Week 21 - Tell Me

Books for the week:
Abe's Fish, the next HP (I've apparently lost count, and  she bought this one with her allowance at the local used book store), Kitchen Table Math 2, Town Mouse, Country Mouse and On Noah's Ark both by Jan Brett, Trumpet of the Swan, Story of the World 3, Chatterer the Red Squirrel, History Stories for Children,  Vegetable, Moo Baa La La La, Go, Dog, Go,

LB's Solar System

Wow, Daddy's office is bright

CC's space picture in pen and watercolor

The art for the week is American Gothic.  I found a terrific way to show our picture of the week - I use it as the wallpaper image for the main computer.  Everyone in the house gets to see it.

New this week - History Odyssey Level Two Early Modern.   I printed the trail version, made a notebook, dug out my encyclopedias, and explained the process to CC.  She's been wanting topics to research and more.  Just more.  


LB wandered in while I was watching the PR instructor video for the week.  It isn't how its supposed to be taught, but after a few minutes of watching, she was inspired to write the words out herself.  This is the fifth week so we are starting to spell and write instead of just practice the sounds.   I'm even more convinced that I need PR3 for CC, but we're starting biology soon so I need the money elsewhere.

Kitchen Table Math saved us from a fraction multiplication nightmare this week.  CC was stuck; I had no ideas; KTM gave me a different way to look at the problems and helped me to narrow down what was her specific missing link.  Saxon is usually so good at taking small steps, I was surprised that it seemed such a big leap for her.

I noticed something very odd this week.  I gave CC the HO binder, showed her the assignments then went to a meeting.  She was supposed to use STOW3 to research the list of people for summaries.  After my meeting, I found her in Chapter 4 of STOW reading the book straight through.  Its not that she doesn't know how to use an index, she just naturally starts books at the beginning.  

LB made a solar system picture this week at school.  When she was showing it to me she described it like this, "There's the sun in the middle.  There's Mercury and Venus.  Here's Earth up at the top then Mars.    Then there's the big one, the one with rings,  the light blue one and the dark blue one, and another one".  I seriously love the kindergarten age.

Ever feel like you just can't do it today?  That was my Wednesday.  LB was terrific with her phonics, and I read her a story, but that was all.  I had another migraine Tuesday night and tried a new medicine which seems to wear off after about 4 hours.  I decided to skip Wednesday.  CC spent the day playing with her sister then playing with photoshop.

Thursday was better.  The migraine lingered but was tolerable.  CC went to school.  LB played with G-ma, spelled her words like a champ and generally enjoyed being young.  She spent some time in my office on the comfy carpet looking at her new ZooBooks on waterfowl.  Thanks to E.B. White, she loves swans.   I was very proud to  hear her on the floor sounding out "Tr Tru Trump Trumpeter Sw Sw Swan."

Friday, everyone did their seat work  with a minimum of fuss then LB started brine shrimp with G-ma using a Young Scientist Kit while CC spent the afternoon lying on my office carpet reading SOTW3.

I read over CC's new Biology book and finished about half of Protecting the Gift.  The biology book looks perfect for what I want to cover.  I'm hoping to get at least one other kid to do the labs with us.  It is great to have someone to plan and discuss the labs with.  I won't start it until history is going along smoothly which gives me time to gather the supplies we need and find a deal on a good microscope.  For my bedtime reading, I'm still on my second time through Moby Dick.

I've also been reading Mary Oliver.  I started looking for the poem that had a quote I love, "Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?"    It is from The Summer Day.

Who made the world?
Who made the swan, and the black bear?
Who made the grasshopper?
This grasshopper, I mean-
the one who has flung herself out of the grass,
the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,
who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down-
who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.
Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.
Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away.
I don't know exactly what a prayer is.
I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down
into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,
which is what I have been doing all day.
Tell me, what else should I have done?
Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon?
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?