Weeks in Review

We had two great school weeks.  I chalk most of that up to having a less-stressed attitude (something I've been working on all year) and embracing those days that feel more unschooly.  I still try to direct them (to a game, or outside, or whatever) but I have really relaxed.  I still have those days where I freak out and think I'm messing them up, but I am pretty confident every parent thinks that at some time or another, no matter where their kids go to school!  Those days of insecurity are getting less and less.  Or maybe they just aren't as loud anymore.

Goofy and Silly play Stratego.

Scrappy is flying through his MUS Gamma book.  I think he may finish it by the end of the year, which would be wonderful!  He's been reading everyday, and I have seen a huge improvement in his fluency and comprehension as a result.  I am so thankful, because reading has been a struggle this year.  He struggles a little with reading but mostly it's my struggle with patience.

Funny has been doing addition flashcards all week.  She needed to memorize her facts.  Her lack of memorization had been slowing down the rest of her math, so we're on a break from Saxon.  We're back to it on Monday.  She's been reading a lot also.  She LOVES books, which is great.  It's better than great, actually.  She loves to read to Silly.  That's handy for me, and it gives me the warm fuzzies.

Goofy has been reading a lot, as well.  He picked out a box of Spider-Man readers at the local Borders during its going-out-of-business sale.  They are a little above his level now, but he wants to read them so we've been working through them.  Superheroes are the best.  He is about halfway through his little subtraction workbook.

Scrappy and Funny build their own electric circuit.  It didn't work.
They kept working until it did.

We've all been studying Vikings this week.  We are Viking it and liking it, my friends.  We've had a great study where we've read a number of books and used the map and globe A LOT.  They were a busy people, those Norsemen.  By the way, Vikings really didn't wear hats with horns on them, it turns out.

We started our Apologia chapter on crustaceans.  We haven't gotten very far.  I was reading them the section on lobsters, and we were talking about omnivores (which lobsters are).  That got us onto the fact that people are also omnivores.  Funny piped up with, "But our cousins are vegetarians."  So then we talked about a variety of reasons why people would want to be vegetarians.  We are going to be vegetarians for a week, probably in April.  And then, even better, we got into a great discussion about factory farming vs. traditional farming and why it is important to Hub and I that we eat "good" meat (meaning organic, kosher, local, or hormone & antibiotic-free).  As a result, we don't eat a whole lot of meat, and now they understand why.  It really was a wonderful conversation.  I am so happy that I am fostering that back-and-forth with them.

Books read:  Viking It and Liking It #12 (Time Warp Trio), On the Go with Pirate Pete and Pirate Joe! (Viking Easy-to-Read), Hi! Fly Guy (Theodor Seuss Geisel Honor Book (Awards)), Buzz Boy And Fly Guy,Poppleton Has Fun, Phonics Volume I (DVD), Henry and Mudge and the Sneaky Crackers, The Missing Monster Card (My First Graphic Novel), How Many Fish? (My First I Can Read Book), Yo, Vikings!, Viking Explorers and Settlers (The Viking Library), Elfwyn's Saga, Atlantis: The Legend of a Lost City, The Red Thread: An Adoption Fairy Tale, I Read Symbols (Mulberry books), Pizza Counting, The Last Battle (Narnia)

Last Friday we went back to the Science Center, which you can read about here.  We also went bowling with Hub.  I am longing for a hike.  It won't be too long before spring finally gets here and we can get outside.  I just want to be with the trees.  Yes, I might just hug one.

Read about how other people are homeschooling at Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers.