Weekly Report... Moths and More...

Another week of summer gone--thankfully we still have quite some time left since I don't plan on starting school back up until September (what can I say? I am a traditionalist when it comes to school schedules). Anyhow, here's what we have been up to this week.

Reading

This week we read more in The Children of Green Knowe, as well as several stories from the Just So Stories. The Boy remembered the whale story from our dip into Oak Meadow several years ago! These stories have been a lot of fun, and I would like to read The Jungle Book to them sometime in the next year. We also read about trees in The Story Book of Science, and some more of Treasure Island. I read a bit more of The Ordinary Princess to The Girl, as well as Peter's Old House and The Flowers' Festival (Elsa Beskow). The Boy and I are very much enjoying Swallows and Amazons. We are nearly done with Peter Pan on audiobook, and the kids have requested we start the Percy Jackson series next.

The Girl read from Dr. Suess books this week, in addition to continuing work in Phonics Pathways and Reading Pathways.

The Boy read a couple of books about Henry Ford and cars. He is still reading The Son of Neptune, along with various editions of the Guiness Book of World Records.

Nature

 A picture from Wikipedia

We had a moth hatch this week - specifically a California Oak Moth (see my slightly blurry picture to the right) After watching it raptly for some time, the kids released it near the oak tree out back.


There are plenty of these moths hatching at our favorite park... here's the underside of a table that was caution-taped off due to pupae everywhere!

We also watched a documentary called In the Company of Wild Butterflies, and it was fascinating! So much about butterflies that even I didn't know. For example, did you know that when butterflies emerge from the chrysalis, their proboscis is in two sections, and by extending it rapidly several times, they "glue" it together into a tube shape?

And by the way, our mosquitoes all died. We are growing a nice crop of oyster mushrooms though, and ordered some Shiitake plugs to try growing as well!  I also ordered the book The World in a Drop of Water, and can't wait to try it out with the kids.

I almost forgot! The Boy and I built a pinhole projector, and we all saw a bit of the transit of Venus! We're keeping the projector for future cosmic events.

Other

Besides all the reading and nature, the kids played Scrabble Junior and Sorry. They've been all kinds of busy at my mom's house. The Boy designs a lot of cars with his car design studio from his birthday, and The Girl is piecing together a patchwork quilt for one of her dolls. They still watch a lot of nature shows there too. They've played in our little pool; watered the veggie garden (which is growing by leaps and bounds!); fed the chickens; searched delightedly for eggs; collected rocks; gotten filthy playing outside; all the things kids are supposed to do on summer vacation! The Boy is also making nice progress in his piano lessons.

I've been re-reading Pocketful of Pinecones and Lessons at Blackberry Inn. I plan to read through all of Charlotte Mason's Home Education over the summer as well - it is only one volume, but dense! I'm tossing around an idea I gleaned from a message board and Waldorf research... of rotating monthly between a history focus and science focus. Food for thought if nothing else! Any thoughts on this?

I have three weeks of work left, and then we leap into the unknown. Oh, there is a chance that another position might open up, that the secretary taking my job might apply for. Too many "might's" for me to take it very seriously at this point.

Also upcoming, we have: a trip to an opera on Sunday; an end-of-year homeschool skate party next week; M's birthday in another week and a half; and of course Father's Day, so there won't be any boredom setting in yet!

Hope everyone else out there had a good week too! Don't forget to drop by the upgraded and updated Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers for more weekly wrap-ups!