This was another busy week! We made our annual trek to the Eckert’s pumpkin patch, to pick the biggest pumpkins we could carry. I’d like to say that we learned something while doing it, but pumpkin picking is just one of those fun field trips that doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with school (although, some years it has).

Our religion lessons continued to focus primarily on Martin Luther. We learned a lot about his years at university, and finally the moment where he realized that we are saved by grace through faith. From here on, we’ll be learning about his work as a reformer, which is the more familiar part of the story to the children, but still good to hear again.

Turkey and Bunny had a brief introduction to exponents in math today. This scares me a little bit. Meanwhile, Ladybug is learning how to add two double-digit numbers in her math lessons. I remember when that scared me, too, but now it’s just a welcome relief from more difficult math concepts!

I’ve noticed a big improvement in Turkey and Bunny’s narrative writing over the last two weeks. I have to admit, I’m kind of relieved, because I was a bit worried about their progress up until now. But they seem to be getting better, and are more on track with where I think they should be.

We learned about some famous ancient Egyptians in history this week, including Queen Hatshepsut and King Tut. The children were very amused to learn that Queen Hatshepsut went so far as to wear men’s clothes and even a fake beard. Bunny, of course, was also outraged that she wasn’t supposed to be ruler in her own right at all. We also enjoyed reading the story of King Tut’s mummy again, even though we read it once a few weeks ago when we first learned about mummies. That’s been a favorite book for quite some time around here!

Our science lessons brought us to our home planet this week. We spent a lot of time discussing why the tilt of the Earth is important, and how we wouldn’t have seasons without it. This can be kind of a hard concept to grasp, but having a globe that they can look at makes it a lot easier.

We finally finished our romp through British history this week. When I stop to think about how much time we’ve spent learning about British history and culture over the last two years (in addition to our regular school work), it kind of boggles my mind. I don’t regret a moment of it, though, and I’m kind of sad to be done with it. I think I learned as much (if not more!) as the children did. But, we’re going to be starting on Scotland’s history next, so there’s that to look forward to.

Next week we’re taking a break. We’re a week short of full quarter in, but this teacher needs some time to rest and get her house back in order. Plus, the weather is looking awesome, which is why we break in the fall in the first place! Oh, and playoff baseball. But that’s just a happy coincidence…go Cards!