Taking it easy sick days at the Academy of Zion ...

Week in Review, Week 6

So, last week you heard me talk about how we were stepping back and trying to re-group and re-prioritize and thus, somewhat taking it easy.  Well, then this past week, we were recovering from illnesses in the home and Momma got sick, so we had another week of "taking it easy".  Luckily, when you homeschool, you're not on anyone else's schedule.  If you want your school year to take an entire year so that you can have breaks when you need them, you can.  If you want your school year to start in January and be "off" during the fall and winter holiday months, you can.  If your family is sick and you need to take it easy for a week, you can.  Give thanks for that!  

I'm still pondering on exactly how I want the school year to proceed, to be honest.  When I look at the next several months, it is a natural time of the year for us to take things easier.  It may be that the Academy of Zion follows a January to November sort of schedule.  I mean, really, the fall months are the best for getting outside and enjoying the weather.  And, there are so many wonderful things to do in November and December that, while educational, may not be math-intensive, for example.  We'll be doing a lot of baking and making soup.  We'll be doing crafts and making gifts for family for Christmas.  We'll be spending time with family in November when my mom comes to the States.  We'll be decorating for Christmas and celebrating our family traditions.  We'll be learning about the real St. Nicholas and St. Martin and St. Lucy.  We'll be celebrating "Give Thanks Day" (as we call it).  So many wonderful things to do over the next two months.  And, of course we'll be reading and painting and enjoying these things, but I'm thinking of starting my true 2nd grade "curriculum" in January.  When the Fairy really turns 8.  After all, that's what a Waldorf 2nd grade is, right?  Of course, the really awesome thing is that 2nd grade is all about the stories of the Saints (and Fables), so we'll be "doing school" for the next two months, even though my "real plans" will not start until later.  My goal for the next two months is to really get our rhythm set in stone.  Create habits ~ in all THREE of us!  Get used to getting up, following our routine.  Enjoying these times.  And, being ready to buckle down in January. 

All that aside, even with Momma being sick, we still had a beautiful week of "school" last week.  Let me share with you some of the high points...

On Monday I had plans to take the girls to the park to feed the ducks and do our Nature Study there.  Of course, I woke up feeling awful, so that plan went out the window.  Thankfully, God decided that if Momma couldn't go out to do Nature Study, then He'd just bring the Nature Study to us.  While I was outside on Monday morning, I found a dead frog in our yard.  

I called the girls over to examine it, and we all took a close look.  I noticed that it had webbed feet, so I asked the Princess what kind of feet it had.  Just as serious as can be, she answers "Frog Feet".  So cute!  The Fairy politely corrected her by stating that it had "webbed feet".  The Princess did know that those were to help him swim, so that's a good thing.  Anyway, we brought the frog inside and proceeded to look at pictures of frogs online.  We read the rhyme "Five Little Speckled Frogs" and "Bloop Bloop".   Then, all three of us did a watercolor pencil sketch for our Nature Notebooks.  Here they are:

The Princess

The Fairy

Momma's

Tuesday was Daddy's day off, so we headed out to the beach to take care of some business (new driver's licenses, registration & tags sort of thing) and have some nice family time.  I was very proud to see the Fairy practice loving kindness by spending her hard earned money on a big ride-on horse for her sister!  She actually gave up buying ice cream so that she could buy that horse for the Princess!  That's the stuff that makes Momma's heart melt.  We also dropped off the Fairy's gift for the homeless child (see last weeks' post).  We had a wonderful day, and on the way home got to see the most gorgeous sunset.  So, in Academy of Zion fashion, we decided right then and there that we would paint that sunset the next day.  Here are our watercolor paintings from Wednesday:

The Fairy's

The Princess's

Momma's

We continued reading in the Burgess Animal Book for Children.  We also listened to Mr. Bach Comes to Call, to further our Composer Study of Bach.  On her own time, the Fairy read through a couple more Bach books I had lying around (from the library).  As far as music study in the sense of "doing" it, there's been a good deal of that around here, too.  The Fairy has started practicing some songs on the guitar with Daddy.  

She's also started a Lyrics notebook, and has had me print the lyrics to several songs that she loves.  It's so cute to hear her singing them all the time, usually to the dogs.  We did turn the music off in the car the other day and all three of us sang a Taylor Swift song that they seem to like!  I'm usually VERY opposed to pop music, but at least she seems to be a simple girl with a guitar.  And, the lyrics were not inappropriate.  Most of the songs the Fairy has had me print have been by Trevor Hall and are all about LOVE and UNITY in the world, so she can read and sing those all day long!   

On a side note, she also discovered that our little dog, Sweet Pea, likes to "sing" whenever the Fairy plays the harmonica.  Needless to say, once they realized that one, the Fairy has played A LOT of harmonica this week!

I was lucky enough to be invited to a production the girls put on that involved horses ~ it was a play or a movie, and it was rather entertaining, as always!  I was also blessed to receive a gorgeous little paper doll from the Princess.  She said she made it to make me feel better!  So sweet.  

We also had a nice time building with our logs ~ they are similar to Lincoln Logs, but Lincoln Logs are made in China ... ours are 100% US made.  Momma built a house and a dog house while the girls built houses of their own.  Then, Daddy got home and joined in on the action.  He built some sort of strange looking building, and the girls decided to add in their wooden animals.  All while I was finishing up the preparation of our DELICIOUS home-made corn and potato chowder!  

We finished out the week with Dragons and Air Planes ...

On Saturday, the girls and I baked some Dragon Bread and that night we enjoyed a family movie night of How to Train Your Dragon (super cute movie, by the way).

On Sunday, we headed over to the Air Show and enjoyed an amazing performance by the Blue Angels.  I don't have many pictures, but the girls both repeatedly thanked me through "happy tears" ~ apparently their little bodies didn't know what to do with the emotions brought on by REALLY loud jets flying right over head and appearing to almost crash, but then not!  :-)  Anyway, here they are in one of the military helicopters (or something).

That about covers the week.  Momma and the Fairy were sick and/or recovering all week, so no, we did not break out our math lessons or do anything on a schedule.  But, the Fairy continued to read on a daily basis, spent loads of time singing and playing musical instruments, used her imagination, painted and so much more.  The Princess played and baked and cleaned and painted and sang and played some more.  So, I think they had a very educational week even still!  And, on a math note, the Fairy was just reading a recipe to me a little while ago, and when she got to the part that says "Serves 12", she was so surprised and said, "This thing says it will serve 12 PEOPLE, Momma.  That means we can all eat it like 3 times".  That's division and multiplication and word problems all wrapped up into that one little statement.  And, Momma's pretty happy with that!  See you next time.