A Fly On My Homeschool Wall

 I took pictures this week, but not of my kids. They're all pictures of American Rhythm costumes because we had our costume return session, and as I put them away, I took photos, so that we can catalog them in a more organized spreadsheet than we currently have. I'm also making cross-referenced spreadsheets, so that we can look up what we have by costume/accessory name or by bin number. It is strangely satisfying. The kids were invited to be stage hands for a play their friends are in (we cannot afford the co-op the friends are in, or we'd join them).  5 of my 6 younger kids volunteered immediately; Baymax abstained, saying, "I prefer to watch the shows." I was worried that he'd feel left out while all of his siblings were involved, so I encouraged him to go to the first rehearsal and see if he liked it. He didn't. For exactly the reason he expressed beforehand. I am humbled by his 9-year-old sense of self. (But I'm still glad he went and knows for sur...

 We read books. We talked about what we read. The younger 6 wrote 2 reports--one about Archimedes and one about William Tyndale . . . unless the William Tyndale one was last week.  (I did a quick skim and couldn't find it, so whatever week it was, it is now recorded.) We finished The Ark and started Summer of the Monkeys in its place. We finished The Bible Smuggle r and started Mama's Bank Account in its place. We finished Archimedes and the Door of Science and started Sequoyah: Leader of the Cherokees in its place. And one day, after we did all of our reading, I had a sudden inspiration accompanied by energy to act on it.   Eleven of us picked ourselves up and were out the door to see the Egyptian, Assyrian, and Greek historical displays at the art museum. She was so curious about the mummy! We only stayed for an hour maybe, but we couldn't leave without visiting the knight! We were off to the glass maze/labyrinth, but it was closed. :( The museum guard who was...

  This is what the living room looked like all week long. Really. I did have the kids clean up before lunch and before dinner, but this is what it looked like for all the rest of the daylight hours. Sometimes it was even more fort-filled than even here. Big kids and little kids read books, played games, and pretended to be dragons all week long. I had to take deep breaths sometimes because the forts filled so much space that I started to feel trapped. And by Saturday, I said the forts had to move out-of-doors for my own sanity. I was pleased that I lasted all week. But I killed the fort building. They keep asking me, "How are we supposed to build forts outside?" Never mind the fact that there are several sheets and tarps available for outside use. Never mind the fact that there are at least 2 partially built forts in the yard. Never mind the fact that the kids have hundreds, if not thousands, of pieces of wood to use for building. Never mind the fact that the kids have access...

I'm not getting done what I wish I were. I am having to be satisfied with what I am getting done. That is a challenge. But I'm determined to rise to it. The teens and I finished The Mystery of History vol 3 !! And we're making lovely progress through The Scarlet Letter.   I've found a quote that I want to use as a writing prompt when we're ready to wrap up our reading and discussion.  Little Princess asked if we can do another Shakespeare play to take the place of history in our morning studies together. Ummmmmmm, that would be yes! Nature Angel finished her health text. The younger kids and I are reading 4 books for school during the day: *Story of the World vol 1 *Archimedes and the Door of Science *The Bible Smuggler *The Lilac Fairy Book We're doing well with these books.  I have the kids do some verbal narration after at least two of the books each day, and for Archimedes and The Bible Smuggler,  they will write history/biography narration pages when we fi...