Weekly Wrap-Up

Their reward for a full, successful week of school (by "successful" I mean that most of what was planned actually got finished and without much grumbling along the way).  They are all snuggled up together watching a movie ("Veggie Tales; Minnesota Cuke and the Search for Noah's Umbrella"). We learned all about Noah's Ark this week for religion, so I thought this was an appropriate, silly movie to go along with that theme.

Which brings me to our Weekly Wrap-Up. This is something that I want to try and make a regular thing (I know, I know, it's not like I have a lot of "free" time. I said "try"). I think that taking the time to reflect on our week and post about it will benefit me and the boys, since we'll end up with a nice record, with pictures, of what we've done.  And I hope that it benefits friends and family who are curious about what, exactly, we do all week. Don't worry, I won't go into every detail about every little thing, as that would be exhausting for me and very boring for you. I plan to simply include the highlights of our week, and may, in the near future have the boys contribute to writing posts. 

Comments are welcome (always good to know that somebody is reading!).

 

This week we celebrated this beautiful season of fall (and a birthday!). We took the dogs for a walk on the nice weather days, did a leaf craft (you can read more about that here), baked apple pumpkin muffins (using this recipe), and visited nearby Patterson Fruit Farm.

As I already mentioned, we talked about Noah's Ark this week for some of our religion study. This year I'm using the Faith and Life series (currently grade 4) for all the boys and Religion 1 (Seton) and Catholic Mosaics for Matthew.  We start each week by listening to the chapter all together from www.mycatholicfaithdelivered.com, then we continue with reading the corresponding stories from the Catholic Children's Bible and working through the lessons throughout the rest of the week.

We're also enjoying the Catholic Mosaics book, which I had never heard of until recently. I managed to snag a copy of it from another homeschooling mom and am mainly using it with Matthew, (first grade) but all the boys end up listening to the story, of course! What I like is that it's broken down by months and gives reading selections based on the liturgical year. It also coordinates with the Seton Art 1 book that I already had, for some hands-on activities. This week, we talked about St. Francis, since we were out of town for his feast day on the 4th, reading from the book The Good Man of Assisi.

Michael even won a prize at his last Cub Scout meeting for memorizing AND reciting IN FRONT OF OTHER PEOPLE the Prayer to St. Francis.  He actually VOLUNTEERED to do it! As someone who shares the very common fear of public speaking, I was most impressed.

Another project that we've been working on together is reading Farmer Boy, by Laura Ingalls Wilder, and making a sort of lapbook, using these (free!) printables.  I think this has a been a good book to start with, of the Little House series, because the story focuses on nine year old, Alanzo.  All the boys are enjoying reading it together. And thanks to a recent field trip to Century Village Museum, the boys are finding they can more easily picture what life was really like at this time.  

 

We've also been continuing with our "Calendar Connections," an idea that I got from this website.   We started this back in August and we've all been learning a lot! Basically, each month you follow a different theme and print out cards with pictures and information for each day, to be used in a pocket calendar.  So far we've done Botany, Astronomy and currently The Arctic and Antarctica and the boys love it. They remind me every day to do the card, which we usually discuss at dinner.  We've also tied in other subjects with it as we're able, such as covering any corresponding chapters from our science book (Behold and See Science) and using our Magic School Bus science kits (more on those later). I also pull out/check out any books related to the theme and have those handy in our book basket for the boys to browse.

But what does the toddler do while we're in full school mode during the day? Well, this was a challenge this year, now that he only naps once a day after lunch.  I quickly realized that he did NOT like it when the rest of us were working at the dining table together and he was left alone down on the floor.  And I could only keep him happy in the high chair near us for so long (he is a VERY busy little guy!). 

So, we brought school down to his level!  I bought each of the boys a lap desk and during the time when Benjamin is awake and we're trying to get something accomplished, the boys enjoy doing their work on the floor.  This has worked really well.  Thank God.  I'm also glad that I thought to buy the little guy his own desk, because I don't think this plan would be nearly as successful without it.

Yes, he's "praying."

In other news:

• Maybe, our turtle, is still alive. Yes, I am surprised, given that none of us have a clue as to how to care for a turtle. Obviously, we're learning. 

• One night when I let the dogs outside a possum scared the *%#! out of me. Fortunately, the dogs were not harmed (Bella cornered it under the sand table before I realized exactly what was happening). My irrational fear was heightened because, at that time, my husband and I were in the middle of watching a movie wherein Liam Neeson and some other guys are stranded in the middle of Alaska after their plane crashes and they're trying to survive being attacked by enormous and overly-aggressive wolves. 

• I've decided that I want to be more of a tea drinker and could use suggestions on good books or resources about this topic - anyone? 

• Aren't you glad I shared all of that with you?

That sums up our week! Next week is a Cub Scout meeting, covering the upcoming election (once a book I ordered arrives) and starting a new art curriculum (hopefully).  We'll see how it all goes!

Have a great weekend!

~ Dori