Weekly Wrap-Up: busy, busy!
So this was the week with all the running around. No, wait — this week just begins all the running around I’ll be doing this year. Ack. I need a nap just thinking about it all! I made notes during the week so I could attempt to be somewhat coherent in this post since we’ve been w-a-y busier than usual and it has taxed my little brain!
This week went well, all things considered. Lindsey did not hate school, did make new friends, and said she actually liked it better than she thought she would. One thing that really helps is that she feels the teachers are actually there to help her, rather than to try to make her life difficult. And Kathryn says I am more fun this year; evidently I was rather boring last year. 😉
One afternoon each week this semester, Lindsey takes a driving class, required in our state before she can get her license. When I picked her up this week after the first class, she said she never wanted to drive and wished we didn’t even have to be in the car then. It hasn’t truly scared her off of driving forever, but I do think it made her take it much more seriously. The teacher of the class is a police officer whose job it is to knock on the doors of parents to tell them their teen has been killed in an auto accident; teaching this class is his way of trying to reduce the number of teens that die from careless driving.
While we do school, Lacy the WonderDog is usually laying nearby, pretending to be lazy but secretly learning everything we discuss in our school days. Seriously, she’s a genius. Ask anyone who has ever spent any time with her.
Kathryn wrote a letter to her new penpal this week. I think their first letters crossed in the mail, so we waited a little while before sending the second letter in hopes that wouldn’t happen again this time. She keeps one box with her stationery, stickers, and stamps for letter-writing, and another box for letters. Sometimes she and her cousin Cullen exchange letters, too, even though he only lives 20 minutes or so away.
Maps will be a big part of Kathryn’s studies this year. We plan to make them all look sort of old-fashioned, so I print them on parchment-style cardstock, then Kathryn colors them with watercolor colored pencils, and goes over them with a wet paintbrush. This week she did a world map (shown in the photo below) and a Ptolemic map, which are both part of our Time Travelers study. Lindsey made a 12-gore map for her Geography class this week; once cut out and taped together, it looked like a slightly-warped globe. Pretty cool.
Kathryn’s history studies this week had her reading about explorers, and coloring flags that some of the old explorers would have flown on their ships. She also read about native American homes, and began reading a book called Naya Nuki about an Shoshoni girl in the early 1800’s.
In science, Kathryn reviewed a Christian Kids Explore Biology unit on plants (which we did last school year) and we began a unit on Birds. She defined vocabulary words in the lessons, colored a bird picture, and did a word-find from the unit. In an unplanned but relevant nature study, we observed birds out our living room window; this week was hot, humid, and we had an air quality alert most days this week, so I did not take my sniffling, sneezing, coughing, wheezing, allergy-flaring-up girl outdoors for a “real” nature study. We’re looking forward to fall weather so we can get outside more often!
Kathryn and I also began using Simply Grammar, a Charlotte Mason style book written by Karen Andreola. I’ve had it or a year or two but never used it until now. It’s just simple little grammar lessons we can do mostly while sitting on the couch together.
Lindsey has done well with doing her at-home work assigned from the Academy, and I’m still getting the hang of how the teachers want me to document that I have reviewed and checked her work. I do like that they require me to be involved. Lindsey also had her first at-home test, administered by me but to be graded by her teacher. If you’d like to know about how we’re doing homeschool with Lindsey this year, please see my previous post where I explain it all more thoroughly.
As for extra-curricular stuff: Lindsey has Color Guard practice two evenings each week, and she is participating in high school choir at church; Kathryn began Girls in Action at church this week, and will begin her weekly chess class next week.
This evening is Lindsey’s first public Color Guard performance, at the first football game of the season. She needs to break in her new uniform shoes, so she was wearing them around the house this morning with knee socks and her pajamas. I laughed, and then took a picture. 😉
Some stressful, unrelated-to-school things are going on right now, but I am very pleased with how we managed in our first week of school, and looking forward to next week — AFTER a Saturday that, I hope, will allow me to just plain relax and spend some time being still.
Wife, mom, J-ma. Introvert who enjoys good books, sunshine, and authentic conversation. Often seen with a steaming mug of tea in hand – unless it’s lost yet again in the microwave. Read more »
I love your maps! What a GREAT idea! That would make my artsy girl hate map work a little less.
I like your dog, too. And your stationery boxes! Wow.
Lacy *is* a genius. Seriously. 😉
I knew you’d agree! 😉
I LOVE maps! I am trying to figure out how we can study maps in depth for weeks and weeks and cover every subject required by law here in PA.
Busy weeks ahead by the sounds of things
Thanks for the idea of the stationery and letter holding boxes… my 8yo has just started writing to the daughter of MY old pen pal in the UK and something was needed to keep it organised – this will work a treat 🙂
I got tired just reading that! Sounds like you will be really busy.
Lacy does look like a genius. 🙂
Sounds like a good start to your school year! Love the socks. LOL
I love the pen pal and letter writing. That is such a joy in our homeschool too! And often lacking in the world of email. Love how you have all the supplies easily accessible 🙂 Have a peaceful, being still Saturday.
Great week! Genius idea to use the parchment cardstock to “age” the maps. Way easier then that tea bag idea you read about so often.
And I love those socks!
Busy but terrific-sounding week! I am definitely borrowing the parchment paper map idea and boxes for letter-writing supplies. Cullen enjoys those letters more than you can imagine!
And, yes, Lacy is indeed a most learned dog. :o)
Cool socks!
First off, I must say that your photography is BEAUTIFUL. I enjoy just looking at your photos! It sounds like you’ve had a busy week, and I love reading about how you add special touches to your studies–like the maps, the stationery boxes, etc. What a blessing you are to your family!
Wow! That sounds like a very impressive week. It makes me want to postpone the start of school forever! LOL We’ve got two more weeks of holidays to get organized and to make our puppies as smart as your dog; then they can take over teaching.
Annie Kate
I am loving those socks!
That Driver’s Ed instructor sounds PERFECT. Wish I could have someone like that teach my boys to drive when the time comes. One in particular might need caution scared into him. He’s my “let’s see what will happen if I do this…” kid. Oi!
Hope you had a relaxing Saturday! It seems my Saturdays are always so busy. We are hoping to start school on Monday but now I am thinking it will be partial school with only getting in the swing of math and language arts… at least for this week.