Full disclosure: this week was really, really hard. Ladybug has been having some problems, especially with reading, and I finally had to face up to it, and figure out what to do about it. The good thing about also having a child in the public school, though, is that I have some connections to people who can give me suggestions and recommendations. I think I have a plan of action figured out, and the person I talked to at the school agreed that homeschooling is still the best option for her, especially in light of some bureaucratic stuff happening at the state level. Next year I’ll be trying a new handwriting program with her, and possibly a new reading curriculum. I’m not going to bother getting anything new now, though, because we’re so close to the end of our school year.
Other than that, the week was pretty good. We got to have Christmas this week, as our religion lessons were all about the births of John the Baptist and Jesus. It was nice to read the familiar Christmas stories again! Bunny recited her lines from the Christmas program when we got to the angels and shepherds…her memory is excellent!
Turkey and Bunny had to write their autobiography in Language Arts this week. It was fun to see what things they wanted to share about themselves. What is important to them was very evident in their stories!
We moved on to the post-war era in history, learning about Truman defeating Dewey against all odds in the 1948 presidential election, and focusing a lot on McCarthyism and the “Red Scare.” It’s interesting to see the same mistakes being made over and over in U.S. history…you’d think at some point we’d learn from the past! On Monday, our lessons just happened to line up so that we got to learn about Jackie Robinson on Jackie Robinson Day. I love when things like that happen…I couldn’t have planned it if I tried!
In science, we finally finished up our lesson on the lymphatic system. We’re currently growing some bacteria in petri dishes…I’ve been dreading this experiment since the beginning of the year! I really don’t want to see how much bacteria is in our house, but I’m a good sport, so I suggested some areas for the children to swab that are likely to be bacteria-prone. Ladybug chose the toilet (gross!), Turkey chose the kitchen sink (which is what I’ve heard is one of the dirtiest areas in any house), and Bunny picked the phone handset (something that often gets overlooked in routine cleaning). It’ll be interesting to see which one grows the most bacteria…I’m sure I’ll be cleaning whatever it is with bleach once I see the growth!
I’m hoping for a field trip next week, and finally finishing up our current read-aloud: Miracles on Maple Hill!