A Fly On My Homeschool Wall

We started the week Monday morning by attending the Memorial Day tribute and pancake breakfast put on by our church congregation.  There was a beautiful barbershop quartet performance of The Star Spangled Banner , and then one of the Vietnam veterans spoke about his experiences in war and in standing up for gospel truths.  The breakfast part was horrendous--too many people in one space (I fed my kids ahead of time, so the breakfast was really a snack for them)--but once that was over with, my kids had a grand time playing with their friends, and I had a lovely visit with friends of my own. Sir Walter Scott and Super Star were at work. Pixie and Belle went to a swim party with friends. And on Tuesday morning most of the kids headed out to play while I administered the NWEA MAP Growth reading test to Ladybug and Brother. Standardized testing is not required of homeschoolers in our state, and I've never felt the need to do it before, but over and over again came the thought

Academy was fun this year with a focus on Westward Expansion in American History and a sweeping read of the History of the World.  We learned a little general science, read a bunch of classic literature, and fell in love with the poetry of Langston Hughes.  Here, in list form, is what we studied.  I think the only book we didn't complete was the Usborne Science Experiment book--otherwise, we read it all, from cover to cover! Character Development Teach Them to Your Children: An Alphabet of Biblical Poems, Verse, and Stories by Sarah Wean Fair Play by Munro Leaf How to Behave and Why by Munro Leaf World History/Geography A Child's History of the World by Virgil M. Hillyer Mummy Cat by Marcus Ewert D'Aulaire's Book of Greek Myths "Horatius at the Bridge" by Thomas Babington, Lord Macaulay   Of Numbers and Stars:  The Story of Hypatia by D. Anne Love Pompeii Buried Alive by Edith Kunhardt Usborne Children's Picture Atlas by Ruth Br

Some sun. A lot of rain. We're still balancing on the line between the school year and summer. The local schools are not out yet, even though they usually would be, and most of the graduation ceremonies are over.  There were too many snow days this winter, and many of our friends are still getting on and off buses every morning and afternoon. And even though the pools and spray parks are supposed to open this weekend, the 10-day forecast has 7 days of rain predicted (it might not happen that way--but, then again, it might). We're just plodding along, watching and waiting for the chance to do summery things . . . our wish list is long. :) A clean mudroom was my gift from Nature Angel for my combined Mother's Day/birthday weekends.  Seriously, I think it is my favorite gift . . . and it had to compete with the book that Pixie organized the kids into creating for me. The book defies description--it is too personally meaningful to our family--but here's a

Belle has hooked the kids on poetry.  She often gathers them around her for a few minutes' enthusiastic reading. My favorite math story of the week is courtesy of Baymax.  His preschool book asked him to stack 5 pennies on a number 5.  He did so.  Then he was supposed to stack 6 pennies on a 6.  He started to count, stopped, pulled the stack of 5 pennies off the 5 and added 1 more to make 6.  He smiled in a satisfied way and wiggled his eyebrows as if to say, "Aren't I the clever one?" I laughed out loud. Then I told him to put 7 pennies on the number 7, so he moved the stack and added one more. I'd say he's got preschool math totally under control! We finished Academy. Little Princess finished memorizing a set of Chinese flashcards along with the accompanying songs included on the pronunciation CD. Brother finished The Cat in the Hat. Beowulf finished The Good and the Beautiful Level K Primer. Nature Angel finished her Oak Meadow

There have been so many small-but-significant challenges this week that to describe them would become a long, whiny mess . . . and in spite of the breakdown I had on Thursday night (even though I was blinking back tears as hard and fast as I could and trying to get dinner on the table, my teens had great compassion on me and sent me to my room with a bowl of soup so I could regroup), I am truly trying to count our blessings and recognize the hand of God in our lives. So I'm going to write the good things. Except this one thing--Brother broke his pinky finger when he fell off his scooter. But he's okay--the doc let us buddy-tape it when I told her how the last time he broke a bone, he messed with the splint.  He's being faithful about wearing the buddy tape and leaving it alone to the best of his ability. But, as promised, on to the good stuff. Little Princess finished her math book! She did 4th grade math twice, not because she's bad at math (quite the