weekly wrap up - November 21

Looking ahead to the holidays, we worked to pack extra academics into this week. Usually I assign a week's worth of work at a time. This week I put two weeks on their assignment sheets and hope to have it all done by the end of the school day Wednesday (10 days in 8 days, should be doable). That way, I can rest a little easier with taking the next week and a half off aside from a little reading here and there which we almost never completely remove from our schedule.


Monday

- We participate in a co-op on Monday afternoons and I love their schedule of only 24 weeks in the school year. It keeps things consistent, and still gives us a break during the holidays and May when we need it. So, this Monday was our last until January.

I teach the drama class and we gave our first performance to a group prior to class. Overall, it went well and was a real learning experience. We were able to use class time to critique the video of the sketches and play a lot of fun drama games. Now, a little breather . . .


Tuesday and Thursday

- We spent these days doing school from about 9:00 until 5:00, with a few sanity saver breaks here and there. We got a lot done of our regular academics and enjoyed lots of time spent reading together. Nothing out of the ordinary. I was so spoiled to get two full days like this in one week!


Wednesday



- My parents took us on a fun outing on Wednesday to The Painted Penguin.

They each got to choose a piece that they liked - princess, Bob the Builder, ballet slipper, M&M guy, and a penguin.

Nathan had some interesting ideas about Bob's colors.
Green shoes and hair . . .

Brooke did a great job almost all by herself!

Also, while we were with them, my parents gave each of the kids gifts. For some reason they have switched to Thanksgiving presents in recent years and each of the girls got a dress with a matching one for their doll.

Friday

- Friday we enjoyed a partial school day and a partial play day with another homeschool family. These moments with friends in a similar place in life are so rich. Dear friends are such a blessing of encouragement and iron sharpening. In the afternoon we made a bigger dent in our school work and somehow kept working on school work until after 5:00! I think my kids are motivated by the thought of some well earned time off as well.

For some reason the kids decided to work in the closet part of the afternoon. Three kids and a dog do not fit well in a closet that already houses our school supplies . . .

Favorite moments of the week:

- The blessing of Grandparents and a day "off" painting with my kids and enjoying their unique creativity.

- Celebrating with Faith the completion of her AWANA book. She is very self-motivated about getting her sections done. And, so many verses offer the start of great conversations about God and our pursuit to live like Him.

Challenges faced:

- Algebra has gotten to be a focal point right now. I think we have finally tackled the topics that were presenting the problem, so hopefully we can pick up speed again. I love the flexibility of homeschooling, to fly when the concepts are clicking and to slow down when they need more contemplation.

- Laziness (in myself) I have to keep fighting the temptation to "veg" in front of the computer instead of keep tackling my to-do list.

Favorite passages in our books :

- Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry -- This book, placed in the racially charged south during the 1930's, has afforded us many deep conversations. My kids, thankfully, can't understand why racism exists, but as we dig through history it helps us to understand some of the events, emotions, and reactions surrounding it.

- Robinson Crusoe -- Paige has been listening to this on Candlelight Stories. She just finished it and was left with a strong sense of God's sovereignty. Even when events may be difficult He is at work and teaching us. Reminds me of the importance of reading good literature with positive, biblically accurate story lines. It seems some books, even fiction, play roles in confusing people's theology. We need to be so careful about that!

Check out more weekly wrap-ups.