week #4, block #2 (school year week #8)

Alright, I know this has been a VERY long time coming, but I finally have the time and energy to summarize the last of our first math block's week, which took place the last week of October. It was difficult fitting in everything I wanted to cover with all of the excitement and distraction of the week, but we did it. (Of course, we wound up having to take off the following week from any work at all so that we could recover!) This was the week that the weather "turned" on us and reminded us that winter is just around the bend -- we had to drag out our winter coats for our morning walk.

(Here's Zoo Boy and The Map Man on the hay ride at Pell Farm.)

During this last week (for now) of math, we worked with the numbers 7, 9, and 11, finishing up the bulk of our Number Quality work. (We have the option to work with 12 and 13 during our next block, which we may or may not do.) Really, this only encompasses about half of what the Enki 1st Grade curriculum calls for during the first math block, but I see no reason to rush things along, and will continue to follow the pace that suits us best. I love how well the kids did with this block, and have seen time and time again that they are absorbing the materials I'm presenting to them and turning around and finding ways to integrate them into their every day lives. This was also the last week of our Pumpkin Patch Adventure Circle.

Of course, it was a busy week event-wise as well. We had our usual Monday Homeschool Classes, where we had Community Circle, Folk Dancing, and J played soccer while Zoo Boy learned about Raccoons in my Paws-n-Claws class. We spent the next two afternoons preparing for the onslaught of end-of-week excitement. On Thursday we celebrated J's 8th birthday with his friends at a local seasonal petting-farm, where we also picked up our two new piglets. Friday was Halloween, and the kids went trick-or-treating with The Map Man while I...

...picked up our new puppy, Grace, seen here herding our ducks. As if that wasn't enough excitement, we had J's family party on Saturday here at home. Sunday I had to go pick up a few new lambs, then we all headed to my parents' house to celebrate my nieces' birthdays. Needless to say, we were all ready to collapse by Sunday night, and our lack of doing ANYTHING productive for the entire following week was the result. (Although we DID finally buy a car for The Map Man to commute in -- you wouldn't think in this day and age it would be so hard to find someone willing to carpool, but as it turns out, his month of carpooling wound up being a month of frustration for us all, with his ride blowing him off almost as often as it showed up for him. So we sucked it up and returned to 2-car Family status.)

Handwriting practice went on as usual. Reading practice included GHOSTS! Ghostly Tales from Folklore, by Alvin Schwartz, illustrated by Victoria Chess, for J; and Halloween Mice!, by Bethany Roberts, illustrated by Doug Cushman, for Zoo Boy. Storytime books for the week were Pumpkin Moonshine, by Tasha Tudor; The Runaway Pumpkin, by Kevin Lewis, illustrated by S.D. Schindler; and Miss Fiona's Stupendous Pumpkin Pies, by Mark Kimball Moulton, illustrated by Karen Hillard Crouch.

Back to Language Arts next!