Weekly Wrap-Up 4 ~ Bears, Books and Banter

We had a fine week. Nothing really stands out as especially stellar educationally. However, we had a solid week of book and real life learning. I continued to hold steady on my goals to let the children have larger control of their education and embrace letting go of things immediately that are not working. With that said, Anne's writing program was set aside this week which she had been avoiding and loathing. She immediately started writing a short chapter book. Now she is happily writing away and I am happy to see her making progress.

Bears ~ The saga of bears visiting our yard continues practically every day. We reviewed black bear safety this week and acted out what to do if one encounters a bear. We look  around real carefully before leaving the house nowadays, since the bears especially like our carport.

A baby bear in our tree

A New Adventure ~ A mother and daughter we have known for some time have decided to embark on the homeschooling journey. They asked if we might want to do a trade off. I agreed and I will be teaching science for a few hours once a week, and she will be teaching art once a week. The kids are all within a year of each other and go to the same dance studio. Hopefully, it will be a delightful experience for everyone.

Books, Books, Books! ~ Another homeschool mom blessed me with four boxes of books. She knows I sell on eBay to supplement my kids' dance classes. Some of them will be donated to the various Little Free Library boxes located around town, but some of them had value and are already making me money on Ebay. I feel very blessed. 

Mean Words vs. Banter ~  I have been hearing an increase in insults between Anne and Dean. So we did an exercise this week in choosing words carefully. I gave them a tube of toothpaste and told them to squeeze it all out onto a plate. They did so with delight. 

Then I told them to put it back in the tube. They were unable to do so. I told them that the toothpaste tube was their mouth and the toothpaste was their words. You can never take back your words. You can and should apologize, but it will always be messy and broken.

The moral to this is to always choose our words carefully and try only to speak kindness -- a challenge even to an adult to be sure. 

Dean Made a 3D Viewer ~ Those who hang around my blog know that Dean loves his monthly subscription box, Tinker Crate. He had a fantastic time with the latest offering. 

Anne's New Space ~ Anne is loving using my antique desk for her alone time schooling. She keeps it neat and sweet (although you can't tell from all of the crumbs on the desk in the picture).

Blessings, Dawn