highlights of the week:

• ticked all the to-dos for this week. now, that makes me happy 🙂 i think i deserve a night out in Starbucks: white chocolate mocha plus a good book (currently reading Gilead sloooowly). it would be a treat. 
• gave Burgess Bird Book for Children another try (i gave up on it after the 2nd chapter last term). glad to include it again along with Paddle to the Sea and Herriot’s Treasury for Natural History. This week, we learned about the Song Sparrow. interesting that they build their nests near the ground and not on top of trees. will be learning more about Song Sparrow next week.

Natural History = is the research and study of organisms including plants or animals in their environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study.

• read about King Solomon’s Fleet for Ancient History in Synge’s On the Shores of the Great Sea, which is, by far, my favorite book in year 1. this book is not originally part of AO year 1. i added it because i wanted to start with Ancient History in our history cycle. it blended well with Alab’s reading of Genesis. he saw many connections. in the few chapters that we’ve read (slowly read and narrated), bible history doesn’t seem far off or disconnected because of how M.B. Synge had laid out Ancient History. anyway, back to Solomon’s Fleet — it tied in how King Hiram of Tyre (Phoenician) was a key person in helping build the Temple of Jerusalem and in helping build Solomon’s Naval Fleet. interesting to know that the Israelites had a port at the Red Sea and that their ships sailed to Arabia, Somalia and India, bringing home a lot of gold, silver, jewels and all sorts! amazing information. it explains a lot. dear son followed the route of the ships from the Red Sea to India on our big wide map. he couldn’t believe that Israelites and Phoenicians sailed together. another thing he couldn’t understand: “why did King Solomon marry the daughter of the Egyptian Pharaoh?! they are pagans and do not believe in the true God.” 
• read about how Jose Rizal coped when he was exiled to Dapitan, Zamboanga. dear son is fascinated with Rizal’s love for knowledge and the fact that he knows around 10 languages. being in exile didn’t stop Rizal from learning and keeping himself productive. son wondered, “there was no TV back then huh?” 🙂 Andres Bonifacio was mentioned that he was another Philippine hero who was inspired by the books of Rizal. son asked, “i wonder if Andres Bonifacio is the same.. i wonder if he loved learning too.” he’ll find out in the 3rd term that Bonifacio’s take on fighting for Philippines is quite different.

• the 3 kids now know “head, shoulders, knees and toes” in Spanish and Filipino. it is definitely easier to teach another language through music. thank you, youtube.
• finally did lesson 1 of Drawing with Children after months of figuring out how to execute it.
• son is slowly learning to read Filipino. big progress! 

need to look into, improve on or change:

• even if i am starting to dislike textbooks – i have to buy filipino and hekasi textbooks (primarily to help my son pass the DepEd exam).
• look for a more formal way to teach Spanish.
• lessen screen time. they usually watch a movie around 4:30 (Kung Fu Panda three times in a row!) Take out handicraft stuff instead? start making our Christmas ornaments?
• geography! blank map. map drills.
• our picture and composer studies have been neglected last term. need to pull it back in.