Our Week

  We  had another busy week. We continued working on getting Doodles moved into her "new" room, and hubby put shelves in her closet, as well as in the entryway closet. We all pitched in and helped. We still have some more organizing to do, but at least we've gotten a good bit done. We plugged on in school, doing most of our schooling on the couch while I held & cuddled Baby Girl. We finished Week 31 of Sonlight's Condensed One Year American History. We discussed World War II, The Cold War, and The Korean War. I must admit here that I really did not understand what The Korean War was about until we studied it this week. Another perk of homeschooling: mom learns a lot, too! I want to give a shout-out to Sonlight here: this year, using their American History Curriculum (elementary level), I have either learned about something I'd never heard before or understood more about the "why" behind familiar historical events, on numerous occasions. We have had some great discussions as a family, and we have been inspired to go online or to the library to do further research on certain topics, people, and events.
   We also began our discussion of The Civil Rights Movement this week, and we will continue discussing it throughout the upcoming week. We started a new read-aloud, Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, that the kiddos are really enjoying. They are quite shocked and horrified at the treatment of black Americans during that time period. I am thankful to know that my children cannot imagine treating anyone in that way. And speaking of treating others kindly....I must say that the books I've posted about here and here and here have been very helpful. We are connecting more as a family, and Doodles & Bug are bickering a lot less & learning to work out their problems in a constructive way. Now if I could only do away with Doodles' nasty (at times) preteen attitude! And, to help everyone get in gear and look forward to starting our school week, I've instituted "Marvelous Mondays." We will have a "special" breakfast that I will prepare and have waiting on the table when the kids get up for school. We also have a special "Tea Time" on Mondays, which I've posted about before. During that time, usually between 2:00 and 3:00 in the afternoon, we have tea/coffee/hot chocolate and a snack while we study an artist and his work or listen to a composer & read his biography. I got the idea here.
  In science Doodles is learning about fossils, which she wasn't thrilled about initially, but she has been pleasantly surprised that it's "not as bad" as she thought. Bug is learning a lot about everyday things with this book: Usborne Finding Out About Everyday Things, and today he did some experiments with dishwashing liquid. He is really enjoying this book and looks forward to reading it each day. He especially enjoyed learning about how toilets work, and then he had to run to our hallway bathroom to see it in action!
  Doodles is continuing with her Twilight unit study, and she is having a blast. This week she researched wolves, wrote a persuasive paragraph, wrote inner dialouge for a character, and designed a family crest. She excitedly asks each day, "What is my Twilight assignment?" LOVE it!!!
  Baby Girl is still enjoying Goodnight Moon, and as you'll see below, she likes for Daddy to read it, too. She also played with a ball this week, which is a big step for her!

Special breakfast for "Marvelous Monday"

Bug sands wood to help build the shelves

Now that he's read about how a toilet works, he wants to see it in action

The family crest that Doodles designed

Baby Girl plays with a ball

Baby Girl is still enjoying the ball

Daddy reads Baby Girl's favorite book