Before I forget, be sure to enter my giveaway of a Heritage History CD!

My daughter has been sick with the flu all week.  An illness in one of my children does throw a wrench in my homeschool plan, especially since we combine as many subjects as possible.  It doesn’t mean I give up on everything, though!  We do a whole lot of adjusting and end up learning quite a bit along the way.  Here are my three steps for keeping on learning when someone isn’t feeling 100%, and what we were able to accomplish this week.

#1 Set up a comfortable spot

In our house when someone is ill I institute “The Sick Couch.”  What is the sick couch, you ask?  Well, I cover the couch with blankets and pillows and the sick child is entitled to lounging on it all day and eating their meals on a tray.  It has several benefits–it gives them some special perks to enjoy and encourages them to rest, not to mention it does keep at least some of the germs in one area.

For subjects we do together little brother and I met with the feverish big sister near (but not too close!) the sick couch and found we were still able to learn quite a bit.  I recommend having supplies in an easy-to-move caddy (ours are from Target’s dollar section) and making sure everyone has a clipboard.  These don’t come in handy just when someone is sick–they’re also great for school by the Christmas tree or out in the fresh air or while camping.

#2 Work in spurts

Be flexible and time your studies appropriately.  If she was feeling particularly down or in need of more medicine I would just let her rest.  Whenever she felt up to it we’d do something that required a little focus, stopping whenever necessary.  So instead of working to finish our schoolwork in the early hours of the day we worked in spurts all throughout the day and it really added up.

#3 Be flexible in subject matter and delivery style

This isn’t the time to practice grammar or long division, but there are many subjects and ways to learn that do make sense.  Even when one of the kids isn’t feeling well they can listen to a story read aloud.  We use good literature as the starting point for all our studies, so we can touch on main subjects easily.

It is a great time to fit in the “extras” you might not have time for in a typical week of reading, writing, arithmetic, and extracurricular activities.  Take the time for all the reading aloud you would like to do on more hectic weeks.  Fellow fans of Charlotte Mason can spend extra time on artist and composer studies.  And the educational games you just don’t feel like tackling after a full school day fit nicely.

Here’s the rundown of what we accomplished during a fever-filled week:

• We enjoyed our current much-loved audio book from the Little House series (Little Town on the Prairie).
• We read American Kids in History: Pioneer Days and learned how to tie a square knot
• We finished up our study of invertebrates.  A Christmas gift of the Smithsonian Natural History book (thanks Aunt Alice!) gave us hours of eye candy reviewing all the invertebrate groups we’d studied so far.  We spent the extra time to watch YouTube videos of the amazing things an octopus can do.  This one really blew our minds and we had to watch it several times and share with Dad:

• We use (and love!) Harmony Fine Arts.  Using the ebook on my tablet we could click through and do picture study right from the couch.  We also read about our composer of the month in Lives of the Musicians and listened to his music during rest periods.
• Believe it or not we also did nature study from the couch!  Our focus area is birds so we read from the Burgess Bird Book and our Birds of Maine Field Guide, watched videos and listened to song clips from All About Birds, and completed a coloring page from Cornell (using it like a notebook page to record what we’d learned) all from a warm and cozy spot by the fire.
• We broke out some of the new games the kids had received for Christmas.  (You’ve Been Sentenced and Catan Junior were the favorites.)
• From her “sick couch” my daughter also worked on illustrating her recent Write Shop story and wrote a letter to a friend.

Not only was I happy to be moving forward in our studies, especially since we’d only had two solid days back after a long Christmas break, but I think it kept cabin fever at bay for all of us.  Engaging our minds and having something to focus on was actually a blessing throughout a long week inside our own four walls.  Now if little brother or I succumb to the flu I may have more opportunities to perfect my “homeschooling while sick” technique!

 Thank you to the wonderful hostesses with fun link-ups on Fridays. Be sure to join the fun and see what other homeschoolers are up to!

My, don’t these days in December fly by?  Most of the formal schoolwork falls by the wayside and our days fill with practicing for pageants and recitals, handmade goodness, and enjoying the wonder of the Christmas season.

In our homeschool this week…

1. Our house is filled with Christmas songs, some of it being played by my daughter on piano.  She has been working on a difficult song for her Christmas recital.  It takes roughly 2 1/2 minutes to play, so I’m practicing holding my breath that long.  I usually can’t breathe when she’s performing.
2. As I said in my post about remembering the reason for the season, we are reading Jotham’s Journey as a devotional when we light our advent candles.  I switched to reading it in the morning today even though the ambiance of the candles is diminished.  Each reading tends to leave you on the edge of your seat and it was a little too much for my sensitive kids at bedtime.
3. Another way we’re remembering Christ at Christmas time is with a Jesse Tree (details here).
4. Our hands are busy–here my daughter is making a Christmas tree for her dollhouse…
5. …and here she’s making gifts for people she loves.
6. One way we enjoy counting down the days is with crafts, and here it’s a simple wooden tree decorated with paint.  I joined the fun!

Places we went and people we saw…

Both kids had Christmas parties for their Scout troops.  Other than that we had our church pageant rehearsal, piano practice, a homeschool playtime at our town’s recreation center, and a big field trip to the Maine State House!  We were invited by a friend who was being sworn in as a state senator.  It was a great experience after all we’d learned in our government and elections study.  The building was beautiful and the formality was fascinating.

A funny story for you:  after the official swearing-in there were other speeches and business to attend to, so we slipped out and wandered the building.  The governor and his entourage of half a dozen people were moving back and forth between the House and Senate.  We were coming down a set of stairs and my husband says, “Oh, here comes the governor!”

Here is where our personalities diverge.  My reaction is to immediately try and hustle the kids out of the way and blend into the wall.  My husband’s reaction is the opposite:

“Governor, do you mind if I take a picture?”

I hear this and can’t believe he said it.  My face flushes crimson–did I mention the governor is moving back and forth between chambers?  That everyone is waiting for him to appear to swear in the president of the senate?  Did I mention there is a whole crew in full suits with him and they weren’t just sauntering by shaking hands?

The governor flashes a big smile, stops in his tracks and says, “Sure!  Bring the kids in here!”  I have one second to tuck in my son’s dangling shirt tail and still try to pretend I don’t exist while my husband snaps a great photo of my kids and the governor, all smiling ear to ear.  We relived that moment all day.  Thank goodness my husband isn’t just like me!

Thank you to the wonderful hostesses with fun link-ups on Fridays. Be sure to join the fun and see what other homeschoolers are up to!

I am crazy about Christmas!  Yes, I’m one of those people who adores every part of the Christmas season, plays Christmas music as early as I can get away with it, and even wears Christmas earrings.  We celebrated Thanksgiving day with my husband at the fire station, then jumped happily into Christmas preparations.

In our homeschool the past two weeks…

In the past two weeks we finished my main goals for our nature study about trees, though like all nature study there was so much left to learn!  I won’t be focusing on a nature study topic with the kids during the holiday.  We’ll enjoy early winter (and hopefully some snow) and start a focus area on birds in January.

We still did core subjects (language arts, math) a couple days each week.  We spent a lot of time listening to audio books.  A nasty cold swept through the house and there is nothing better with sore throats and runny noses than cuddling next to the Christmas tree with hot cocoa listening to stories.

I learned a lot our first year homeschooling.  One of those things was how hard it was to do all the normal life jobs, prepare for Christmas, plus take advantage of all the wonderful events to attend and traditions to observe and things to make and do!  I’ve applied what I learned to our plans this year.

I shared this week how we count down the days until Christmas, and I’ll be posting in the next couple weeks about how we focus on the real reason for the season and how we keep on learning while enjoying all the wonderful things about Christmas time.

Places we went and people we saw…

My son’s Cub Scout troop toured the fire station (with Dad as a tour guide), my daughter had book club and piano lessons, we had our book club meeting on The Hobbit, we began practicing for our church Christmas Pageant, and we attended a play depicting a Christmas on the prairie (a perfect tie-in to our time of year and our history studies).

My favorite thing this week was…

Getting our Christmas tree at a tree farm we’ve been going to for years.  My parents go with us, there is a horse-drawn hay ride, warm cider and donuts, and a little shop in a big red barn where we buy everyone a new ornament each year…all in all a cherished tradition.

My favorite resource this week…

My daughter is taking an interest in cooking, and we are thrilled to help her expand her skills.  We used a great resource from Allrecipes.com called “Recipes in Motion.”  Each video (there are almost 700 right now!) walks you through the steps of making one of the recipes found on their site.  You can watch on their website, but we are watching on our television using the Allrecipes channel on Roku.  My daughter is ten and at the perfect age to follow along on the video with me in the background to oversee work with things that are hot or sharp.  For Thanksgiving at the fire station she made a pumpkin roll.  She learned a lot, it was delicious, and she was extremely proud.

Things I’m working on…

Everything Christmas!  I’m organizing our holiday/school plans, decorating, getting all my shopping done…

We’re reading…

We finished The Hobbit audio dramatization and it still just is not a story we enjoyed.  We had our book club meeting and had a lively discussion with us as the odd family out.  It’s always good to be comfortable being different!

On more enjoyable reading we finished On the Shores of Silver Lake and now move on to The Long Winter.  The kids and I laughed when I told them the title.  We said it doesn’t sound very appealing so we’re guessing some more unfortunate times lay ahead, but that the Ingalls family will be grateful through it all.  We are enjoying the Little House series so much.

While we were waiting for the audio version of The Long Winter through interlibrary loan, I grabbed one of our favorites to listen to when we’re in the car.  We’ve read or listened to the entire Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle series several times and we never tire of them.  If you haven’t read the books with your kids you must!  They can be enjoyed heartily by all ages.  We were having such fun that we popped it in again when we returned home and my daughter and I took the opportunity to put another coat of paint on her dollhouse.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you’ll come back to see how we enjoy holiday homeschooling!

Thank you to the wonderful hostesses with fun link-ups on Fridays. Be sure to join the fun and see what other homeschoolers are up to!

I didn’t have a single picture of school-related activities this week!  It was a sort of odd week.

Monday was 60 degrees.  For those of you not in Maine, that is really odd for November!  I had to take the opportunity to spray paint a free bed we were given for my son.  It was one of those now-or-never jobs.

I had to share this picture of “swamp dog.”  Martha is our four year old yellow (nearly white!) Lab and is the sweetheart of our family.  But…she just loves mud and swamps.  She doesn’t want to walk through, she must immediately flip over and roll delightedly in the gooey mess.  I would like to note that a mere 24 hours before this picture I had given her a bath.  Before this walk she had lovely, fluffy, white, sweet-smelling fur.

Thursday should have been a normal school day.  Then Daddy returned from an overnight shift and said, “Hey, let’s go out to breakfast!  The cafe in town has new owners!”  You know what I said?  “Yes!”  (Thanks, Mary, for reminding me not to be the drill sergeant mom!)

I got a new electronic device this week.  Normally I’m afraid of new technology, but the tablet is so much like my much-loved smartphone (that I initially fought changing to) that I wasn’t afraid, just excited!  I like being able to bring the tablet to bed instead of my laptop to catch up on blog reading and Pinterest.  Also of note is the theme in the other items in my cart–cat litter, litter box liners, dog waste pick up bags, and toilet paper.  Very glamorous.

In our homeschool this week…

Other than spray-painting, dog-bathing, and playing with my new toy we accomplished a fair amount of schoolwork.

I’m happy with all that is happening in language arts in our schoolroom.  My son’s reading skills are really expanding and it’s rewarding to watch him.  He’s finally seeing that he can read and tries reading words outside of his reading program more often.  He was writing a letter to send to a soldier this week and I used the “Friendly Letter Boogie” to teach him the parts of a letter.  Writeshop’s blog is full of great ideas.

The ability to be so flexible with my daughter is wonderful.  In Writeshop Junior D she is working on an adventure story and expanded well beyond the few paragraphs that is expected.  I like that I can hold the new lesson and work with her for a longer time on this lesson.  I also noticed that although we’ve covered the frequently misused homophones (their/they’re/there, to/too/two, your/you’re) and she knows the differences, in her own writing she isn’t careful to use the correct one.  I’m now doing dictation with her daily just working on homophones.  I simply open one of our current books and find a sentence to dictate for her to write.  I love that I can see an area that needs work and target that area specifically for as long as it takes.  Individualized education is easy in homeschooling.

Places we went and people we saw…

The usual: book club, Boy Scouts, piano lessons.  We had our last geography club meeting on Egypt.  I’ll share a post on that soon with the resources I used and activities that were shared at our meetings.

Things I’m working on…

Christmas!  I’m planning our school-related activities, crafts, gifts, and our family Christmas card.

We’re reading…

• The audio version of By the Shores of Silver Lake from the Little House Series.
• American History Stories by Mara L. Pratt from Heritage History on the iPad. You can read my review of Heritage History.
• I mentioned last week that our homeschool book club title is The Hobbit and none of us are in love with it so we switched to an audio dramatization.  My son fell asleep during it again.  I know it’s a classic and millions of people love it but it’s on the list of our least favorites.
• Our current poetry readings are from It’s Thanksgiving by Jack Prelutsky.  What a fun book, and both my kids have chosen a poem to memorize.  My son chose “If Turkeys Thought” and my daughter (who is about to get braces) chose “I Went Hungry on Thanksgiving.”
• My daughter is reading Masterpiece by Elise Broach for her library book club.  We’re looking for a new personal choice selection for her.  I had filled up her reading time with history selections last month so I’m giving her a little break to choose a book she wants to read just for fun.
• I’m reading Charlotte Mason’s original books from Ambleside Online.  It’s not easy reading that I can sit and do for hours, but I’m digesting a little bit each day, taking notes as I go, and rereading some sections in the modern English version.

Last year I planned a literature-based unit study for the week of Thanksgiving.  This year we’re taking the whole week off!  We’ll fill the week with reading aloud, cooking, extra time in nature and enjoying time with family.  Have a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Thank you to the wonderful hostesses with fun link-ups on Fridays. Be sure to join the fun and see what other homeschoolers are up to!

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas…

We had our first real snowfall this week.  The kids were very excited when they woke up and immediately bundled up and headed outside.  They played for an hour and a half before breakfast!  Our flexible schedule was key, because by afternoon the weather changed to sleet and then rain and melted all the snow.  By the way, being able to sit inside with my coffee while they built forts and a snowman was quite nice.  I only had to wipe a nose and fix mittens a couple times when they came to the door.  Our tradition on the day of the first “real” snowfall (enough to accumulate on the ground) is to make snowflake sugar cookies.

In our homeschool this week…

We finished our election unit study and lapbooks, and of course took our field trip to vote!  I’m happy I did this unit with my kids.  My ten year old daughter was especially engaged in the topic, and we had so many important conversations throughout the election season and after the results were in.  I’m glad for the opportunity to homeschool and be the one to educate my children on such weighty topics.  Now my daughter wants to run for state representative when she’s 18!

We had a whole day at home (finally!) on Thursday and that gave us time for an art project.  These two cute scarecrows, made using a tutorial from Art Projects for Kids (our favorite resource this week) now brighten up our art wall.  When possible I like reading a related picture book before art projects, and the beautiful illustrations by David Diaz in The Little Scarecrow Boy by Margaret Wise Brown helped inspire our art.  It was our first time using wax resist with watercolor and I enjoyed watching their amazement at the effect.

The rest of our time we filled with the three R’s, history, and nature study (focusing on trees).

Helpful homeschooling tips or advice to share…

Don’t be afraid to cut out an activity–even if it’s a good one–to balance your time out and time at home.  Our first year of homeschooling I was afraid we wouldn’t be able to meet homeschoolers in our area and have activities with others to balance our time alone at home.  Luckily my fears were unfounded, but this year I’ve found we had a little too much going on.  Our geography club was meeting once a week, and in addition to going to the meetings there was quite a bit of preparation involved.  We finally talked about it as a group and found we were all feeling over scheduled!  We’ve changed to one meeting a month and hope that allows us to carry on a good activity without burning out.

Places we went and people we saw…

At my daughter’s Girl Scout meeting my husband taught them all about geocaching.  He hid a temporary one for them to find and despite frigid temperatures they had a blast!  My daughter also had a piano lesson and my son had Boy Scouts.  It was a good week with a little more time at home than we’d had lately due to the change in geography club and a cancellation of a Friday meeting.

My favorite thing this week was…

Taking down the Halloween decorations and putting up the Thanskgiving ones–my favorite is our “Thankful Tree” which helps us focus on our blessings.

And we may or may not have played Christmas music on the day it snowed.

What’s working and not working for us…

I already mentioned the change in schedule that has helped ease the feeling of always being on the run.  The other thing I added this week was a different chore system.  We’d been using a pocket chart with little cards for chores.  It wasn’t working as well this year for several reasons:  it was outdated because my kids can help with more jobs now, it made extra work for me switching cards in pockets, and it wasn’t easy to have jobs that they do once a week versus daily (unless I kept track of what days to put them in their pockets).  I was inspired by Mary’s chore chart at Homegrown Learners and created a simple spreadsheet:

Now the kids have the morning chores that they previously had, plus I’ve added an afternoon job that helps keep the house cleaner over the course of the week.  The initial reaction to the news of an extra job was pretty poor, but after the first week they found it wasn’t too bad, and they liked the variety of a different job each day.

I also was inspired by Colleen at Raising Lifelong Learners and will be adding a “job jar” with chores listed on popsicle sticks.  I will use this for punishments, and it will include rarely-done jobs like wiping down the baseboards, windowsills or kitchen cabinets.  Colleen’s philosophy behind this system is worth reading.

We’re reading…

• We are listening to the audio version of By the Shores of Silver Lake.  We enjoy it, but not as much as the other Little House titles so far.
• We are loving American History Stories by Mara L. Pratt from Heritage History on the iPad. You can read my review of Heritage History.
• Our homeschool book club title is The Hobbit.  I have to say I’m not a fan of fantasy, my daughter appears to have the same opinion, and my son fell asleep while I was reading.  I am usually a stickler for avoiding abridged versions–we just finished the unabridged Treasure Island and loved it.  This time I gave up and we are listening to an audio dramatization.
• Our current poetry anthology is Nature in Verse by Mary Lovejoy, and we’ve had cozy mornings reading through the autumn section.  It is a free selection from Google Books that was recommended by Barb at the Handbook of Nature Study blog.
• My daughter is reading Little House by Boston Bay by Melissa Wiley, Masterpiece by Elise Broach, and So You Want Women to Vote, Lizzie Stanton? by Jean Fritz.
• What am I reading?  I have a couple lofty goals all of a sudden.  While reading the section on trees in the Handbook of Nature Study by Anna Botsford Comstock I realized I’d love to go through the whole book cover-to-cover.  It’s filled with great information, and though I’ve used it to look things up I feel like I’m getting just bits and pieces of a treasure trove.  The other lofty goal: I downloaded Charlotte Mason’s original books from Ambleside Online.  I would like to read them.  I’ll let you know how that goes.  Perhaps I will think better of this goal once I start and switch to one of the modern English versions.

A photo, video, link or quote to share…

Just thought I’d show you the additions our cat made to my writing on our family mission statement when she sat on my computer keyboard.  She loves to sit there because of the warmth.  Once she hit a key sequence that turned everything on my screen sideways.  Another time my computer began reading aloud anything I moused over.

Continue reading →

In our homeschool this week…

We slipped back into nature study with tree poetry (and rescued a baby bird in the process).  We worked on our election lapbooks.  My daughter sewed the bonnet to go with her Laura Ingalls costume (sewing is a tremendous living math lesson).  I made the last-minute decision that we would not do our regular schoolwork on Halloween and instead we made caramel corn and homemade slime and carved pumpkins!

Places we went and people we saw…

We had a few normal events: Girl Scouts, Book Club and piano for my daughter, and Geography Club (Egypt this month) for both.  We had great Halloween fun at a friend’s house with games and lots of food.  I took the kids swimming at the pool.  My son is now old enough that I don’t have to get in the pool with him…sitting on the bench reading while they burned off loads of energy was great fun for all.  Today we’re meeting our fellow book club members for a Treasure Island play.  Saturday is a day of Scout activities for both kids.  (This is one of those weeks when people’s concerns about socialization make me giggle.  Or pull my hair out.)

My favorite thing this week was…

The yearly jumping-in-leaves ritual.  We had a big raking and jumping party since a storm was coming and those crunchy leaves would soon be a big soggy mess.   As I watch the kids laugh and jump slideshows play in my head of them doing this same thing together through the years.  So many giggles and my camera snapping away.  When will they be too old to jump in leaves?  Hopefully never!

My favorite resource this week…

My daughter and I started the next lesson in WriteShop Junior D and it was my favorite resource this week.  We are both really enjoying the structure of the whole program.  One of the brainstorming games this week was so fun that she and her little brother played it after school time.  I’d say that’s a winner!

What’s working for me…

One of the chapters in Jamie Martin’s ebook Mindset for Moms was “Only do six things today.”  I keep a to-do list going at all times, rewriting and transferring to a new list when needed.  I love lists, and when I feel overwhelmed it often calms me to make a list.  My to-do lists are a bit monstrous by necessity, but I also tend to put crazy things on there like “organize the garage” or “finally pack up all our tax paperwork from 2011–perhaps before 2013.”

I like getting things out of my brain and onto a list…the problem is the sheer size of the list and going about my day without actually crossing things off.  Jamie’s idea of “six things” made a lot of sense.  Now in addition to my loooong list where I can put things that I need to be working on (like planning a unit study or preparing for Girl Scouts or Sunday School) and things I would like to do when I have time, I have a list of six things that need to be done that day.

I make it the night before or in the morning, checking our schedule and my long list to prioritize.  It could be related to paperwork, housework or homeschool…do-able tasks that I will complete that day.  I feel more accomplished at the end of the day and the must-do’s aren’t getting lost in my long list of would-like-to-do’s.  I’m not sure Jamie meant have a super long slightly unrealistic list and then a six things list, but this seems to work for me.

We’re reading…

We are listening to the next audiobook in the Little House series: By the Shores of Silver Lake.  I have been reading American History Stories by Mara L. Pratt from Heritage History on the iPad.  (I was sent a CD of their Early America library to review–post coming soon.)  My daughter is reading Little House by Boston Bay by Melissa Wiley, Masterpiece by Elise Broach, So You Want Women to Vote, Lizzie Stanton? by Jean Fritz, and also some Heritage History titles on her Kindle.

I’m grateful for…

I could probably say “our flexible schedule” every week, but I was reminded of it yet again.  As we get ready to head to a play together of a book we read together and even Daddy gets to go I was hit by the unusual amount of family time we enjoy because we homeschool.  My husband is a firefighter/paramedic with an irregular schedule and homeschooling allows us to catch his days off to be together.  Not to mention how many different directions we’d be heading in if the kids were at separate public schools.

I’m praying for…

All those affected by the hurricane.  I feel silly for complaining about my mini basement flood last week which was nothing compared to the devastation many have experienced this week.

A photo, video, link or quote to share…

Thank you to the wonderful hostesses with fun link-ups on Fridays. Be sure to join the fun and see what other homeschoolers are up to!

Most of my plans went out the window (or should I say into the basement) this week after finding an inch of water covering the floor throughout our basement.  Mainers reading this may chuckle, since water in Maine basements is not uncommon.  We’ve lived here five years and not had any, so I’d grown complacent and had lots of things in cardboard boxes on the floor.  Needless to say it was all hands on deck to get what we could high and dry, and I spent any “free” time the rest of the week drying things out, cleaning to ward off mold, and generally reorganizing since it was such an overhaul anyway.

A basement clean-out was not on my to-do list this week.  I am embarrassed to admit I was quite cranky about the job and that I had so much else to do, and, well, had a pity party for myself on several occasions.  I often talk to the kids about not grumbling when given work to do.  One of my favorite things is to quote Pa Ingalls: “What must be done is best done cheerfully.”

I was not a good example of that this week.  Luckily, despite me having a bad attitude many things went well this week!

In our homeschool this week…

Much less schoolwork was done at home than I planned.  However, my son wrote his first story he’d ever done on his own with invented spelling.  The “flood” was quite exciting to him and he wrote about it while I was frantically working.  He also taught himself counting by fives using the small numbers on his watch.  Mind you, this is on my “list of math goals” to teach him but I did not assist with this is any way.  He merely entered my room and rattled off until he reached 100 as I stood with mouth gaping.  That little guy always surprises me.

I am inspired by…

My friend Leslie (who blogs at Maineiac Homeschoolers).  She is leading our homeschool book club and our first meeting was outstanding!  We all (moms included) started Reader’s Response Journals (you must read her post that describes the journals).  Not only is it a great fit for our wide range of ages, but it’s one of those things I believe will become a favorite part of our homeschool and a treasured memento.

Places we went and people we saw…

The big event this week was our homeschool group’s science fair.  My daughter’s project was the ear and my son’s was digestion.  (I posted yesterday about the hands-on digestion demonstrations that were a big hit.)  A lot of work by a lot of families led to a very fun and educational day.  My friend who arranged it is amazing–you can see the Periodic Table sandwiches she planned.  We had projects on so many topics and even a wide assortment of live creatures.  I’m already looking forward to next year!

As I mentioned we had our first book club meeting this week, and other than those two events much of our time was spent at home…in the basement.

My favorite resource this week…

Beakman’s World!  Have you ever watched this show?  He’s a zany guy with even zanier hair who is willing to do just about anything to teach your kids about science, and never in a boring way.  His shows are all on Netflix and we watched several as we prepped for science fair.  My kids get a big kick out of him, and on every episode there is something you can try at home.  Probably the coolest one yet for us is building a camera obscura out of a box.

We’re reading…

We finished the audio version of On the Banks of Plum Creek and started By the Shores of Silver Lake by Laura Ingalls Wilder.  We also finished Treasure Island.  I just love reading these great books with my kids!  I read Jamie Martin’s ebook Mindset for Moms.  I enjoyed it and think I’ll re-read it frequently to remind myself of all the good advice.

I’m grateful for…

Living in an area where a little water in my basement and last week’s earthquake that caused no damage (and we didn’t even feel) seems like a big deal.  We’re generally free from natural disasters…just three feet of snow in our big Nor’easters but you can sit by the fire and sip cocoa.

A photo, video, link or quote to share…

These guys took up residence on our porch this week (partly because the supplies to make them were in my wet basement).  We do this every year and my kids love it.  We fill old clothes of theirs with newspaper, and that is one of those fake pumpkins you can carve.  We use those because they last longer and aren’t so heavy for the scarecrow to hold up.

Thank you to the wonderful hostesses with fun link-ups on Fridays. Be sure to join the fun and see what other homeschoolers are up to!

When I looked over our scheduled events for the week and also realized we needed time to prepare for the science fair we’re participating in next week I decided to throw our regular schedule out the window.  I called it a “project week” but the kids ended up calling it “fun school.”  Part of me wishes we could roll this way all the time, but those pesky math facts and grammar rules just won’t let me do it.

In our homeschool this week…

Our work at home has been all about the science fair we’re participating in next week.  I’m so excited and thankful for a veteran homeschool mom who put the whole thing together.  I’ve always wanted to have a reason to buy those three-panel display boards!  I’ll share all the details on our projects when they’re complete.

We also followed a little interest-led learning after a mild earthquake hit Maine this week!  It’s effects didn’t reach our area, but my mother called when she felt shaking at her house.  My husband did a mini-unit with the kids on earthquakes to answer all their questions.  Believe it or not, in a huge coincidence my son had picked out an earthquake nonfiction book at the library last week.  We also watched a Bill Nye earthquake video on YouTube.

Places we went and people we saw…

One of our major events was a field trip to Old Fort Western in Augusta, Maine.  Built in 1754 it’s New England’s oldest surviving wooden fort.  Dad joined little brother as he experienced life as a soldier, including drills and moving and firing a cannon.  Big sister and I dove into household chores: working in a smoky kitchen, tightening a rope bed, even chopping wood for the fire.  Any time I feel overwhelmed I need to spend a day living the life of colonial women.

We also had Girl and Boy Scout meetings, my daughter’s book club, a homeschool group meeting, and took a day today to visit Grandpa for his birthday.

We’re reading…

In honor of Mary at Homegrown Learners and her posts about reading aloud, I thought I’d share a little more in-depth on what we work on for read alouds.  Reading aloud truly is the backbone of our homeschool, and almost anything we’re learning about starts with books.  Here’s a collage to illustrate what I mean:

There is a basket of seasonal books just for fun in the living room; right now they’re about fall and Halloween.  I am slightly addicted to picture books for holidays and have a closet where I keep the off-season books, plus I also grab more at our library.  Beside the couch is a metal basket with our morning books (poetry and Bible) along with our current family chapter books (Treasure Island, On the Banks of Plum Creek).

In the schoolroom there is a crate of library books–you never know what you’ll find here, but we usually have 30-50 books checked out at one time.  I love my small-town library and the wonderful librarians there!  Mary is so right when she says they are a valuable resource.  Lots of these are just for fun, whatever the kids or I see that’s interesting on our regular library trips.  (Like the earthquake book!)  Also in the schoolroom is a wood crate with specific books I’ve chosen to go along with our studies.  For instance right now it holds books for our Government and Elections Unit Study, Brazil for Geography Club, and our upcoming nature study focus on trees.

Thank you to the wonderful hostesses with fun link-ups on Fridays.

Be sure to join the fun and see what other homeschoolers are up to!