A Week, Briefly (3/16/20)

Oh my!  It is cold this morning!  We had mild, rainy weather all week long, but this morning is a hard freeze.  Our garden began sprouting 2 days ago, so last night, Sir Walter Scott mulched all of the baby veggies with straw and then covered them with tarps.  We brought Nature Angel's potted baby clematis indoors, and Lola's little seedlings have been going in and out every day to make the most of rain and sun but stay warm enough to thrive.

In spite of the fierce cold, I can hear the cardinals welcoming the new day--which makes sense as they're winter-loving birds anyway. :)

Monday
We marched through our usual school routine.

An art project Nature Angel produced as part of a history/geography assignment

Ladybug finished all but the creative writing assignments in this book (we tried them, but she's just not there yet), so it's officially put away and marked "complete."  She's working on a lovely scripture copywork booklet now.

That's book 4 of 5 done!

Tuesday
Another solid school day.

That's science finished for Mister Man (at least formal, independent science study--we're always doing science in some form or another).  Now he's working extra hard on Latin.

Brother had some really good school days this week, and he felt super motivated to read.  He finished book 2 of 3 in this series, and he's happily working on the 3rd now.

Brother and I did make an "emergency" trip to his psychiatrist because he's been edgier and edgier as the days pass.  We found out that his blood pressure dropped dramatically, and as that is a side-effect of the med he's on, his dosage was reduced. 

Sir Walter Scott is able to check Brother's blood pressure at home, so we know that he is back at a safe, healthy blood pressure level.  He's a lot happier . . . and a lot wigglier and more scattered.

I'll take wiggly and scattered over edgy/sick/explosive!

Beowulf has been complaining of stomach upset ever since his med was changed.  I don't see any improvement over the old med, either.  


Wednesday
Still no sun!  It has drizzled almost constantly this week.  We used the gloomy weather as an excuse to have another productive school day.

The Symposium kids had to turn in their "graphic novel" style stories from Herodotus.  I told them stick-figures were entirely adequate as art as long as they told the stories well.  I laughed so hard that I took pictures of them, and I cannot help recording them here.

Super Star's first story

Super Star's second story

Belle's first story

Belle's second story

By the afternoon, though, it was so warm, that in spite of all of the damp, I made the young ones walk our neighborhood trail with me.  Significant whining turned to whoops of joy as we watched a train thunder past.  I used the walk as a chance to start our Botany study with an illustration of a vocabulary word--vascular.  

We looked at our own veins and talked about how they allow blood to take nutrients all over our bodies.

We looked at plant veins and talked about how they allow water and nutrients to travel through the plants.

We looked at algae and moss, too.  I knew algae was non-vascular, but we had to look up moss because I thought it was non-vascular, but the kids thought they saw tubes in the tiny leaves.

(I was right.)

Hike #8--neighborhood trail.
17.18 + 1.86 = 19.04 miles

Thursday
Rain, rain, and more rain!!!

We did a lot of school.

Brother finished the Old Testament portion of The Beginner's Bible.  We take turns reading every other page.  He's happily begun the New Testament portion now.

Sir Walter Scott was home, so we had enough drivers and cars to pack up the younger kids and go on a walk together. 

It was so mushy out!  We failed to put on boots!  We walked through the muck and got good and wet.  No harm came to us. :)

Frog hunting.  The singing was incredible!  So loud!  We've been trying to research which songs we were hearing, but we've not found an answer yet.

Some sort of tiny water-ish snake.  It eventually uncurled and swam through the puddle to the grass.  We couldn't tell if it was venomous or not because it was so tiny, but we watched it for a long time.

Hike #9--LBVP Trail
19.04 + 2.65 = 21.69 miles

Friday
And with all events/activities cancelled, including Sir Walter Scott's trip to LA for a family wedding (wedding postponed, too), we headed into yet another productive day. :)

The kids love stories with Dad once their chores are done and they're waiting for breakfast.

These two completed the last lesson pages of their Jr. K. math workbooks.  There are still some practice pages in the back they can do as we wait for their new Kindergarten books to arrive, so we'll do a celebratory picture when we're really done using these books.

 Finished with formal school by 2:00, we packed up our new-to-us van (Sir Walter Scott and I purchased it on Thursday night!), pulled on our boots and bibbies, and headed out into the mud for another nature outing.

It was so, so, so hard to walk through the muck!!!  But we did it.

The wind was bitingly cold in this open space at the dam!

Once we got sheltered a bit, it was muddier and less windy.  We stopped to study a dead fish.

And poke about in the water, looking for frogs, or anything interesting.

Good thing we wore boots this time!

"Mom!  Mom!  Something is growing on the algae!"

Nature Angel caught a frog . . .

But when Lola wanted a turn to hold it, the froggie hopped away.

Once sheltered, it was actually warm . . . and there was a dry place!

We heard so many frogs and birds, but we've not been able to identify many of them! 

We saw Great Blue Herons, an Eastern Bluebird, a pair of Mallards, a Garter Snake, lots of water striders, lots of frogs, fish leaping out of the lake, deer tracks, racoon tracks, a spider that skittered on the surface of the water, and crickets.

My only regret is that in concentrating on not falling in the mud, I failed to remember to take a group shot! :(

Hike #10--JARM Wildlife Preserve
21.69 + 1.87 =  23.56 miles

During Symposium, the teens and I have read 403 of 722 pages of Herodotus.  We're starting to be bored because there's less culture description and more war scenes.

The Colloquium kids are almost finished with Book 1 of Our Star Spangled Story.

In Academy, we are learning the notes of the treble clef, reviewing bird songs and picture identification, reading and retelling Aesop's Fables, and reading a page a day of Children Just Like Me.

The Jr. K.-ers are happily learning to read.  Baymax is thriving with Alphaphonics, and Lola is acing Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons.

The teens are struggling without time away from home.  They feel as if they have unlimited hours, so they're actually less productive than they would be with a tighter schedule.  Time management is a challenge!!!

Today, Saturday, we're preparing for another church-at-home session with talks, lessons, and musical numbers by all of us!