Week in Review - July 14-19

[Samuel'sMommy]

What was YOUR week Like?

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[Samuel'sMommy]

We had a blast with our first week of Bigger!

http://cherish-each-moment.blogspot.com ... eek-1.html

[MelInKansas]

Thanks for the update! It's good to know I'm not the only one who is back to school already. We are in our 4th week back, so last week was the 3rd. It was kind of the rockiest. My 9YO did Unit 20 of Preparing, my 7YO did Unit 27 of Beyond and my 5YO did Unit 33 of LHTH (the last one!). There was no VBS like the previous week to keep us up late, and thankfully after a few days of going to bed on time they started getting up before 9. That helps school a lot. My 2YO had a rough week, I suspect teething because he is getting some molars, so that really slows things down and sometimes I feel like I am being pulled several directions at once. If only parenting several kiddos was peaceful and I could just address one thing at a time, calmly. God is teaching me patience and calmness even in the midst of the storms (how long does it take me to catch on, seriously?).

Preparing is in Jesus's time and it is so wonderful to explore it as we are doing. We love The Fountain of Life storytime book, we've really fallen in love with the characters and can't wait to see what happens each day. I do have to admit the repetitiveness of the Storytime questions is kind of getting old... probably for me. I need to do them with as much enthusiasm as I did at the beginning. Grandpa's Box as always really brings out the redemptive aspect and divine aspect of who Jesus is, and I loved the chapter on the sending of the Holy Spirit! My 5YO's LHTH readings were in Acts and we discussed that Acts is really the book of the Holy Spirit and all of the powerful things He did and does. The ICTHYS project turned out so well, my DD was excited to hang it up and we love the cinnamon smell! I admit to being totally skeptical that applesauce and cinnamon would make something that would dry and last like that. I am also loving the Astronomy book and the little book she is making, and the science experiments going along with that. I love modelling it in real life, I myself learn more about it that way. Today I was proud of her because she did the Unit 20 science project all by herself! That is a first. I have been pushing her a little more into independence, even in some areas that don't require it in Preparing. She's doing well with it, most of the time. I am so thankful that she is learning to do things on her own and I think this helps her take ownership over her learning.

Beyond we are studying George Washington. The cornbread project on day 3 was a favorite when my oldest did it (and we made the cornbread many times since) and was still for my 2nd born. It helped her remember the story of Betsy serving the cornbread to George Washington. I think this time through all of the stories in Boys and Girls of Colonial Days about Mount Vernon and how Washington handled it really struck me more than the first time through. The way he gave to the poor and let them fish on his docks, etc. He really was an amazing man and it is fun to study him. We are reading "The House at Pooh Corner" for our Humor selection and we are really enjoying that a lot. I never really saw it as humor but it really is and talking about it with the directions in the box have helped it come alive for me. She is reading about Ferdinand the Bull for ERs and she is doing really well, even with Spanish things like Piccadore, Matador, etc. Okay, I do help her with those. But she really gives it a good try. Her reading has grown so much in just a few months, it amazes me. She reads signs as we drive down the road and asks me about them.

It is so hard to believe that my 5YO is done with LHTH! I know she is ready to move on though. I may give her a week of just math and handwriting (which we had added to LHTH so we are in the middle of them) because we have dance camps this week so I lose 2 hours of my day for that (shuttling to and fro, etc). Last week was so stressful too that I feel like I do need to push us to get things done, but I need to take it a little easier on myself so as to not be stressed and grumpy all the time. One day the week before last we did school until 4:00 and then I literally collapsed on the couch for some rest. I need to at least lay down for 1/2 hour in the afternoon or I just feel like I can't make it through the day. Ah the joys of being pregnant! But back to the subject of LHTH, my daughter has owned it. She knows all the letter sounds (and has started quizzing me about words she sees around her, and figuring out that some letters make more than one sound), she is doing AMAZING in math, she has almost finished the HWT preschool book, and she has for a long time loved listening to read-alouds and memorizing Bible verses with her older sister. I guess she is really ready for LHFHG. I just need to get it out and off we go!!