I feel this was a great homeschooling week for us:) Sure, there were some not-so-perfect moments:/ But when I look over the week I remember lots of fun projects, some beautiful weather and ways that I tried to enjoy my kids during school.
One change that we tried this week was having the older three miss their afternoon "rest". It was very nice only doing our "book work" in the morning (math, Grammar, spelling, reading) and then spending a few hours reading "living" books that fit our historical time period, reading our history lesson and doing "projects" while Nate napped.
I liked it because it made our mornings seem less "frantic" going from one lesson to the next to "get it all done before lunch". And when Nate was fussy I pulled him into my lap for a quick snuggle or two and then he was good and he'd go back to play:) I felt like our mornings were less stressful... I checked chores, we made lunch together... it was nice.
But I'm not totally convinced it's good for us. The kids were a little more fussy in the late afternoon. Or they tried to sneak in a late afternoon nap which messed with bedtime. And I had NO time to work on my classes which meant I had to stay up later in the evening!
So we'll see if we keep it? It might be that a couple of days they rest and a couple of days we school in the afternoons! And it's really hard not to have any "down time" during the afternoon.
Bible
We are continuing to read a story at a time in our Story Bible. Again, I just love the discussions that come from it and the beautiful examples of Jesus that we've been reading.
And the kids continue to work through their Awana verses:)
I've blogged before how the kids and I worked through and memorized most of 1 Corinthians 13;) And at the beginning of February I hung up some hearts we made some years back that have the characteristics of love sorted by things that show love and things that don't from I Corinthians! I have enjoyed having them still around ... I've noticed more and more the kids reading through the characteristics. How sweet to have those hidden in their hearts. Now it's all of us practicing them with each other;)
Language Arts
Here are some of the highlights of our week while we practiced reading, Grammar and spelling!
Lydia found her like spelling words using finger paints this week... a little twist since she usually just circles them with marker.
Chris practiced his "oy" words this week... and we used foil to practice reading /oy/ words spelled "oi" !!
Yes, this was "school":)
Yes, this was "school". He was shooting letters taped to the window to spell his spelling words. He LOVED it and knew all his words by the end of the week... and even spelled them again for me at bedtime Sunday night:) My boy likes to be active;)
Last week the kids also composed their kitten stories and "presented" them to us at nap time! It really was fun to see a simple idea turn into a little "project".
Math
Just some highlights of our math lessons this week;) All the kids completed 4 lessons:)
History
We started the week finishing off last week. We finished reading some chapters of Sign of the Beaver and a book about growing up in Colonial America. After finishing Sign of the Beaver one afternoon, the Chris wanted to make "bear claws" for a bear claw necklace.
This week we read about the Boston Tea Party. We completed our narration, colored a picture... and then one morning I told them we were going to make Indian "hats" and then they had to dress up to look like Indians using the clothing they had. It was what the colonists who boarded the ships to dump the tea did. So they had fun coming out in their colonist-want-to-look-like-Indian clothing.
Science
We attended a field trip this week at the library. The topic of the presentation was "Taking Care of Our Teeth". The kids heard about the different parts of their teeth and the ways to take care of them. The presenter also talked a little bit about visiting the dentist (something we still haven't done with the kids).
They had a little "experiment" that used a hard-boiled egg and a cup of soda. The point was that the sugar and acidity of the soda actually breaks down the shell of the egg. They said we could try it with juice, too!! That sounds like a great "experiment" for my reluctant brushers:)
Nate
Nate manages to keep himself pretty busy in the mornings while we school:) I thought it was sweet when he colored a picture one morning and wanted to hold it up so I could take a picture;) Love the drool marks... classic Nate!
One change that we tried this week was having the older three miss their afternoon "rest". It was very nice only doing our "book work" in the morning (math, Grammar, spelling, reading) and then spending a few hours reading "living" books that fit our historical time period, reading our history lesson and doing "projects" while Nate napped.
I liked it because it made our mornings seem less "frantic" going from one lesson to the next to "get it all done before lunch". And when Nate was fussy I pulled him into my lap for a quick snuggle or two and then he was good and he'd go back to play:) I felt like our mornings were less stressful... I checked chores, we made lunch together... it was nice.
But I'm not totally convinced it's good for us. The kids were a little more fussy in the late afternoon. Or they tried to sneak in a late afternoon nap which messed with bedtime. And I had NO time to work on my classes which meant I had to stay up later in the evening!
So we'll see if we keep it? It might be that a couple of days they rest and a couple of days we school in the afternoons! And it's really hard not to have any "down time" during the afternoon.
Bible
We are continuing to read a story at a time in our Story Bible. Again, I just love the discussions that come from it and the beautiful examples of Jesus that we've been reading.
And the kids continue to work through their Awana verses:)
I've blogged before how the kids and I worked through and memorized most of 1 Corinthians 13;) And at the beginning of February I hung up some hearts we made some years back that have the characteristics of love sorted by things that show love and things that don't from I Corinthians! I have enjoyed having them still around ... I've noticed more and more the kids reading through the characteristics. How sweet to have those hidden in their hearts. Now it's all of us practicing them with each other;)
Language Arts
Here are some of the highlights of our week while we practiced reading, Grammar and spelling!
Lydia practiced the hard sounds and soft sounds of "g" and "c". I had made this little sort for Anna... funny that Chris and Lydia have also gotten to use it:)
Yes, this was "school":)
Yes, this was "school". He was shooting letters taped to the window to spell his spelling words. He LOVED it and knew all his words by the end of the week... and even spelled them again for me at bedtime Sunday night:) My boy likes to be active;)
Last week the kids also composed their kitten stories and "presented" them to us at nap time! It really was fun to see a simple idea turn into a little "project".
Math
Just some highlights of our math lessons this week;) All the kids completed 4 lessons:)
History
We started the week finishing off last week. We finished reading some chapters of Sign of the Beaver and a book about growing up in Colonial America. After finishing Sign of the Beaver one afternoon, the Chris wanted to make "bear claws" for a bear claw necklace.
This week we read about the Boston Tea Party. We completed our narration, colored a picture... and then one morning I told them we were going to make Indian "hats" and then they had to dress up to look like Indians using the clothing they had. It was what the colonists who boarded the ships to dump the tea did. So they had fun coming out in their colonist-want-to-look-like-Indian clothing.
Science
We attended a field trip this week at the library. The topic of the presentation was "Taking Care of Our Teeth". The kids heard about the different parts of their teeth and the ways to take care of them. The presenter also talked a little bit about visiting the dentist (something we still haven't done with the kids).
They had a little "experiment" that used a hard-boiled egg and a cup of soda. The point was that the sugar and acidity of the soda actually breaks down the shell of the egg. They said we could try it with juice, too!! That sounds like a great "experiment" for my reluctant brushers:)
Nate
Nate manages to keep himself pretty busy in the mornings while we school:) I thought it was sweet when he colored a picture one morning and wanted to hold it up so I could take a picture;) Love the drool marks... classic Nate!
Other
After our program at the library we went to the park! The weather was beyond gorgeous! It was nice to be there with some friends and to our surprise more friends showed up to eat lunch:) I really hope we all can make "park afternoon" a regular thing... it was soo refreshing for us all:)
When we returned home that afternoon, we had more friends come over to our house!! The kids had a good time playing with this sweet local family and a little friend they brought who instantly clicked with Anna;)
A great week!!
We're linking up to Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers and
3 comments:
Such a fun week!
I love how you had Chris shoot the letters to spell his words. That is just perfect! I have got to remember stuff like this with Abby. She has so much trouble sitting still.
The foil and finger painting ideas are great too. Why can't I think of these? LOL!
I always read your homeschooling posts with envy.... I miss having my kiddos at home. :( Maybe someday...
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