We’re not doing school right now, but…

We haven’t been doing school these past two weeks, but we’re still learning.

We’ve seen a baby cowbird being cared for by it’s surrogate parents, a pair of house wrens. We’ve had cowbirds around for years, and we knew they laid eggs in other birds’ nests, so we figured it was a matter of time before that happened in our own yard. {Read more about these “parasitic” birds’ habits here.}

We’ve observed countless chipmunks and a family of bunnies.

We’ve been watching our garden grow. {Several varieties of tomatoes and peppers, plus a cantaloupe, a romaine lettuce plant, and a few potatoes I probably planted way too late.}

Kathryn has been reading interesting posts on Wonderopolis, studying her favorite astronomy sites to learn about when and how Venus would cross in front of the sun this week, and playing a few educational games on my iPad.

Lindsey and Kathryn have both been reading up a storm.

They’ve watched me refinish furniture (this cabinet and the table below); even though they haven’t really assisted, they have seen how much work it is and I hope that will help them appreciate this sort of thing more.

We’ve been watching our caterpillars turn into chrysalids, and waiting for them to emerge as butterflies.

We’ve been trying to figure out why our ladybug larvae were eating each other, and watching them turn into pupa, and we currently have two that have become adult ladybugs — or more correctly, ladybird beetles.

Kathryn studied for and aced her oral Hebrew exam, which included sight-reading, vocabulary, and speaking the language. Now she’s studying for her upcoming final exam over all the Biblical history she’s learned this year in her bat mitzvah classes.

Ken and Lindsey have been taking a conversational Spanish class at church.

We’ve watched a few episodes of “How It’s Made” from The Science Channel.

We watched Princess Ka’iulani, a movie about the Princess of Hawaii when it was an independent nation, and then shortly after it was annexed by the U.S. in 1898.

My favorite thing this week was…
Today we celebrated my almost-birthday (it’s tomorrow) with a tradition of lunch at my favorite tea room. This is the tenth year I’ve celebrated here.

Linking today with:
– iHN’s Homeschool Mother’s Journal
– Kris’ Weekly Wrap-Up
– Rachel’s friday favorite things

Jamie

Wife, mom, grandma. Introvert who finds joy in good books, sunshine, and authentic conversation. Fitness enthusiast and personal trainer. Often seen with a steaming mug of tea in hand.