, John Wycliffe (he believed the Bible was for everyone, not just the priests and worked to have it translated from Latin to English); Chaucer (the Father of the English language) and Joan of Arc. We will finish up during the summer with the Ottoman Turks and finally, Johannes Gutenberg's printing press. The author points out that although many consider the fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Turks as the end of the Middle (Dark) Ages, she chose to end this volume with Gutenberg's printing press. The invention of the printing press allowed the Word of God to spread which in effect brought an end to the dark area we have been studying and the beginning of a lighter one. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." -John 1:1
Our final field trip for the school year was to the California Science Center to see the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit. Dennis took the day off to go with us. He was able to count it as a professional develop day since he would be teaching Geography in the summer.
Ellie played basketball with CYAA. Our friend was the head coach and Dennis assisted. Josh took golf lessons with First Tee of Pasadena. Both kids will be in the skit for VBS in July, so the three of us have been attending rehearsals every Sunday in preparation.
We attended our first promotion night with our PSP in June. It was a nice event. Our kiddos are growing up! We now have a 5th grader and a 7th grader! Time sure does fly. It seems just yesterday we started this homeschooling journey.
And it certainly has been a journey. We have gone from a very academic, comprehensive, workbook type of curriculum to one that embraces literature, journaling, notebooking and learning together. I have greatly appreciated being able to do most of our subjects - Bible, History, Science and Spelling - together. I also like that I am able to learn alongside them as we read and discuss the lessons. Yes, some days I wish we didn't have to do school because I don't feel like it or there are other things I would like to do; but I know it's important to press on. Not just because I want my kids to get an education, but because the discipline to do it has helped us to mature in our walks with the Lord, to grow personally and to bond as a family. And yes, some days my kids drive me crazy and I think about throwing in the towel and sending them to school; but I would miss them and the experience of teaching them and watching them grow. I don't know everything. I don't have it all together. I'm not the best teacher out there. But with the Lord, all things are possible (Matthew 19:26) and all things work for our good and His glory (Romans 8:28).
Dead Sea Scrolls Field Trip
Basketball 2015
Golf Spring 2015
Promotion Night 2015; From 4th grade to 5th grade
Promotion Night 2015; from 6th grade to 7th grade
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