This week seemed to zip by. I am certain it was because we had some sunshine and milder temps. That gives everybody more energy and a lot more gets accomplished. Before you know it the day is done.
The Past Week in our Regular Life
We have awoken from the winter dead. I am starting to dream about planting flowers and gardening. I am planning the painting of the trim of our house and our front porch. I can't wait to get outside and start sprucing things up! The kids and I rode our bikes a couple of afternoons. That felt fantastic!The winner of my last Dial coupon giveaway was Julie @ Smart Savvy Mama. Thanks to all that entered! I will have another giveaway next week so check back!
The Schooling Basics
Bible - Our discussions this week were all about Lent.Grammar - This week we moved onto predicates! Diagramming is so fun!
Spelling - We added the "bossy r" to chunking, copy work and dictation in Spelling U See and memorized "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star". And in Soaring with Spelling we also learned -aid words.
Handwriting - We didn't do any lessons in Handwriting without Tears - Cursive Success. Instead the kids wrote one of their stories in cursive.
Math - In Math U See Gamma we completed Lesson 25 and continued with multiple digit multiplication, this time multiplying three digit numbers by two digit numbers. In Mastering 5th Grade Math - Fractions, we learned about the Greatest Common Factor.
Writing - We completed our problem/solution stories with character and setting descriptions by editing and revising our sloppy copies and then writing the final draft in cursive with illustrations.
Science - In Science4Us we have moved onto learning about Earth Features.
The Schooling Fun Stuff
We experienced a mini-obsession with the Iditarod this past week. The race started on Saturday and we have been checking the logs several times a day to see where our favorites are in the standings. The race is a constant source of conversation. We finished "Toughest Race on Earth" and all of us were teary at the emotions of the finish line. I cannot recommend watching that documentary enough. We loved it and are Iditarod followers for life.
When we started back to school after Christmas break, we had 60 days of school to perform before we could go on our Spring Break trip to Florida that is coming up on April 5th. That seemed like an overwhelming number of days. So I broke it down into 3, 20-day sessions. On the 20th day of each session we get to have a Fun Day.
Our first Fun Day was our Olympics Party. Today was our second Fun Day and we had fun with the Iditarod. We made puppy chow and watched Snow Buddies. We read the last of our Iditarod picture books. We didn't get to the homemade pumpkin dog treats for our pups, but we hope to do that next week. For a real treat, Dawson's friend allowed us to come out and see their kennel of Huskies and Alaskan Malamutes this afternoon. FUN day!!!! They will have two litters of puppies in the next week, so we are planning another trip out in about 8 weeks.
And now we only have one more 20-day session left before we leave for our Spring Break trip! What do we have planned for our final 20th day Fun Day? The start of our much-deserved vacation!!!
This week we also hosted a glow-in-the-dark egg hunt at our church on the first day of Lent for 16 kids from kindergarten to 6th grade. My kids and I spent all day Wednesday shopping for supplies, prepping for the party, and hosting the party. I will posting all of the specifics about that party in my upcoming review of the product. You'll just have to take my word that it was a lot of fun! Here is a sneak peak at the activity that we completed.
Finally, on Thursday we attended the first Lewis and Clark class at our public library sponsored by the University of Missouri Extension Center. The kids made journals, tasted some hominy and bacon (two thumbs down), and started on their journey Westward. They had a good time with their friends. This class will be every Thursday afternoon for the next six weeks.
The Kitchen
Chicken fettucine, broccoli and garlic toast; pancakes and bacon; sub sandwiches and peaches, butterscotch brownies, puppy chow.The Days Ahead
This month is going to blast ahead with very busy days, especially weekends. We start the first of four basketball tournaments in a row this Saturday. The kids will have their regular bowling league (the countdown has started for state tournament at the end of April). Next week it just more of the same … basketball practice, church, Lewis and Clark class, bowling, Kyndal at school, Dawson at school and working. And on Monday afternoon we made plans to go to the park with some homeschooling friends. It's supposed to be in the upper 60's!!!The Books We are Reading
Mom: And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini, Winterdance by Gary Paulsen.Brynne: A Big Year for Lily by Mary Ann Kinsinger and Suzanne Woods Fisher.
Eli: George Brown Class Clown: What's Black and White and Stinks All Over? by Nancy Krulik (finished).
Read Aloud: Papa and the Leprechaun King by Arthur Cola.
The People and the Places
We have been quite social this week! Like I said, the warmer temps made getting out of the house a lot more desirable. It was a week spent with friends at our egg hunt at church and the Lewis and Clark class.The Savings Jar(s)
A whole $.34 went into my change jar. The upside is that I wasn't spending any money this week that would give me change.The Bible in a Year
I am right on track and have read through Numbers Chapter 25.The Favorite Things
Hands down … the Iditarod. We are so glad we made a decision to learn about it this year.Brynne announced to me on Wednesday that she had decided to give up macaroni and cheese for Lent. I hadn't asked her to make such a decision. But we had been talking about it in Sunday school and at home. I was so proud of her because mac and cheese is a real obsession of hers. I am praying that this conscious break from it will bring her closer to God. (Eli chose not to participate, but that's okay. I want him to be mature enough that he understands the true meaning of sacrifice before he accepts such a call.)
What am I giving up for Lent? My lazy mornings. I know that I know that I know that getting up long before my kids to have my quiet time and to exercise is of vital importance to how the rest of my day goes. But have I mentioned how cold it has been this winter … and that we have been heating our house with small electric heaters … and I am awake most nights with severe heartburn? Getting up early has gone by the wayside. And, really, my days have gotten more and more off track. But I am giving up those lazy mornings of sleeping in until the last minute. I am back to getting up by 7:00 a.m. to have my quiet time and ….. EXERCISE!! Taking a walk with Crusoe has felt SO good! But the boy is wiped out when we get home.
Rick and I lead such a rat race life … in two different states. And when he is home on the weekends, we are rushing to and fro to the kids events that we hardly stop to take a breath. We had a nice conversation last Friday night, just standing in the kitchen, which reminded me just why I love being married to him. He is such a supportive husband and a good friend. We had a really great weekend together. And he called today and asked me if I would like to go out to dinner tonight. A date night!
Linking up
What's the savings jar?
ReplyDeleteThis is the 3rd blog post I have seen that did unit studies on the Iditarod race - how is it I am so out of the loop that I didn't know this was happening and I didn't take advantage of it?? I am putting it on my plans for next year so we can do something fun with it too!
ReplyDeleteThe Lewis and Clark class at the library sounds awesome! I wish our library would do something like that.
As always, I enjoy reading about your weeks. I think I may try out your format on next week's wrap up. :) Have a great week!