This was kind of a weird week, as varying children were under the weather with some kind of upper respiratory something or another. We did still have school, but I cut back on what we were doing so as to accommodate those people who were feeling lethargic. For Ladybug, that meant taking the week off from Language Arts, although she did insist on trying (with surprising success!) to read everything she encountered. We also took a break from science, which is the easiest thing to step away from, both because we were at a natural break anyway, having finished the digestive system and nutrition chapters, and because there is more wiggle room in the science schedule than in any other of our subjects.

We’re finally starting to move into some new territory in math. Ladybug is working on finding the number that comes between two other numbers…totally easy for her, but still good practice. She loves numbers and counting, so math is very natural for her. Turkey and Bunny are working on factor trees, and the difference between prime and composite numbers. I wish there was an easier way for them to skip ahead a bit, because the stuff they’ve been working on (mostly review) has been so easy…I think that’s one of the challenges of working with a spiral curriculum ..there’s no good place to just leap forward!

In our Reformation studies, we finished our last lapbook, the one for John Knox. We also learned about several rulers, including Protestant-friendly Edward VI, and Catholic supporters Mary Tudor (“Bloody Mary”) and Philip II. We read about C.F.W. Walther, as well…this would have been even more interesting had we actually been able to go to the Saxon Lutheran Memorial a few weeks ago, but we are planning on visiting his gravesite before the month is over. For our craft project, we made a banner for our school room. Over the next year or so, I plan for us to make banners appropriate for each of the major church seasons/festivals, so we can have a constant visual reminder of the church season we’re in. Since it’s Reformation time, we made a red banner, which looks a little more Pentecost-y than Reformation-y, but will work for our purposes…at least the color is right! The children really enjoyed going through the banner book and choosing the pattern they wanted, and then arranging the pieces just so on the banner. I’m really looking forward to making the rest of the banners with them, starting in Advent!

In history, we finished up the Reconstruction era. Next week, we’re going to suspend our regular American history lessons altogether, so that in addition to wrapping up the Reformation, we can take some time to learn about elections and how government works.I’m hoping this gives the children some idea of our electoral process that is not the constant barrage of commercials, phone calls, and junk mail we’ve been receiving! We’ll also be starting our November “thankful tree” on the first. I’m looking forward to all of the fun Thanksgiving things we’ll be doing in the coming weeks!