This is one of those weeks where I was just glad to see it end. It started with my two younger boys giving us a super hard time, then we spent three very difficult days adjusting to a new homeschool schedule, and ended with one of the worst storms we've had in ages. There's nothing quite like having three kids awake and scared in the middle of the night from 1-4 to make you appreciate all those nights you do get to sleep. We were just thankful our house was still standing in the end and we were all OK. It was that scary!
But our week wasn't all bad and the boys did work hard. Attitudes showed remarkable improvement and the boys got along rather well the majority of the time. We even made it out for an impromptu field trip meeting up with old homeschooling friends we hadn't seen in years!
Reading-- We read another dozen chapters together in Hero's Guide to Being an Outlaw; the book is getting so good it's at the point where we don't want to put it down. We finished listening to The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe in the car and we're anxious to get to the library to start the next book on CD. Unfortunately our library was closed and without power after the storm so we had to wait. Alec read Hoodoo and an assortment of books for his geography fair report (which I listed under geography). Ian read Treasure Hunters, If I Could Drive a Loader!, and Work, Dogs, Work. Evan read The Lunchbox Surprise, and together we finished You Read to Me, I'll Read to You.
Math-- Alec and I played three or four rounds of
Zeus on the Loose. We also played a game of
Farkle. Evan, Alec and I had
Labyrinth set up one day and must have played a good 5 or 6 games in total by the time we put it away.
The older two boys worked on the next two pages in their Math genius books & worked in their regular workbooks.
All three boys worked on the next two pages in Multiplication Games and Evan worked on another 8 pages in his workbook too and is so excited to see that he only has 30 or so left!
I showed Evan and Alec how to do a 9 digit by 9 digit multiplication problem and Alec soon took over.
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Checking his facts |
Writing-- We read Skin Like Milk, Hair Like Silk learning about similes and metaphors. The boys then had a handout asking them to fill in what they were as quick as, slow as, mean as, etc. The following day we wrote paint chip metaphors; using paint chip swatches from the store they wrote sentences comparing the colors to objects in real life.
The older boys worked in their cursive books one day too.
Spelling-- They all worked on the next two pages in their Thinking Tree Workbooks with the older boys working in both of their workbooks.
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I love watching them coloring in their journals side by side; one math one spelling |
Evan used some markers, a spray bottle, coffee filters and a pad to absorb the water to make his sight words disappear. I wrote out the sight words he needed to work on and he copied them onto the coffee filter using washable markers. He read them to me, spelled them out, and once he had a good 5 words written out he soaked the coffee filter with water watching the words bleed and disappear. He loved this!
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His first four words |
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They're gone! |
Life Skills-- Evan made himself an egg sandwich for breakfast just about every morning this week. By the third day he only needed my help to scoop the eggs out of the pan and put them on the toast! Alec made a double batch of pancakes for us all; adding and reducing fractions. Evan also helped me make dinner one night this week; we're still struggling to get back to our routine where someone helps me cook each night. Ian spent the weekend working with his grandfather and great grandfather learning more about tools and how to use them. The younger two boys helped my husband wash the cars.
Science-- The younger two boys attended a 4-H STEM class on wind power. They experimented with making their own turbines using different materials and sizes of paddles.
We went on a few nature hikes; it was wonderful spending the day at the seaside after hiking out to the point. The boys soon discovered that many of the small rocks near the shore would break open when thrown against the larger boulders and spent quite some time examining the inside of the rocks learning a bit about what types of rocks they were from one of the parents with us on the hike.
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An egg case we found |
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Breaking rocks |
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Examining the inside |
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Showing how they go back together |
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Using a stick to write his name |
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Huddling together; hiding from the wind |
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Looking for shells |
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Trying to keep warm! |
Ian finally completed his battery powered car; I was super impressed since half the directions were missing. He was so disappointed at how slowly the car moved though.
Socialization-- We spent such a wonderful day with some homeschooling friends we had not seen in a few years. It was neat to see how much everyone had grown and changed and yet the boys still all fell into playing with one another like no time has passed.
Geography-- The boys started putting their geography boards together. They also read a few books each about their topics. Ian read Are We There Yet?; A Journey Around Australia, Ernie Dances to the Didgeridoo, My Grandma Lived in Gooligulch, and Do You Do a Didgeridoo?, Alec read The Moon Was the Best, Minette's Feast, Let's Go Hugo, and First Thousand Words in French. Evan read Hello, Arctic! to me one day.
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Teaching himself French |
Ian watched Destination Australia; learning about the various areas in Australia. He was most taken with the Opal mining. Alec started watching
this movie about France and Evan started watching
Frozen Planet.
Alec wondered how many states started with each letter of the alphabet and spent part of one morning making a tally chart while studying our map of the United States.
Physical Education-- We spent lots of time hiking and the boys attended their karate class this week. We took a family trip to the bowling alley. Ian and I completed day one of Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred together. It was fun!
Art-- Alec finally manage to complete his final Stained Glass Made Easy kit and asked if they make any more. He just loves them!
Wow, you got a lot done in the week! I love the stained glass art!!
ReplyDeleteThank you! I think he's worked on three different ones in the last month! He just loves them so much.
DeleteYou all did a ton. I am so glad your all made it through the storm. That must have been scary.
ReplyDeleteBlessings, Dawn
It was probably the scariest storm we've had since living here. I was so glad we made it through and amazed that we did not loose power this time. All the local area schools in a 4 town radius were shut down for the day due to tree debris and power outages. I'll take a blizzard over a possible tornado any day!
DeleteI'm sorry you had such a nasty storm and I'm so pleased all is well and your house is still standing. I know how scary it can be. The last one we had ripped a tree in two just outside our bedroom window. We were very lucky it didn't fall before the tree fellers came and took it down at dawn the next morning. Scariest night EVER!
ReplyDeleteThat's how I felt-- scariest night ever! We actually brought two of the kids into our room because they have a tree outside their rooms that had weakened in our last winter storm and was shedding branches already. Good thing the tree fellers were able to come so quickly before you had any problems!
DeleteWhat a fun week! I love the stained glass kit. My older kids would love that. Also, the coffee filter activity looks like fun!
ReplyDeleteIt was a lot of fun!
DeleteLooks like a great week! I love the book, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe! I am excited to read that one with my sons in a few years. Glad to hear you all are okay after the storm. We've had a few crazy storms like that this year too. Hope you have a wonderful week :)
ReplyDeleteThank you; you too. I only ever read The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe so reading through the series is pretty new to me. They sure do enjoy them.
DeleteThanks for sharing your week with #SocialButterflySunday! Hope to see you link up again this week :)
DeleteSounds like a busy week, but that scary stuff I don't like. I can associate with that. We are in Texas. A couple has been living with our son since Dec. They lost one side of their home in the tornadoes that hit the day after Christmas but it's supposed to be ready in three more weeks. Glad you are safe and your home too.
ReplyDeleteOh, how awful to loose part of your home the day after Christmas! That's so nice of your son to take them in.
Deletewow so glad you made it thru the storm! Always loved Lion Witch...growing up! Enjoy the week!
ReplyDeleteThank you! You too.
DeleteYour weeks always look so fun!!!
ReplyDeleteThank you for linking up :)
Thank you! I do try to keep our days fun and the boys engaged that way.
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