No.22: Our Farmhouse Schoolhouse in Photos (Week 01)

Whew. What a roller coaster of a week. I feel like this is the first time I’ve come up for air! There were days when I was in that perfect “this is the life” bubble of happiness and then there were days where I was questioning whether to send them all off to the local public school. After being home with them all summer, I (naively) didn’t expect to experience such a transition period for the beginning of the school year. Clearly, I have no idea what I’m doing.

All in all, we survived and I think I’m more focused going into week two. You should see all of my beautifully pre-made schedules and plans! All marked up and switched around. God loves to stretch my Type-A, “everything just so” personality.

Notes and highlights:

MORNING BASKET

Still working out the kinks in our Morning Basket routine. We are looping Aesop’s Fables (although I’m not impressed with my copy and in need of a new version), Beatrix Potter, and Once Upon a Time Saints. Morning basket is primarily for the younger kids, but the big boys stuck around to listen and draw. To keep little hands busy while listening, I brought out the one surprise I’ve kept all summer: gears! (Big hit.) We also practiced saying the Pledge of Allegiance, prayed the Morning Offering and then started on this month’s poem, “About the Teeth of Sharks” by John Ciardi. I’m amazed at the ease in which children can memorize things. After three days, Sophie could say just about the entire thing! We finish Morning Basket time with our read aloud: The Cricket in Times Square.

HISTORY

+ D and J are loving Viking history! I had originally only scheduled this twice a week, but they begged and begged to have it everyday. I spent a few evenings scrambling for more projects and books to read and I think I’m set for the next six weeks. This week, we read from Leif the Lucky, traced the voyage from Norway to Greenland on the map and colored pictures of a Viking boy and Erik the Red. I also read a story from d’Aulaire’s Book of Norwegian Folktales, which we really enjoyed. Last project of the week was creating a Viking ship collage.

+ For M’s history, we got started on the Civil War unit. He read the first six chapters of Across Five Aprils. (The first chapters are pretty slow-paced, but it picks up if you persevere.) He also watched an animated map of the battle of Bull Run – I found it so helpful in my own understanding of battle strategy. #visuallearner

BRAVE WRITER (LANGUAGE ARTS)

+ We’re a week into our Brave Writer Arrow guide for A Cricket in Times Square and loving it! This week, the boys used a passage from Chapter 1 for copywork. We also talked about onomatopoeia. I would throw out a situation and they would describe for me the words you could use to describe that sound. They incorporated what they learned in their free writing later in the week. I asked for 10 minutes, but they ended up going for closer to 30!

AFRICAN STUDIES

+ I introduced our exploration into Africa (our geography theme this year) and printed a huge map to keep on the wall (I did the 3×3). The kids colored pictures while I read Africa is Not a Country. On to Nigeria next week!

LITTLE KIDS FUN

+ Sophie’s letter of the week was Ee. We read a bunch of Piggie and Elephant books (her favorite was We Are in a Book!) and cooked hard-boiled eggs. She’s always dying to peel the eggs when Mark and I make them, so this was a BIG deal.

+ A Year of Playing Skillfully doesn’t technically begin until September, so I just chose a couple activities for these first two weeks. We read Frog and Toad All Year and then played with water beads and frog and turtle toys! Huge hit, especially with TJ.

ARTIST STUDY & FREE ART

+ Winslow Homer is our first artist of the year. I read a short biography and then we checked out his painting, “Snap the Whip,” from the Simply Charlotte Mason pack. I explained the game to the kids to help them understand the painting and before I knew it, we were playing the game ourselves! So many giggles as we ran around crazily in the school room. It was the highlight of our week.

Current 1000 Books Project Total: 26/1000

MOTHER CULTURE & SELF-CARE

+ Exercise: I managed to somehow tweak my hip flexor, so I took the entire week off. It felt so strange not to workout everyday, but I’m sure my body needed the break.
+ Reading: I’m getting in a chapter or two of Anne of Green Gables before bed.
+ Fun: Getting ready for a day out (with P) at the CWBN Mid-Atlantic Conference tomorrow!

Comments

Tabitha Studer says

August 26, 2017 at 3:29 am

So inspiring!! And our fav piggie and elephant book is We are in a book too! It's so funny!
Renee says

October 30, 2017 at 7:11 pm

I'm so glad to have stumbled across your blog and these weekly schoolhouse posts. They're really inspiring me!!
- Ashley says
  
  October 30, 2017 at 8:10 pm
  
  Oh I'm so happy to hear that, Renee! Thanks for reading!