Gearing up...

Next week (after all the testing this week, etc.), we'll be down to the last month of homeschooling for this academic year. We've decided to try a literature-based unit study to see if it is something we'd like to do more of in the future. This one, at my daughter's repeated insistance, will be about Native Americans, so we're using The Birchbark House as a jumping off point. So far, I have the first week figured out... we'll read a chapter each day for four days, do some research on the Ojibwa Indians, and build a (small) model of a birchbark house (though I'm not sure what we'll use yet). I also have some vocabulary words picked out, along with spelling words for Elf. I've got More Than Moccasins on hold at the library too, and Eyewitness North American Indian. I'm tentatively thinking that if this goes well, we could easily use this approach in the future with other good books. I'm picturing using Charlotte's Web as a main book, supported by James Herriot's Treasury for Children.... hmmmmmm.......

Elf had his first round of testing - Language Arts - yesterday. He said it was easy, but we'll have to see how math goes on Wednesday! While he was in testing, I took Fairy to the local library to do her homeschooling for the day. Math was an introduction to telling time (which would have been super easy if she could remember which is a 9 and which is a 6, and what 11 is...), then we read a book. After that we did some work in Explode the Code, then read a book. We finished up with word family work with letter magnets on her little dry-erase board, and then read two books. Her favorite book of the day was The Well at the End of the World, with Ladybug Girl as a close second. Then we picked Elf up and headed off to the park for a couple of hours before Fairy's check-up-- by the way, both she and Elf have been deemed "very healthy".

Speaking of doctors and health, M is feeling better every day. He's eating on a regular basis and has definately gained a few pounds, which is a good thing. We have found that brown rice pasta makes a great substitute for regular, as long as we don't overcook it! He's also taking milk thistle daily to aid in liver repair. The tremors have stopped (except once in a while while he's sleeping), and the nausea is gone as well.

Other than that, all is normal around here. We're going to read about Rome in A Little History of the World, have Elf do some writing about it, do math (both kids), have Fairy do phonics, etc. We'll read another chapter or two from Old Mother West Wind, which the kids are really enjoying. And that's our day!