A Week, Briefly (5/13/19)

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 History/Language Arts program.

She also finished her Greek studies.

The teens and I finished Dracula and attended our book club meeting.  The kids had plenty to say about the book, and I was impressed with their insights.

There are still some subjects lingering for Super Star and Belle; Mister Man has 2 Latin lessons left; Baymax and Lola have some preschool to do; but we are finished with more than we are still doing, and I'm calling our school year concluded.

Pixie took Mister Man on a date to Menchie's.

We are schooling through the summer for the youngest 6 with Myself and Others.  Morning Meetings never end (though the teens and I have some negotiating to do about their summer schedules).  And Ladybug, Brother, and Beowulf will continue to work on core math, reading, and handwriting skills all summer long, but not necessarily on a daily basis.

Our Myself and Others theme this week was about respectful behavior, and our challenge came from the story Miss Rumphius--to find a way to make the world a little bit more beautiful.

We picked up trash.

And we found these beautiful tiny mushrooms on the forest floor--maybe 1/4"-1/2" in diameter.

 We met our dance friends at the park for our once a month summer meet-up.  Nearly every one came!  And the kids found a mother robin and her babies in a tree at kid eye-level.  It was pretty amazing.

The kids watched the mother and babies for a long, long time.

And the baby robins in our apple tree are thriving.  Mom and Dad Robin stay busy all day long feeding their young ones.

Rose Red had a job interview that led to a routine drug-screening, and when that comes back clean, she'll be working for Menards.

Pixie interviewed with our mechanic for a position as receptionist/billing clerk, and she'll do a 2-day training with him in the coming week that will determine whether he offers her the job for the summer and at what pay rate.

Super Star had a second interview with Freddy's, and she starts work on Thursday!

I'm grateful for work for my teens.

Sir Walter Scott took Nature Angel and Little Princess on a Dad Date into the city.  They took the street car/tram into downtown and wandered about seeing the sights until they were hungry, and then they stopped at an Italian deli for lunch.

They came home sunburned, happy, and full of stories.

I've signed my young ones up for 4 library enrichment events (1 hour each) that include fun subjects across the spectrum from juggling to STEM presentations.  I think I've organized a weekly Friday park outing with church friends--maybe there are just a few details to iron out.  And the temperatures have reached nearly 90, so we're ready for the spray parks and pools to open for water play.

I think it is safe to call it summer . . . except today has been non-stop thunder, lightning, and rain!