Sick but Persevering - Another Homeschool Week Done

Sick. Still. More. Neverending. Okay, most of the kids are actually starting to get better now, and nobody threw up, even when a few felt like they might. ** Well, I spoke too soon. Daniel just threw up. Anyone want to guess how many kids will get this? **  I'm pretty sure Makayla has a sinus infection again, though, so we're getting that checked later today. We kept a very low-key week, applied essential oils, washed hands, ate good whole foods, and are praying things begin really improving for everyone soon. With all the sick kids I really didn't get many pictures taken but wanted to share some highlights from our week anyway, so those are sprinkled throughout this post.

Saturday Makayla, Joseph, and I spent the evening at a stake youth activity for church. These pictures were taken while youth began arriving and dividing into teams. There were lots of activities to try (archery, tractor pulling, goat herding, riding a mechanical bull, stacking bales of hay, etc) as well as dinner, a fire, and visiting.

Both Makayla and Joseph rode the mechanical bull. Makayla rode once (she's done it in past years) and Joseph ended up going back to it several times all evening so he rode 5 times.

I read a book just for me this week! I love when I get to do that. My book of choice was Heartless by Marissa Meyer. She tells the story of the Queen of Hearts from Alice in Wonderland that - before she became queen. I really liked it!

Several people finished books this week in their reading time. Makayla finished The Work and the Glory book 5 and started book 6. Emma finished Frightful's Mountain. Daniel finished Ralph S. Mouse. We finished Prince Caspian as a family. It's been a bookish week. After finishing Prince Caspian we started our next homeschool book club title, Little Women. I decided to pull out an audio book for this one because sometimes mom's voice just needs a break.

One fun part of our family read alouds is seeing my children choose quiet activities to do while listening. This week that included origami, coloring, drawing on paper and the dry erase board, and using thinking putty.

Makayla has been interested in steampunk design for a while. Steampunk mixes old and new, the function of modern technology with the Victorian steam-powered era. There is an element of science fiction or science fantasy to steampunk books, fashion, and builds. We discovered one season on Netflix of a show to watch together - Steampunk'd. In the show 10 makers are divided into two teams and tasked to build a specific room for the manor house in a steampunk style. They also have to create fashion outfits and a story for their room. At the end of the episode one team wins, two top makers are chosen who will be the next week's team captains, and one maker is sent home. It was a neat way to wade into the steampunk design waters for most of the family.

Joseph has been busy building new Lego creations this week. Here is one of his most recent. I don't know how he comes up with these!

One new school activity for several of the kids this week has been using XtraMath.org to practice math facts. The kids are at varying points in the mastery of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division facts. As the weather gets colder it always makes me think of things we want to work on improving. Right now our automaticity in math computation is what came to mind. I decided to offer an incentive. When each child masters a function (add, subtract, multiply, divide) on XtraMath, meaning they pass the level with all facts done in 3 seconds or less, they earn a small gift card. This is hard, it may take them weeks or months to complete a single level at that speed. I love that XtraMath is the one tracking and deciding when they're ready to move on, not me. I get to just stand back and be their cheerleader and encourager. They got a kick out of seeing me try the addition level the first day. I didn't pass, but came really close (all but 2 of the 100 facts came in under 3 seconds every time). I think I'm going to be doing the program as well since they enjoyed cheering me on too.

Well, that's all I have time for. Now for that doctor's appointment for Makayla . . .


(Linking to Weekly Wrap Up).