Thursday, April 25, 2013

A Peak At Our Week: Session 5 Week 1 - Beginning the Home Stretch

In My Life This Week
Spring HAS arrived at Our Side of the Mountain! Relaxing in the hammock under the budded maple trees, the Spring Peepers and wild birds sing loudly and the red squirrels scamper around the branches above. Green grass is growing and early flowers have sprouted in Sugar Maple's garden. The heat inside the house has been shut off and the windows are open days. And we're on our last session of Year #9!

Cluck and Quacks
The Saplings fashioned a make-shift pen for the lil' chicks out in the veggie garden for their first outside romp now that they have most of their big girl feathers. Although Nutmeg, Amber and Butterfly were on high alert, they scratched and pecked and fluffed while the older hens, outside the wired fence, ignored them.


On the Dinner Menu
☀ Ham, Cheese and Broccoli Strata with Pineapple Chunks ☀ Hot Dog Roast Outside with Baked Beans, Cole Slaw, Potato Salad, and S'mores ☀ Homemade Ham Fried Rice with Veggies 


Homeschool Happenings
SIMPLIFYING.

I've wanted to figure out a way to get some of this "delight directed" learning in despite my more "traditional" school views. But where to start? Gardening! Alaska! This week I decided to sit down WITH THE SAPLINGS and just learn about gardening and Alaska without any preplanned studies. We read. We wrote. We drew. We discussed. Whatever worked. And the sapling were confused. Not our usual approach to school.

We also read on in SOTW 2: Middle Ages, completing our mapwork and wall timeline along the way. And the younger saplings worked on their Saxon Math and Math-U-See. Sugar Maple is super excited that she should finish her ENTIRE math book this year.

In preparation for writing his first 10 page+ research paper, White Pine read How to Write a Term Paper (Elizabeth James and Carol Barkin) and then chose his topic: Comparing Union and Confederate Civil War Battles . He spent the rest of the week taking and citing notes from his research...and finished up his Computer Science 101 class from Coursera and continued on with Biology, World History, Geography and Cultures, US History Video Project, and Algebra

What We're Reading
☀ Darling Jim (Christian Moerk) (SP) ☀  Julie of the Wolves (Jean Craighead George) (SM) ☀ The Bear Scouts (Stan and Jan Berenstain) (BF) Prince Caspian (CS Lewis) (Read Aloud) 

Places We Went, People We Saw
☀ Scouts (All) ☀ Softball (SM) ☀ Library ☀ Co-op/Playground (All) 

Our Favorite Thing

Something to Share

As always, linking up to these WONDERFUL blog hops!

Homegrown LearnersThe Homeschool Villagehttp://hammocktracks.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/savannahbutton2.png photo 79396fe0-1f8b-44f8-a90e-f8ca7bfa801e_zpsa74bcc3b.jpgHip Homeschool Hop Button

16 comments:

  1. That picnic meal looks yummy. Sometimes there is nothing yummier than grilled dogs with potato salad.

    ReplyDelete
  2. So glad you have some warmer temps and that your little ladies can get out and enjoy it! We are getting ready to launch into our gardening unit, as well, and plan to continue it through the summer. White Pine's paper sounds like something Dawson would really enjoy! He has done so much work this year ... I know you must be so proud of the young man he is becoming.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Campfire in a wheelbarow? Love it! Those chicks look adorable...and I loved that you said the saplings were CONFUSED with the change in school. That's the way, Mama...keep 'em guessing! ;)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Lovely ideas,
    And school looks fun and exciting.
    I am linking after you at HOmeschool REview,
    Blessings
    Janis www.janiscox.com

    ReplyDelete
  5. Great food - great books. Now you have me thinking about ham and broccoli and cheese for supper tonight! Have a wonderful weekend!

    ReplyDelete
  6. When we went to Alaska the gardening was HUGE - the veggies were soo big and sooo fresh. The growning year is shorter but the daily sun is longer... Have a great weekend and YUM!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Your chickens are SO cute. I want to get some chicks but my hubby is against the idea. I love the outdoor picnic! Looks like a great week!!

    ReplyDelete
  8. I'm glad spring has arrived for you guys! How exciting. The chicks are so cute and look like they are getting so big!

    ReplyDelete
  9. All of your menu items sparked my taste buds but none like the hotdogs and coleslaw...yum yum yum.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I love the fire in the old wheel barrow. You're brave to do a "delight directed" study. My kids would love it, I am just not wired that way. Maybe I'll try sometime. Have a great weekend!

    ReplyDelete
  11. You guys have once again packed in a lot of great activities! The cook out looks like fun. It's still only in the 40-50 degrees range here! I'm so tired of cold weather! Thanks for joining us at Friendship Friday!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Sounds like a fun week. I'm not good at the delight directed learning either. Ours usually happens by accident, and it is in addition to regular school work. I'm trying though.. I'm trying.

    The chicks are cute. I honestly don't think I've ever seen little chickens before. Full grown ones, and baby chicks that just hatched (like in preschool classes), but that was it. A learning experience for me, just reading your blog! :)

    Have a good weekend.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Great week. I love the wheelbarrow grill.
    Blessings, Dawn

    ReplyDelete
  14. Love your week and your opportunities to experience delight driven learning together!

    Beautiful quote too:)

    ReplyDelete
  15. I love the collage with the hot dog roasting pictures! What a great idea to have the fire in a wheelbarrow!

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for reading! Please share your thoughts in the comment box. We love hearing from our visitors!