Weekly Wrap-up: Week 4-5 (Days 42/44) - The One Where Autumn Returns

Autumn has returned to Maine. In just a few days time, we've gone from hot, humid high 80s to cool, comfortable 60s. Trees are starting to show their reds, oranges and yellows. Sweatshirts have been pulled out of the closets. Windows are cranked shut around dinnertime. Soon, flip flops will disappear. Soups are warming in the crockpot and cocoa is back in the cupboard. If only Autumn would last until Spring...

As you may have noticed, I haven't been keeping up with our weekly wrap-ups. We have been chugging along, learning new things, experiencing life, enjoying our time together.

Tom and I are getting in our last days of fishing in our little dingy. Soon, it'll be too chilly to head out for bass and perch. We've had a wonderful time together!

Sam has been discovering "Sun Science" with Apologia Astronomy Lesson 2. We have 2 more projects, modeling a solar eclipse and making a pinhole viewing box, and we'll be moving onto Mercury. But, in the meantime...

He melted (and burned!) chocolate by focusing the sun's rays with a magnifying glass (in the parking lot of the school while Cate was at concert band practice). 

And made a solar oven out of a pizza box, tin foil and plastic wrap. He baked a cheese burrito for lunch with chunky Southwestern salsa. It "only" took 45 minutes to melt the cheese on a 65 degree day.

Cate loves Chibi, a form of Japanese manga or anime, and has been printing out and coloring them from a website called Deviant Art. With some encouragement and You Tube videos, she's started to create her own Chibi this week (but isn't ready to share).

Who would have thought that after 4 months our supposed-to-be-indoor cat, Stripe, would return! Tom heard her one early evening yowling outside our garage. (Apparently, she was the culprit getting into the trash the last couple of days...) She dashed across the road into the woods, but came to me when I called her. She's in remarkably good shape with no fleas or ticks, but quite thin.

In the meantime at STEM, Jake had an unexpected day off from school yesterday and today. On Wednesday we were pelted with sheets and sheets of heavy rain, sometimes as much as 3 inches an hour. The school's basement flooded! Clean-up and assessment of damage was done yesterday and today.

As always, special thanks to these bloggers for their weekly homeschool blog link-ups. Click on over to see what other homeschoolers are doing!

Happy Homeschooling!

Six Word Saturday: Hooked it!

Join Cate at Show My Face for Six Word Saturday.

Have a WONDERFUL weekend!

Weekly Wrap-up: Week 5 - The One that Begun Summer Studies

Our Summer Studies began this week. After 4 weeks off, it's time to do a little focused learning. I wouldn't call us "year round" homeschoolers, but some extra work on areas of struggle, a little math review and lots of reading give us a jump start for the fall. And why not EARN those ice cream cones (that I'd get them anyway but don't tell)?

I found this printable years ago, using it on and off as a summer studies incentive chart. When the kids complete 12 lessons of Math and 12 days of Reading and/or other Language Arts, it's ice cream time! (As the teacher, I get an ice cream cone too! It's only fair, right?) If you can find ice cream STICKERS for the squares (unlike me) it definitely adds to the chart.

Incentive Chart Source

Both kids will be participating in the Every Hero Has a Story summer reading program at the library and doing Khan Academy math, but Cati will review sentence diagramming with Grammar Revolution here, a struggle from last year, and Sam will learn cursive using Handwriting without Tears. Just for fun, Jake, my oldest who attends a STEM high school, plans to study Finance on Khan Academy. (Yeah, for fun.) He wants to get a jump start on his year-long project that includes designing, building, marketing, and selling a product.

Now, don't feel too badly for them. We're only spending 2-3 days a week on our summer studies (unless the kids decide they want ice cream sooner or more often), and only when we're not at the lake swimming or fishing, off to camps or enjoying time as a family. Summer studies are just a little something to keep us thinking through vacation.

In the meantime, Tom and I are enjoying fishing together, sometimes with family and the kids. We went to my sister's favorite fishing spot this past weekend. Chris, her friend, caught a sunfish and a perch, and my husband caught his first fish, a large mouth bass.

But anyone can catch a fish with a fishing pole with enough patience. It takes REAL fishing talent to catch what I did...

I snagged a FRESH WATER CLAM, folks! Who catches a CLAM with a HOOK? I have yet to actually catch a FISH...

Sam decided to join us one evening. It was his first time fishing! I taught him to cast, avoiding trees and lily pads, mostly. We saw fish chasing our lures, but no strikes.

Another sister got married this past weekend. I was the official photographer, taking about 2000 snaps. I left the SD card with her though, to go through the photos. I did get a few of the wedding location on my cell phone. What a backdrop, huh?

The sun hasn't been out much this week, but we did enjoy an hour near the lake between raindrops, reading, watching the boaters and paddle-boarders go by.

Happy Independence Day! 

As always, special thanks to these bloggers for their weekly homeschool blog link-ups. Click on over to see what other homeschoolers are doing!

"When one teaches, two learn." - Robert Heinlein

Weekly Wrap-up: Week 4 - The One with Seeds, Sunsets and Strawberries

Another week with the kids visiting Nannie and Grandpa Lobster. Another week of quiet downtime, coming and going with few obligations. Another week of puttering around the yard, planning school, fishing, reading, and crocheting. It's a hard life, but someone has to do it!

I replanted the garden. I sowed more pie pumpkins, weird yellow-skinned cucumbers, wax beans, and Snow peas. With the help of Jake, we covered the garden over with wire to keep out snacking chickens and wild birds. (Those yellow-and-black Goldfinches are pretty though...) And I fertilized with an organic mixture from the hardware store. I have to say: That stuffed SMELLED something awful! Does that mean it'll work well?



I had to be creative with watering the garden though. Who wants to stand there for-ever? I have crocheting to do and books to read and sweet tea to sip.

We fished when we could. Unfortunately the trolling motor we bought used has some, um, issues, and with time constraints we just headed out to fish from shore. We've yet to actually catch a fish, but the serene late afternoons are so worth the effort. Just look at these photos! NO editing whatsoever. (Only my name added.)

As soon as the farm opened up for strawberry picking, my step-kids and I were there. I don't think many people knew they opened U Pick early because we had the field to ourselves. We ended up getting about 9 pounds or so of juicy, fragrant strawberries. I've been making meals of strawberries and cream. Nothing better than farm fresh, just picked berries!

I helped a stunned Hermit Thrush. I'm assuming it flew into one of our windows as I found it breathing, but feet up in front of our door. When it didn't move after 10 minutes, I picked it up with an old towel placing in on my outdoor table under the trees. Thrush like to hang out in the "understory" of forests. It was another 20 minutes before it was able to fly away.

Next week? We're heading down to pick up the kids. We've missed them. The house will again be noisy and there will be never-ending dirty dishes in the sink. We'll be signing up for the summer reading program at the library, having lunch at the Rec Center, swimming at the lake, and starting summer studies.

As always, special thanks to these bloggers for their weekly homeschool blog link-ups. Click on over to see what other homeschoolers are doing!

"When one teaches, two learn." - Robert Heinlein