We are doing some laid back schooling for the next few months. It's time to get 4H projects under way. The girls are working hard on badge work requirements to earn badges for Scouts.
It was a busy week gift shopping for our family anniversary party. Dental appointments and we were planning for family and friends to be visiting this weekend. I had to go clothes shopping for Caty. She outgrew a bunch of her clothes, like most of them. We had med checks and blood work that needed done. Not to mention a few trips to the store for science supplies.
We had fun at poetry time. It was just the girls and I this week. The boys were having a rough week. We had a fun poem the girls loved about strawberries. Caty LOVES strawberries.
We worked together to get their color poem in the mail to their friends in the poetry club. Lydia folded the papers, I wrote addresses, and Caty added stamps and stickers to the envelopes.
A friend posted a link for A Fetch with Ruff Girl Scout badge. They needed to complete so many science activities. So I thought, why not use the show the way we have been doing Magic School Bus. They girls like experiments. And it will give them a bit of a "book" break.
They started with Episode 1, season 1 on the solar system. We refreshed our memory about the planets and practiced their order again. And then we measured out the solar system to scale. I am a bit Frizzed out, but the girls still love Magic School Bus. So they watched the space episode during lunch.
Lydia picked Jupiter to write a report on. She struggled a bit with the writing. But it is amazing how much harder she will work with new gel pens. Lydia has a tremor and has trouble with handwriting. But I wanted her to try and fill it out with help. It was a very easy to use "Fill-in-the blank" report. She did pretty good researching the answers on her laptop.
In history this week, they reviewed what a Ziggurat is. Then they attempted to build them with LEGOs. Of course, they decided to try on a grand scale, and ended up getting frustrated. So I got the idea of building it with boxes, since we were getting so many in the mail because of my present shopping. This was a fun idea and they both enjoyed it.
The 3 older kids decided on their 4H projects for this year, and Lydia got started. One of Lydia's is Shopping for Less. We visited a resale shop in a local town. We went through racks of clothes and she learned to check for stains, broken zippers, clothes that were shrunk, out of style clothes, and faded items that would not get worn. She had fun. She selected three pieces she really liked and this week we are going to write up approximate retail prices and the prices we paid and figure the savings.
We talked about projects with all the kids and ordered their new books. Lydia also got started on the sewing project we already had. She is quite ambitious. So we went shopping for the sewing items she needed. She put together her sewing kit. This next week, she'll start projects she needs to do on the machine since I cannot pack the sewing machine and bring it on our next trip. She can do her hand sewing on the trip and also work on reading her first pattern.
I am working really hard and balancing their 4H requirements with our traveling schedule. I love 4H for their life skill books. So Lydia is working on 3 life skill and 2 possible career choices for herself. She wants to work with animals, and she chose 2 animal projects also. That is why we are centering her schoolwork around her projects. So she can dig deeper into them and learn. I will sneak the subjects in around this work. She may or may not realize what I am doing, but it's worth a try.
Caty is practicing some sight words. I am trying, but she just is not recognizing them. She remembers a few, so we just keep chugging along and practicing. She finished badge requirements for 3 of her badges that she has been working on. She is using some basic comprehension books. I was proud of her for filling out the questions with help finding the words to copy. She is pretty good at given verbal answers to comprehension questions.
She "invented" a rainbow flashlight so that people can have a smile everyday. She attached a prism to a flashlight. All her idea. She only needed help with the tape.
She created a puppet theater. I had to help with the box knife, which upset her. But she started painting and creating.
She invited Lydia to help her.
Both girls are starting new badges next week. Caty is working on My Family and Lydia is working on her Naturalist-Flower badgework.
The boys started watching the series How the States Got their Shapes this week. They will be watching two episodes a week while we experiment with a new education style with them. They need a break from book work also. I am combining them with worksheets for comprehension. I didn't get a picture of it, but they were watching the episode together and I saw them pause and help fill out the worksheets together. I was pretty happy how they were doing. Brayden was actually helping Joey, who was struggling a bit. I was very proud of him.
Did some cooking experiments this week. Made kabobs in the oven. This was my chicken and zucchini. The kids had meatballs and potato chunks. They all really liked the kabobs. I guess we need to do this more often.
We were our usual busy and next week will continue to be busy. I am hoping for a smooth health week, since I had reaction issues a few times and that is getting frustrating. But I also know stress brings on these issues. So I guess it will be probably a repeat of last week again.
Hope everyone had a wonderful week and you have a great week next week!!!
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