2018-2019 Week 5: Post Surgery Week

I left off last week with the day before Mason's leg surgery. Friday was surgery and Mason and I were at the hospital until Saturday afternoon. Surgery went well and he's in a long leg cast for about 3 weeks. Sunday Daddy took most of the kids to church. Mason needed to stay home and keep his leg elevated and ice on an off, so he, Rebekah, Tobias, and I were home. It is a pretty quiet, trying to keep him entertained life right now.

Monday was a school as usual day. Mason is not thrilled with sitting around on the couch so we're trying to vary where he is at and what he is doing. School went just fine. We also had a dentist appointment and an allergist appointment. In the evening was Family Home Evening with a fun game (LDS Shout Out) and a chance to learn more about the Prophet and Apostles leading up to General Conference next month. We learned some fun facts about them.

Tuesday was a slow start for some of the kids while others were up by 5am and 6am. School work happened as usual. My favorite thing has been listening to Mason the last week or so do his reading. It has started to really click and he is sounding out a lot less and just reading words a lot more in All About Reading 1. He read a funny story about a boy named Frank who drank pink milk and shrank. There are adventures and then a return to regular size. Mason decided he would not want to shrink like Frank. Over lunch we listened to more of Wonder, our book club title.

Wednesday the majority of school went fine. History, however, not so much. For some reason half the kids were loud, chatty, and not interested at all in listening. I dragged them through the lesson. I totally looked at one child and said, "Just sit down and don't talk for 5 minutes please. Not a sound and stay sitting!" That was the last subject of the day. Tomorrow's plan is to do history earlier in the day. The rest of our afternoon and evening were family time, youth group for the oldest 3, and lots of play on the couch with Mason. Dinner was vegetable beef soup in the crock pot with some French bread.

Thursday kicked off with kids sliding right into school. I made the general announcement that we would do history at 9am and they would all be expected to meet on the couch, pausing whatever they were working on. It went really well today. We finished Unit 1 in The Good and the Beautiful History 1, which goes from the Creation through Ancient Egypt's history. Today we talked about Moses and the Israelites, then an overview of the conquering nations and dynasties in Egypt's history from 600BC to modern times. Next week we move forward in time from Ancient  Egypt to the Middle Ages and Renaissance. We will hit some of the following topics for unit 2:

• Early Britain
• Stonehenge
• Spread of Christianity in Ireland (Saint Patrick)
• Christianity going to England
• Saint Augustine
• Feudalism
• Life of a Knight
• Life in a Monastery
• King Alfred the Great
• William the Conqueror
• The Magna Carta
• Chivalry
• Joan of Arc
• The Black Death
• The Scientific Revolution
• Isaac Newton
• Galileo
• The Huguenots

We have one field trip planned during this unit, to the Ohio Renaissance Festival. We have gone the last few years and it is so much fun! Real life jousts on horseback, shows, shops, and a queen - the kids enjoy it almost as much as the adults.

Mason has graduated to less time sitting with his foot elevated and more time in this borrowed wheelchair that has a foot rest for his cast.

Tomorrow Daddy is off and taking over the homeschooling while Mommy and Makayla make a college visit for Buckeye Preview. Then it is the weekend and family time!