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Hello and welcome to another homeschool week in review! I hope you had a wonderful, relaxing holiday weekend! I wanted to thank those of you who have reached out to me about our “week in review” series already. It means so much to me to hear that these posts are helping and inspiring you. I truly love recording our homeschool journey through this blog and sharing it with such a supportive and warm community of fellow homeschoolers. I also love hearing your stories! <3
Monday
On Monday, Brice and I spent the day enjoying The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein. We made a little beeswax apple tree like the one in the story, and a peg doll boy. Brice helped me cut felt leaves, and I showed her how to string them together into a crown. I was always touched by this book, even as a child, but the game really does change when you become a mother and read it again. Like many of his stories, there are so big emotions and deep ideas at play in a seemingly simple plot.
Blake had another busy day at her enrichment program and came home with some beautiful mixed media artwork inspired by koi ponds. In the afternoon, we went down to our favorite spot on the creek and had a dinner picnic until it was time for Blake’s gymnastics class.
Tuesday
On Tuesday, we took Brice to her gymnastics class, then headed up to the mountains. It was such a crisp, beautiful morning–one of those blue-sky, low-light days that rest between the end of summer and the beginning of fall where everything smells good and the air is sweet and cool. We found a little park in Kittredge and set up our classroom for the day.
Our science lesson this week was on plate tectonics and the girls were pretty excited about the graham cracker and marshmallow spread demonstration. I hadn’t really thought through how messy that stuff can be! Even with a full pack of wet wipes on hand, we were all a sticky mess. It was worth it. 🙂
After science, we read our stories for the week from Among the Meadow People and did a lesson from Singapore Math. Then I let the girls loose to run amuck all over the park. Blake discovered a little lending library–one of those little boxes with a glass door that looks like a tiny red barn. She poured over every children’s book inside before declaring that she wanted to bring some of her own books next time we came, to add to the library. The whole idea was enchanting to her.
After lunch, we played in the creek and listened to an elk bugling somewhere nearby. Blake found a belostoma swimming in the shallow waters–a very exciting discovery since we had just read a story about one last week. Tuesday was a great day.
Wednesday
On Wednesday, we did our second Kandinsky lesson from Exploring the Math in Art. The girls loved this project and their creations were so neat! We explored how shapes and lines can overlap and inform each other, then created our own works using markers, tissue paper, and washi tape.
Blake really loved “The Grasshopper and the Measuring Worm Run a Race” from Among the Meadow People. She spent almost an hour drawing her narration picture, and the rest of the homeschool day making her puppets for our puppet show. The grasshopper puppet was my favorite–so sweet!
In the afternoon, we noticed our dog Lula was really slowing down. She no longer had the energy to walk further than the bottom of the stairs, and her tumors had gotten so big that they were starting to affect her breathing. (For those of you who have not been following our “week in review” series, our dog Lula was diagnosed with a very aggressive cancer at the beginning of August.) Anticipating that it was soon going to be time to make the hardest decision, we sent the girls to spend the rest of the week with my parents.
Thursday and Friday
On Friday, Lula woke up in bad shape. We knew, without a doubt in our hearts, that it was time to say goodbye. While we had hoped to have at least a couple of months with her after her diagnosis, we were glad we’d had the time we did. Up until this week, she’d still had plenty of energy to go for long walks to the creek, and to snuggle with us. The girls had time to say goodbye. But it’s still a devastating blow. We just lost our other dog, Elwood, suddenly last spring. It’s been a difficult time for our little family.
I read a quote that brought me some comfort and thought I would share, for my fellow dog-lovers out there:
“I have sometimes thought of the final cause of dogs having such short lives and I am quite satisfied it is in compassion to the human race; for if we suffer so much in losing a dog after an acquaintance of ten or twelve years, what would it be if they were to live double that time?” – Sir Walter Scott
We plan to take it easy in homeschool this next week–maybe just some baking and games and, as always, lots of time outside. Hope everyone is having a wonderful week so far.
Coming soon: Summer and Autumn Book Seed Bundles (September 2018); Book Seeds Elementary Years: Profiles in Science Bundle 1 (September 2018)
The Curriculum We Used This Week:
Blossom and Root Early Years Vol. 2
Singapore Math, Standards Edition, Level 1A
Brave Writer: Quiver of Arrows – The House at Pooh Corner
The Games We Played This Week:
Wildcraft
Hissss
The Books We Read This Week:
Among the Meadow People by Clara Dillingham Pierson
The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein
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)
State of Wonder by Ann Patchett (for me)
The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert (for me–an excellent choice for plant nerd autumn reading!)
Movies We Watched This Week:
Moana
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Our Favorite Classroom This Week:
Kittredge Park
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