The countdown to the end of the school year continues!

The week I had been dreading in math finally arrived. Multiplying binomials by binomials. The FOIL method. Something that I thought would be the source of confusion and complaining. I didn’t think the children would like it, either.

And it was so. easy. Turkey and Bunny breezed through it. Not a complaint or question. I have to assume that they really have learned stuff this year, and were able to apply it successfully (and easily!). I can’t tell you what a relief that was! Ladybug’s math has been easy for her, as well, and Friday’s tests were cause for celebration all around!

We finished Charlotte’s Web this week. There was much crying, and a lot of it was done by the teacher! I cannot read the last paragraph of that book out loud without breaking down. Ladybug didn’t like the ending any more than Bunny did the first time she read it, either. In spite of that, she did like the book overall. Turkey and Bunny are continuing to work their way through The Trojan War…it’s a very exciting tale!

In history, we learned about the Zulu kingdom of Africa, as well as the Boers. We also read about the Trail of Tears, which meant more emotion. It also lead to an interesting discussion about current events as it relates to the $20 bill, and why anyone thought Andrew Jackson was an appropriate figure to have on our money in the first place.

Turkey and Bunny have moved on from the skeleton in science, and have been reading about muscles, tendons, ligaments, and skin. Ladybug is learning about social insects. So far we’ve talked about ants and bees…termites are up next week!

We finally reached a chapter in a Mr. Pipes book with terrible doctrine. In some ways, I’m surprised it took until the fourth and final book, as it’s not Lutheran by any means, and in other ways, I’m really surprised we ran across anything so at odds with our beliefs, because until now, it really seemed that the author (and therefore Mr. Pipes) had beliefs similar to our own. We discovered a complete disregard for sacramental denominations, however, which was very disappointing.

We’ll be wrapping up more subjects in the coming weeks. All three of my students are almost finished with their spelling books, and our history text only has a few chapters left. This is an exciting time of year!