Week 21 ~ Planning, Performing and Pastimes

In My Life ~ This week has been filled with planning. We are beginning a unit study on World War II that will carry us through the end of the year. I can't believe that we only have 15 weeks to go for this school year! It seems like we just started the other day. World War II is a huge undertaking. There are so many parts to it. I have decided to give the kids an overview and then go through the war from many different countries. I also intend to explain the holocaust to the children, but really stress the heroes of the holocaust who helped to save so many. There are always good people, even when it seems that the world only holds evil. I want the children to feel empowered and know that they can always choose to do good. My library floor is covered with books as I make my plans. I am really looking forward to this unit. I can't wait to get down to learning with them.

Performing ~ Goldilocks is doing lots of cheer leading performances right now. She had one at a local university this past weekend and has another tomorrow morning. She is really having fun with the cheers. The crowd was very supportive of the special needs teams. I think this may end up being a good confidence building activity for Goldilocks.

This is about half of her team.

This little guy is a serious performer, too! He got his new leotard from the Special Olympics. He still needs the special shorts. He was a proud boy and ran outside in the freezing temps to show it off to his sisters (who were playing out in the yard).

Pastimes ~ Little Red Riding Hood is really enjoying making rubber band bracelets. She has learned how to make so many different kinds. She takes her storage case everywhere she goes and spends all of her allowance on more rubber bands. This is very big deal for a girl who usually saves every penny.

Goldilocks has really been working hard with her horse drawing kit this week. All of the pictures are tracings, but she has done a great job adding color, saddles and scenery to the pictures. She is really doing a nice job tracing the horse as well. I love to see the kids being productive.

Parties and Play Dates ~ We had a party in school to celebrate saying goodbye to the 1930's. We celebrated with Twinkies which were invented in 1930. My kids had never had them before. Boy, they tasted like chemicals ~ Yuck! We also had a lovely play date at the mall with some friends. We power walked the mall since it recently has been is too cold to play outside. We then sat in the food court and played board games and drank Chick-Fil-A lemonade. What a fun morning.

We finished up Out of the Dust, which the kids thought was a good, but depressing, story. We also got the 3R's done every day and made considerable progress in spelling. I am also very pleased with Tom Sawyer's typing and story telling this week. Go Tom Sawyer!

Blessings, Dawn