Our Homeschool Week in Review August 13 – 18

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Over the summer, I received many requests to do a regular “glimpse into our homeschool” feature. After some consideration, I’ve decided to try my best to do that this year. I love reading “journal-esque” blog posts of other homeschoolers, myself. These make me feel connected in a world that can feel somewhat isolated at times, and they can be more relatable than the “big picture” posts that typically fill the news feeds. So here we are. Welcome to our first “homeschool week in review” post!

And, oh, what a week it was.

I almost didn’t write this post at all. I kept telling myself that I needed to wait until we had a “normal” week to show you first. But that’s kind of the point of the “glimpse” right? To see the real thing, even when it’s less than perfect.

Our week started out on a great note. Blake started her homeschool enrichment program, which she will go to on Mondays. She is enrolled in classes for art, cooking, and choir, as well as a book club and a newspaper club. The program is just for homeschoolers, and she’s already having a great time. Since she is my social butterfly, this was a really wonderful discovery and I’m so glad we got her in this year.

The other big benefit of this program is that it gives me a chance to spend a whole day, every single week, with my little Brice. This week, we decided to spend Monday on our literature project for week one in Blossom and Root Early Years Vol. 2.

This week’s story was The Tale of Peter Rabbit. After we dropped Blake off, I asked Brice what we should do to celebrate Peter and she said we should make carrot cake muffins. We had such a peaceful morning, baking the muffins together. When they were ready, we set the table and had a little poetry tea time together. We read Peter Rabbit again, and some of our flower fairy poems. Then we spent the rest of our alone time at the park before picking Blake up.

Tuesday morning was heavenly. I started week one of Blossom and Root First Grade Language Arts with Blake, which centered around two stories from Among the Meadow People by Clara Dillingham Pierson. Brice’s letter of the week was “A” and she wanted to play with apple play-dough, so I whipped up a batch while they played math games on the floor in the living room. The play-dough kept them busy most of the morning.

My husband’s schedule freed up in the middle of the day, so we all went to the pool for a little bit before it started to get stormy. We headed home and the girls settled down to rest before their first gymnastics class of the season. While they rested, the storm began to build. By the time they were up and eating dinner, it had started to rain. The rain turned to hail and the wind kicked up. I love storms so I went onto the balcony to watch as this typical summer thunderstorm turned into the craziest storm I’ve ever seen in my life. It was hailing so hard and the wind was so strong you couldn’t see a foot in front of you. Our hummingbird feeder went sideways. Trees were blowing down all over the neighborhood. Leaves were being power-blasted onto the walls of the buildings. The streets were flooding. (If you haven’t seen the video on my Instagram feed, be sure to check it out!)

For a moment or two, I thought we were in the middle of a tornado. I sent the girls to take shelter in the bathroom and waited it out in the hallway. Finally, the storm moved on and, like a good homeschooling mama, I ran out to collect a bucketful of hailstones for them to investigate for a bit before it was time to leave for gymnastics.

Wednesday was beautiful, so we took our classroom outside. We packed up my hiking pack and headed to “the place of peace,” which is Blake’s name for the beautiful wild space and bird sanctuary behind the local library. They wanted to have class on the covered bridge over the pond, so that’s where we set up for the morning.

 

We did a science lesson from Blossom and Root First Grade: Wonders of the Earth and Sky and an art lesson from Blossom and Root Early Years Vol. 2. We ended our morning by starting our first Brave Writer Quiver of Arrows book for the new school year: The House at Pooh Corner. It was a perfect, beautiful, peaceful morning.

Then things took a turn. Our dog, Lula, was diagnosed with cancer. Our vet told us we may have a few weeks, maybe a few months. For those that do not know, we lost our dog Elwood very suddenly to a stroke in May. We’ve had these two pups for nearly eleven years and they are a huge part of our family dynamic. It’s been a very difficult few days, to say the least.

Homeschool was put on hold for Thursday and Friday as my husband and I weighed our options for treatment with the vet, so it’s been a short week as far as homeschool goes. We had intended to “ease in” with a relaxed approach these first few weeks, anyway–I just wish it had been under better circumstances.

I wish I had a more cheerful first “glimpse” post to share with you. I hope all of you are enjoying the rest of your summer off, or the first weeks of your homeschooling year. And for those of you in California, British Columbia, Oregon, and Montana–please stay safe! You are in our thoughts. <3

The Curriculum We Used This Week:

Blossom and Root Early Years Vol. 2

Blossom and Root First Grade

Singapore Math, Standards Edition, Level 1A

Brave Writer: Quiver of Arrows – The House at Pooh Corner

C’est Mon (An Emergent Reader in French) from the “For French Immersion” store on TeachersPayTeachers.com 

The Games We Played This Week:

Rat-a-Tat Cat

Sum Swamp

The Books We Read This Week:

Among the Meadow People by Clara Dillingham Pierson

Henry Huggins by Beverly Cleary

The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter

You Are Stardust by Elin Kelsey

Life Story by Virginia Lee Burton

The Complete Book of the Flower Fairies by Cicely Mary Barker

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling (on Audible, during car rides)

A Gracious Space, Fall Edition by Julie Bogart (for me)

Movies We Watched This Week:

Christopher Robin (this fell a little short for me, and definitely aimed more at adults who read the books during their youth than at children, but I’m glad we went)

Our Favorite Classroom This Week:

Kountze Lake