I didn't do a weekly wrap-up last week, so this will be a two-in-one. This one will lack a whole lot of how-we-did-its, and just touch on some of what we've done. I love to do posts that might help other homeschoolers, but sometimes I just want to keep up with what we've done. This post is mostly one of the latter.
I am seriously re-evaluating some things about our homeschool, and plan to spend some serious time praying about some specifics. Lindsey will be at a sort of caffeinated teen retreat called D-NOW (Disciple Now) this weekend, and Kathryn will be at her dad's, so I'm going to use that time to focus on listening to God on what He wants me to do/change. I'll be sure to blog about it -- later.
Last week, we studied France. Some of the things we took note of in our study: the Louvre museum, the thought of eating frog legs and snails, the 300+ types of cheeses they make there, and the Eiffel tower. Did you know that the Eiffel tower has 2.5 million rivets, 1652 steps, is 984 feet tall, and grows by six inches in the summer when the metal expands. Kathryn has added it to her list of
Places I Want To Go -- she's been adding to it as we study different countries. I can't wait to see how long the list is by the end of our school year!
This week, we "visited" Germany. We were amused by some of the funny-sounding names of towns, like Worms, Frankfurt, and Hamburg. Kathryn wants to visit
Neuschwanstein Castle, and thought it was cool that I could actually remember the fall of the Berlin Wall.
For one of her
free reading books last week, Kathryn read
Where the Red Fern Grows. I couldn't remember how long it had been since I read it, so I re-read it -- and cried like a baby. I am such a sap when it comes to books about dogs or horses.
In Biology, we finished up Unit One: The Basics, and reviewed a bit. Kathryn thought at first that she didn't know the answers to the questions I was asking, but when she stopped and thought, she knew them all. Hurray for retaining information! I am enjoying this
Christian Kids Explore Biology book. This week we moved into Unit Two: Plants. So far we've diagrammed a plant, explored some plants in our garden, and learned about photosynthesis. She is itching to make the terrarium suggested for this week's hands-on project, so I'm going to have to rummage for the necessary supplies.
Kathryn read about outer space in her "News Current" magazine, and has decided that Saturn would not be somewhere fun to visit, due to the crazy storms, terrible temperatures, and lack of air that humans can safely breathe. She also learned about how Mars has been explored, and about craters on the south pole of the moon that have temperatures of -397 ℉! I love that amidst all this great current event and scientific info, the writers of the magazine remind us,
"The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands." (Psalm 19:1)
Lindsey had a light school week, since she had no classes on Tuesday due to the local elections. She is ecstatic about
D-NOW (Disciple Now) this weekend because she's been hearing about it from friends in her small group. It is
THE big event for the youth at our church, and talked about all year long. The theme this year is
Crazy Love, which should be great. God used that book to speak volumes to me! And for a costume contest part of the event, Lindsey and friends will be dressing up as Frostys (as in, the chocolate ice-creamy milkshake from Wendy's). Can't wait to see that -- and yes, there will be photos!
When I was at the homeschool moms' support group meeting on Tuesday night,
Ken taught the girls to play "Heart and Soul" in parts on the piano. Lindsey plays the middle part, and Kathryn can play the high part and the low part -- not at the same time, of course! Sometimes he'll play with them, or sometimes he'll play the bass (hanging on the wall in this photo) while they are on the piano. While this is not exactly perfect piano form (you'll notice if you look at their hands), it's still music, and it's still fun!
I'm really looking forward to my time of re-assessing things this weekend, and just spending some good time with God. One of the wonderful things about homeschooling is that we have the freedom to change things ANY time throughout the school year.