Totally WICKED 1st Week Back! September 3-9

 

In My Life This Week 

Reading, 'Rithmetic, Writing...and of course Soccer! We've started back-to-school this week and it went QUITE well! (There's DEFINITELY some tweaking to be done though!) And just to start the year off right, I made these yummy Banana Split Mini Bites for a special dessert after our Back-to-School Cook-IN (since it rained)! (Check out All Thing's Beautiful's Household Ways for more fantastic, fun recipes!)

Photo by Baker's Royale, But Mine Looked Pretty Good While They Lasted LOL

Homeschool Happenings 

J and C abhor formal Spelling. A lot. So, I made a "deal" with them: If they placed above grade level on their Spelling Power Placement Tests they could have the year "off". Sounds like a GREAT deal for them, huh? (Shhh! They don't really have the year off! I'll sneak in Spelling instruction while we edit their writing, but it still sounds like the perfect deal.) J placed in Grade 7 Month 6. Not quite the Grade 8 we were hoping for, but close enough. The HUGE surprise was C! She placed Grade 5 Month 5, a 2 YEAR jump from May! My struggling, reluctant, COMPLAINING Speller is no more! Woot!

And No He's Not Asleep While Watching His Math Lesson LOL

C and S started Apologia Astronomy. I'm excited about this study because I've found some really fun, hands-on projects to go along with it! But this week was just an introduction and You Tube videos. You can find ANYTHING on You Tube, can't you?

Don't you love when the kids take what they learn and weave their play around it? C created a NASA space satellite out of Legos after finishing up our intro chapter in Apologia. Pretty cool, huh?

C with her NASA Satellite

S received this month's Lego Jr magazine in the mail. He POURED over it! And then decided he wanted to build a Robot for next month's contest. Here's his entry:

Reading, reading, reading! Our book bag was filled with library treasures this week. Here's a tidbit of what we're reading:

Oh, and don't miss my blog entries about this week's nature study with Barb at Handbook of Nature Study and our Art Friday using How to Teach Art to Children here and here!

Places We Went and People We Saw

• C got together with her new soccer coach and teammates on Saturday and had her first practice on Thursday. Go Blue!
• C went with A to a Portland Seadogs baseball game on Saturday, and on Labor Day A took all 3 to the last game of the season. C caught a foul ball and came home with a special souvenir!
• J spent a fun Saturday with a couple of friends at an amusement park. 
• J had his first Boy Scout meeting of the year.
• C, S and I went to the library and gathered up a basket of new books and a movie. 
• E, S's 4-year-old, came over on Tuesday while her Mom had class. C was a WONDERFUL "Mother's Helper"! 
• J started soccer practices on Thursday and Friday. Go Blue and Gold!

My Favorite Thing(s) This Week

C was so anxious to get started on school that she started on SUNDAY! Who am I to tell her she had to wait until Wednesday! How great is that?!

Photo(s), Video, Link, or Quote to Share 

How could I go 2 weeks without a CHICKEN photo or two! LOL Here's S The Chicken Tamer (with Chirp who is the most docile of the bunch) then Feathers. The bottom photos are Chirp and Ewok (who rules the roost).

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