Saturday, December 3, 2011

Our weekly triumphs and accomplishments

What a week.....It is one of weeks that it doesn't seem like we actually accomplished a lot, but we actually did.


What I have been working on this week.....I have been just working between the kids and attempting to keep the house in a livable condition.  Not Good Housekeeping...just livable.  I did finish the hats and scarfs that I was making for the girls, only to discover that Lydia's is too small.  So am working on her new hat right now. Should finish it later tonight.  I need to go through and clean out my work area in the dining room.  I have decided to list a bunch of my stuff on ebay and try to get rid of a bunch of stuff we aren't using.  I just need to get a bit organized this weekend to get that project up and going.


We had a busy week.  It was full of two manic episodes, a medication withdrawal, and lots of screaming.  But we also had LEGO Club, American Girl Club, Basketball, Bowling and Lydia went to a Book Sale at a local Educational Book Warehouse.  I got some wonderful deals!!! 


In Science we talked about blood and created an edible model of our blood....do you know what color your blood actually is?


This was done with corn syrup, tic tacs, hot tamales (couldn't find red hots that day) and rice.  I found this recipe in one of the extras we were using to learn about blood...Blood Basics from Homeschool Bits.  Joey is coloring his blood model here.

 Joe and Lydia had to try the "blood" we made.
 This was a fun book to read about the blood, veins and arteries in our bodies.  And we also watched Magic School Bus Inside Ralphie.
The kids watched Science Jim's cooking/science class Wednesday.  And Lydia and I made an easy gluten free bread.  We just used a Bob Mill's Pizza Crust mix, and it was very tasty.  And I have been avoiding this for fear of it being difficult...going to do this weekly now so that I have bread!
Waiting for it to rise in front of the heating vent.
 Our finished bread.
 We also made peanut butter pinwheels.  These were very yummy!
 We had LEGO Club earlier in the week.  All the kids have been building with the DUPLOS alot!!  I have almost gave up putting them away, because as soon as I clean them up...they have them out again.
 We are working with a new Art Curriculum....Artistic Pursuits K-3 Book 1.....very, very cool.  We actually did art twice this week.




We played some Wii games...and then our second Wii system died.  Very upsetting, it's great to get energy out.
Caty, Lydia and I did some fun Nursery Rhyme stuff.  Itsy, Bitsy, Spider.  We did a spider and a water spout and wove a spider web on a paper plate.
I have a stash of plastic spider rings I got on clearance last Halloween.  They hook right on the yarn.  The girls thought these were cool projects. So we will be probably working on a Nursery Rhyme every week.  (There's so much to do with the kids...just a matter of trying to find the time to get it all done...lol!)
Lydia had American Girl Club. This was our last meeting on Felicity.  This meeting the girls played Felicity Jeopardy (which Lydia loved), and they wrote with "quill" pens which we made out of regular feathers.  (This was another project from the Felicity Craft Book.)


And Wednesday morning we had a bit of snow....so the girls played outside for a little bit.


Caty is screaming..."I made footprints....you can see my footprints!!"
 Lydia was watching the snow bounce each time she landed.
 And of course there was snow angels.
 And a frozen plastic slide will make you fly fast when you are wearing a snowsuit!
 Then they had to eat some of the snow too.



We kept up with Math and Handwriting.  Lydia started her Cyprus project for World Travelers Club.  The boys and I will work on a mini-project this week.  They won't be going because of scheduling issues.  We played some games, and did a verbal (no worksheet or project) health lesson on why meal planning is very beneficial for our health and budgets.

Brayden finished his CAR Lapbook and Joey is almost finished with his Guitar lapbook.  We have a few more artists we are going to watch on YouTube this week.  Lydia finished her Tiger lapbook also.  We are going to work our way through the Big Cats.  After our Cyprus project we will be working on Cheetahs next week.

Lydia is doing well still with Reading Eggs.  Joey started a trial with the older side of Reading Eggs...Reading Eggspress.  He really likes it.  I like that it is pointing us in a direction for his visual perception and reading comprehension delays.  And it colorful and full of comic book style characters that keep his attention!

What I have been thinking about this week as I was reviewing different items (including Reading Eggspress as a possible purchase for Joey) is there are just so many options out there for parents to choose from.  We have a different issue facing this generation of homeschool parents.  Twenty years ago....parents could find no support....no easy curriculum.  They were ridiculed and called abusive.  Now there is more support.  Yeah homeschooling is still frowned up by some, but most are not open and supportive of this lifestyle.  And it truly is a lifestyle choice.  The problem facing us now is the overabundance of homeschool materials that flood the market.  Homeschooling curriculum is an up and coming financial market.  

Everyone have a great weekend....we are going to relax this weekend and do a little decluttering in the house.

I'm linking up with:



Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers



4 comments:

  1. We made a similar blood model, but we didn't eat it. It was too pretty :) We use Real Science Odyessy.

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  2. What a full week! I love the spider web, but I'm glad I don't have snow to deal with! ;)

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  3. I just had to tell you how awesome the edible blood is! What a great idea!

    Looks like so much fun with the snow too.

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  4. I love all your projects and your children are adorable. Thank you for sharing all these photos.

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