Ladybug

Summer School 2024

I can’t believe that both the Olympics and summer vacation are over, but here we are. There were so many great moments, and today I’m taking a look back at our Paris 2024-themed summer school, starting with our visit to the Olympic Spectacular right here in St. Louis:

We made our favorite edible Olympic torches, and had a lovely toast to Paris 2024 with sparkling cider. I’m not going to lie, I was a little mad that we had already built the Lego Eiffel Tower years ago, because it would have been a nice summer school activity, but at least we had a ready-made centerpiece!

Our big activity for the summer was trying out some French recipes. We cooked a lot of different things, starting with a special series of meals for the Opening Ceremonies, and culminating with the pièce de résistance of the summer (and maybe my culinary career!), the Croquembouche. It’s nice that we’re finally at a point where both Ladybug and Chickadee can do a lot in the kitchen!

  • Croissants
  • Salade Niçoise
  • Vichyssoise
  • Bœuf Bourgignon
  • Macarons
  • Crepes
  • Salade Lyonnaise
  • Quiche Lorraine
  • Chocolate Soufflé
  • Gougères
  • Lavender Madeleines
  • Steak au Poivre with Red Wine Pan Sauce
  • Plateau de Fromages
  • Lemon-glazed French Sable Cookies
  • Croquembouche

I had a good book list, but coming up with crafts beyond cooking was a bit of a challenge. We did try to be fashion designers…do you think we’re ready for French haute couture?

And of course we made medals:

We had a lot of fun being creative with cooking and crafts!

I’m so glad Ticket to Ride Paris came out in time for us to play this summer! And we also played Ticket to Ride France (and watched all of the episodes of Rick Steves’ Europe we have set in France), which educated us on just how little we know about French geography!

Here’s a look at our complete medal table…Team USA definitely won!

Summer wrapped up quickly…on Monday, we begin the 2024-25 school year!

17 (Going on 18)

Today is Ladybug’s 17th birthday! She got up extra early this morning so we could get a start on celebrating, especially opening presents, before Moose left for school!

I was so excited about our gift to her…she received her first dirndl!

A lot of her birthday ended up being Lilo and Stitch themed (with a good helping of Tron Legacy and Star Wars: The Bad Batch thrown in).

She asked for pineapple salsa from the Lilo and Stitch Cookbook for lunch:

She picked dinner recipes from cookbooks that reflect her various interests…honey lemonade from The Ultimate Final Fantasy XIV Online Cookbook, spinach salad with shallot vinaigrette from Destiny: The Official Cookbook, and 626 Experimental Fried Rice from the Lilo and Stitch Cookbook.

Her birthday cake, a guava celebration cake, was also from the Lilo and Stitch Cookbook:

We had a really fun day, and I loved having a chance to celebrate another year of this beautiful life for my daughter!

2023-24 School Year–Week Thirty

This week Ladybug was introduced to limits in pre-calculus (the last topic in the book!). She finished health. In religion, she read about Gregory the Great (Pope Gregory I). She started a unit on early 17th Century and Puritan literature, reading “Eve’s Apology in Defense of Women” by Aemilia Lanyer. In physics, she started learning about electric circuits. She read about The Black Prince in world history.

Chickadee graphed ordered pairs in math, and started dividing with negative numbers. She began working on her final composition in writing, which is going to be about elephants and their habitats. In science, she read about Gregor Mendel and dominant and recessive traits. We skipped the Holy Week readings in religion (since they are still fresh in our minds), and moved straight to the Ascension and Pentecost. In history, she read about John Cabot and Jacques Cartier.

We also took the train to St. Louis this week and walked the Arch grounds and visited some of our favorite downtown spots, including the Old Cathedral, Kiener Plaza, Citygarden, and Ballpark Village:

Two more weeks to go!

Hey It’s Me Goku

Ladybug drew this picture of Goku from Dragon Ball in chalk on our driveway, and even though I don’t watch the show, I can tell how good it is! She’s really talented with blending the few colors of sidewalk chalk we have to work with to get the shades she wants!

2023-24 School Year–Week Twenty-Three

We made it to March! But before the end of February, we went back to the ice rink one more time before they closed for the season. Ladybug is already hoping to go back when they reopen in the fall…she really loves it!

Of course we also got a lot of work done this week. Ladybug graphed sine and cosine functions in precalculus. She finished the chapter on waves in physics. In history, she read about William Wallace and Robert Bruce. She got to take her blood pressure in health as she learned about the cardiovascular system. She continued reading Macbeth.

Chickadee learned how to bisect an angle using a compass in math. We got a taste of Advent and Christmas in Lent, as her religion readings focused on the time around Jesus’ birth. She learned about the layers of skin in science. We started reading The Door in the Wall. In history, she learned about the Mughal Empire and Akbar the Great. She learned about attribution and inserting quotations in grammar.

I’m looking forward to all of the fun March things we have planned this month!

2023-24 School Year–Week Twenty-One

First, a look at something fun we did over the weekend that wasn’t specifically school-related, but did involve history and literature…the first-ever Once Upon a Valentine event in St. Charles, MO! Ladybug and Chickadee were excited to run into a favorite character from Legends and Lanterns, the Queen of Hearts:

Ladybug rewrote logarithms to exponential and base form and found the characteristic and mantissa in pre-calculus. She learned about the period of motion for a pendulum in physics. In religion she read about John Chrysostom. She finished reading The Divine Comedy and started Macbeth. In US history, she read about the era of Reconstruction. She read about Edward I and the First Scottish War of Independence in world history. She finally finished the chapter on micronutrients in health.

Chickadee learned how to find the area of a circle in math. She finished the Old Testament in religion. In science she started learning about the five senses. She’s almost done with The Hobbit. In history, she learned about the War of the Roses and the Princes in the Tower. She learned about conditional sentences and the subjunctive in grammar.

We’re over halfway done with February now, which is fine by me!

2023-24 School Year–Week Nineteen

Well, we made it to February, my least favorite month of the year, and a February with an extra day to boot! Before we said goodbye to January, though, we did something really fun we’ve been planning for a while…we went ice skating! Ladybug especially loved it, and while I never did make it out to the center of the rink, I did do several laps around it, and I even let go of the wall occasionally! It was a lot of fun!!!

On to the schoolwork. Ladybug identified functions, domain, and range in pre-calculus. She finished her three-year-long grammar curriculum, ending with the difference between active and passive voice. She continued to read “The Paradiso.” In physics, she finished the chapter on momentum with angular momentum. She also finished the chapter on macronutrients in health. In history, she read about Louis IX.

Chickadee converted customary and metric measurements in math. We read about Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and the Babylonian captivity of the Jews in religion. In science, she had a brief overview of the endocrine system before taking a closer look at the central nervous system. We continued reading The Hobbit. In grammar, she learned about restrictive and non-restrictive clauses. She read about the fall of Constantinople in 1453 and Suleiman the Lawgiver in history.

I don’t know how I’m going to top the fun activity we had this week, but I’m going to have to find something to do to make February more enjoyable!

2023-24 School Year–Week Twelve

Last week was a long short week! We took Friday off, but the rest of the week seemed interminable! I guess that’s just what happens as the holidays approach.

Ladybug used double angle and half angle identities in pre-calculus. She did problems calculating torque in physics. She began reading The Divine Comedy‘s “Purgatario.” In religion, she read Eusebius’ account of the building of the church at Tyre. She read about Thomas Jefferson, the Louisiana Purchase, and the explorations of Lewis and Clark in US history. In health, she finished reading about the five senses, focusing on touch, smell, and taste. She read about the Magna Carta in history.

Chickadee learned how to calculate range, mean, mode, and median in math. She read about William the Conquerer and feudalism in history. We finished the chapter on the respiratory system in science. We started reading The Hobbit…I really think the first chapter, with all of the dwarves showing up at Bilbo’s door, is my favorite part of the whole book! She reviewed conjugating irregular verbs in grammar. We started reading Happy Birthday Felicity.

This year, we also made a craft for Martinmas for the first time. I found the directions for these lanterns last year, but the idea of Mod Podge was too intimidating for me at the time…this year, I decided I was ready. They were fun to make, and so pretty with the light shining through!

We’re hoping to make our annual trip to Cahokia Mounds sometime this week!

2023-24 School Year–Week Eight

This has been a crazy week! We took the day off on Monday, and we might have done it anyway because Moose also had the day off, but the real reason for our long weekend was the story I taped with Rene Knott for the morning news!

Ladybug worked on rewriting a trig function using the cofunction in pre-calculus. She started learning about Newton’s First Law of Motion in physics. In health, we discussed birth order and family dynamics (something I’ve always found fascinating!). She punctuated titles in grammar. In writing, she learned about creating unbiased surveys. She read about the persecution of the Christians under Diocletian and Galerius in religion. In world history, she read about the Third Crusade led by Philip II of France, Richard I of England and Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor, against Saladin following the capture of Jerusalem. In US history, she read about the French and Indian War, and some famous names started showing up!

Chickadee worked with three-dimensional figures in math. In health, she started a chapter on nutrition, learning about the importance of water and carbohydrates. She read about Australia and New Zealand in the Middle Ages, and we also read a myth about Maui, which had us singing songs from Moana! In grammar, she reviewed the list of prepositions and how to find the object of a preposition in a prepositional phrase. We continued reading Anne of Green Gables…we really don’t have much of the book left! We also baked the perfect fall recipe from The Anne of Green Gables Cookbook…Puffy Apple Dumplings. They were as delicious as they sound!

Today we went to the Missouri History Museum for this month’s “History Exploration Day.” The theme was “Harvest History: St. Louis Agriculture,” and it was the best one of their themed days we’ve been to yet! We all learned a lot, got to do some fun hands-on activities (even I made a craft), and got to meet an adorable calf!

I’m not sure how I’m going to top this week!