September 2015

We've been up to no good this Fall. Just kidding. Let's see if I can remember some of the things we've done: orchard and petting zoo visit, math room additions (just wait till you see it all! So fun!), harvesting gardens--including Trevor's giant pumpkins, helping Dad get firewood, taking turns with Dad at his new crossbow, watching the blood moon eclipse (if baby Soren came that day, we decided his middle name would be "Superbloodmoon"--I hope he isn't disappointed someday), and I can't remember much else right now. Soren sleeps like a newborn--go figure--and besides feeling goofy, my brain is strained right now. Honestly, because it was my last month being pregnant, we spent a lot of time doing boring academic stuff, which my kids actually love. Weirdos. 

Trevor smashed his pumpkins and gave them to the deer before I could take photos, but I'd say the biggest one was as big as a medium-large beach ball. Which tells you nothing because that's pretty subjective. Maybe 15 inches in diameter? Not as big as we'd hoped, but pretty good for basically forgetting about them halfway through the summer.  

We also had a baby. Well, he was born October 3, so technically not September. The day before was spent butchering a deer Sean shot on the first day of bow season with a weapon he'd only practiced with a few times before. I was impressed. However, I did not enjoy the clean-up.  The next two days were General Conference, and Soren was born smack in the middle of it at home. There was no blood moon. His middle name is Atticus. 

Ready for 2015-2016!

Last week was not our official first week of school. Tha actually happened back in August when the kids begged and begged for two weeks straight to start school, and I finally gave in. Really, we were just taking a break anyway, so it wasn't difficult to jump back in. I had decided that with morning sickness and our Florida trip in the spring, and knowing that things could get overwhelming when the baby comes, it would be best to do school like normal through the summer. We usually do school through summer anyway, but I tried to keep up our schedule like the other months as well. I'll have to explain that better sometime. 

Here are a few pictures from last week, since I didn't get any first week pictures. The first two are photos of a 15-family co-op we joined this year.  The kids each get to choose from several different classes. Trevor was sick last week and stayed home with Sean, but this is a scripture and craft class that Conrad and Abigail have together. Trevor and Conrad will also be doing drama together, Conrad has a book making class (learning about writing, authoring, illustrating, etc.), Trevor has a weather science class and a Spanish class, and Abigail has a nursery class as well. 

Full group shot:

It really was an amazing week, and the kids kept asking for more!  For biology we learned about cells, watched a documentary on the beginnings of microscopes (van Leeuwenhoek and Robert Hooke), took out our own microscope and looked at prepared slides. It really got me excited to purchase a more powerful microscope and look at some living cells rather than the prepared slides. The kids would love that!

We also started a new math history book that I've been dying to crack open, Mathematicians Are People, Too. We read about Thales. This book makes me want to go read a full biography on each mathematician!  We're also doing Life of Fred, which the kids all love, of course.  I can't wait to post about our "Math Room" that we've been working on! We just have way too much fun! 

For our actual history class, we read about Justinian and Theodora, and watched a documentary on the Hagia Sophia and how seismologists are trying to keep it from likely earthquake damage. We're also using random scraps of paper to make mosaic art like the inside of the Hagia Sophia.

I've learned so much lately about homeschool scheduling. It's always an evolving concept with needs that arise and kids growing and changing, but I'm getting a better handle on how to get ahead of the needs.