Weekly Report

Here it is Tuesday night and I'm finally getting this posted. I've been working on it in snippets for days.

This week we tried to jump back into our routine after being out of town, but some days just came up short. A mid-week field trip and some personal issues thrown in didn't help. Still, one thing that I like about doing this report is that it allows me to see all that we accomplished even during a week that wasn't our best. As you can see by the picture, Bronwen is anxious to be included in our little academy.:)

Read Aloud: We had to return The Bronze Bow, as we had renewed it the maximum number of times. It's probably just as well; although there were elements that held the boys' interest, this is probably a couple of years away from being a great read for them. Instead, we did lots of shorter read alouds this week. Check for our weekly book list coming soon. We'll start a new chapter book in the next couple of days.

Math: We only did two formal math lessons this week (98 & 99), but Kimball did a math facts drill everyday besides. Henry and I worked on subtraction facts under 10. Ian played with tanagrams when he wasn't trying to make Kimball scream. We also played Blokus, which is a great board game that helps with spatial math.

Copywork: This is another that only happened on two days. The boys copied Moses 1:39.
Ian ran around being a pest and trying to get my attention by making Kimball scream. Not fun. Why didn't I spend more effort getting him to do copywork instead? It didn't occur to me that a kid acting that wild would be interested. Now, it seems obvious that he was craving just that kind of attention.

History: We did the Introductory Chapter of Story of the World. The boys ate it up, as I knew they would. Kimball is got most of the interviews done on his parents and grandparents for their History of My Family book. He will finish that up this week. It is fun to see him learning about his family's history in a way that is meaningful to him.

Science: Besides our Nature Walk to the zoo and gardening, we didn't have a formal science lesson this week. But our garden is providing us with great experience in weeding, watering, and taking note of changes as everything begins to blossom and grows higher and higher with each passing week. Sadly, this week still did not find us planting those fall raspberries. Now I'll need to research to find out if we are too late!

P.E.: Two hours of martial arts for Kimball. We also taught the kids kickball and played it with another family on Monday evening. And Kimball learned to do a flip on the trampoline, which he spent the next two days trying to teach his brothers!

Writing: Journal entries were the extent of it. Here's one of Kimball's:Henry also wrote a book report on his newest acquisition, The Great Fuzz Frenzy.
Cub Scouts: Kimball worked with his den on building bird houses.

Hymn of the Week: Home Can Be a Heaven on Earth, No. 298

Music: Piano lesson. Still struggling with keeping a beat/counting. Kimball's teacher says it is a common problem among her students, but I also know it to be a challenge for Kimball in other situations. We are trying hard to work on it without taking the fun out of piano.

Scripture Study: We finished Alma 13 and started Alma 14, which has always been a very powerful chapter to me. We talked about why God allows bad things to happen to good people rather than using His power to stop evil from being done. I felt a sweet spirit as we read and discussed together the horrors of the martyrs in that chapter and the peace that can come through the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Having Fun: We went to visit Aunt Alli one afternoon and the boys decided to take a dip in her not-so-hot hot tub. The water was probably around 70 degrees. They eased their way in slowly, but did get all the way in eventually. When they started shivering, they moved out to towels in the sunshine to dry off. Bronwen preferred to play on the grass and in the bag of popcorn that Auntie popped.