Monday, October 10, 2011

What I Loved About Last Week (4th Ed.)

1. We almost finished lessons before lunch on Tuesday. I made it halfway through First Daughter's reading lesson. Usually we need at least an hour after lunch to finish up.

2. Once last week, First Son got every single one of his math fact sheet problems done correctly in under a minute. He knows those sums of ten facts amazingly well!

3. We had an awesome discussion this week as we started our second unit of Connecting with History volume 2. Without any idea what the answer would be, I asked First Son why he thought Jesus was born as a baby instead of arriving on earth as an adult. He answered, "So he could grow." I thought that was a remarkably good answer from a second grade boy. I really enjoyed our conversation.

4. Hanging clothes outside - Last week our dryer crossed over to the no-longer-worth-fixing-and-broken-again zone. We ordered a new one, one that will not arrive until today. In consequence, I've spent the past week hanging nearly everything out on the line. I tend to use the dryer because finding time around a one-year-old and homeschooling a second grader (not to mention the other two in-between) is a hassle, but I do love a few minutes of sunshine at random times during the day and the sound of slapping clothes as they flap in the wind. I may even try to keep up with the clothesline on our easier days as long as the weather holds up. (Though we do have days of strong Kansas winds! More than once the first clothes I hung were dry before I finished hanging all the clothes in the load.)

5. Second Daughter saying, "I'm growing big, but I'm still little."

6. The near pristine hardcover copy of The Legend of the Poinsettia from a wonderful member of PaperBackSwap which appears to be autographed by the author. I also received a wonderful hardcover copy of Paddle-to-the-Sea. (I waited a long time for that one!)

7. Teaching my first lesson of Catechesis of the Good Shepherd.

8. A fabulous picture of Second Daughter and a wonderful trip to a living history museum for the fall education day.


9. Wonderful news about a first baby!

10. First Son's narration of the myth of Europa and Cadmus. He finished Europa off in one sentence, dooming her to wander the world riding on a "deer." Cadmus, though, was another story. He went into great detail:

Cadmus was sent away from the castle because he was blamed for the bull that took away his sister. Then he followed a brindled cow and in the spot that he was supposed to build a city he had lots of people following him who he thought would help build the city. He sat down and waited. He sat and he sat and he sat, but they didn’t come. They were eaten by a dragon which he defeated.

He planted the teeth and soldiers grew from them. Then they helped him build the city and he was the king. They called it Thebes.
This is easily the best narration he has ever given. If only every story had a dragon to slay and teeth to plant! (I type his myth narrations from Classic Myths to Read Aloud. Putting the piece of paper into his Mario folder is probably the highlight of the narration for him. I accept that.)

11. Second Daughter's "laughing pumpkin."


How was your week last week? Anything wonderful happen?


** Please note, I am a new affiliate with RC History. If you follow the link above for Connecting with History and make a purchase, I do receive a commission. I love this program and have no qualms about encouraging any Catholic to learn more about it. (Non-Catholics probably want to look elsewhere for a history program.)