Week in Review - Adjusting To Our New Routine After Break

We started back to school this week after an absolutely wonderful 6 week holiday break.  To say that this week has been an adjustment is quite the understatement.  In addition to starting back to school, my two older children joined a new swim team so, in addition to a new schedule that I'm tweaking her during our school day, they have a whole new swim team schedule.  This week has definitely been a week of adjusting to new routines.

We all managed to get through Monday without too many bad attitudes but some of us required lots of snuggles with blankets to get through the day.  Algebra, in particular, was difficult to dive back into after such a long break.

I was particularly proud of myself for breaking out the bread machine and making a fresh loaf of garlic bread. A scant few hours after I made it, it had been devoured.

After trying several scheduled read-alouds that correspond with our history program and receiving only loud groans and complaints last semester, I decided to just ditch the fiction history read-aloud suggested for the history program we're using.  Over break, I asked Amber to choose a book from a list of the Top 100 Children's Books.  As my biggest complainer about our history fiction read-alouds, I thought that she would be happier with a book she chose herself.  On Monday, we began Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh.  I LOVE this book and look forward to reading it each day.

One of my goals this semester is to play more educational and review games during the school day, particularly with my youngest son who loves them so much.  This week, we played all of the following educational games.

• Ancient Egypt Jingo (Mason and Duncan)
• Ancient Civilizations - Professor Noggin  (Amber, Mason, and Duncan)
• Go To Press! (a grammar game) (Duncan)

Since Monday went well, of course, Tuesday had to have some major disruptions to our new schedule.  Amber had been sick for about a week and a half - not horribly, awful sick but coughing, headache, and a fever that came and went.  I assumed that she had a bad cold.  She really struggled at swim team over the week-end but, since she always continues with swim team even when she has a cold, I assumed that she struggled simply because she didn't feel that well.  During Monday's practice, she simply couldn't finish.  She called me to come pick her and told me that her coughing got so bad at practice she had to get out of the pool because she just couldn't breathe.  Now, she wasn't coughing a lot at home but the exercise really got her coughing and gasping for air.  So, I took her to the doctor and she had pneumonia!  Thankfully, she is doing just fine with her antibiotics and inhaler and should be able to return to swim team next week.

In history, we are still studying Ancient Israel.  In addition to reading our non-fiction history reading this week, we watched Volume 1 in Israel, A Journey Through Time:  From Abraham to Jesus.  There are 6 volumes in this series but I was able to rent just the first volume through Amazon Video on Demand.  None of the children complained about the video and I thought it was an excellent review and reinforcement of the Biblical history of Israel that we've been studying.  Mason even commented on the variety of beautiful artwork that was displayed throughout the video.  I would definitely recommend this title for a thoroughly Christian perspective on the history of Ancient Israel.

One of the biggest changes that I have made after break is that both of my boys are now working through textbook based Science courses.  I absolutely love it and Mason and Duncan are both doing very well with their new curriculum.  Duncan is working through Bob Jones Science 3 and Mason is working through Apologia General Science.  While Duncan will complete Bob Jones Science 3 this school year, Mason will not complete General Science until the end of the 2011-2012 school year.

Duncan is studying sound right now and the highlight of the week for him was making a telephone out of two cups and some string.  It actually works!

 Mason performed two experiments and completed two very good lab reports.  I was so proud of him!

One of my big goals for the remainder of the school year is to make our Friday afternoon art lessons a priority.  On Friday, my children completed the second part of a two-part art lesson we began before our holiday break.  Previously they had prepared a very colorful watercolor background for their finished artwork. Today's lesson was called, "Magic Circus," and they were supposed to create a fantastical circus picture on another piece of paper to glue on their background paper.

I adore the results!  Duncan drew a seal balancing on a ball on a cloud balancing 5 pickles on its nose with a star on top!

 Amber drew a Medieval jester juggling balls in the sky surrounded by flying penguins!

Mason drew a shamrock man walking on a tightrope above a pot-of-gold rainbow.  A Hamburger Helper man is next to a cloud below the rainbow.

That was our Week in Review!  If you would like to read about what other homeschoolers were doing this week, visit the Weekly Wrap-Up at Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers.