Some local friends were on Spring Break this week, but we forged ahead with our schedule as usual. The best part about the local schools being on Spring Break was that I had the opportunity to hire two teens with some time on their hands to clean my kitchen. I find it hard to make time for serious cleaning…and it’s not just because of having a baby…I always can find some excuse! 😉 It was a win-win with the teens earning some money toward their financial goals, and me ending up with a kitchen that hasn’t looked this clean since we moved into the house for a reasonable price.
Here are a few highlights from our week:
1. Mr. E working on a Lego set he got over the weekend as a belated birthday gift. I’m so proud of him for focusing on the directions and assembling one car from the set almost entirely on his own!
2. Miss M assembling her horse lapbook. We didn’t quite finish the assembly, as it kept getting pushed to the bottom of our to – do list. With Expert Day coming up next week, deadline pressure will help us finally bring it to completion next week!
3. I found an offer for a free horse magazine a couple months ago, and the first issue arrived this week! Miss M enjoyed looking at all the pictures and reading some of the articles, even though it is really not a magazine aimed at kids.
4. Miss M’s writing and spelling work came in the form of letter writing. Inspired by a lesson in her Spectrum Writing book, she wrote a letter to friends from across town that we don’t see very often. A question directed to Miss M in a family Easter card from her great aunt about what books she has been reading prompted her to begin a letter about some recent favorites. Since spelling is still a big struggle for Miss M (to the point where I think it would be difficult for others to “get” what she is trying to say), I have her write a rough draft. I then correct her spelling mistakes and have her write a final draft.
5. & 6. The kids were given the suggestion at church to make “Easter Bags” to give to friends. There were some pre-made bags with treats and info about the meaning of Easter we could have picked up at church…but my kids really want to go the DIY route and make their own. I made sure they had some empty bags, Easter eggs and candy and they are pretty much taking it from there!
7. Math….oh, Math. There is something about doing math that lends itself to being a refining, character building process. For both me and Miss M! We worked on lessons 92-95 in Right Start C this week. Some days were a piece of cake — Miss M finished the lesson 92 worksheet with ease on Monday. Presented with the exact same sort of problem on Tuesday, we had nuclear meltdown. Today’s struggles were less about how to do the math problem, and more about how to use the calculator as the lesson suggested (as Miss M is doing in the picture). I tried to explain that as long as she got the concept, I could help her with using the calculator. But she was determined to do it herself, to the point of frustration. Math is a testing ground for learning patience of my part, and for Miss M to learn about humility, being teachable and dealing with frustration/asking for help appropriately.
8. The boys came up with a great project idea today. Disappointed that I couldn’t find any “Angry Birds Space” coloring sheets to print out for them (I could only find coloring sheets of the original “angry birds”), they asked me to print out lots of small pictures of the various birds and pigs from the space game. They got started cutting these pictures out and gluing them on large sheets of paper (Thanks to Grandma Karen for supplying us with lots of blueprint-sized scratch paper!). They are creating their own “angry birds space” levels on paper!
9. Continuing on the “Horse” theme, we read this book, Once Upon a Horse, instead of our regular history this week. I’ll be writing more about this book for Read Aloud Thursday next week!
Have a wonderful Easter weekend!
I’m linking up with Collage Friday @ Homegrown Learners and the Weekly Wrap-Up at Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers
Homeschool Discoveries 
Looks like a great week. We have loved learning about horses here, too — I think we took a 2 month horse detour in the fall!!
Thanks for linking!
Haha! I think you’re right about math and character building! Great idea on the win-win with having teens come help you clean, too!
Oh, I like the idea of hiring teens to come help. I need to hire some teens to do just about everything once in a while. I’m a clean freak, but once in a while I just get tired of being a clean freak and need someone else to do it for me. I’ll have to remember this idea.
I really love the Easter bag ideas. It’s a little late for us this year, but I’ll definitely have to keep it in mind next year. It’s a great project for us to do and hand out around our very small subdivision.
Testing. . . to see if I can comment now. 🙂
Okay, well, I think my comments are linking back to my old blog, but I don’t care. . . I just want to commiserate over RS lessons 90+! 🙂 We did the same lessons this week and WHEW! (Read more about it on my wrap up post on my *current* blog.) Otherwise, it sounds like you had a good week. I’m intrigued by paying teens to clean your kitchen–what a great idea! I really struggle with housework, too. (Maybe not reading so many blogs would help, huh?) 😉
we are watching Sea Biscuit at this moment 😉 we love horse stories! Happy Easter – looks like a wonderful weeK
I love what you are doing with the horse theme for your daughter! It’s been hard for me to stray from the curriculum and plans as this is our first year homeschooling and I’ve been a bit nervous to “get it all in.” I definitely want to do more of this next year though!
The ideas about have the teens come clean is brilliant! I could have used some help like that today getting ready to host Easter dinner here tomorrow 🙂
I can feel your math pain. My younger son get very whiny/weepy when he does not understand something right away. This usually comes up in math and it can be draining!
I loved reading about your week. Happy Easter!