Week 19 - Our Week

WOW!!  I spent this entire week in a sort of a haze.  I got a concussion when a ladder fell on my head last Thursday afternoon.  I already was experiencing brain fog, but WOW....I have never actually had a concussion.  Between the headaches, the painful scalp and the confusion, I am ready to start feeling better.  Unfortunately I am still waiting.  We trudged through the week.  I took everything off the schedule that Joe couldn't come with me to.  I didn't drive for almost a week.  That is some sort of record for me.

Homeschooling while living with an autoimmune disorder has become increasingly difficult.  We are figuring it out.  I guess I should say, homeschooling 4 different grade levels has presented me with challenges.  Working full-time, even from home has really given me some hurdles.  I had already stepped back and cut things from our schedule, but I may have to do some more.  I am really suffering lately with pain.  I cannot take typical medications because it causes even more problems than regular flare-ups do, so I basically do live with incredible amounts of pain daily.

This week in science, Caty started working on a weather unit using Magic School Bus.  We are also doing the Homeschool with Minecraft Live Weather Class with this also.  She is loving the live interaction.

Building her weather station.  This looks like a cool kit....but SAVE YOUR MONEY!!  DO NOT BUY IT!!!  It is horrible.  The materials are cheaply made and the weather station does not even work properly.  I am so disappointed in this kit and so is Caty.

We put together our compass.

We are tracking the weather.

Here she is learning why clouds "rain" as she calls it.  The clouds get so full the water comes out, just like this sponge.

Joey had an up and down week.  He struggled in science and math.  This was a favorite activity this week.... Educational Insights Design & Drill Activity Center.  Some weeks they play with it more than others.  They all 4 kept gravitating to play with this.

Caty is working on her first lessons in Hooked on Phonics.  I printed pictures of her words and she is spelling the words out.  She is getting better with practice.

Here she is reading her first book int he lessons.

A science project this week...She did the food coloring in white carnations.  We have tried this many...many times.  This was the most color we have ever gotten.

This was her first time doing dice addition.  She really liked doing this.

Joey was staking his claim on the Educational Insights Design & Drill Activity set.  Although he claimed it was just because he needed a "desk" to do his grammar.  He struggled this week with being able to complete his assignments.

Caty worked on learning about Fire Safety.  She is watching Be Cool about Fire Safety on Youtube.

And then we made a Firefighter Caty.

Joey started learning about World War 1 this week.  He is watching a series on Amazon Prime here.



These two series are packed full of information, on top of his history reading.

Brayden is watching the series, The Ultimate Guide to the Presidents Season 1.  He was supposed to be watching Episode 3 and I walked in the living room to find him playing his DS and watching his tablet, instead of watching the TV.    Yeah ... mommy wasn't happy.  He found that out quickly, especially since he had to re-watch the episode in its entirety.

Caty has taken an interest in puzzles.  She is now working on 100 piece.  Yeah!!  That's a big step for her!

For her cooking project this week, we created a gluten free allergen friendly pumpkin molasses cookie.  And they are good!!!  I will be blogging about these next week when I can figure out the exact measurements we used...lol.  I made them twice this week, they were yummy!

Daddy was able to come with us to bowling....the kids were so excited!!!

Joey won this week.

Caty is working on her new flower petal word family.

Lydia made a pasta salad from their new Disney cookbook.  It was gluten - free and yummy!

Doesn't everyone watch their phonics videos like this?!?!

Lydia working on her comprehension questions on horses.

She read an entire chapter book this week.  We went to a used book store near us and she picked out a bunch more she wants to read.  Very happy reading is taking off!!!

We started our study of Kenya for World Geography.

Caty is working on her continents and oceans.  She is using the Continents Song and we added pictures to go with the song this week.

These are her African Violets...still alive.

I pulled out a marble run we have had for years.  They had fun with this too.

The girls had horse riding.  It was actually nice outside so they could still use the outside arena.  Lydia is doing well cantering and keeping control of Sugar while she is doing that.  She is also working on posting.

Caty is still working on control of Annie.  She can walk her by herself though.

Friday while I was cleaning out the supply closet, I found these scratch leaves.  Caty and Lydia loved these, and so next week we might make our own depending on time.

We had a good week.  Brayden fought about school, and lied about a few assignments.  He found out that he still needs to do those assignments on top of his normal workload now.  Hopefully he'll remember that in the future.  Joey struggled with math and science this week....he was checking off his assignments as completed.  So we will be working on those challenges next week.

Lydia blew me away by reading an entire book in just a couple days.  She loved it.  I even had conversations with her to make sure she was actually reading the book.  She was....she is starting more books now.  She has two she is working on at the moment.  She picked out some classic titles at the Used book store Wednesday.

We have another week before we take a week break.  I was evaluating where the kids are Friday while planning lessons, and seeing if I need to change anything.  We are going to stick with most everything, except Joey is getting a new math book.

Hope everyone is having a great weekend!!

Linking up with other homeschool moms....