School Week Highlights: Week 12

We finished our first term! Not that it makes much of a difference, but it's nice to be a third of the way through. If I were a better homeschooling mom, my eighth grader would have done exams this week, but I told myself it was alright to wait until high school to introduce exam week.

I took no pictures this week. At least I've taken some this month, unlike February.

We went to adoration.

We celebrated my father-in-law's birthday with a mid-week dinner in town. First Daughter and Second Daughter both made soap carvings for him.

Kansas Dad taught the older kids in our monthly coop this week: a lesson on the Bible. It went very well.

We had a half day on Friday so we could do our Saturday cleaning on Friday. A lovely new family in our homeschool group came for dinner. It was the feast of St. Elizabeth of Hungary. First Daughter made a Hungarian coffee cake which Second Daughter decorated like a crown. She also made this cinnamon bread shaped like a rose that turned out beautifully. They were both delicious! But I didn't take any pictures.

Next week is Thanksgiving, which means it's a perfect time to take a little break. We'll do some school here and there but not too much.

School Week Highlights: Week 11

This was a book-heavy week. We did almost every assignment in every subject, which happens less often than not. It does make our highlight post a little less exciting.

- We went to adoration.

- We had a lovely nature study walk at a near-by park. We've been there many times but took a trail off the paved path for the first time.

What is this bug? How would we even find out? 

They were burrowing.

- First Son mastered division on xtramath and is done for the year!

- Second Son mastered second grade on Khan Academy and insists on starting the third grade work, though I have cut down on his computer time so he'll go more slowly.

- Though it is not a school highlight, I was tremendously pleased to finish stitching Second Daughter's Christmas stocking this past week. I had already finished First Daughter's in September, so now both are in the hands of an accomplished seamstress who will do all the actual sewing for me. With luck, they'll be back home before St. Nicholas comes!

School Week Highlights: Week 10

This week turned out to be a bit of a fall break for us, with outside activities combined with a sick mama.

- We went to adoration.

- We took the kids to a Trunk or Treat at Kansas Dad's university. It was cold, but we enjoyed visiting with some of the students. Second Son was dressed as a baker and insisted he needed to carry a basket of goodies to give away himself. He shared cookies, muffins, and little loaves of bread with some of the students and one of the priests. That was fun!

- On Halloween, First Son attended a candy poker party with some of his friends. He had a great time, though I think he ate most of his winnings.

Kylo Ren

- The other three went to Grammy's house for dinner and then went trick-or-treating in her neighborhood.

baker, Moana, cat

- Wednesday was the great feast of All Saints, so we took the day off school. We visited and played with friends for a few hours. In the afternoon, I took First Son shoe shopping. He needed bigger church shoes (from size 11 to size 13). We bought the same pair he had last time, just in a bigger size. We'll have to look online soon as they didn't have anything bigger than a 13.

- Second Daughter got shoes, too. She was crying every time we told her to put on something besides sandals or rain boots, so we looked through all the clearance shoes to find some she found acceptable. We also found some furry boots on super-clearance Second Daughter really wanted. She agreed to share the cost with me because she didn't really need them.

- I also finished filling out Second Son's winter wardrobe. Since he's already put a hole in one pair of pants, I bought him an extra pair. And socks for First Daughter. The theme of the trip was basically "What do we need so these kids stop complaining they don't have X when it's time to get dressed and go outside?" We were successful in most of the essentials and the kids didn't complain too much.

- We had our nature study on the other side of town this week. It was cold and drizzly, so we only visited the inside exhibits but the kids still drew in their nature journals.

drawing a squirrel

- One evening this week, we enjoyed a lovely dinner at a nice restaurant with Kansas Dad's parents and his aunt and uncle visiting from California. The children were well-behaved and even participated nicely in some of the conversation.

- We went to see a children's production of White Christmas.

- We went to a Poetry Tea at a local library. I insisted all my children recite a poem they had memorized. Second Son (7) bounded right up on stage first of anyone there: The Little Turtle by Vachel Lindsay. Later he also recited Ants by Mary Ann Hoberman (recorded by First Daughter five years ago). First Daughter (11) happily recited two poems: O Captain! My Captain! by Walt Whitman and Concord Hymn by Ralph Waldo Emerson. Second Daughter was more reluctant, but once she mastered her nervousness and recited the first poem (Daffadowndilly by A. A. Milne), she returned for more (There Once Was a Puffin by Florence Page Jacques). I tried to convince First Son to recite Paul Revere's Ride but he seemed to think that would be showing off, so he chose instead The Road Goes Ever On from The Lord of the Rings, Book I, Chapter 1. It was wonderful to have an opportunity to actually recite some of the poetry we've memorized and this was forgiving audience of relatively few children and their grown-ups. (I did threaten them with lessons when we got home if they refused to recite.) The librarian also had lots of books of poetry lying around the tables and we enjoyed perusing them. I hope they have another one.

- Second Son had his last soccer game of the fall season. It was cold and drizzly and I won't be sorry to take a break, but he will miss it.

School Week Highlights: Week 6

1. We went to adoration.

2. Three of the children had orthodontist appointments this week. No one needs braces right now.

3. Because we were in town, we did our nature study walk even though it was the wrong day. We went to a new park and enjoyed our walk pretty well. I forgot the camera which was too bad. Then we had a picnic lunch.

4. We went to the First Friday mass at Kansas Dad's university and had a picnic lunch with him. (Two picnic lunches in one week!!)

5. We learned the pet store nearest Kansas Dad's office does not carry food for our bearded dragon, so we drove to a farther store and bought some. Keeping this guy in bugs is going to be annoying.

6. After talking with a friend, I tried a new schedule this week, one that separates the subjects into blocks of time. At the end of the block, the student moves on, even if all the coursework isn't done. I think with some tweaks we're going to give it another try this coming week. It certainly has potential.

7. First Daughter asked last spring to go on an outing with me to the art museum so she could sketch some of the artwork. It took months but we made it this weekend. We spent a few hours together there and had a lovely time. She came home with three sketches and I made four.

School Week Highlights: Week 5

1. We celebrated First Daughter's birthday breakfast a day late with a pancake as big as her head. And she ate the whole thing!

2. We went to adoration for an hour.

3. Kansas Dad was speaking on Tuesday evening at Theology on Tap and I joined him. This really isn't a school highlight, but it was an enjoyable evening!

4. First Son stumbled in his PSR classroom but he survived with only a bloody cut on his eyebrow and a smaller one on his eyelid.

5. We travelled a bit for nature study this week and enjoyed a beautiful walk.

6. Then we went to chess club for the first time. We were a little late, but all the kids got to play one game.

7. We successfully added a new pet to our family! Second Daughter wanted nothing except a bearded dragon for her birthday. These require a bit of an investment in equipment so it took us a while to get everything together. Then, Kansas Dad called three different stores and we visited two in order to choose an actual animal. We ended up at the farthest one which was also an amazing little store almost like a zoo. They had many large reptiles that were not for sale. I took a few pictures of the bearded dragon, but none of them do him justice. So we'll have to try again next week. We sacrificed an entire afternoon of lessons, but someday when it's cold and rainy we'll draw him for nature study and that will make up for it, right?

School Week Highlights: Week 3

We started the week with another break, of course!

The kids all stayed overnight with their grandparents while Kansas Dad and I celebrated our anniversary with a quiet dinner and some games in our quiet peaceful house. Did I mention it was quiet?

So we started bookwork late on Monday but...we're here to focus on the positive, the learning that's happening instead of the book-reading that might not be happening!

1. Everyone came home and worked on Monday. We didn't finish everything, of course, but I appreciated the effort.

2. We spent an hour at children's adoration.

3. We took Tuesday afternoon off to celebrate our anniversary (because it's our family's birthday) and treated the kids to a movie at the theater.

4. First Daughter made 2 layers of apple cake. We ate one (yum!) and she shared the other on her first visit to her mother's helper family. She had a lovely time and was kept very busy.

5. We had our first piano lessons this week for First Son, First Daughter, and Second Daughter. Their teacher didn't seem too dismayed at the effects of a lack of regular practice over the summer.

6. First Daughter has been using her K'nex simple machines sets with these Marbles and Wildflowers plans. Sometimes the building takes a bit long and we spread it over multiple days. This week, she brought out her small stuffed animals to enjoy the seesaw.

7. We met my aunt, uncle, and cousin in town for lunch on Thursday, followed by a visit to the Keeper of the Plains and a science museum. More skipping lessons, but we were able to hear how my uncle hiked from the North Rim to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. Very important lessons there, I'm sure.

8. Thursday was the Feast of the Triumphant Cross, one of my favorites, and we always make hot cross buns (always since 2010 when I discovered this recipe; we also make them on Easter Sunday). First Daughter made them this year and they were delicious!

9. On Friday...we had school! Real school, with books and everything! First Daughter also made dinner for us - grilled cheese and tomato soup. It sure seems like I depend on that girl a lot! But while she's in the kitchen baking for us, First Son is outside taking care of the chickens for us. The division of labor has more to do with their personal desires and interests than strict gender-typing. First Son can bake; he just doesn't like it. And he did more lessons on Friday while she made dinner.

10. On Saturday, I took the kids on a bit of a drive for a monarch butterfly festival at the Kansas Wetlands Education Center. This is a great little place and the festival was huge!

Painted lady butterflies

There were millions of painted lady butterflies, so all the kids caught some of them, just for practice. The monarchs were few and far between. We saw two, one of which First Son caught!

Sadly, he suffered a mishap and the butterfly escaped before it could be tagged.

Apparently most of the monarchs would be arriving in the days after the festival, but you have to plan festivals in advance and monarchs come when they come. I think we'll give it another try next year and hopefully we'll have our own nets. And long pants. The kids know how to dress for nature study; they just chose to ignore me.

We also visited the Ord's kangaroo rat at the education center. Second Son has been fascinated by them ever since our trip to the Great Sand Dunes years ago. Usually he's sleeping because they're nocturnal but this time he was digging and nibbling, so that was fun.

School Week Highlights: Week 2

The highlights of our second week of school, because we're trying to focus on the positive, the learning that's happening instead of the book-reading that might not be happening...

1. First Daughter had her first band class last week! She's learning the saxophone, because my aunt had one we could use and First Daughter is a good sport about that. I should really have a picture of her with it, She's practiced diligently every day despite her siblings' groans.

2. Second Daughter created a paper dog for a project in her art book (Artistic Pursuits K-3 Book One). She gifted it to Second Son and the proceeded to create a menagerie (and accessories like a Santa hat for the puppy shown below) by cutting up all our construction paper and leaving bits of paper all over the living room floor. They did eventually pick all the mess up.

3. First Daughter had her first meeting with a family from our parish for whom she will be a mother's helper this year. She loves children and helping around the house and I love being able to share her with those who have more children than hands and need a bit of breathing space. They seem like a lovely family and hopefully they will find joy in being together.

4. First Son has his first PSR class. They meet on Wednesday nights, beginning with dinner together. We also have dinner as a family before he goes, so he has "second dinner" there. Sometimes "third dinner," too, if any of his friends isn't particularly hungry. He loves this time with his friends each week.

5. All the children joined me for my dentist visit this week. First Son stayed in the waiting room and focused on some lessons he brought. No cavities for me! Yay! Then we went to the zoo for nature study. First Daughter and Second Daughter are both studying Africa this term, so we visited lions and meerkats and gorillas. We were able to see the lion close-up and both daughters sketched wonderful pictures. (First Son sketched a lion, but he's more interested in finishing than artistic flourishes.)

6. Second Daughter wrote an amazing narration of her catechism reading this week. She's reading The Mass Explained to Children by Maria Montessori because I have a lovely copy I picked up at a library sale. (We used to read Faith and Life but our parish did that with them, so I dropped it. Now they've just started using the new Sophia program but I sold all our books so...not going back.) Second Daughter has no assigned written narrations, but she often decides she prefers to write a narration than wait for me to have a minute to listen to her orally narrate. I have never had a child do this before, but I like it!

It's probably hard to read, so I'll type it here, just as she's written it:

When you go to mas you go inside a bilding. the bilding is called the church. once you are inside the church you will see lots and lots of benches. the benches are called puoes. you walk down a alise and kneel down on one knee and make the sign of the cross. this is called genuflecting and you do it to show respet to God. after you genuflect you go into a puoe. then you kneel down on a cushon. the cushon is called a kneeler. it is there so your knees will not hurt after you kneel becuse God dose not whant you to be uncomfertible. and you look at the alter. the alter is a table at the Front of the church. but it is not a ordinary table it is speshal becuse Jesus is on that table after every mas.

7. First Daughter made a delicious chocolate angel food cake for the Feast of the Nativity of Mary on Friday. (recipe from Marian Devotions in the Domestic Church)

8. We ate the delicious angel food cake as we settled at the park to watch a free outdoor production of Twelfth Night, from which the children have memorized many passages with How to Teach Your Children Shakespeare. We couldn't always hear everything and it's a shame there aren't more men in our area interested in performing Shakespeare (necessitating casting women in important male roles), but live Shakespeare is always a treat. Sir Toby was magnificently played.

9. Not a school highlight, exactly, but Second Son and I went on his outing on Saturday. This was an outing I'd promised we'd do as soon as the play ended...(cough) on April 1st. We had lunch, frozen custard, visited the science museum, saw a movie there (which we never do with all the kids), got something at the snack bar (which we never do), played at the park, and I let him pick a book at the used book store. He focused his energy at the park on the funky monkey bars (set at odd angles) and succeeded! An afternoon well-spent!

School Week Highlights: Weeks 0 and 1

Our unofficial first day of school was August 21st, when we drove north to Nebraska to see the total solar eclipse (week 0). Everywhere online we read that totality was a completely different experience than a 90% or 95% eclipse. We concur! It was an amazing experience and one we hope the children remember their whole lives.

Then, because we're a little crazy, we continued driving northwest and camped at Badlands National Park for the week. We hiked a little, visited Minuteman Missile National Historic Site, a soddy, and spotted lots of prairie dogs.

We drove west even more to spend a day in the Black Hills (way too short a time). We toured Wind Cave (where the fourth grade pass gets the fourth grader's parents and siblings in free!), spent an insane but well-enjoyed amount of money at Reptile Gardens, and arrived at Mount Rushmore just at dusk. With Badlands and Wind Cave, we're now visited 15 national parks (and lots more monuments, preserves, and historical sites).

Kansas Dad, First Son, and First Daughter successfully hiked the five mile Castle Trail through the Badlands while I took the two younger ones on a couple of easy short hikes.

We arrived home on Friday in time for dinner and giving Kansas Dad just a few hours to finish preparing for his semester.

Then we began our first week of bookwork (week 1). We managed to take first day of school pictures before abandoning our books an hour into the day for dentist appointments for the whole gang.

First Son, 8th grade

First Daughter, 5th grade

Second Daughter, 3rd grade

Second Son, 1st grade

Everyone, kind-of-sort-of ready for school

All four were cavity-free! We met Kansas Dad for lunch and took First Daughter for her weekly allergy shot. We were home in time to do a few book lessons before going to children's adoration at our parish.

Other highlights from the week:

Second Daughter mastered addition on xtramath without any complaints. I switched her to the extended time (6 seconds instead of 3 seconds) and it's decreased her stress over it immeasurably.

First Daughter read through the first two independent reading books (which took First Son weeks) in less than a week. She's on a third I pulled from our shelves late on Friday.

We had our first nature study - a lovely walk by the river. We saw a dead cicada being eaten by ants and owl pellets. First Son drew a decent dead cicada and then charred the exoskeleton with his magnifying glass. Second Daughter caught two different tiny mud-colored frogs. I think I saw a bald eagle.

Second Son by the river we'll visit throughout the year for his Rivers and Oceans study.

First Son started A Girl of the Limberlost and didn't complain about it.

We signed Second Son up for soccer and attended the first meeting.

We celebrated Second Daughter's baptismal anniversary with cheeseburgers (two for each child!), crunchy Cheetos, microwave nachos, and apple crisp sundaes (made by First Daughter!), all as requested by Second Daughter. She also requested (and received) a mouthful of spray whipped cream, which is now apparently a baptismal anniversary tradition.

We went to First Friday Mass with our homeschool group followed by a nice picnic for which Kansas Dad joined us.

Three of the children worked together to complete a collection of Star Wars Infinity figures and First Son organized a display of them at a library in town. We spent a good hour there on Friday setting it up.

There were plenty of "lowlights" but we won't mention those. Moving on to week 2...