Week in Review: Papyrus Paintings, Candy-Swirl Pillows, and Seasonal Allergies (Week 7)

Another week has flown by and left me behind blowing my nose and sneezing!  I have been seriously struggling with my seasonal allergies this week.  I was so wiped out on Wednesday that I took a 2 1/2 hour nap as soon as we were done with the school day.

We have also had some interruptions to our school days this week (some good and some bad).  Our electricity was off for several hours on Monday so that interfered with our school plans for the day.  We finished a bit early on Tuesday afternoon to spend some time with my sister-in-law and mother-in-law.  We had a wonderful late lunch at Moe's and enjoyed spending time together afterwards.  Lastly, on Thursday Amber had her yearly well-child visit first thing in the morning so we got a very late start on our day.

Given interruptions and allergies, I simply didn't get my normal prep-work done each evening so I felt behind all week.  Braced with a box of tissues in my hand, though, we accomplished quite a bit of learning this week, even if I was feeling a bit stressed and snuffly!

One of the highlights of our school year for me has been working with Amber in her sewing course.  She is so proud of everything that she sews and she is really making some impressive projects.  This week she finished two candy-swirl pillows and has started another one.  You can read more about the candy-swirl pillows in this post. 

Amber took her Module 3 test in Biology this week and completed two Biology labs.  Next week she'll start Module 4.  In the boy's chemistry course, we reviewed the previous three chapters with a review game and we focused on acids and bases which we will continue next week.

I have been working quite intensively this school year with my boys in writing.  I am so very thrilled with the curriculum we are using - Ancient History Writing Lessons from the Institute for Excellence in Writing.  Right now, Mason and Duncan are in the middle of a three paragraph essay about The Epic of Gilgamesh using key-word outlines.  I am so very pleased with their progress in this course!  Here is the first paragraph of my youngest son's essay:

• Gilgamesh, King of Urek, was forever remembered.  Gilgamesh walked up towering mountains and swam through salty seas.  Gilgamesh tied his ankels and pounced into the Euphrates River.  Gilgamesh had one chance to grab the spiky plant.  Gilgamesh came near the plant and snatched it out.  Gilgamesh loosed his ankles and pushed himself to the surface.  Anxiously, Gilgamesh carried the strange plant.  Gilgamesh happily jumped up and down.  He had succeeded.

Wow - I am impressed!  More than anything, though, I am so pleased with the pride that my boys are taking in their work.  For their current assignment, they needed to draw a picture to go with their essay.  Inspired by the cover of our former read-aloud, "Gilgamesh The Hero," Mason drew a fabulous picture to accompany his essay.

Mason loves to incorporate art into his studies and he spends time every day sculpting with polymer clay.  Sometimes his creations are so well-done, I'm still surprised by them.  This adorable dragon took my breath away this week!

This week, in history, our focus was on Ancient Egypt.  A study of Ancient Egypt and hands-on projects definitely go hand in hand in our homeschool.  This week, after reading about papyrus and paper-making, we painted Ancient Egyptian themed pictures on authentic papyrus from Egypt.  We used acrylics on the papyrus and they worked very well.  I was so pleased with the final results. 

Duncan chose the scarab beetle.

Mason chose the eye of Horus.

Amber chose to paint the hieroglyphic alphabet.

We played Ancient Egypt Jingo.  I loved this simple bingo-style game and would very much like to have more of the Jingo games now!

We also watched another segment of Lost Civilizations from Time-Life, Ancient Egypt:  Quest for Immortality.  I highly recommend this series.  We also watched Ancient Civilizations for Children:  Ancient Egypt.  I just adore this series

Youth group at church formally started for the fall on Wednesday night.  Amber and Mason are both attending.  They had a great time at the first meeting.  I feel so blessed that my children are finding fellowship and fun at church.

We have a busy week-end ahead of us.  The boys have bowling league on Saturday morning and Amber has swim team practice.  Then, on Saturday night, Amber and Mason are attending a big middle-school event affliliated with our church.  There will be inflatables, games, a DJ, and lots of food.  I'm sure they'll have a great time!  Then Sunday is church and hopefully, a quiet day!

That was our Week in Review!  If you'd like to read about what other homeschoolers did this week, check out the Weekly Wrap-Up at Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers!