Weekly Wrap- Up: The Week We Painted Our Pandas

Friday the boys worked hard in school.  They each took their spelling tests, took a math minute quiz, worked in their math books, and did some reading.  Alec read another few pages in The Five Kingdoms Rogue Night .  Evan read another two chapters in Saving the Sun Dragon.  Ian read two paragraphs in The Panda Puzzle.  The boys all worked on a page in our Draw Write Now books.  I gave them each a blank world map and had them fill in the continents and oceans; something we've never really studied and yet they all knew most of them.  They did need a bit of help with the Arctic and Indian oceans but that was it.  We started our new geography unit on Africa and read a book called Wangari's Trees of Peace; A True Story From Africa. We also read chapters in both A King's Ransom and The Candymakers.  We played many, many rounds of Guess Who?  The boys also played Pokemon Monopoly together.

Ian eagerly headed off to work with his grandfather Saturday and we didn't see him again until after dinner!  The younger two boys spent their day playing video games with breaks to play, eat, and rest their eyes from the screens.  We played three or four rounds of Harry Potter Trivial Pursuit and I am quite proud to say I won each and every time!

My husband got the two younger boy to go with him to the woodworking shop on Sunday.  They worked on making another toy knife/ sword and then went out to lunch.  Ian, once again, went off with his grandfather to work.  I had the whole house to myself for over 4 hours!  It was so nice... I love my boys but it's amazing how much I can get done when I'm home alone.  We all played a game of Trivia Crack after dinner.

Monday the boys dove right into their schoolwork.  Each boy started the new spelling list in their book, worked on math, and learned about the Equator and the Prime Meridian as well as the 4 hemispheres of the globe.  Ian finished reading The panda Puzzle and Alec started reading a new book called The Memory Thief.  Evan read another chapter in Saving the Sun Dragon.  The younger boys and I painted cute little panda bear faces while Ian went to try and finish up his model vehicles.  The older boys worked in their English books while Evan worked on two pages in his word family book.  We read another chapter each in The Candymakers and A king's Ransom.  We finished our day by reading Africa is Not a Country.  Then we headed outside to play.  The boys and I explored a nearby frozen creek and waterfall for a bit; then we played wiffle ball together.  After dinner the whole family exercised together.

The boys' karate class was cancelled on Tuesday so we spent some time at home in the morning working on our schoolwork before meeting my mother in law at Dunkin Donuts for a special treat.  The boys each worked in their spelling and math books, took a math minute quiz, and did some reading.  Ian read Backhoe Joe.  Evan read Memoirs of a Goldfish and Alec read a few more chapters in the Five Kingdom Rogue Night.  Evan worked on his word family words while Alec and Ian had a writing assignment working with topic sentences and making a rough draft of a paragraph.  We also did two fun science experiments together; The No- Spill Glass and Waterproof paper.  We read The Soccer Fence and learned about South Africa around the time apartheid was ending.  We also read another chapter in The Candymakers.  Evan and I watched The Lion King and Ian worked on finishing up his model car. Ian and Alec played Qubits and then we all played a game of Apples to Apples.

The boys all finished up their work in just over an hour on Wednesday!  They each worked on math; working in math workbooks or with Khan Academy and also completing two pages in Multiplication games as well as taking a math minute quiz.  The boys all worked on spelling, cursive, and reading.  Ian read a few more pages in Making Tracks.  Evan read a chapter in Saving the Sun Dragon.  Alec read another chapter in The Five Kingdoms.  Together we started a new book called The Dead of Night.  It was warm out so the boys headed outside to play.  We looked for some signs of spring and the boys all dragged out their fishing poles casting a few times each.  During lunch we watched Families of Egypt and read Seeds of Change delving further into our Africa unit.  After lunch Alec wanted to make some Rice Krispie treats and we added a few fun spring addition like drizzling yellow chocolate and adding colorful sprinkles.  We all played kickball for an hour or so with the boys deciding to take turns video recording us while playing.

Thursday we watched a bit of TV together before eating breakfast and getting around to our schoolwork.  Evan read another chapter in Saving the Sun Dragon.  Alec finished his Five Kingdoms book and requested the next book in the series from our library.  Ian finished Making Tracks today too.  They each worked on their spelling lists, in their math books, and took a math minute test.  The older boys worked on a page in their English books adding commas to sentences that needed them while Evan finished up his word family unit for the week.  We read A South African Night and Living in South Africa while coloring in the nations of Africa that we have read about so far.  The boys went outside to play.  Ian dug in the sand while the other two boys ran around making up their own game.  Evan decided to paint his wooden sword while Alec played Words with Friends and Trivia Crack on his Kindle.  Ian, Alec and I played cards in the afternoon.