Weekly Wrap-up: Week 4 - Traditions & Routines

EVERYDAY LIFE
Aren't family traditions the best? Every autumn my family comes together at Wight's Orchard to pick bushels of MacIntosh apples, and reconnect. We had a late lunch at a wonderful Chinese restaurant in town then walked along the waterfront in the misty fog. (What's a little damp, right?) Despite the long drive, these were special moments.

Fall is definitely here! Even are days are crisp now. We've closed up our windows, put an extra blanket on our beds, pulled out the sweatshirts and started baking and making "warming" foods like soups. We're not quite ready to give up our flip-flops though...

Our garden is finished for the season. Cati harvested our 9 pie pumpkins (although they're still mostly green), and I pulled up the vines and piled them onto the raised bed to decompose and add nutrients to our soil. Next, we'll add the aging compost and leaves from the lawn, and let it go until next season.

KIDS COOK
I started teaching my kids to cook at young ages. They don't always want to cook, but everyone should know the basics. With all the apples we picked on Sunday, Cati made 3 apple pies. (Click here for the apple pie filling recipe and here for the super easy crust.)

HOMESCHOOL HAPPENINGS
We're settling into a routine. My early riser, Cati, gets up before the rest of us and usually has her Math and sometimes Grammar and Writing completed and ready for check before Sam and I meander downstairs for a late breakfast. (In my defense I am up at 6:20am to let the flock into the run and fill their feed, and get Jake off to school, but then doze for a bit after.) Despite Sam's later start, he's getting his daily learning completed without complaint.

Sam started Spelling City this week. I decided to stick with the Beginning Spelling Curriculum and fill in learning gaps while building his self-confidence. Learning on-line seems to work for him and he enjoys the games. I also entered Cati's misspelled words from her daily timed journaling for additional practice as well.

Look at this Kitty Condo!

Sam spent a long time constructing a house for our cat Stripe out of cardboard boxes, Christmas lights and, er, MY duct tape. (I'm going to need yet another roll...) Not only does it have a stuffed animal inside for comfort, but there's a loft with catnip and a covered porch.

Photo Source

We also learned about Pop Art, watched this video and created some Andy Warhol-inspired Pop Art of our own, a project from here. We'll probably continue with other types of Pop Art in the coming weeks.

Cati

• Reviewed Singular, Plural, Compound, and Possessive Nouns & Poetry, Titles, Outlines and Quotation Capitalization & Corrected Misspellings in Daily Journal Writing
• Completed Prime and Composite Number, Common and Greatest Common Factor & Expanding and Reducing Fractions Problems
• Learned What Minerals Are, How They Are Formed,, Properties of & the Mohs Scale
• Learned about Ancient Egyptian Mummification, Great Pyramid and Sphinx & Sargon and Joseph
• Learned about Pop Art, Pop Art Artists and Created Warhol-inspired Art
• Phys. Ed. - Hiked up Mountain

Sam

• Studied Alliteration, Syllables and Rhyming in Poetry with William Blake Poems & Wrote a Rhyming Poem with Specific Rhythm
• Completed Beginning Spelling Curriculum Lists Weeks 1-6
• Reviewed Odds and Even Numbers, Fact Families, Number Words, Number Lines & Solving Missing Addend Problems
• Learned What Minerals Are, How They Are Formed, Properties of & the Mohs Scale
• Learned about Ancient Egyptian Mummification, Great Pyramid and Sphinx & Sargon and Joseph
• Learned about Pop Art, Pop Art Artists and Created Warhol-inspired Art
• Phys. Ed. - Walking, Calisthenics

READING and VIEWING
• Skyward (Monroe) (Me) • The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (Lewis) (Cati) • Captain Underpants (Pilkey) (Sam) • The Story of Davy Crockett: Frontier Hero (Retan) (Sam) •

 •"Mummification Parody" (You Tube) • "Great Pyramid Mystery Solved?" (You Tube) • "Syllables" (You Tube) • "Syllable Skycoaster" (Game) (GotKidsGames) • "The First Sumerian Dictator" (You Tube) • "Joseph's Tome and Palace Found?" (You Tube) • "Introduction to Pop Art" (You Tube) "The NEW Periodic Table Song" (You Tube)

PEOPLE and PLACES
• Apple Picking at Wight's Orchard with Family (All) • Jazz & Concert Band (Cati) • Boy & Cub Scouts (Jake & Sam)  • Bible Study & Fellowship (Me) • Movies & Dinner with Family (All) •

A FAVORITE SOMETHING

Happy Homeschooling!

As always, special thanks to these weekly link-ups:

Don't forget to check out my other blog posts this week!
Wednesday Hodgepodge: Welcome Autumn!
Random 5 on Friday: Time for Sleep?

And check out these FREE on-line resources for YOUR homeschool!
Skeletal System Lapbook and Printables (Must Sign Up)
American History Cookbook (Must Sign Up)
Courage of Sarah Noble Lapbook
Cursive Handwriting Curriculum (Expires 10/1)
Ancient History Notebooking Pages
10 Week Poetry Course