His Treasure Seekers

 I debated taking this week off.  Instead I decided to just make our load a little lot lighter.  After all, we’re already a little behind in a few things, and I didn’t want to add math to that list.  So I used this more as a catch-up week, and then I shifted things around on my long-term lesson plans to make sure we don’t end up way behind come the end of the school year.

On Monday, we just did math, games on the MiniLUK, Reading Rainbow videos and a trip to the library.  Elijah turned 5 last week, so he was excited to be able to get his own library card.  Of course, I forgot to bring in my ID so we didn’t actually get his card yet… but I got the form to fill out!  Mommy fail.  Still, I checked his books out on my card, and Ian proudly ran his own pile through the “self check-out” station, and then they happily curled up on the couch and read their books for several hours.  That’s as good a school day as anything I had planned, right?  (Maybe better.)

Math

We doubled up on math this week, completing lessons 71-80 in MEP Year 2.  I’m really torn about what to do with math.  As I look at the lessons ahead, I think this year might get too challenging for Ian.  Lots of people use Year 2 for 2nd grade, so part of me feels like we should set it aside once it gets challenging.  But another part of me thinks Ian would be fine if we just went through it letting him pick up what he can without me expecting mastery.  I’ve been praying about this whole thing for weeks, and I still don’t have a clear answer.  I hope the week off will help me come to a decision about whether or not to print out the next set of practice book pages.

History Cycle

The books we’ve read over the last few weeks have made Ian somewhat familiar with the names of a few Greek gods, but I think it’s important to know some of the basic stories.  We watched several videos from the Greek Mythology for Students series, which says it’s for 4th-8th grade, but both my boys enjoyed them.  I had only checked out 3 from the library, but they wanted me to go back and get the others as well.

• “The Gods of Olympus“
• “The Trojan War“
• “The Journeys of Odysseus“

Science

We kicked off the week a little early with a field trip to Bodies: The Exhibition, a fascinating chance to see what we’ve been learning about in science up close.  I know it’s not for everyone, but I was pretty sure the boys could handle it, and they did really well.  It was a great chance to get out of our books and really see all the different muscles in our bodies, the layout of the nervous system, how blood vessels are all over our bodies, where our organs really are, etc.  Ian’s already asking to go back, but I told him he’d have to wait four years, and then we could go again the next time we study anatomy.

A friend expressed concern that the exhibit showed a lack of respect for human life, but I thought it was carefully done, and if anything, I thought it was a powerful testimony of God’s creative glory.

So that was our week, limping our way to Thanksgiving break!