Week in Review - July 3 - 9, 2011

 

It has been an interesting week.  Busy as usual.  Whoever says that homeschoolers do nothing.....wow are they soooo wrong!!!  I saw this quote at the Homeschool Chick in her Homeschool Mother's Journal post:

 

“Whoever says that homeschooling

isn’t a full-time career obviously has not

applied for the job lately.“

Clay & Sally Clarkson

Educating the Wholehearted Child

At least I get to pick when I want a day off and what type of paint and markers my kids use....there are some teachers that are extremely picky about what type of paints and pencils that I would send in for the kids to use.  Benefits also include:

• Hearing my daughter squeal with delight "I just read a Word!!!"
• Watching them practice their first play "The Three Little Pigs"
• Shaking my head when they proclaim that Spain is in "Europe, Asia" because in the Continent song those two continents are connected.
• Being beaten by a 3 year old in Cars 2 Monopoly...but so proud as she counts her own money back to everyone...to 10!
• Hearing my 11 year old ask why I just read the word Disciple and not Apostle when talking about Jesus followers...because he remembers me saying these men would be Jesus Apostles...not his disciples.
• Hearing Brayden laugh loudly as he finishes up his pattern board with his Design and Drill set.

 Yeah....no matter what stress might get thrown at me that day, there's always some benefit that's hiding around the corner.  It's the hardest job I never thought I would want!!

 

I was fortunate enough to be one of the 100 who received the free ebook from The Homeschool Classroom called Homeschooling by the Numbers.  I started reading it tonight and couldn't stop.  It was an extra reminder about why we are homeschooling.  I also just finished reading some great stories about other homeschool families:

 

 

This was such a great read!!!  It wasn't a how-to book, but a great reminder about why we chose this path for our family.  In the beginning out of necessity, but in the end out of choice.  If you get a chance, read about these 21 families that choice to homeschool for reasons of religious to freedom of choice.

 

This week in our homeschooling, we finished up a unit on Blueberries.  We did some activities from the Hands of a Child Blueberries for Sal unit.  We talked about hibernation and why animals that hibernate need to store up food reserves.  Joey, Lydia and I went to pick blueberries one morning.  It was hot but we collected 6 pounds in a little over an hour.  They are now tucked in our freezer for smoothies!!

 

 

This is a homeschool splurge.  I love this series.  Every month we get a packet of animal to put in the binder.  I am really trying to incorporate these more into our learning.  I think this may become our science curriculum for the next few months.  It took a year to get a good stock of them.  After our Magic School Bus Science Camp...I think this is going to be our fun:)!!!  For this unit there was a great explanation of Hibernation in the Animal behavior section and a selection of various bears that we could look at.

We also practiced...practiced...practiced our upcoming play for Grandpa and Grandma.  We are already making plans for the next play to work on next month. These will most likely become a monthly project for us.

The girls finished up their butterflies on Sunday and Monday.  We made them with the little cement mixture and then didn't finish painting them.

For History we are in the beginning Chapters of Story of the World Volume 1.  We are learning about Nomads and attempted painting with mud.



Brayden informed me that this is his form of writing for the Nomads.

We talked about Jesus cleaning out the temple, the woman at the well (and how we should not treat people of different faiths rudely), and Jesus first miracle of turning water into wine.  We also had discussions about relying on God when we need strength. 

Next week, we will finally be doing our Bearded Dragon unit in Science.  We will continue our evening Bible story and family game time.  The kids are going to go back to their regular math curriculum for a couple weeks.  They will all continue reading for the library reading program (they have actually filled all their circles on their charts...we are taking them in for their prizes on Monday or Tuesday).  3 of the 4 will have horseriding this week.  And I am hoping to get the boys first blog posts done...FINALLY!!!