Our Homeschool Journal: Our Mini-Flood

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!