Weekly Wrap-Up ~ Saxon, Tinker and Guitar

It has been a good week. Everyone is back to good health, and we accomplished most of what we set out to do.

Co-Op Classes Started this Week ~ Dean (13) is taking a guitar class and a writing class this year. He liked both classes and was excited about all of the kids in the writing class. It looks like it will be a class with a good amount of collaboration. That is my way of saying that Dean will get to talk in class (much to his delight). The guitar class only had two students, which was exciting to me. There can be eight in the class so two is almost like private lessons for a drastically reduced cost. He likes the teacher and has been diligent about practicing at home so far.

Learning to Budget One's Wardrobe ~ Anne had the opportunity to shop for her winter clothes recently. We told her that we would provide undergarments, winter boots, a good pair of sneakers, winter coat and two outfits. The rest was up to her to purchase within her budget. We set  her budget at $100 for this fall and winter. We went to a huge children's consignment sale. She did an awesome job and still has $27 left to purchase leggings and tights. I think she was most excited about the glitter sneakers she bought. She is a bit of a shoe girl.

Celebrating Mother Teresa ~ We are learning about some of the important leaders of India this year. We will be reading biographies and celebrating their birthdays during their birthday week. Mother Teresa's birthday was this week. We made and ate food from India, read Who Was Mother Teresa, and made a cake for her. In her honor, we also bought some basic staples at the store and donated them to the food bank. We also listened to all of the information that our Intelliglobe had to offer.

Our Latest Tinker Crate ~ We loved our latest Tinker Crate (monthly subscription box). It was soda science. I put a post up here all about it.

Saxon Math ~ This is our 17th year of homeschooling and I have never used Saxon Math before. I never planned to, either. I hated math as a child and methodically avoided textbooks in the hopes my kids would like math. For the most part, they have liked math and done well. However, Anne is burned out on Teaching Textbooks (computer program) and wanted a change for 6th grade. We had a Saxon Math book that was laying around from a free book haul I got recently. It is very old and falling part. I had planned to put it in the Goodwill bag, but Anne got to it first. It happens to be a 6th grade book and Anne loves it. She says math is fun again. Go figure!! I am letting her write in the book since it was basically ready for the recycling bin anyway. So, everyone is happy and we are now a Saxon, Teaching Textbooks, Life of Fred family.

Blessings, Dawn