Weekly Wrap-Up
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Happy Friday! I am so ready for the weekend. Are you? It’s been a week of ups and downs around here between attitudes and trying to adjust to new things being worked into our school schedule. One of our favorites has been Trail Guide Geography. A friend was passing along the World version a couple of weeks ago and I gladly snatched it up since I already had two of the other resource books it mentioned — Uncle Josh’s Outline Maps and The Ultimate Timeline and Geography Book.
Trail Guide has been easy to add it since it has four days’ worth of quick geography questions, designed to take five minutes or less, and several suggested, but not required, activities to choose from. We’ve just done the questions before history each day, since that’s typically when we talk about geography anyway. Then, I chose two activities to do this week. One was just labeling a map with the ocean, continents, and equator. The other was demonstrating how a globe more accurately depicts the world than a map.
To demonstrate, you draw similar sized shapes on a piece of paper and on an inflated balloon. Then you snip the end off the balloon and stretch it out to a square shape, which, of course, distorts the shapes. The kids actually said this was a fun activity. Score one for the homeschool mom.
We got to enjoy another real-life science lesson this week, when Brianna rescued this from the cat:
We immediately looked the unusual little guy up on the Internet. He’s a Southern leopard frog. We thought, at first, that the cat might have broken his back, but it turn out that the pronounced hump on his back is just the way God made him. You can see it here (along with the sticks and crud that was stuck to him):
We knew we were going to observe him for at least a day, since the kids wanted to show him to their cousins the following night. We did, however, consider keeping him longer. Until he escaped. Twice!
We managed to recapture him both times, but we figured he’d made it pretty clear that he didn’t want to be a pet. Wednesday night, after his visit to see the cousins, proved to be the perfect night to set him free. It was rainy and the road and yard was full of his kin.
Of course, we endured Megan’s sugar overload on Monday and enjoyed some time playing our giant board game a couple of days this week. And, I have become totally engrossed in Twilight. I ignored the hype until Brianna got into it. My cousin loaned her the book and I had planned to read ahead of her because I’m a faster reader and I really didn’t expect her to finish it, as she’s started and abandoned several similar length books before.
I couldn’t wrestle it away from her long enough to keep ahead! And, she finished it! I am thrilled that a book has finally interested her enough to complete. I started it Wednesday and now I can’t put it down! I didn’t expect to get into it that much, but I stayed up way past my bedtime last night reading and I can’t wait to (most likely) finish it tonight.
One last picture, just because the kids and I thought it was so funny. Last weekend, Megan had a friend spend the night. Because we were going to be taking her home, her dad left her booster seat here, sitting beside the front door. This is where Peanut spent the weekend until the little girl went home:
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Kris Bales is a newly-retired homeschool mom and the quirky, Christ-following, painfully honest founder (and former owner) of Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers. She has a pretty serious addiction to sweet tea and Words with Friends. Kris and her husband of over 30 years are parents to three amazing homeschool grads. They share their home with three dogs, two cats, a ball python, a bearded dragon, and seven birds.
I love the Twilight series as well. Like you, I didn't expect to like the books but a teenager who was with us in foster care raved about them so much I tried reading them. Then she had trouble getting her book back from me. 🙂
It sounds like a wonderful week.
What a great week! I love the frog. We had some caterpillars in our garden last week and when we looked them up we saw they would become Black Swallowtails.
As for Twilight, I saw the movie. I liked it but wasn't overly impressed, I think it's one of those movies you'd like more the 2nd and 3rd viewings. But the whole time I was watching it I was thinking "I bet this is a GREAT book" so now I'm dying to read the book.
Also, I've been meaning to tell you (since your sweet tea post) that I agree, Luzianne is the ONLY tea for iced tea. And I've been thinking of you. Our contractor loves iced sweet tea. A gallon would usually last my family about 5 days, but when the contractor is here we go through a gallon a DAY.
Geez. I must feel like Megan did. I had caffeine this evening for the first time in a while and oy, I'm just yammering on. I hope I can sleep tonight…
I guess I'll have to check out Twilight. It keeps popping up . . .
Love the balloon illustration. Amazing how those little things just draw them in.
Enjoy your weekend!
~Erin
I've been thinking about the Trail Guide Geography book, so thanks for explaining it better. And, I love how your dog choose that seat to curl up in! 🙂
Cool frog! I love it when science/nature study shows up at your front door, make it's easy. Trail Guide to Geography sounds interesting, I'll have to check it out. Thanks for sharing your week!
I love that balloon idea! We are doing maps and globes next week. I am stealing that lesson!
I love the balloon idea – fabulous! I think I would have got the idea a lot quicker if someone had showed me that!
God bless you!
Sarah
haha i love that you are addicted now. I will get bri the next book wednesday!