Weekly Report

As we were out of town for much of this week, we did less formal seat work and more hands-on activities (see previous post for our beach adventures and aquarium visit.) We did, however, manage to continue learning, even if we never did a Saxon Math lesson. Here's the week in a nutshell:

Read Aloud: We read one chapter of the Bronze Bow (it is coming so slowly, I know.) We started listening to Lemony Snicket's Book the Twelfth: The Penultimate Peril (one more to go after this.) Our weekly book list post will be up in the next 24 hours for other read alouds and independent reading we enjoyed.

Writing: Henry faithfully kept a vacation journal. He never needed reminding--he asked me each day if he could write in it. Kimball wrote a couple of journal entries about our new van and our trip to the aquarium.

Math: We did math drills each morning that we were gone. I had planned to do Saxon Math lessons, but that never happened. I'm okay with that once in a while. We also played Uno and a math dice game.

Copywork: We only did this on two days because I have to nag them a little (especially Kimball) and I didn't want to do that on this trip. Henry copied the 2nd Article of Faith.

And I finally got some first grade writing paper (thanks, Mom!). So this should be our last week of copywork on notebook paper.
I can't find Kimball's copywork, although I know that he completed it at least one day. I had them in individual notebooks, so I'm not sure why it is missing.

Science: See our previous entry about our trip to the tide pools and the Cabrillo Aquarium. This was a great outing and very friendly on the budget (except that we went twice, which took some gas.) When we got home, we marveled at the changes in our garden. A big thanks to Daddy who fertilized and watered while we were gone. All of our plants now have either blossoms or buds and all have grown quite a bit since we planted.

We can even see small signs that our carrot seeds are growing!

We are so anxious to be able to eat the vegetables that we are growing. Hopefully we'll get some raspberries planted this week.

P.E.: On Wednesday, after Mom, Nana, and Aunt Alli had done some work on Nana's house, we all went to a new park in La Mirada. The equipment was like nothing we'd ever seen before. There were so many different ways to climb, spin, and slide.

We spent a very long time there, getting some great Occupational Therapy.

Hymn of the Week: This week, we chose a song from the Children's Songbook instead. Since in our scripture study we have been talking about the priesthood, we chose A Young Man Prepared for this week. I am so proud of the boys that they are and of the men that they are striving to become. Here are the three boys performing this for us on Sunday morning before Church:

Life Skills: Kimball & Henry learned how to change a wet diaper. Bronwen actually cooperated. I've been thinking lately about how I changed diapers (cloth ones, with diaper pins) as a six year old and decided that they need to learn. Ian is still learning to remember to wash his hand after using the bathroom, but he has gotten so much better at dressing himself. Kimball also learned the important skill of taking care of a cockroach for his terrified mom (I know it's illogical--but it's psychological, and therefore, very real to me.)

Having Fun: I don't think that this even needs saying. We did something fun every day and enjoyed our time together away from home, even if we missed Daddy. We can't wait to take another trip.

All in all, it was a great week. We are ready to get down to business this week, but are glad that homeschooling gives us the opportunity to have weeks like this past one, spending time with family, exploring new places, and getting a change of scenery.