A Fly On My Homeschool Wall

This week we did 5 days of math and 5 days of reading aloud from To Kill a Mockingbird .  It is a hard book to read aloud.  I censor the majority of the foul language and all of the taking of the Lord's name in vain, but I force myself to read the derogatory language of the time period in order to help the girls feel the hurt and horror of bigotry. "Read more!  Don't stop there!" they call whenever I place the bookmark and move to put the book down. "I have to stop.  My throat is hurting," I answer. "Get a drink of water.  You'll feel better," they reply. Sometimes I humor them; sometimes I stop.  Always I ask questions, searching their minds for what they understand.  Often they miss the nuances, the specific subtleties that are the most powerful moments of this classic book.  But they get the feeling overall. They are experiencing it the best they can at ages 11, 12, 13, and 15. I hope they read it again when they are older, and t...

We had school on Monday and Friday.  Tuesday through Thursday the 4 big girls were away at a camp for girls sponsored by our state conservation department.  The night before camp three of them stayed up late taking selfies: There were more of them but these are the highlights. :) M13 says they were noisy and that Dad wasn't any too happy when he came down to check on them, so they took his picture. At camp they completed their hunter certification requirements.  Their licenses will arrive sometime later this summer.  I think it's hilarious because we are so NOT hunters!  We're not opposed to hunting, we just aren't a hunting family.  The girls got to shoot pellet guns, practice some archery, go fishing, go canoeing, and participate in a mock deer hunt.  They had a grand time. Here's J11 with her pellet gun targets: She was pretty good.  And she won the prize for best archery score, too!  Dad and I purchased the...

We had school on Monday, and then the oldest 3 girls went to camp for the rest of the week. The rest of us went to a park and a local nature center.   We saw lots of birds of prey, snakes, nocturnal animals, and turtles. We visited the pond we love. We made limeade popsicles. We blew bubbles. We missed our biggest sisters. We're glad they're home. But they leave again next week for another camp, and this time they're taking J11 along with them.  It will just be Mom and the 4 little ones. Touching the cool floating plants that grow their own air bubbles. Photo credit:  J11 We came around the corner and were practically face to face with this deer.  It was not bothered by our presence at all, continuing eating until it was ready to move on. The littles love the Draw, Write, Now books we borrowed from the library. A8 reads the Bible to I3. Testing the limeade for flavor before making the popsicles. Found these bubble b...