Weekly Wrap Up Week 10 {2014}

Well, it was bound to happen.  A week where there was more life then school.  But, well, that's life, right?  :)

Our week started with our annual gym night at the gymnastics center in town.  This is the night that all the kids look forward to and talk about all year long!  They get 3 hours to run, jump and play on all the gymnastics equipment.  The parents get 3 hours to sit, talk, eat some yummy snacks, and let their kids run wild.  It's really a great night!  (Yes.  This is homeschool socialization).

Sunday night we went to Mustang's Spirit Squad recital.  To mark the end of their season, the team hosted a pizza and awards night, and then the girls performed their routines for all their family and friends that wanted to come and see.  Mustang received a certificate for participation.  Sorry that the picture on the right is a bit blurry, I had to crop it close so that the other girls on the team weren't in the picture.

The rest of us enjoyed pizza, snacks, hanging out with other families, and a performance.  (Also considered homeschool socialization, ha ha).

On a not as happy note, we received word that our Great-Grandpa passed away on Wednesday night.  He lived far away, so we will not be attending his funeral.  But, we have spent a lot of time this week remembering him and discussing what happens when we die.  We, thankfully, have the hope of knowing that he knew Jesus as his Lord and Savior, and someday we can see him again if we, too, know Jesus as Savior.  So, we've had some conversations about how one gets to Heaven, too.  It's been a good week of discussions.  

For the 'official' school front, we were able to spend 2 days doing work.  

This week we learned about Vincent Van Gogh.  I found a wonderful book (left) of huge and colorful prints of his work.  It was great for giving the kids a true chance to view and appreciate his paintings.  

We started watching a biography about Van Gogh and really enjoyed it (but we need to finish it on Monday-it was kinda long!).  I learned a lot of things I never knew about Van Gogh.  Did I mention that I LOVE homeschooling my kids? I learn so much!! :)

The booklet to the right is free from Confessions of a Homeschooler.  I added this booklet to their workplans.  Mustang chose to do it right away, so this is her book.

One of our two days of school included 'outdoor learning' AKA soak up the 72 degree day in March!  Well worth it!

We've continued with our calendar days about space.  The space cards are from 1+1+1=1.  This has been a blessing, because on his days off school.  Charger has begun his own learning about space exploration, space stations, rockets, and more.  

He brought me his homemade NASA station (interesting because I didn't even know he had seen a picture of it).  Apparently Daddy had shown him a few photos online that I didn't know of.  

I have to be honest I was rather impressed.  No one told him to make this, or how to do it.  On the right you see the space station control center-with a window to see out to the rocket launching.  Not sure if that's exactly how it looks in real life, but Charger thinks it should.

To encourage his interest, I picked up a nice stack of books at the library this week.  He seemed very interested, but has yet to start reading them.  He has been more interested in building instead.  So, we may end up reading a few of these together this coming week.

Mustang turned her free days to reading American Girl books.  I'm always pleased at the history she learns from reading them.  These were her picks for the week.

We did get some math in.  I thought I'd show you this photo just in case you have a kid that just doesn't do well with the Montessori layouts.  If you have the strip board, you know that all the little sticks are supposed to come out of the boxes and layout next to it.  He refuses to take them out of the boxes and say that it's too much work-he will just take out the one he wants wen he needs it.  You also know that the idea is to put the rug UNDER the work-not wadded up next to them.  But, he got a rug, right?  LOL!!  Good news is that he completed his subtraction problems and got them correct.

Mustang used the gold beads for a review of various math problems.

We continued reading Leprechaun in Late Winter (Magic Treehouse) and read about Franklin Pierce, but pretty much this was our week.  I hope to get back on track this next week and hopefully spend 4 days doing school.  But, overall, I am quite pleased with the learning that went on this week.

I hope your week went well, too.  

Thanks for stopping by!

God Bless,

Lisa

Things we used this week (Amazon widget contains affiliate links).

Weekly Wrap Up 2014 Week 7

Before I start, I just wanted to thank you for stopping by!  I love having visitors :).

Secondly, something I read this week made me think about the fact that some people think blogs are used to brag about that person's life.  I just wanted say that I only blog to share what we do each week to show that average moms CAN do this homeschool thing, and give ideas to those who are looking for them.  Well, that and to keep us accountable!!

If you are new to this homeschooling thing, just know that if I can do this, anyone can!!  Good luck on your journey!!

With that....we had a so, so, week.  We actually learned a lot, but MAN those late nights watching the Olympics really put a wrench in my routine!  We ended up staying up later, getting up later, starting school later, getting done later....you see the trend, right??  We don't usually watch the TV at night and now I am sure that won't start!!  That's also why my post is 2 days later then I try to post, and school is being trimmed back this next week-I am behind in my school planning!

The Olympics were, once again, our major theme for the week.  Just one more day and we will be moving on.  It's been a great series of lessons, though!

We finished up our A Journey Through Learning Olympics lapbook.  I LOVE how each day there was a little bit of information to read, and then Mustang would have just a few questions or thoughts to write about.  We also finished up Hour of the Olympics.  I'll be honest that *I* found it a little dull, but my 6 year old LOVED it.  He has now determined that he is going to read every Magic Treehouse book ever, so it was well worth the little time we spent reading it each day.  

Each day we went through the medal standings.  This took a LOT of time, but was well worth it.  I had Mustang and Charger take turns finding the country by flag and on the globe.  I am quite sure they really remembered some of these!!  I know I couldn't find the Ukraine when *I* was 6 years old...oh wait, it didn't exist.  Oh well.  We got the medal standing book (Free) from Enchanted Homeschooling Mom.

Our lapbook lesson mentioned that this year's Olympics were being held in Russia for the very first time.  Before, it was held in the USSR.  Me, being the pack rat I am, I still had this book (that's actually very cool and useful) that showed USSR as one country.  So, we were able to compare the current globe and the map from 1990 in my book.  We also looked at the old Yugoslavia.  Turns out, the book was very helpful!

Thanks to an awesome (FREE) printable pack from Every Star is Different, we were able to take our Olympics theme into other areas of our learning.  I present each activity to both of them, together, and then add the work to their workplans.  The one on the left is matching time.  On the right is labeling grammar in sentences. 

Once again, we have continued with our daily dose of Black History month.  These calendar cards are from 1+1+1=1 and I can't say enough about them.  This week we talked about Mary McLeod Bethune, Dr. Carter G. Woodson, Garrett Morgan, Thurgood Marshall, Rosa Parks, Jesse Owens, Jackie Robinson and Shirley Chisholm.  Yes, that's more then 5, but we covered some weekend people.  

We also read about Harriet Tubman.

We discussed President James Polk this week, and Mustang chose to work on her booklet about him.  

They both finished their first subtraction strip board books.  I appreciate that, while they may already understand the concept, the boards allow them to 'play' while memorizing the facts.

Charger chose to complete lesson 16 in his All About Spelling book.  He learned about choosing letter k or c at the beginning of a word.

And, like I mentioned before, we watched LOTS AND LOTS of Olympics!!  

This next week will probably be a slower week, finishing up our Olympic medal books, and Black History month. I am looking forward to spending more time with the Montessori materials and less on 'themes' :).

I hope you all have a great week!!!

God Bless, 

Lisa

BTW, I have 2 giveaways going right now if you like to enter that sort of thing.  My Warner Bros. DVD giveaway ends tonight.  (2/23) and my Del Monte Prize pack (coupons and $25 Walmart Card) ends Wed 2/26.

Weekly Wrap Up 2014 Week 6!

We have had a fun and full week here!  I can't believe 6 weeks has gone by.  This year is moving so fast!!

Turns out I took exactly ONE photo this week of my big kids.  Oops!!  I still have some links to share, so I'll go through our week.

Black History Month

Using the calendar cards from 1+1+1=1 we have been learning a LOT about US black history.  This week we learned about Hiram Revels, Mary Eliza Mahoney, Booker T. Washington, The 54th Massachusetts Infantry (which had the added bonus of learning what an infantry is), and Matthew Henson.  I personally had not known about Mathew Henson or Mary Eliza Mahoney, so that was fun even for me.

We also read The Story of Ruby Bridges, by Robert Coles. Oh man, I loved this story.  I was choking back tears.  What an amazing little girl!

Olympics

We continued our Olympic studies this week, and watched a lot of them on TV as well.

We are using The Winter Olympics 2014 Lapbook from A Journey Through Learning.  It is just $1.00 and is a wonderful resource!

We have been reading Hour of the Olympics by Mary Pope Osborne. This week we read chapters 3-5. 

Mustang has also been reading the research companion guide.  She completed it this week.

Thanks to this amazing FREE printable pack from Enchanted Homeschooling Mom, each day we have been recording the Olympic Medal standings and looking for the countries on our globe.

We are also taking advantage of the free printable pack from Every Star is Different.  This week we used her 3 part cards to discuss the different figure skating poses. 

Math

Here is my one photo for the week-and my kids aren't even in it!!  We had our first presentation of the subtraction strip board.  They are now able to work on math combinations for 10-18.   I purchased the math booklets from Montessori Print Shop and have been very pleased.  We used them for addition and are now using them for subtraction.  $1.89 is worth all the work being done for me!

American History/Geography

We have continued with our state notebook freebie.  This week we added Massachusetts.  

We also read M is for Mayflower.  Really informative book!  I thought it was great how it even touched on The 54th Massachusetts Infantry, pulling our Black History learning.  

Adding to our president studies, we read a little about John Tyler and Mustang worked on her President Layer Book (free from Homeschool Share).

The kids also watched more Liberty's Kids and Mustang was really excited to see Phillis Wheatly (who we talked about last week) in this week's episode.

Bible

We are getting close to the end of this session of Bible Study Guide for all Ages.  We learned about the birth of John the Baptist this week.

In AWANA, Mustang and Charger each completed 3 sections (trying hard to finish those books!!).

Valentines Day

We had a special day of Valentine's fun that you can read about here.  It was a great way to celebrate!

Those were the highlights of the week.  Next week, I will have to take more photos!!  Before you go, I'd love to have you stop and enter my Valentine's Day Giveaway!

Hope your week was great!

God Bless,

Lisa

Resources we used this week (this widget contains Amazon Affiliate links)