Week 4 AKA Wow....Foundations just started??????

YEAH!!! Our whole class was in attendance today.  Welcome Home Zach!  I expect a nice little presentation on Germany when we study Europe.

Thank you Varnell for snack this week!  And Boone you have snack next week.

**Please read blog carefully this week! Two subjects deviate from the guide and parents...you have homework in Rhetoric!

Math: Lesson 17 through 20 were gone over in class.
Homework: Lesson 17 - 20.

Latin:  We added 2nd Declension and 2nd Declension Neuter Endings.  We parsed from English to Latin and back again.  Also, please check out the little "folder" I gave them today.  There is a sheet in there that they can use a dry erase marker to practice endings.  There are also a couple "cheat sheets" for parsing that may help students....and teachers :)  I did not officially arrange it into a folder, because I will probably be adding onto it as the year progresses.  (Especially when we start with verbs)
Homework: Purple book" read pages 17 through 24. There are 8 exercises in this section.  It is up to the teacher to decide how much of each exercise they should do.  (I am only having my son pick three or four of each of the sentences to parse) Add new vocab and new grammar rules to cards.  QUIZ NEXT WEEK ON VOCAB AND GRAMMAR RULES FROM PURPLE BOOK.  Blue book: Continue to study 34-44.  I also sent home a declension sheet.  One vocab word from each of these declensions is to be declined: 1st, 2nd, 2nd Neuter.  And remember, Latin teachers never die, they just decline :)

IEW: We read our stories, great job this week guys!  And yes, I read Click Clack Moo Cows Type to the class. :) For those who may not know, this is a riveting tale of blackmail on the farm.  We reviewed the story model again.
Homework:  We are doing lesson 8 with a twist!  They can choose to use Jonah as their story....or PICK ANOTHER STORY IF THEY CHOOSE.  A children's book usually works well with their simple story lines.  If they choose a bigger novel such as Lord of the Rings, they may wish to focus on one aspect of the story.  They are also allowed to change a few details if they choose.  (i.e. in our story today the cows were demanding electric blankets.  They could change this to IMAX tickets) Any questions on this, please feel free to email or call me :)  Also, still use the check sheet for Lesson 8.

Rhetoric: FANTASTIC discussion today.  The kids really started thinking and processing what we are learning about here!!!  I started playing a bit of "angel's advocate" with some of them.  (taking the opposite point of view so they practice "arguing" their point) Also, some awesome discussion was started today on prayer, which also referenced some of what is going on with Joseph Dees. (see your homework please) We did reference the parable of the woman (Luke 18:1-8) who "wore out" the king with her petitions which led to a discussion of trusting and leaving it up to God. (I tell you, I hated to move on to Science today:)
Homework: PARENTS-please discuss with your children your views of prayer (if you haven't already).  Joseph is very dear to many of their hearts and guidance from you during this time can be very precious :) In the end we reconciled that if we are seeking God with our heart, then the spirit should lead us in prayer as to when and how to pray for our friend. 
Read chapter 4 both books, fill out your blue notebook.  Add catechism questions 10 - 12

Science: Great reports on wildflowers.  Some kids were very excited to hear that the blog has the "easybib" link but were told to have your permission first.
Homework: Herbs! If some are inspired they were told they could bring in a taste or smell (THIS IS OPTIONAL) It does not need to be snack size but taste size, but with something as fun as herbs I wanted to let them know it is an option. As always, they need to have at least two sources and bibliography.

Geography: This is where it got a little rowdy today, but in their defense the windows WERE flooding.  Not like a few drops, but like water down the wall.  Yes, we are talking with the church about this.  I handed back USA tests and it gave the kids the knowledge of how this all goes.  On next weeks test they may not use Alaska as feature points, but may add USA as 1 feature point.
Homework: Test on Canada...DO NOT GET BEHIND ON THOSE GEOGRAPHY TERMS!! Add this weeks terms.  Prepare for test. Rvw. USA at least once.