We are half way through our 2016-2017 academic year so I thought I'd give an update on Heart of Dakota Creation to Christ, which I am using with Ruben. I really liked the way the year started out. However, after eighteen weeks, we are getting bogged down. So far for history, geography, and bible, we've read...
The Story of the Ancient World - I read aloud (finished)
The DK Illustrated Family Bible - Ruben is reading this independently
Genesis - Finding Our Roots - I am reading aloud, but we are starting to skip sections as spending a whole year on this book is way too long
A Child's Geography Vol II. - I read aloud and was really enjoying, but Ruben was getting very overwhelmed so I decided to set this book aside after finishing the first country. We may return to it down the road.
What in the World? Vol. 1 Ancient Civilizations and the Bible - Ruben is listening to this independently and narrating upon completion after each lesson.
Dinosaurs by Design - I read aloud (finished)
The Golden Bull - I read aloud (finished)
Boy of the Pyramids - I read aloud (finished)
Hittite Warrior - I read aloud (finished)
Jashub's Journal - I read aloud (finished)
God King - I read aloud (we read half so sporadically that we lost track of what was happening and decided to quit)
Within the Palace Gates - Ruben started, but didn't finish at my approval
Last week, we starting moving on to studying Greece. However, after looking at the HOD book list, I decided to make some changes. Rather than buy more books, I opted to use books we already own. Also, we have previously read a couple of the books used in the HOD study so we will not be re-reading them. Over the next six weeks, I will read aloud...
D'Aulaire's Book of Greek Myths - Sonlight and Beautiful Feet recommendation
The Golden Days of Greece by Olivia Coolidge - Truthquest History recommendation
The Trojan War by Olivia Coolidge - Sonlight Recommendation
Alexander the Great - Landmark by John Gunther - HOD Extension Package
Cleopatra by Diane Stanley - HOD History Interest Package
We are almost two weeks in to the first three books and it's going well. In addition, Ruben is coloring Life in Ancient Greece by John Green while I read. He narrates orally after each reading and I've added some map work as well.
Regarding science, we are continuing on with HOD's science recommendations. So far, we've completed Apologia's Exploring Creation with Zoology 1 and Birds of the Air by Arabella B. Buckley. Ruben and I both enjoyed the Buckley book over the Apologia book. We are just beginning to read Plant Life in Field and Garden, which is also by Buckley.
Overall, it's been a good year thus far. Ruben is gaining independence in his studies, which was the goal. I'm not sure at this point whether or not we will continue with Heart of Dakota next year. Again, I like the look of some of the books in the next level, Resurrection to Reformation, but I might just patch together my own thing. I'm also going to take a serious look at Beautiful Feet's Medieval Intermediate pack and may put Riley and Ruben back together for history. I'll let you know when the time draws closer.
No comments:
Post a Comment