Weekly Wrap-Up: Week 5

weekly wrap upLindsey was out of commission with a head cold and fever most of the week, and did not attend classes at the hybrid academy either day this week. She did make it to her mandatory science lab on Thursday because she was feeling a little better by then and because the lab is only once a month and I have no idea how we’d make that up.

Kathryn & AbbyThis was also another super-busy week, with much hithering and thithering, including a doctor visit, a field trip, a client meeting, a playdate, a science lab, all in addition to our “usual” activities.

We left Lindsey at home doing a little schoolwork (between naps) while we met friends Abby and Dillon for a playdate at the park. It still hits 90 degrees most days, but there is a teensy hint of fall in the air. We plan to have more days at the park as soon as the weather is cooler! (Photo at left is Kathryn and Abby at our honeybee field trip; see yesterday’s post.)

Our WinterPromise curriculum includes picture study. All this year, we’ll study paintings by early American artists. Right now, we are studying a few works by John Trumbull. Kathryn did not at all enjoy the first one; it was a rather bloody depiction of the American Revolution. This week’s was better; still from the American Revolution, but not violent.

Science: in HealthQuest, Kathryn is studying the human body. In Christian Kids Explore Biology, she’s been learning how humans are similar yet different from the mammals we’ve previously studied.

Besides this week’s field trip, we had more fun science: we got our new microscope! I ordered a slide set, too, with all sorts of interesting things. Some of them go right along with Kathryn’s health and biology studies this week, like human blood and bone. There’s a slide of a honeybee leg, too, which went with our honeybee study. I love it when unplanned things just work together like that! We even examined a hair from LacyDog, and we were fascinated to see the cells that make up her hair!
Microscope

The new paper dolls Kathryn received as an early birthday present go right along with our history studies. Particularly the one of Pocahontas, since Kathryn is currently reading The Captive Princess and Blood on the River. The other paper dolls, like Priscilla Mullins and Abigail Adams, will go along with our upcoming studies.
Pocahontas

Kathryn’s geography notebook is coming along nicely. This week’s study of Vermont involved watercoloring a state map, doing a notebooking page on the state, and reading a couple of pages in Kids Learn America. I asked Kathryn what is the coolest thing she learned about Vermont, and she said the way it got it’s name from the French who named it for the green mountains there.

And finally our God’s World News “Taking Off” magazine has resumed. This is what I use for Kathryn’s current events, and it often includes geography as well. Since these articles are actually pretty interesting, everyone in the family usually ends up reading it.