No.111: Our Farmhouse Schoolhouse in Photos (Week 31)

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I have major spring fever (already!) and you can tell with the lack of school posts lately. I think I’m ready for the break more than the kids are! At almost 17 months, the “baby” is definitely a toddler now and is such a distraction: climbing on the school table, whining constantly for me to hold him, or destroying everything he can reach. He’s exhausting! Just five more weeks to go… I think I can, I think I can…

NOTES AND HIGHLIGHTS

+ We added The Blue Fairy Book to our morning basket and I’m surprised at how much my older boys enjoy the stories. Favorite so far: Jack the Giant-Killer.

+ M (5th grade) started his Edison unit in science. He’s reading A Story of Thomas Alva Edison and then keeping a journal, writing as if he were Thomas himself. It has been a nice way to change up his narrations. I love seeing his creativity.

+ TJ (age 3) is suddenly fascinated by dinosaurs. A few of his favorite things right now:

Favorite show: Dino Dan (on Amazon Prime)
Favorite picture books: Dinosaurumpus!, Digging Up Tyrannosaurus Rex and we just ordered DK Dinosaur!
Favorite toys: TOOB of Baby Dinos
His brother and sister have been helping him draw using these art tutorials

+ We have a nest on our front porch fan and just discovered four little white eggs inside. After a little research, we think they are from an Eastern Phoebe. We signed up with Nest Watch (a free program with the Cornell Lab of Ornithology) and will be recording our data to help their scientists. The perfect spring nature study, just two steps from home.

+ Last week, we watched a few episodes of “Chasing Monsters” on Netflix, including one episode where the Bear Grylls/Crocodile Hunter-like host got bacteria samples from the teeth of live sharks to help with shark bite antibiotic research. It was so random, but also really interesting. And in some strange way, it tied back to our science bacteria study from a few weeks ago.

+ We’re starting to wrap up our African Geography Studies for the year – just three weeks left! This week we went to Zambia and read Beautiful Blackbird.

MOTHER CULTURE & SELF-CARE

+ Health: Running again! I’m starting slow, just a couple of miles at a time, but it feels good to be back and pain-free.

+ Reading: A random library pick called Lost Boy: The True Story of Captain Hook. It’s not something I generally read and I’m not sure how I feel about it yet. It has really great reviews though, so we’ll see.

+ Fun: I’m in a bit of a creative slump right now. I need to brainstorm to get that spark back!