End of 2014

How we finished 2014: In week 16 two of the boys finished book #15 this week!  I am so proud of the reading they have accomplished.  The only struggle is getting books.  I only brought what would fit into my carry on suitcase.  Hopefully I can place an Amazon order and have more shipped here.

The boys finished two other videos before the end of the year.  One of them is about the prophet Elijah.  The other video is the story of the birth of Jesus as told through legos.

Miracle of a Prophet

LEGO Nativity

One Thursday I planned all of our Social Studies and Spanish lessons in the afternoon involving the internet.  I keep forgetting that Thursday's there is not internet or electricity at school.  I found the neatest online computer game about Vikings, and we were watching several videos about Christopher Columbus.  We ended up taking a field trip to my apartment to finish school for the day.  Thank goodness my internet wasn't down that day.

We started Beduin's Gazelle about a Muslim girl of the past.  I connected the lesson to Eman's TED Talk about being a Muslim photojournalist.  The only female Muslim photojournalist, which is pretty crazy.  We made connections to Islam that we studied in history.

In Spanish we finished the year by studying Christopher Columbus.  We looked at famous people that could be considered heroes or villains.  I created a slideshow with pictures of superman, the joker, Miley Cyrus, Bill Cosby, Trujillo, and more.  We talked about how most people have good and bad qualities.  We finished the semester with a field trip to Santo Domingo.  We went to Alcanzar de Colon, Museo de las Casas Reales, and Tres Ojos.  The boys and I had a great time learning and exploring.

One of the CCSS talks about showing character change over the course of a novel.  We read Murder for Her Majesty and the boys made characters in cans.  They looked at Master Kenton and how he changed throughout the story.  They filled the cans with 5 objects to represent 5 changes in the character.

The last week before break we did a service project.  We helped Joy write a letter asking people to donate food.  We filled over 40 boxes with a Christmas meal for the families in La Vega.  They got pasta, oatmeal, beans, rice, sugar, fruit, and more.  The boys and I folded all 40 boxes and stuffed them.  It was neat to leave for break knowing we impacted and helped others.

Time to start planning for 2 0 1 5.

Con mucho amor.