Pizza, Sunflowers, and everything in between

Rebekah helped herself to some cake this week.

She is quite the climber.

Another week has slipped by at our house. Sunday was peaceful. We enjoyed church as a family and spent the day together after that. I love our peaceful Sabbath evenings together.

Monday was full of homeschool lessons. We read great books. Art created. Group science was on the sense of smell, with lots of spices and essential oils to smell and identify. Math lessons went smoothly. It was just a normal, full morning. Then we played Ticket to Ride at the request of the 14 year old boy.

By late afternoon we were going through bins of clothing in the attic, seeing what fall/winter clothing we have for each child and what things we need. I made a list with sizes, details of what they have and need, and finished the process with 7 of the kids.

Joseph has been using chalk pastels regularly this week.

Tuesday school random notes:

• Reading about lighthouses, Greek scientist Archimedes, levers, a circus, the sense of smell, microscopes, an elf in the mountains, microbiology. Reading poetry and discussing it. 
• Microscope exploration for the biology students, learning parts and how to use the different objective lenses and focus. 
• Math topics included adding and subtracting fractions, multiplication and negative numbers, skip counts, adding to make 10, simplifying and solving algebraic equations.
• Language Arts included sentence diagramming, commas in a series, changing silent e words to -ing words and back, rhyme scheme and stanzas in poetry, homonyms, spelling, sentence dictation, challenging words (vocab), etc.
• Handwriting. Lots of handwriting.

In the afternoon we got through the last two kids clothing bins. Rebekah napped. We made homemade pizzas for dinner.

One of the kids used a free coupon to rent Secret Life of Pets 2 and we watched it as a family after dinner. 

Wednesday we started school but then Makayla called for a video chat. When choosing between school work and relationships it was obvious - leave the school work on the table and chat from the couch. Again, this is a perk of homeschooling! We can put our priorities in the order we feel is best. Family comes before academics! Everyone spent time talking with big sister. I will never forget how excited Rebekah and Tobias were to see and hear Makayla. The rest of the kids are old enough to understand that Makayla will come back for visits. These two little ones are 1 and 3 and simply don't understand. They were so happy, they had been missing big sister.

The rest of the morning was spent doing school. Today's The Good and the Beautiful history lesson was about several famous Greeks. We read about them, placed them on our timeline, compared when they lived with other peoples and events we are familiar with, and talked about their contributions to the world. We only have one more lesson set in Ancient Greece before moving to Ancient China. If I get terribly energetic we may do an Ancient Greece themed art project.

I thought it would be fun to share a peek at the Good and the Beautiful Language Arts. One thing that I love about TGTB is that their language arts courses rotate your student through so many subjects. It is not just reading and writing. They integrate things so well. For example the geography/map work is related to the stories you are reading or the people who wrote the poetry/created the art/wrote the stories you are studying. Here are notes about what was covered today in the various levels my kids are in:

• Spelling practice.
• Sentence dictation.
• Grammar definition card review.
• Geography cards reviewed.
• States/Capitals Ladder reviews.
• Poetry memorization practice.
• Reading aloud (elocution) in a variety of forms: poetry, story, vocabulary and definitions, factual information relating to geography, an artist's experience as a POW in WWI, and an author.
• Personal reading of stories set in several time periods and places, depending on the level.
• Reading challenging words. 
• Grammar/punctuation practice with focus on apostrophes, commas, dependent clauses, independent clauses.
• Beginning to write a 'How To' Essay.
• Learning about protagonists, writing about the protagonist in a story, creating a list of possible protagonists and their descriptions for a future writing project.
• Mapping European countries (related to an artist whose work would be studied).
• Observing a painting and then oral discussion of the painting.

In biology Joseph and Emma are finishing up the first module. We were reviewing some of the concepts in the chapter by doing the study guide questions. It is fascinating to see the difference between these two students. They approach, absorb, and interact with the information differently. 

The kids planted sunflowers this year. 

They are growing and blooming so the

kids brought a few in this week to enjoy.

Thursday's school was peacefully uneventful. We followed our routines and the day went easily. In the late afternoon I loaded everyone up to take Joseph and Emma to the orthodontist for regular adjustments. I sit in the van with my car full of kids and we listen to an audio book while we wait. Joseph only has 2 appointments left before he gets his braces off, which he was excited about.

Friday is here and the afternoon is in progress. Kids are pursuing their own interests. Rebekah is napping. It is the end of the school week and it is wonderful!