Our Homeschool Journal: A Full Week!

In our homeschool this week…

It was a busy, productive week.  Our Time Traveler’s history focus was inventions of the 1800’s, and we had a lot of fun learning about the cotton gin, revolver, sewing machine, and steamboat and how these inventions impacted life in early America.  Daddy, a licensed amateur radio operator, stepped in as a guest instructor for Morse Code.  I need to arrange guest instructors more often!  It was a highlight of the week.

We studied the phylum Cnidaria in our science curriculum (RSO Life Level 1), with a hands-on model of the jellyfish lifecycle.

In other science learning, nature study was part of nearly every day!  I’m so thankful Barb makes it easy to implement nature study because it adds so much enrichment to our homeschool.   The kids checked a few more things off the Last Days of Summer grid while I worked in the garden.  We took a little walk another day and did Challenge #1 from the Outdoor Hour Challenge ebook.

Our item of interest ended up being mushrooms and we learned about them after returning home.  The topic that intrigued us was related to our earlier science studies about plant cells and chloroplasts–why are mushrooms not green?  Using the Handbook of Nature Study we learned it’s because they don’t have chloroplasts to manufacture their own food, but use decaying plant matter for food, thus doing the world a great service in addition to feeding themselves!

We also did the weekly challenge on ants.  Our backyard ant hills are a bit quiet this time of year, but we tried to stir them up a little and noticed we have a least two different kinds making a home near our gardens.  It was fun, as usual, to see the differences in what my kids were interested in: my daughter loved the structure of ant hills with separate rooms.  We read the information in our books and then also did a little internet research to find some diagrams.  My son was intrigued by the information in the Handbook of Nature Study on ant battles and how they can go on for days and involve fighting to the death.

The other idea from Barb’s Getting Started ebook was to pick a Focus Area, and for us the next month or two will be all about Insects and Spiders!  I really like the idea of a nature focus area, and we have a catch-all console table that I’ve now turned into our nature study table.  I combed our shelves and came up with several books and flash card sets.  My son has a few interesting specimens in acrylic and we have a few insects we’ve collected in jars.  I’ve set these all up on our nature table and we’ll be on the lookout for opportunities to study insects and spiders in our nature study.

Helpful homeschooling tips or advice to share…

No need to be derailed by minor illness!  My youngest was starting with a cold one morning.  I’m always thankful I don’t have to ask myself: “Do I send him to school or not?”  That used to be so tricky, trying to weigh how they felt or if they were infectious with what they were missing.  We don’t call off school at home for minor illness, but try to make adjustments to continue learning and give comfort to whoever is under the weather.

First step:  The Sick Couch.  That’s an official family name for the cozy spot we bestow upon the sick member, loaded up with pillows and blankets and stuffed animals.   We pull the table closer and stock that with tissues and treats.  This time I made a homemade hot chocolate that was well-received.

Then we continue with the things we can (all from the “sick couch”) and usually make adjustments like extra reading aloud or an educational show.  This time we brought out our popular Magic School Bus Human Body DVD and he watched “Inside Ralphie” while I worked with his big sister.

Places we went and people we saw…

Did you know that a little town in Maine was involved in the War of 1812?  We had a fabulous time at Hampden Heritage Days, a free event put on by the historical society at a historic home.

We learned about the Battle of Hampden and a chambermaid who threw the contents of a chamber pot on some British soldiers attempting to gain access to the home.  We were able to step inside Hannibal Hamlin’s law office (vice-president with Lincoln during the Civil War).  We also enjoyed many glimpses into life in another time period, and imagined what it would be like: sleeping on a rope bed, having to hand-make so much of what you needed, and handwriting that was really an art form.  Some of it looked hard, but some of the simpleness of the time is always appealing.  I loved the “Nanny-Rocker” where a mother could lay her baby to rock while having her hands free for handiwork, or how the spinning wheel was made to be portable so women could bring them when they socialized.

My favorite thing this week was…

Good friends coming to dinner!  I love the flexibility we have to schedule social time as a family, and I also love when we have guests because my husband cooks the not-so-healthy meals that we generally avoid like creamy haddock chowder!

My favorite resource this week…

Erica from Confessions of a Homeschooler posted her World’s Greatest Artists study for FREE this week.  The printables and activities are a great addition to our Harmony Fine Arts curriculum and I was excited to download it and go further in our study of Renoir this month!  I’m continually amazed and appreciative of homeschool bloggers sharing their hard work and talent with the rest of us!

Things I’m working on…

Putting together our first unit study for the year: it’s a little mix of Elections, Government and the Presidency geared for elementary age students.  I’ll post my plans as soon as I finalize them–hopefully within the next few days after I receive all the books I’ve ordered.

We’re reading…

My 10-year old is still working on Nancy Drew and the Clue in the Crumbling Wall, while my 6-year old pours over a book on Tanks.  Our read alouds are On The Banks of Plum Creek from the Little House series, and Treasure Island.  Yes, the full, unabridged version!  I was wondering how my six year old would do, but it is pirates after all!  I found an audio version but it was read too quickly, so I’m reading it with as much panache as I can manage, and going slowly enough and stopping often enough to be sure they understand.  As we’ve gotten into the story we’re all really enjoying it.  I love the opportunity to read all the great books I missed!

I’m reading For the Children’s Sake by Susan Schaeffer Macaulay.  I have it on interlibrary loan but will be adding it to my shelf when I can:  it’s one of those I could see myself re-reading frequently for inspiration and encouragement in the Charlotte Mason philosophy.

Thank you to the wonderful hostesses with fun link-ups on Fridays. Be sure to join the fun and see what other homeschoolers are up to!