Another Week Down... Nine to Go...

 

Sunset this week while out walking by a local lake

...The Boy's Week...

He started [a review of] prealgebra, with Life of Fred's Prealgebra 1 with Biology, going through 2-3 lessons a day, and he's really enjoying it! I am glad he's getting at least some biology in there, as that is one of the sciences he really isn't too interested in generally, though he seems to be fine with it in this context.

He did a brainstorming session for his writing project of the month. Next week, he'll work on narrowing it down, getting a thesis in place, and research.

He read through World War I: An Interactive History Adventure, and is charting how many different adventures he can choose within the confines of the book. When we were at the library on Wednesday, he suddenly remembered how much he liked these books when he was younger, so off he went to choose his adventures! He picked up a couple of other choose-you-own-adventure books as well, one set in the future, and the other regarding space travel. He says that when he's done with all the variations of the WWI title, he'll look at other historical ones.

He also took apart the driver's side door on the car, to see if he could fix the slight grating that occurs when I roll the window up. He was able to pinpoint the problem, but unable to fix it at the moment. I will say that I was very nervous about this project, especially when it came to him actually taking apart the window mechanism and having the window loose. It seems to all be back together quite well though!

He also studied some German, with German Made Simple; worked on some sketches; read some more about Henry Ford; did a fair amount of skyping and computer gaming with friends; got a 45 minute private lesson at fencing when he and one of the top rated fencers there were the only two fencing épée one night; and he cleaned the family room!

Next week, I'd like him to work a little more on science, but I think he's doing pretty well overall at balancing his learning activities. I would also like him to cut back down on computer time -- he seems to go through phases with it, and it's been on a bit too much of an upswing lately.

...The Girl's Week...

She finished flying through Apples and in two days is eight chapters into Butterflies in math. The review is seeming to be good for her -- her responses to number family questions are much faster, and we've been playing around a lot with the idea of empty sets. We also reviewed multiplication tables (i.e. skip counting) by tossing a ball back and forth.

She read aloud from her beloved Mother Goose book, and is memorizing poems like crazy. Her reading skills (especially aloud) have improved so much! We also started listening to some Shakespearian sonnets on youtube, and found them read aloud by Alan Rickman, Daniel Radcliffe, and David Tennant! She wrote in her journal almost every day this week, and has started a copybook of favorite poetry. We also started reading Pizza, Pigs, & Poetry, and I think she's about ready to try her hand at writing some of her own.

She's listening to Gilda Joyce: The Dead Drop on audiobook, and, after setting aside The Cats of Tanglewood Forest (she just couldn't really get into it... yet) picked up a copy of Understood Betsy to try.

She also is working with leash training one of our dogs, having spent her own money on a new leash, harness, and collar; made breakfast for her brother and herself a couple of times this week; worked on some more sculpture and stop motion photography; went walking with me around a local lake; read about frogs and bats in her collection of library books; had derby practice; and designed and sewed, by hand, a dress for an old Disney/Barbie doll.

Over the next week, I would like to see her settle on one book to read for a while, instead of skipping around quite so much, meaning that I am hoping she can actually read all of Understood Betsy before picking something else. I'd also like to read Girls Who Looked Under Rocks with her, something I've been planning/thinking about for a while.

...Together...

We re-watched episode one of The Amazing Race (season one) and marked the first legs of their journey on the large map I printed out from National Geographic, which is now taking up almost an entire wall in the dining room/area. We read about Victoria Falls (one of the sites they visited on the show).

We read about hunters and otters in our California [natural] history book, and started enjoying Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

We watched a couple more episodes of Lost, and several episodes of Friends (I know, super educational, right?). We then talked about going back to a weekly rotation of shows, such as Once Upon a Time, Eureka, etc., rather than getting stuck on the same couple of shows day in and day out.

We also played a few card games; listened to some more of The Last Olympian; laughed a lot; took extra vitamins/supplements because my mom, sister, and brother have all had the flu, which we very much do not want; played with the rabbits; and devoured some really good homemade tacos. 

...And My Week...

I found a new place right by work to take my daily break-time walks...

I love finding wildness right at hand!

I gave a presentation on animal therapy in my psychology class this week, part of which included a visit from a dog therapy team, which seemed to be a big hit!

I completed more of my service hour requirements, at a teen crisis shelter, for the same class.

I started re-reading Six of One. Rita Mae Brown always makes me laugh, and I love the honesty of her characters.

I exercised at least a bit every day this week. I'm trying to hit 10,000 steps everyday (hovering closer to 8,000 though), which includes any running I do, plus I do some weight training. I've got a long journey ahead of me in this aspect, but am enjoying it so far!

How was your week?

{linked up at Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers}