A Fly On My Homeschool Wall

Our Academy included our youngest 6 kids--Ladybug (turned 9), Mister Man (turned 8), Brother (turned 8), Beowulf (turned 7), Lola (turned 5), and Baymax (turned 5).  We started on one path and took a dramatic turn as our lives grew increasingly traumatic before getting better this school year. We started our year with the Kindergarten Enrichment by Memoria Press as our guide to science, history, literature, art, and music.  I worked hard the month before school began making lesson plans and organizing supplies/activities--even trying to schedule field trips--all with a hopeful eye to lots of hands-on exploring and creating. It was fun while it lasted. Academy was so fun that Nature Angel and Little Princess sometimes joined us! But Brother's needs just grew too intense for us all, and we had to default to our old way of reading and talking together over lunch. At least it's a lovely default. And then there were sick days when we relied on documentary...

So, on Day 3 we took a break. Lots of play-where-you-need-to-play in the morning while Nature Angel, Little Princess, and I chopped, froze, and dried cherries, rhubarb, and apples--probably 50 lbs of produce. We read about G.W. Carver at lunch, had an extra-long quiet time, and then Nature Angel mixed up a batch of giant bubble solution.  The kids flocked to her. Having finished with the excitement of just making bubbles, the kids figured out how to play with them.  Coating their hands with bubble solution allowed them to catch bubbles, build with bubbles, stick their hands inside bubbles and more. Bubbles stretch! I love this shot!  Little Princess got the picture right down the center of the bubble, and Beowulf's hands are inside it, too! Bubble here-- Bubble gone! I don't think he was expecting the bubble to pop! We watched a movie in the afternoon--the Annie remake. We had our usual bedtime reading routine.  E...