Baylie began the lesson by completing the checkup questions on the religions of China. Next she read about the geographical features and dynasties of China. These dynasties began with the Shang dynasty to the Ch'ing dynasty. Baylie did an excellent job reading and responding appropriately to the questions from the text and from her instructor.

Ben was administered a 15 question assessment involving matching subject-specific vocabulary with correct definitions and multiple choice questions. Ben needed some guidance matching the Constitutional articles with the subjects they cover, but was receptive to my help. He and was able to answer 12 out of the 15 questions, after being prompted to initiate the task and assisted after initially being presented with it. The questions covered the constitution, the articles of the Constitution, and the branches of government.

Max and I discussed the elements of MAIN, new technologies of war and transportation and communication, the 2 reasons why the U.S. joins the war, and the events occurring in Russia leading up to their withdrawal from the war.

We have included a good deal of repetition, comprehension discussions, and even hands-on activities up to this point in our study of the War. Today Max seemed to have a firm grasp on some of the points that were first introduced.

Bobby and I watched a history video on the making of the US presidents. Bobby watched and evaluated how George Washington viewed his presidency and how he created the executive branch still used today. Bobby and I discussed what the founding fathers would think of our country today.

Baylie began the session with a map identification activity. She was asked to identify numerous countries located on the continent of Asia and create a color code key for them. For the second part of the session Baylie participated in a review of The Mysterious Lands of the East. She answered most of the checkup questions prior to the ending of the session. Baylie, you are an excellent student of History!

Ben watched a video about Jefferson and Adams and we discussed these Founding Father's volatile relationship in the 1800's. Ben expressed interest in learning about James Callendar who ruined Hamilton's career, so we did some research on him. We added new words to our vocabulary list, including 'sedition,' defined as conduct or speech inciting people to rebel or riot against authority. Ben remained engaged in the history video clips and enjoyed the delivery by its commentators.

The session began with a discussion on interesting facts about the continent of Asia. Baylie read about Asia's population, economies, animals and land mass. She had to select ten facts from her reading to submit for today's assignment. The second aspect of today's lesson was the completion of her Charleston Tour photo and paragraph work. Baylie had to select ten photos from her field trip, label each photo and then write a paragraph about her experience while visiting the various sites in Charleston. Excellent work, Baylie!

Kip shared his project with me on communities. He explained why he would live in the suburban community and described how he created his project. Kip completed a review on communities on IXL.

Today Baylie recapped her field trip to Charleston, South Carolina. She discussed the various events and places she visited there. Charleston has an interesting history from pirates to the beginning of the American Civil War. Baylie also discussed her visit to the USS Yorktown and the eco tour that she went on. One of her assignments was to select ten photos from this field trip and write a paragraph about her trip.

Today, Ben learned about famous patriots in the American Revolution, including Benedict Arnold and Paul Revere. He watched a short video and satisfactorily answered questions about the material, indicating good comprehension, integration and synthesis of information. Ben learned why the term Benedict Arnold is synonymous with the term traitor. He defected to the British. We discussed why 1776 was significant for John Adams because the Second Continental Congress approved his proposal that the colonies form independent governments, and he then wrote the preamble to the Declaration of Independence. We concluded our session discussing why Washington voluntarily gave up the presidency after 2 years and that John Adams became the second president. When queried, Ben's responses indicated good understanding and retention of the material.