Weekly Wrap-up: No Longer Land Lubbers - Session 1 Week 2

In Our Life This Week

::paddle:: ::splash:: ::paddle::

Guess what?! We're 'yakers! Funny name, huh? ::laugh::

We spent every chance we could loading up our new sit-on-top kayaks into and onto the van and heading to one of the many lakes nearby, paddling around. We saw wood ducks and loons and fish...and sadly, trash, during our water explorations. And I became the "coolest Mom ever". ::grin::

Homeschool Elementary
Well, it wasn't such a smooth start to our 2nd week. Perhaps the kids were tired from a busy-busy Sunday? ::sigh:: Fortunately the rest of the week went better! Phew!

The Saplings really enjoyed Balsam Fir's handicraft: straw and paper planes. (You can find the instructions here.) A very simple project, but with lots of possibilities! Sugar Maple and Balsam Fir tested out different wings (i.e. width and diameter of paper circles) and body lengths (i.e. straws) to find just the right combination - medium-width circles with longer straw length - for the longest sustained flights. Heads were ducking with planes flying! ::laugh::

And we made Grass People inspired by Of Primary Importance here. Instead of using her printables, the Saplings made faces and bodies from whatever their creativity lead them to...mostly construction paper, gray duct tape and straws. We're waiting for their "hair" (i.e. grass) to grow.

Sugar Maple

English - Writing Process, Reading Comprehension, Spelling (/in/ and /e/ bases), Vocabulary, Plural Nouns

Math - Multiple Addends, Ordinal Numbers, Fact Families, Money, Place Value

Science/Computer - Vascular/Nonvascular Plants, Angiosperms/Gymnosperms

History/Geography - Colonial America

Extras - Kayaking, Latch-hook, Straw and Paper Planes, Clarinet, Plant People, Girl Scouts, Library, Soccer, Spanish

Balsam Fir

English - Exclamation Sentences, Punctuation, Printing, Nouns, Spelling, Complete Sentences, Handwriting, Types of Sentences

Math - Tally Marks, Skip Counting (5s), Numerical Order, Sets, Money, Addition/Subtraction, Roman Numerals, Odds/Evens

Science/Computer - Vascular/Nonvascular Plants, Angiosperms/Gymnosperms

History/Geography - Colonial America

Extras - Kayaking, Cub Scouts, Straw and Paper Planes, Grass Person, Library, Soccer, Spanish

Sugar Maple read The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo, a cute tale about a mouse, a spoon of thread, and a princess, and My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George, a tale about a young boy living in the NY mountains alone, and Balsam Fir continued to follow Nate on his quest to solve a mystery in Nate the Great and the Lost List by Marjorie Weinman Sharmat. 

Homeschool High School
I'm quite impressed with White Pine! He's taking his high school studies seriously this year and staying on track (mostly) with the goals we set together. But he has fallen behind a little. I can't blame him though. He'll never have a more challenging teacher than his Mom! ::wink::  For me, having TOO MANY GOALS is better than NOT ENOUGH. (I'm flexible though; I know I'm asking a lot. ::laugh::)

White Pine did some real life Biology on Tuesday. Our Pekin duck Opal developed "Bumblefoot", a foot infection. We worked together to treat and watch her condition the rest of the week. (I'll spare you the treatment details, but if you're interested read this post from Fresh Eggs Daily. You aren't squeemish, right? ::wink::)

English - Swiss Family Robinson by Johann Wyss, Persuasive Essay, Approach Paper, Nouns

Algebra - Sets, Absolute Value, Number Lines, Angles, Diameter/Radius, Area/Perimeter

Biology - Chemical Reactions, Lab: Microscope, Animal Husbandry

World History/Geography - Africa, Egypt

Extras - Kayaking, Walking, Soccer, Boy Scouts, Computer, Word Processing

Ponderings
I am amazed at the devotion and companionship between our two Pekin hens, Opal and Olive. Olive LOVES to swim and forage, but she has not strayed far from Opal's side as walking is difficult for her right now. You should have heard them "chatter" back-and-forth after Opal returned to the run following her morning inside during her first day of treatment! How worried she sounded! I can't imagine what would happen if one should "leave" the other behind. They are most definitely a couple!

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