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Weekly Wrap-Up: Family, Field Trip and Co-op Fun!

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It’s been another busy week in the Weird, Unsocialized household, but I have felt like I had it a little more together this week and have felt more caught up than I have in awhile. It probably won’t last, but I’m enjoying it while I can.

I’d been planning on trying to spend some time with each of the kids, so, on Sunday, when Megan asked me to help her make some bowls with a craft set she got for her birthday, I immediately agreed. The set contained lots of little plastic crystals in different colors, which are poured into a pie pan randomly or with a design.

Then, the plastic pieces are baked until they melt and form a solid sheet. That sheet is cooled for about 20 minutes, then, placed over a soup can and baked again to achieve the bowl shape.

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It was a fun project and turned out to something that Megan (7) needed very little help with, except for the actual baking. She anxiously awaited the finished project during the two-part baking process. When the bowls were finished, I asked her what she thought of them.

“I love them,” she gushed. It was all totally worth hearing in her voice that excited satisfaction with the finished project.

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Later, we all played some video games, colored, and worked a puzzle together. Even Peanut, our dog, got in on the family time action. He has a really hard time placing the puzzle pieces, though, not having opposable thumbs and all.
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At our co-op on Wednesday, it was my turn to teach the kids about our artist of the month, da Vinci. I think they enjoyed the presentation and I know that I enjoyed preparing for it. Da Vinci was really a fascinating man. Did you know that he drew out the plans for a bicycle — that would have worked — 300 years before the first bicycle was ever built? Or that there is evidence to suggest that he actually built a robot, for which he drew plans, that could sit up, wave its arm and turn its head? I highly recommend the book Who Was Leonardo da Vinci? by Roberta Edwards, if you’re looking for a fun, interesting, easy read about da Vinci.
As part of our Italy unit, we began building a paper mache model of The Leaning Tower of Pisa. I hope to post some pictures of the process once the whole thing is completed, but so far, it’s looking like I’d pictured. Once again, I’ve been so proud of Brianna for taking over another project. She is really becoming an independent learner and it’s fun to watch her taking the initiative to do so much of the work on this unit.My biggest frustration this week has been reading. I’m starting to feel really anxious about Josh and Megan’s reading. I want them to be reading fluently, on “grade level.” Now! I really liked the way that Scaredy Cat Reading Level 2 was set up, but I’m not feeling that same sense of confidence about Level 3. I’ve been seriously thinking of trying to pick up a copy of Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons or Phonics Pathways.

I guess I need to go back and re-read my post about teaching reading at The Homeschool Classroom this week. I did take my own advice about “echo reading” yesterday and I think we’re going to plan a lot more of that back into our day than we have been. Josh and Megan both did better than I thought they would. I think once Josh gains a bit more confidence, he’ll do fine.

We ended our week on a fun note, taking a field trip to a local corn maze with our homeschool group. The weather was perfect for it and the kids had a blast! I think Josh will be the official guide for any corn maze trips I go on in the future. Last year Josh went with off with some friends in a different group who wound up going through the maze twice while my group wandered around for nearly an hour trying to find the way out of the “easy” trail. Today, we went through in about 20 or 30 minutes, with only one wrong turn. Did I mention that my group last year was all the moms and toddlers? *blushing* I guess we were too busy talking to find our way out. Yeah, yeah! That’s the reason.

This weekend, we’re planning more…nothing! Which is fine with me. That’s the one nice thing about football season…Brian doesn’t want to go anywhere, so we can all just relax around the house together. Nice.

So, what are you plans for the weekend? How did you week go?

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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.

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5 Comments

  1. sounds like loads of fun this week. I missed Thursday night dinner! 🙁

    Hope you guys have a wonderful weekend of doing nothing!

    Reply

  2. Sounds like the maze was a lot of fun. I was afraid to try since I am directionaly challenged. 😉
    You had a great week! I can’t wait to see the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

    Reply

  3. Looking forward to seeing your pictures of the leaning tower of Pisa.

    Thanks for the book recommendation on Da Vinci. I have been trying to find a way to add in Art Appreciation and it will be just the thing to get us started.

    It is a worry when they don’t read when they are ‘supposed to’. My ds is 9.5 and has struggled with reading yet his sister is 6 and she loves to read and will read on her own.

    I think you hit the nail on the head in your article about reading on homeschool classroom that in school its all about crowd control.

    ds’s reading has improved massively since we took him out of school 18 months ago but is still ‘behind’ but I try not to worry about it and read them both lots of great books and that is slowly giving him more of an interest.

    I think a lot of the time they need a reason for reading and he is just starting to get that now. He wants to read his favourite websites himself and his pokemon books and he is getting there slowly but surely.

    Reply

  4. That sounds like a great week! Thanks for doing this and for sharing what you’ve been working on. It’s so nice to “meet” you!

    Reply

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