summary of week #19, winter #7

We've continued on our laid-back homeschooling schedule as I try to work out some of the kinks in our rhythms. I'm trying to work through two new twists that have been added. The first is a newly added weekly visit from the kids' friend, E, supervised by our babysitter, K (all playing together in this photo). The other is my having come to the realization that it's time to add a few new components into J's day, easing him towards the first grade materials, yet NOT include Zoo Boy as he's not yet ready for the activities I need to do with J. Both situations have made for a bit of a conundrum, and I'm still working through the kinks. I hope to have it all sorted out by the first week in February, though. In the meantime, we'll continue to embrace our more casual schedule and continue to encourage social opportunities (for both the kids and myself!) via playdates (this week's were with my friend P and her kids on Wednesday, and with our pals Kyra and Fluffy on Friday).

There was no Homeschool Chorus this Monday due to the Martin Luther King Jr holiday, so the kids worked on their own music curriculum instead. Here, J plays a rockin' version of "Over The River" on the Boomwackers (which he made more challenging and energy-expending by spreading out all over the room, so he had to jump around to hit all the right notes).

Meanwhile, Zoo Boy experimented with the electronic keyboard. With no pants on. (All a part of our push to accomplish potty training prior to his 5th birthday. The time has come!)

After performing his repertoire of Boomwacker concert songs, J uses the Boomwackers and accessories to make a maze. The kids' Pokemon toys spent an hour or two traversing this and other maze combinations they came up with.

There weren't any museum classes this week, either, and no Open Gym, so we spent the bulk of the week at home. Which gave me a chance to do some much-needed mid-winter cleaning.

The full moon rising over our barn one evening this week.

Family Story Time books this week included The Lonely Wolf, by Chantal de Marolles, illustrated by Eleonore Schmid; Winter Days in the Big Woods, by Laura Ingalls Wilder, illustrated by Renee Graef (another of the My First Little House book series that the kids are so fond of); and The Tomten and the Fox, by Astrid Lindgren. The kids were absolutely delighted to see another Tomten book.