We are at the end of our first “back to school” week. Although we do learning projects and activities in the summer, this is the time of the year when other lessons and groups start back up again so that means we refocus also and spend more time in our day with intentional learning. I am pleased that the only new routines or “rules” we had to institute were simply moving our family reading time back to afternoons and choosing a screens off and lights off time. This week and next week also bring the return of speech lessons, violin lessons, orchestra, weekly babysitting, youth group, Sunday school, prayer group and a small informal homeschool group from church. I am so, so grateful that we do not feel like we are getting shot out of a cannon every morning, and especially the first few weeks. Shopping consisted entirely of 6 new notebooks and 6 new composition notebooks. The olders who wanted certain markers and supplies were more than happy to spend their own money that they earned – Katie at the hardware store and her online digital art business and Lauren & Gloria with their babysitting money.
Some of things the girls worked on and did this week were:
- growing crystal gardens with different materials – salt, ammonia, laundry chemicals, sugar (rock candy!)
- researching individual projects at the library – weather, Abraham Lincoln, rocks, cheetahs, tasmanian tigers
- gymnastics practice and video tutorials (planning, executing, editing, managing)
- homeschool survey research
- reading together: Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and How to Train Your Dragon
- Organizing and setting up new notebooks and goal tracking
- math
- violin
- swimming
- reading
- feral dog documentary
- drawing, art
- clay sculptures
- presentation on our galaxy
- creative play – ponies, little people, dominoes, puzzles
above: Jamie’s notebook
crystal garden
faux geodes
lauren’s history project
rock candy starter
Natalie’s science mini book
