Weekly Report 12/12 - 12/16

~What We Are Reading~

Bear: Fever 1793

Noodle: More Days Go By

Monday:  Rough day.  Boot camp so far has not motivated Noodle to be more obedient.  I am truly wanting to rip my hair out today.  At 4:48pm we were still doing school because SO MUCH TIME WAS WASTED for fit throwing and discipline.  The only things accomplished were devotional, handwriting, math speed drill and several lessons, 1 page of Explode the Code and CLE LA.  Getting through CLE LA was torture.  Normally, he does just fine, but he just keeps dragging it out lately.  I really wanted to do science today - but behavior issues combined with things I had to get done, just prevented that from happening.


We also managed to play a math place value game.

I ordered the Explode the Code Book 5 and it should be here by next week.

I made a batch of "Reese's Bars" from a recipe I found online.  No bake, super easy.  Go HERE to get the recipe and try them out!! SUPER YUMMY!

In the evening Noodle had his Cub Scouts Pack Meeting - he received his Mathematics and Science belt loops.

Bear did his Algebra, Biology, Russian, some literature and some history.  He recently built a potato cannon.  Enjoy this short video demonstration:

Tuesday:  Another rough day. Noodle and I are in a battle for power.  For his own good, and safety this child must learn to obey.  I flinch when I hear that word - probably because of societal conditioning and the negative connotations of the word.  Anyway, he needs to obey and he doesn't.  He has a comeback/answer to EVERYTHING.  I tell him to do one thing, he does another.  We go to the store, I tell him not to run in the parking lot, he runs.  I explained to him that a parking lot is a dangerous place if he isn't paying attention, and if there is a driver not paying attention.  I have zero patience for his outright defiance, and now for two days in a row I have gotten a headache. 

In spite of all the stalling on his part, he did manage devotional, several reading lessons in OPGTR, spelling review, Explode the Code, CLE LA and Math.  Also he read aloud to me a whole book - Splat the Cat Sings Flat.  Additionally, we read and discussed the first half of Maps & Globes.

Reading, Splat the Cat Sings Flat.

His spelling is incorporated in CLE LA and at first I wasn't liking it much - he was missing almost all the words when it came to the spelling tests.  Now, every couple of days we are doing a "spelling review" where I ask him to spell a word aloud, and he does so.  This one change has really improved his spelling retention!

Bear had his Boy Scouts Christmas party tonight and he made a batch of the Reese's Bars, and mashed potatoes for the potluck.

Mashed potatoes.  See him yelling at me for taking his picture?  Muuwwwaaaahahahhaha

Bear has been jamming along in Algebra, and it has been pretty exciting to witness.  This annoyed him a lot though- so many steps to get to the answer!!!

Wednesday:  We started the day with a new Character Study from www.confessionsofahomeschooler.com  We started with 'Arguing' since it is a big problem with me and Noodle.  Either he is a great actor/manipulator or he may have actually had a breakthrough.  I think I may have been using words he didn't know/understand and just assuming he should know some things.  We discussed how when we are angry and make bad choices that we can stir up trouble and when we don't keep our tempers in check we commit lots of sins.  We discussed the story of Joseph and his brothers.  I explained how our sins and all our actions have consequences.  'Consequences' is a word I use frequently with him and I come to find out he doesn't actually understand that word. PALM SMACK!  I felt really bad and apparently have forgotten how little one knows at age seven. 

After the character study we read the rest of Maps & Globes.  I asked him to draw a map of our house - a floorplan basically.  He got pretty frustrated with it and crumpled his first attempt.  He started over and here is his version of the downstairs of the house.

Noodle's map of the downstairs of our home.  Bless his heart, he tried, but there are rooms missing- I told him "good job."

He also did phonics (Explode the Code), CLE LA Quiz and Math.  He made it through the day without a meltdown! Yay! He earned the privilege of watching The Empire Strikes Back.

On the CLE LA Quiz- he got all the spelling words right!!!!!  Wooooot!!

Bear, again, did his usual. He finished reading Fever 1793.  We went to the library and he picked up In The Name of Science - a history of secret programs, medical research, and human experimentation.


Thursday:  Did the Arguing character study and read the story of Jacob and Esau.  He started reading aloud from a new book - Buster The Very Shy Dog.   He also completed a few pages of math.  We did a cute winter project.  I saw an idea on Pinterest- making a snow globe drawing along with a very short writing assignment. 

Reading, Buster The Very Shy Dog.

Noodle says, "If I lived in a snow globe....I would build an evil snowman."

Unfortunately, he did not make it through the day without melting down.  He completely lost his mind, and lost the privilege of watching Return of the Jedi tonight.  Perhaps he will do better tomorrow.

Bear has been getting his stuff packed and ready for Boy Scouts Winter Camp.  He leaves Saturday morning.  He completed another Biology module today, along with the rest of his workload.  I wish I had more details to give on what he is doing, but it's high school - a lot of reading, writing and test taking.  He is still doing the SAT Prep program too.

Friday: We started our day with Pancakes for breakfast.  Yum.  Then Noodle and I read about the Tower of Babel and continued with our character study on Arguing.  Next we did three lessons from OPGTR.  At this point he is reading really well and I just want to get the book finished.  We also did WWE - today's passage was from Dr. Doolittle.  He also did a couple more lessons from his Abeka math 2.  He is excited about getting through it so we can order Teaching Textbooks 3 in January.

No melt down today, but still there are so many issues with first time obedience.  He has shown slight improvement since Monday.  The hardest part for me is being consistent and not giving up.  So many times I want to throw my hands in the air and say, "Forget it - just go to your room."  That will solve nothing though, and our problem will only worsen.  I need to be like the little engine that could - even though my head feels like exploding several times a day!!

Bear made some slides from the bacteria he started growing a couple of weeks ago.

Bear took the Chapter 12 Algebra 1 test - got an 84.  When he sees his tutor next week they will review the ones he missed.
Life Stuff:  In other news, my blood work came back.  My A1C was 5.9 - so yippeee!!!  They want me to come back for a re-check on the urine for some reason.  The first result was negative for protein, so I guess they just want to make sure.  All I can say is, Praise the Lord! I am certain all is fine because I have been diligent in taking the Losartan for the last six months, so maybe it took care of the protein issue I was having.  Bottom line, as of right now I do not need to see a Nephrologist!  I am so relieved.