Weekly Wrap Up ~ Harry Potter, Writing, Robotics, and The Iliad

Another week has come to a close. The time goes by so fast and it is only going to get faster. We will be in our full autumn schedule next week. Dance starts on Tuesday. Anne is able to tell you exactly how many hours until the first class starts. I am going to have to keep her busy this weekend so time doesn't drag too much. We sat down as a family and discussed our school year schedule. We usually take a break every five to six weeks. It really has worked well for us in the past. However, when I realized it was time for that break, we didn't feel like we needed it. The house is still looking pretty good (usually the first thing to fall apart when I am stressed out); the kids are still engaged; and our routines are working. We have completed seven weeks of school. I realized that if we took only one week break between now and Thanksgiving week, we would be able to take off the entire month between Thanksgiving and Christmas. We have never done this before but we are super excited about trying it. This would make the Nutcracker performance week so much easier and maybe we could enjoy the Christmas season without trying desperately to tie up academic loose ends like we have in the past. One of the things I really love about homeschooling is the flexibility to do what is best for our family.

Harry Potter Cooking ~ The kids did a great job being independent with the Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook this week. They made beef stew with herb dumplings, lemon drops, and Triple Lemon Pops. They did almost everything by themselves, including using the candy thermometer. Their first attempt at candy came out pretty well.

Kids Write ~ We started our at-home writing program with Kids Write: Fantasy & Sci Fi, Mystery, Autobiography, Adventure & More!. The first project was to make a treasure map and then write a story about a treasure seeker finding the treasure using the map as inspiration. They loved making the maps. I have two very different kids, with very different challenges when it comes to writing. Anne really struggles with spelling and grammar but turned out a seven page paper which was a good draft of a story. Dean had very little trouble with the grammar or spelling but struggled with every single sentence. He needed who/what/where questions asked all along the way to help him develop the story. His creative writing really regressed over the summer. I really like the program. It has a very nice step-by-step guide to help keep the kids thinking and stretching them to do more.

Black Ships Before Troy ~ We finished Black Ships Before Troy and the study guide by Veritas Press. The kids really didn't like the book at all. It was just too gory for them. I asked them at the end on a scale of 1-10 (1 being horrible and 10 being great) how they liked it. One voted minus 1 and the other child gave it a zero. I told them it was still worth knowing the story because they would hear terms of Achilles heel and Trojan horse many times in their lifetimes. Hopefully, our next literature book will be better. I think we are going to read a real short book about Pompeii.

Snap Circuits R/C Rover Electronics Discovery Kit ~ Dean received this kit a few months back from his grandmother for his birthday and immediately made a rover. This week, he completed all of the 23 Snap Circuits R/C Snap Rover projects. He especially liked the night rover, pencil buzz, and the water/salt water detector. I think he learned more than he thought he would.

They also completed a week's worth of math, spelling, independent reading, history and earth science. Anne finished two more lessons in French. She still doesn't like it. Dean still loves guitar and can't wait until his next class. We will see how my household routines and plans will hold up under a full schedule (with several dance classes) next week. It should be interesting.

Blessings, Dawn