Weekly Wrap-Up: The One Where We Were Crazy Busy

This week was one of those weeks were I felt like we spent more time out of the home than in it.    Field trip and soccer on Monday.  Music/art classes on Tuesday.  Hooked up with friends and Christmas play auditions on Wednesday.  Baby gym and a play date for the tot on Thursday.  A trip to the passport office and back to music school because I forgot to leave the check on Friday.  Ugh!!! 
Needless to say, we did not have a full school load this week.  I planned for math and LA everyday and we did about 2 days worth of social studies over the course of the week.  Even that small load was pushing it. 

Math

We’re taking a hiatus from our beloved Math-U-See for the time being.  We’re reviewing another math program for the Review Crew.  It’s certainly different but we’ve learned a couple neat tricks.

Language Arts

We’ve finally started Advanced Language Lessons and Writing With Skill by Susan Wise Bauer.  We’ve been waiting forever for their release.  Technically, we’re still waiting because neither text is out.  LOL
But SWB is graciously allowing customers to use the the proofs until the texts are ready to be sold.  For FREE.  They’ve emailed me the proofs of both texts, student and instructor guides.
I wasn’t sure how I’d do with the e-format because I really HATE reading large amounts on the computer.  Makes me nuts.  But they’ve all loaded nicely onto my iPad and I love reading on that.  I don’t know why reading on that is okay but it doesn’t bother me. 
At any rate, we’re enjoying both programs.  We’re finally seeing the results of all the repetition in First Language Lessons and Writing With Ease.  It’s like you’re finally seeing the picture that the pieces of the puzzle are forming.
I’m particularly impressed with Writing With Skills.  In just three weeks, she can outline an article or a story like a pro.  And that skill his helping her with other research projects.
And I absolutely have to mention that even though we’re using proofs that have NOT been through the final phases of editing, I’m not finding even a tenth of the amount of errors that I found in the Winter Promise products that I paid for.  Just sayin’…

Science

We didn’t have any new science lessons this week but we did finish with an experiment from our unit on the skeletal system.  You’ll recall that last week we dropped a water buffalo tooth into a jar of soda?  The results a week later…
 

Besides looking totally gross, it was cracked and there were spots where the acid from the soda ate away the enamel away.  Ewwww!!!  Certainly drives the point of brushing your teeth home, doesn’t it? 

Social Studies/ Reading

We are almost finished with Torches of Joy.  Soooo good! We finished Island of the Blue Dolphins a week early.  I’m not sure how we managed that.  I thought we were only reading what was scheduled. LOL  Mackenzie is finishing up Call It Courage, an adventure about the son of a Polynesian chief.
We’re a little further into our study of Australia.  We didn’t get too much farther this week but we’re enjoying it.  Maybe because we’ve actually been to Australia and it’s bringing back fond memories.  =o)  Look how little Mackenzie was way back then.

Other Stuff

This week in Visual Latin we studied the nominative and genitive cases.  Oh how we love our Latin teacher.

We finished up with the typing program that we are reviewing, much to my daughter’s relief.  I think my little one enjoyed it a lot though.  Except that she didn’t do any actual typing. lol

We went on a field trip to the pumpkin “patch”  I use the term patch loosely though.  As they were pre-picked pie pumpkins.   As every trip to the farm, it was HOT HOT HOT.  And as a further downer, the chicken coop wasn’t open.  Normally they let you in and you can hold the chickens but there was a PS group there and they wouldn’t open it until they left.  Apparently they’ve had a lot of problems with the PS kids hurting the chickens because there are never enough adults to monitor them.

See how bummed they are over the chickens?

And that was our CRAZY week.  Check out other homeschool happenings over at Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers.