Wordless Wednesday... Spring is Coming...

Menu Plan & Frugal Notes Monday 2/27...

Trying to be more organized about this, though I missed last week!

Sunday: Kedgeree (without the yogurt and milk - we had smoked trout on hand from M's fishing trips); raw veggies. Note: the kids liked the kedgeree so much that they're having leftovers for breakfast as I type!

Monday: Pasta with pesto shrimp and broccoli , though I'll skip the pasta part and just have more broccoli.

Tuesday: Homemade chicken tortilla soup, since I have some leftovers from a roast chicken a few days ago. Toppings of crispy (homemade) tortilla strips, avocado & chopped cilantro will be available.

Wednesday: Vegetarian Tamale pie; green salad

Thursday: Swiss Steak; mashed potatoes for M and the kids; sauteed green beans

Friday: Ndole (a Camaroon stew with tomatoes, tofu, peanut butter, greens, etc. - I got the recipe from The Jungle Effect); homemade cornbread

Saturday: Homemade pizza with various toppings; salad

Frugal notes: I made a lot more foods from scratch this last week, including corn tortillas. The tortillas turned out to be really easy to make, and super delicious! I also baked rye bread (from the book Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day). The kedgeree was a quick dinner that I threw together since we had everything on hand. I realized that I used to be really good at making yummy meals from random ingredients had on hand, and somewhere along the way I lost track of that ability. I am glad to see it resurfacing now! I am down to grocery shopping every two weeks, except for some fresh veggies and fruit.

I've got the kids on "energy patrol", and our electric/gas bill was $50 less this month than last month. With the lovely weather we're having, the kids are spending more time outside, which is good for them, and our bills. I also discovered that by combining my cell phone, home phone, and internet bills, I save 5%!

My goal for March is to pay off at least one of the smaller debts we have. We're on top of all the bills right now, and I've been trimming grocery costs. Unfortunately gas prices are back up, so I am trying really hard to combine more errands.

Weight loss: I started exercising again, making good use of the treadmill M got me for Christmas a year ago. I can run at a decent pace (4+ mph) for 10 minutes straight now, which is a definite improvement. I've lost a total of 34 pounds now, since Thanksgiving, almost halfway to my goal! I found a great way to motivate myself on the treadmill, by watching reruns of Biggest Loser on Netflix while I exercise.

Have a good week!

Keeping track simplified...

A very simple, check-off style chart. Nothing to assign, simply categories to be checked off! This will satisfy, I think, my urge to plan and keep track without actually planning (since I always, inevitably, over-plan!) I printed it on card stock, and I inserted it into a page protector so I can simply use a dry erase marker each week for checking things off. I also figure, it will give me a good picture each week of what areas we are strong in, and where we could use a little more work!

If I really need to, I can always make notes, but then, that's what blogging is for! Of course with all the simplifying, I decided to de-clutter my blog as well! And I added to my Useful Links page.

Weekly Wrap-Up... 2/20-2/24...

A fairly quiet and moderately productive week!

Monday

I had the day off from work, so I gave the kids a quasi-holiday. It was Presidents Day, so we did read a couple of books...

We really enjoyed these books. I think the D'Aulaire books are deceptively simple--they really have quite a lot of information, plus we always enjoy illustrations. We also continued listening to The Phantom Tollbooth, and read more from Magic By the Lake. I am constantly amazed at what the kids retain from The Phantom Tollbooth -- this week they were acting out being in the Doldrums, which was several chapters ago. They also asked if we could make letter cookies in honor of the edible letters in the story. I think that will make a good weekend project!

Tuesday

At my mom's house, the kids had a blast playing with her new computer. It has a built-in webcam, so they made several short films with Photo Booth. Some were hilarious, with distortions that included bug-eyes, chipmunk cheeks, stretchy heads and more! Mainly the basics. Cricket worked on phonics, and had a breakthrough. Bug worked on more spelling with plurals, and we talked about words where the ending is changed, such as octopus/octopi, antenna/antennae, and his favorite: platypus/playtypi. Most people simply pluralize these words by adding "es", which is perfectly acceptable, but we have fun saying them with the "i" endings! (Yes, we are strange that way).

Bug worked on some division problems, approaching division this time as repeated subtraction. I really like Math Mammoth for this--the author uses multiple approaches to a concept so that kids get an idea of various ways to approach problems.

We read the prologue and chapter one in:

It is interesting to me that the first time, and second, that I tried to read this book to the kids, they didn't care for it. Now they seem to really enjoy it! We're not particularly focused on history right now, but are doing this as just a read aloud. The kids are talking about maybe doing a study of medieval times soon, since we have done quite a lot of ancient history, but have never gotten past ancient Rome! So I think reading through this, several chapters a week, would prep us quite nicely for volume two, if that is the route we end up going.

Wednesday

Bug had his piano lesson shortly after I got off of work, which gave me the perfect opportunity to finish reading Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, while Cricket got in some great playtime outside with a friend. I started reading this book because there was such an uproar over it! I did find it interesting, and felt sorry for both the mother and her children. I know a lot of people looked at it as a book that was saying that Western ways are totally inferior to Eastern/Chinese ways, but I didn't get that feeling from it.

After piano, we walked home - the weather here this week is amazingly warm and gorgeous. We decided in homeschooling to start off with the "extras", so we began the educational part of our day with Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding, starting with the thread A-1/B-1. Yes, we are using this program at long last! I'll write another post soon about how I am adapting it for my kids, especially Bug (since the book is labeled "K-2" on the front!) We talked about the ways people organize and categorize things. Bug cited the library as an example, and Cricket talked about grocery stores. We then settled down and read:

We also read parts of:

We moved on to a couple of worksheets on categorizing animals into groups: reptiles, amphibians, mammals, and birds. Bug's was all written, and I made Cricket matching worksheets with clip art so that they could work together. We'll be adding these pages, and future ones, to our science notebooks, which I have divided into 4 sections, one for each of the BFSU threads. And then we wrapped it up by looking at the way scientists classify animals and plants in one of our favorite reference books:

Cricket worked on some more phonics--Explode the Code, and reading from a leveled reader. She also played with our old Alphabet Apple, spelling out words. It is interesting... people (that I know in real life) kept telling me that at some point, Cricket would get it (reading that is). Suddenly, she is taking off with it and really trying! Beetle wrote in his journal while Cricket played with words. They watched Turtle: The Incredible Journey, and we read another chapter in Story of the World. The evening was finished up with a quick game of Sum Swamp, this time played a little differently, as I had Bug do multiplication rather than addition, and division rather than subtraction.

Thursday

I took a day off from work for a special event with my kids: a community matinee at the San Francisco Ballet! They showcased parts of three ballets, and explained a bit about what goes on behind the scenes. Both my kids liked the bits from Le Carnaval des Animaux, while I very much enjoyed a more modern piece (I can't remember the name!) It was a great experience, and we get to go again later in the spring!

On the way there and back, we listened to more of The Phantom Tollbooth. Back at home, we had a quick lunch, then headed out to the library, and I finally have almost everything ready to start our study of mythical creatures next week! I'm looking forward to doing this study.

We also watched a documentary our favorite librarian told Bug he "had to see" after she helped him check out a bunch of books on origami...

I highly recommend this video. It was absolutely fascinating, and inspiring! We learned about masters of origami, different techniques, using computer models to design new origami, how it is connected to art and math, and about an origami theorist, the youngest professor ever at MIT, who went to college at the age of 12, had a PhD by 20, and, guess what? He was homeschooled until college! Anyhow, the origami in this video is insanely intense and beautiful. The kids then passed the rest of the evening folding paper, while I read another chapter of Magic by the Lake aloud.

Friday

We're taking it easy today... Park Day, and reading - maybe some Magic of Reality, and/or Story of the World. Definitely more of Magic by the Lake. I'm going to finish getting ready for our mythical creatures unit over the weekend, so on Monday we can jump right in!

Hope you all have a good weekend!

Tangible progress... (and a funny picture)...

A fun picture in honor of the Wordless Wednesday theme, although this is hardly a wordless post! Don't my kids look awesome with stick-on mustaches?

And now on to the progress part... yesterday, we had a breakthrough! Let me back up a bit first though... Cricket decided that this week she does NOT want to do any phonics on the computer. Instead, she wants to sit with me and work on Explode the Code, The Reading Lesson, and various readers. I am trying to limit screen time, so this made me quite happy! Besides, I love working directly with my kids.

Anyhow, so we were sitting at the dining table. She had just completed 4 pages in Explode the Code, while Bug worked on spelling (plurals). Cricket took a spelling test, aced it, and then the breakthrough moment.. she turned to me and asked "Mommy, can I write a story now?" Of course I let her (we even skipped her math pages), and she wrote a story on her own. It is quite short, and the words are all spelled phonetically (like "hoc" for "hawk"), but she did it on her own! (with the exception of the word "chicks" which she asked me to spell out for her)

I am so, so proud of her right now! This was a big first for us, and gives me a lot of hope.

Unit Study Thoughts & Dangerous/Daring Books...

I have been researching unit studies, through my general favorite homeschooling forum, which actually happens to be a classical forum, but then many on there aren't classical educators, and it is a very active board. Anyhow, I was reading about a family that rotates the subjects of their unit studies... history, science, geography, and then through again, and I thought this sounded pretty cool! So I am thinking perhaps history, science (besides our regular science), geography, child-led/fun (like the mythical creatures unit). This way we're still covering a good range of topics, so I won't worry quite so much about gaps. Or perhaps even just history, geography, and fun stuff, since we'll already have science covered.

Yes, I do worry about gaps, mainly in math, writing, and science. And Cricket's reading... but, I feel more and more comfortable with writing since reading this book, and better about math in looking through the Life of Fred FAQs (especially this one), and Cricket will get there with reading (see more below). And science? Well, having made my choice for science, I am feeling really good about that.

One thing I like about the idea of rotating the focus of our studies is that it will give the kids a chance to really get in depth with various topics. Secondly, it will give me an excellent opportunity to utilize some of the many resources I happen to have lying about. Thirdly, I think switching things up about once a month or so will keep us from feelings of tedium.

What does this have to do with The Dangerous Book for Boys and The Daring Book for Girls? Well, I do plan on using great chunks of those as jumping off points for unit studies, and then the rest will be integrated into our everyday studies. For example, in history, we could do a unit on flight, famous pilots and pioneers in aviation, etc. Or units on great women of ancient times, famous explorers, etc. In science, there's weather, space, dinosaurs, birds, and so forth. Fun units on pirates, spies, and the list goes on. And for the integrated studies there are handicrafts, sports (maybe we could try a new one each month?), and much more!

I think we may do the history part in more or less chronological order, which satisfies the part of my mind that says that chronological history is the way to go. If we did that, I might use The World in Ancient Times as a spine for each unit.

As to the reference I made above to "see below" on Cricket's reading, I have come up with a plan of action that both she and I can accept. She loves the fun and game-like approach of Reading Eggs, and I can see where she is learning from it, but I love the simplicity and thoroughness of ClickN'Read, and I happen to view Reading Eggs as more of a supplement. So, the plan is this:
She'll complete a lesson each day from ClickN'Read first, after which she may do a couple of lessons in Reading Eggs, then finish up with a couple of pages in Explode the Code. We'll continue with bedtime reading - she reads a book to me, and then I read aloud to both kids. I know to some people this may seem pretty intensive, but we need to do this. At some point, she is going to need to be able to read, and this seems like it might get her there! I have told her that once she can read up to grade level fluently, I'll stop the reading instruction. Simple as that. And, to make it a little easier on her, I'm not requiring writing from her at this point besides ETC and some copywork.

So we're all geared up for our first fun unit study, mythological creatures. I have stacks of library books, and a cool looking lapbook resource. After that unit, which should take us through March, we'll maybe do a geography unit - Cricket's interested in Japan (mostly because I think she wants to go here again), and wrap up the year in May with a history unit - perhaps finish up prehistoric peoples? We'll be doing a very relaxed study of California history over the summer as well - lots of good books and fun field trips.

And I'll stop rambling now!

Wooo Hooo!!!

I did it... it is official! I finally, actually earned my BA in Liberal Studies, magna cum laude! Phew. One more (graduate) degree to go, but for someone who returned to college very late, after kids, and everything else, and who barely made it through high school (didn't like homework), this feels really good. I'm proud of myself! Realistically speaking, I graduated in December, but have been waiting for the official yes-you-did-graduate news.

And I just passed the 30 pound loss mark this morning too. All around a good news kinda day!

Wordless Wednesday... Math in Action...

(They are plastic base 10 blocks, but yes, they look like cheese. Cassia calls them her cheese blocks.)

Menu Plan Monday... & Some Frugal Notes...

In my efforts to be more organized (and more frugal!), I decided to jump on the Menu Plan Monday bandwagon. I went through the freezer this weekend - apparently I don't need to buy much meat for a while - cleaned out the fridge, did a little shopping, and here we go! We're attempting to cut down on meat and up our intake of veggies, beans, and whole grains at the same time.

Monday: Black bean and quinoa burritos, with tomato, lettuce, avocado, salsa and cheese.

Tuesday: Happy Valentine's Day! A celebratory dinner of baked pork tenderloin chops; green salad; sauteed green beans with balsamic vinegar. A planned dessert as well (usually I skip dessert and the kids have yogurt with frozen berries)... my husband's favorite rice pudding. I'm making it this time with brown basmati rice, vanilla, and some fresh Meyer lemon zest.

Wednesday: A busy day, so a quick dinner: spinach & mushroom scramble, with whole-grain toast, and fruit on the side.

Thursday: Roasted chicken; salt potatoes (which I think I will skip); steamed broccoli with lemon.

Friday: A bean-and-veggie soup made with stock from Thursday's chicken. Biscuits or Irish soda bread with rosemary (rather than the more typical currants).

Saturday: Fresh, baked bass (thanks to a husband who loves fishing); sauteed cauliflower and broccoli; crudites with homemade hummus.

Sunday: Leftover night!

I've been reading how-to guides on frugal living all weekend - really enjoyed Family Feasts for $75 A Week because the foods were healthy ones, not weird cheap stuff. With food, there are just certain lengths I won't go to. It was also one of the few books I've read that does not rely heavily on couponing, and I have to agree with the author here: "One problem with coupons is that they tend to be for highly processed food and name brands, items I don't generally buy." This is my issue with coupons too, except those rare ones that are just for a certain amount off of a certain total amount.

The other book I really enjoyed was The New Good Living: Living Better Than Ever in an Age of Less. I knew before that the author, John Robbins, had turned his back on his family empire (Baskin Robbins), but I never really realized that meant he had no money either! The book is well written, enjoyable, and practical.

I also had a good friend send me some fantastic tips, which I really appreciate!

I took an inventory of sorts over the weekend - freezer, pantry, linen/stuff closet, even our homeschooling materials, and I can easily see how we can do with less. There might be a couple of initial investments... for example, I'd like to buy a bunch of brightly colored washcloths to use in the kitchen instead of paper towels, but they are small investments that will pay off in next to no time. I also researched stores in my area. I've always avoided stores like Costco, because I don't want to pay a membership fee, and I generally don't buy that much at any one time, but I did find Cash & Carry, which is just about the same without the membership fee. I also decided that once a month, I should stop by the bakery outlet store, and the grocery outlet store. I have a chest freezer that I need to clean out and organize so that it can be put to better use.

We're also working on actually installing a vegetable garden. We finally decided to build a grouping of smaller raised beds/boxes, as 1) our soil isn't fantastic, and 2) I think it'll be easier to maintain. Once we get it really going, we ought to be able to grow a good amount of vegetables almost year round.

And there's my rambling for today!

Weekly Report... 2/6-2/10...

Sunday

We spent the afternoon at the beach - lovely weather, a bit warmer than I expected, and the waves were huge for our part of the coastline! We stayed for about 4 hours, standing in the surf, climbing rocks, looking for shells and beach glass... a good renewal for the soul!

Monday
Business pretty much as usual. The kids both whizzed their way through their Math Mammoth lessons, with Bug continuing work in division, and Cricket working on some more multiplication. While Bug went off to practice piano, I sat Cricket down with a free trial of Reading Eggs. She took the placement test, and ended up in Map 5. I swear I couldn't get that girl back off the computer until she went through three lessons! She did well with her Bob Book too, and did four pages in Explode the Code.

While she was on the computer, and after Bug had finished piano practice, I took advantage of Cricket's preoccupation to sit down with Bug and teach him about brainstorming. We used that bubble model technique, and he came up with several good areas to explore for his essay.

After that, they watched an IMAX video on flight, which led to paper airplane testing. We finished up the evening with a heavy dose of reading: Magic By The Lake, The Magic of Reality, poetry, and the introduction to Voyages In Time: The Beginning.

Tuesday
Cricket started a unit on borrowing in subtraction (Math Mammoth), using our beloved set of base 10 blocks. Having her approach the problem with hands and eyes before pencil and paper seemed to be really helpful. Bug worked through another 2 pages on division with remainders.

While Cricket tackled another couple of Reading Eggs lessons, I taught Bug about outlining from his bubble chart. We worked on one paragraph outline together, and I assigned him the second one for Wednesday. When Cricket was done on the computer, she did a couple of pages in Explode the Code. And we had a breakthrough! I have always had a very difficult time getting Cricket to read any of the silly sentence sets they have in ETC - this time she did it with absolutely no complaints! Bug worked on spelling with plurals in No More Boring Spelling (same Scholastic book as last week), then they did handwriting; Bug copied part of Shel Silverstein's poem "Ickle Me, Pickle Me, Tickle Me Too", and Cricket copied the Mother Goose rhyme "Lucy Locket". She tried italic script and it looked really nice. We use The Amazing Handwriting Worksheet generator.

We read through two chapters in The Early Human World (World in Ancient Times series by Oxford University Press), and we read three chapters in 11,000 Years Lost. The kids really liked the books, and begged for more, but I was getting hoarse at that point. They finished up their official homeschooling with a couple of episodes of How Its Made.

Wednesday
The kids worked on Valentines cards for our Park Day friends while at my mom's. They were simple white paper cards that the kids then decorated with stamps in many colors. Bug had piano shortly after I picked them up, so we headed off for that. Cricket played with our piano teacher's daughters, and I got in a few minutes of quiet reading--Love in A Time of Homeschooling, which is a good and honest look at the challenges of homeschooling short-term.

This book, with all the introspection the mother writing the book undergoes, gave me some fuel for introspection as well. All my deep thinking led to a serious talk with the entire family when we got home, and the general consensus was that the kids really miss unit studies. This discussion led to the formation of a giant list of possible unit studies, some historical, some scientific, some for personal enjoyment.

We completed the day with a page each of math, an independently done second supporting paragraph outline and some spelling by Bug, another Reading Eggs lesson and more handwriting (There Was An Old Woman Lived Under a Hill) by Cricket, and more of Magic By The Lake.

Thursday
The kids finished their Valentines cards at my mom's, and at home, we taped lollipops to them. We sat and discussed unit studies some more, and the kids chose a unit on mythical creatures. We also talked about this idea. I formulated a plan that I think will nicely bridge the ideas of my basics with their desires to explore other topics.

All of this planning took up a lot of time. We skated by on reading, piano practice, and chapter one from Voyages In Time: The Beginning.

Friday
Valentine's Party Day!!! It was raining off and on all day, so Park Day moved to the community room at a friend's co-housing complex. It was an awesome party - all the kids had decorated "mailboxes" and tons of cards to distribute.

Right now, we're feeling a bit worn out. The kids are watching Mr. Popper's Penguins (Jim Carrey). Tomorrow is library day, and I have three days off this weekend - one for Lincoln's birthday. I think on Monday we'll read about Lincoln for homeschooling if I can find something good at the library.

I'll leave you with this picture from my girl...


And drop by Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers for more weekly wrap-ups!

Have a good weekend!

Dare I throw all caution to the wind?

Yet another rambling post, but what can I say, rambling is fun!

I was flipping through two of my children's most prized books yesterday...

These books are a veritable treasure trove! Poetry to memorize, stories of ancient kings and queens, rules to games, the Wright Brothers, natural wonders of the world... and the list goes on and on.

I'm seriously debating throwing nearly everything else from my (over) extensive planning out the window, though keeping Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding, Math Mammoth, and Brave Writer. And maybe, maybe reading aloud A Little History of the World, simply because it is a delightful book.

Am I crazy yet, or does this sound like fun (and not too crazy)?

In the meantime, to give us a mental winter break, we're going to simply focus on getting through The Magic of Reality, which is another immensely interesting book, and doing a unit study on mythical creatures - I found an awesome one through the American Museum of Natural History!

Another Wordy Wednesday... Changes Are Afoot...

In 2007, we bought a home, with my BIL. For over four years, we have lived together, sometimes with things going more smoothly than others, but usually things went pretty well. We split the mortgage and the bills three ways, between the three adults in the house. The kids didn't mind sharing a room (three bedroom house), and with the yard, huge family room, etc., there's always been enough space... well, almost enough space. Sometimes we'd disagree, over paint colors, furniture placement, whether or not boxed foods really had a place in our home, but nothing terrible.

Now, BIL is moving on... and out. He has a girlfriend, a serious girlfriend, and they want to find a home together. They are scoping out rentals already. What does this actually mean for us, the family on an ever-tight budget (so that I don't have to work full-time and can homeschool the kids)?

Pros: BIL understands that this is quite sudden - we were only notified of this at the end of January, so he has offered, which I appreciate, to continue paying his part of the mortgage and property taxes, until M and I can gradually take it over. Believe me, I really appreciate that! We'd buy him out in an instant if we could, but that's not happening right now.

We'll have another bedroom with an attached bathroom! M and I will move into BIL's old room, the "master" bedroom. Cricket will move into our old room, and Bug will keep theirs, with their bathroom in between. This means we don't have to fix up the loft above the garage for Bug!

I won't have anyone to argue with over paint colors, because truthfully, M doesn't really care as long as the house is fairly tidy. He's not a detail man when it comes to home decor. Apricot/orange dining room, here we come!

Finally, I think this will change the energy in our home. There are a lot of differences that lay beneath the surface, threatening to become issues. For example, BIL does not like that we homeschool (tough cookies on that one!), and he and M have some personality conflicts.

Cons: With BIL no longer chipping in on utilities and groceries, money will tighter than ever. I am due for a raise in less than 3 months, and M is going to talk to his boss about a raise, since it has been quite a while since he got one. In the meantime though, I am prepping myself. I know how to be thrifty - I just need to be better at it! Goes along with my Goal #3 for this year. So I am further preparing myself with a little light reading...

So, I am cheering myself on. I know the transition of the next couple of months will be interesting, and sometimes challenging. It'll take us longer to pay off those pesky debts. But, big picture, I think this is good! We do need to get that veggie garden in full swing this year!

Any tips on a frugal life? What are your favorite ways to save money and make a dollar stretch?

Weekly Report... 1/30-2/3...

Language Arts

Cricket worked through another few lessons in ClickN'Read Phonics, specifically lessons 21-24. She's doing well with this. Supposedly this program teaches phonics up to a 3rd grade level, so if I can get her that far, I'll be quite satisfied! After that, if she needs additional phonics work, I downloaded Funnix 2 this week, since it is free through the 16th. She read 4 more stories to me - we're doing review using Bob Books to build fluency. She also completed 6 pages in Explode the Code.

Bug worked on spelling. This week, I simply used printouts from a Scholastic spelling book I downloaded sometime back, during their dollar days sales. He liked the crossword puzzles best! This was a unit working with syllables. He also finished up Homer Price, re-read Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Roderick Rules, read Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Movie Diary, and started reading Boy.

His writing this week was... well, spotty at best. I just purchased The Writer's Jungle, and am reading through it to get him up to speed. So next week we'll have some actual writing going on.

Math

We kept math simple this week, just using Math Mammoth. Cricket worked on multiplication, as groups of objects, as an array, and with number lines. (Note: please ignore the occasional backwards "2" in the sample below!)

Bug worked on division, and got introduced to remainders (or "leftovers" as they are called in Math Mammoth).

Science

We read from The Magic of Reality this week...

and added in a couple of books to explore ideas in more depth...

Both these books were a big hit. The kids liked the clear explanations in the one on DNA, and the whole story approach of the Gregor Mendel book, although they were very sad that Mendel's work went unrecognized in his own time. I have a couple more books on DNA to read aloud, and then I want to do this project to separate out our own DNA with the kids, after which we'll read more in our main science book, and then explore Darwin.

History
We switched gears for a week, and read about some American history.



The kids enjoyed it so much that we read 4 chapters in one sitting! I must say, I've never thought much about Columbus before his travels, and realized after reading this week, that the years prior to that could not have been easy, with him being made fun of on a regular basis. I think we'll continue to read from this here and there. The kids did give good oral narrations after I finished my reading.

I am also curious about this vintage book on American history. I have it as a pdf from Google books, and just need to transfer it to my Kindle.



If you've read either, or both, of these, which did you prefer, and why?

Art and Music
Bug is continuing to work hard on his piano lessons. He is continuing with one song from last week, working on the timing (I think we need a metronome!), has some scale work to practice, and a second song.

They kept themselves quite busy with art. Cricket made about 10 watercolor paintings this week and here is my favorite:


Bug is working on a series of cars and trucks, with perspective and shading. He loves working with inking, and I think he's doing a very good job!


Literature
Bug was so busy reading this week that we didn't get to any of The Hobbit! Instead, at bedtime, he read to himself, while I read animal fables to Cricket. She absolutely adores animal stories, and we have had fun reading through these stories from different countries/cultures.

Next week I hope to get back to our regular bedtime reading. We're also between audiobooks, as The Phantom Tollbooth hasn't come in yet!

In Other News
We deep-cleaned the family room this week, having already done the living room. I am trying, desperately, to get rid of the clutter and get more organized, as per my New Year's Goals. I am doing well with goal #1, as I just passed the 25-pounds-lost mark! And we're making progress with the other goals too, although I need to work harder on #3.

We also discussed and have settled on changes to our current curriculum, which we'll continue through next year as well. Our sort of relaxed, Charlotte Mason approach is working well for us - the lessons are short, the books are good, and we're appreciating the process of learning these days.

Don't forget to go by Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers for more weekly wrap-ups... the exact link isn't up as I write this, but I'm sure it will be soon!