St. Paddy’s Day School

Third Grade: Week Twenty-Three Wrap-Up

We finally finished all of the schoolwork we needed to do before Chickadee’s birth! This included a math and spelling test, our continued readings to correspond with the Jesus Tree and studying baptism in Luther’s Small Catechism in religion, a lot of state sheets from “Adventures in My Father’s World,” read-alouds scheduled in our curriculum, (as well as some scheduled by me for St. Patrick’s Day from a great book–Shamrocks, Harps, and Shillelaghs), and handwriting and grammar. It did not, however, include Latin, because I just don’t care at this point!

We did start a new concept in math, this week. I’m not entirely thrilled with that, because I was hoping that the break in our math lessons would be a little cleaner, and I wouldn’t have to worry about them either forgetting the concept and/or me needing to reteach it once we start back to school. If I had looked ahead, I may have just ended our math lessons last week, like I did with Latin; on the other hand, I really wanted to finish up the unit and have the test before our break. I do have some worksheets that hopefully I’ll remember to have them do while I’m recovering, though, and that should help keep the idea fresh in their minds, so we don’t have to back up and start the whole process over.

Ladybug finished the first Explode the Code primer this week, as well. We had to do a few extra pages in order to finish the book, but I really wanted to get it done, and she really loves workbooks, so neither of us had any complaints. I continue to be impressed with this series, and can already see how a foundation for reading is being laid, in the way she’s trying to sound things out on her own now. It will be fun to get into the next book, and add more letter sounds…but not until after I’ve had a chance to recover from the c-section!

We also worked on our St. Patrick’s Day activities a little early…more on that later, but here’s a sneak peek at some of the fun we had:

Third Grade: Week Twenty-Two Wrap-Up

I’d like to say that we accomplished a lot this week, especially in light of the fact that we only have one more week of school before we take off for a good month for Chickadee’s arrival. In actuality, however, this week was all about the bare minimum. Between doctor’s appointments and errands that need to be taken care of before I’m in the hospital, it was hard enough just getting through the stuff I consider mandatory–namely religion, math, spelling, handwriting, grammar, Latin, read-alouds, and reading. We did manage to squeeze in history, too, (although none of the fun extras), and some fun games, but electives and science? Well, they’re just a fond memory at this point. I’d like to think we’ll do better next week, but to be honest, between more doctor’s appointments and more errands, plus the St. Patrick’s Day activities I want to do, we’ll probably just be covering the basics again. Oh well…that’s one of the perks of homeschooling, right? And I still think my children are learning a lot more than their public school counterparts, even with my slacking.

We did do one fun craft this week, in anticipation of St. Patrick’s Day.

We talked about the legend of St. Patrick driving the snakes out of Ireland as we made paper plate snakes. (What would I do without paper plate crafts?) I was especially impressed with Turkey’s snake, as it is quite detailed. He labored over it for quite some time to get it right. The children’s only sorrow is the fact that the weather has been so mild, there hasn’t been any air (heat) coming out of the vents to turn their snakes when suspended from the ceiling…but that’s a first world problem if I ever heard one!

When we went errand-running, one of our stops was at a fantastic local bakery, to order cakes for Turkey and Bunny’s Confirmation on Palm Sunday, as well as Chickadee’s Baptism that same day. Normally I would make the cakes myself, but ten days after major abdominal surgery…well, that’s just not happening! Anyway, while we were there, we noticed that they had green, snake-shaped donuts in honor of our favorite Irish holiday, so we splurged and got some, (none for me…I had my donut last week!). Another chance to discuss Irish legends, and have some delicious fun to boot!

Family Traditions–St. Patrick’s Day

St. Patrick’s Day falls in my top five favorite holidays, (which also include Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving, and the Fourth of July), which is weird, since I’m not even Irish. But I’ve always loved it–the wearing o’ the green, corned beef and cabbage, adding an O’ to my last name, everything. It’s just so much fun! And so, we’ve put together a set of traditions for St. Patrick’s Day that the children have come to look forward to on a yearly basis. (Actually, I’ve made such a big deal of it in the past, Turkey was genuinely surprised to find that Moose still had to go to school–he seemed to think it was a national holiday. I had to tell him, “Only if you live in Ireland!”)

We start every St. Patrick’s Day with a bowl of Lucky Charms. I know, not really Irish, but how can you pass up the leprechaun on the box? This year, we also had green applesauce with lunch. Moose has really been interested in colored applesauce this year, since they have it at school occasionally, and I always have plenty of food coloring on hand…

We usually read a story about St. Patrick (fact or fiction) at some point. Since St. Patrick does make an appearance on our church year calendar, it seems appropriate to learn about him, even if the actual details of his life seem to be a bit sketchy. In the past, we’ve just read a short story out of a bigger anthology, but this year, I picked up a book specifically about St. Patrick, both the truth and the legend. It also goes into the ways St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated, as well as some symbols of Ireland.

I also considered getting the Tommie dePaola St. Patrick book, but it seemed a little bit too Catholic for us. Yes, I know the actual Patrick was Catholic. But there was something about the artwork, or the emphasis on his sainthood, or something, that didn’t set quite right with me at this point. Maybe when the children are a little older, though, because it does seem like a good book.

We also do fun things like leprechaun coloring sheets, or shamrock mazes, or word searches, of coloring the Irish flag, or something to that effect. I’m glad that Turkey and Bunny haven’t decided that they’re “too old” for stuff like that yet, and they really seem to enjoy doing it every year.

Of course, we always have a traditional St. Patrick’s Day dinner. And by traditional, I mean a traditional American St. Patrick’s Day dinner–corned beef and cabbage, Irish soda bread, roasted potatoes, Guinness to drink (for the adults), and Guinness cake (for everyone) for dessert. One of these years, maybe I’ll try to make a traditional Irish St. Patrick’s Day meal, (although I’m not entirely sure what that would be!), but we all love the corned beef so much, and this is the only time of year I make it, so maybe not!

Sláinte!