Summer School ...

I'll admit.  I had big plans to get a lot of school done over the summer.  It's HOT where we live, so might as well get as much done as possible, right? 

Well, I'm starting to re-think that.  A little.  Hmmm.

First of all, let me recap the past week for you.  As you know, we finished our St. Francis block the previous week.  I had planned to start a math block last week, using Arithmetic Village.  

I am smart enough to know that when we have fun-filled summer days with Daddy on Sunday, we will most likely not "do school" on Mondays.  

So, Monday morning, we all slept in a little.  We planned to take it easy.  

Then, Momma (that's me) got bit by a cat.  Long story ... no real need for details, but needless to say it put a kink in our plans for the week.  After a tetanus shot and really heavy duty antibiotics, Momma was in no mood for much of anything this week ... certainly not teaching!

The girls were real troopers.  And, as per usual, still learned a lot.  Children really will learn if you give them the freedom, space, time and materials to do so!

On Tuesday and Wednesday mornings, when I came down, the Hippie was "doing school" with the Princess.  She made worksheets for her little sister to complete.  She gave her letters to copy, simple math problems to do.  She read her a couple of non-fiction science books. She helped the Princess to sound out a couple of books. 

The girls both made animals and food out of Sculpy on more than one occasion this week.  They made three horses, some dogs and cats, a carrot and an apple for the horses and food and water bowls for the dogs and cats.

The Princess wanted to write me a "get well" letter, so the Hippie wrote out what she wanted to say so that her little sis could copy it!  So sweet.

The Princess read a Bob Book to the Hippie during their "school time."

The Princess drew pictures of all of the kittens and the Momma Cat.

All of the above happened without my knowledge, prompting, approval or anything. 

Wednesday was our last Handwork Day until the fall.  The girls finished making their soap-on-a-rope for Daddy.  Sometime this week they will make him cards.  I might even be able to convince the Hippie to copy a poem inside her card about fathers.  We'll see.  :)

The Hippie also got very interested in cooking this week.  She prepared a dessert for the family that she completely made up.  I then had her write the recipe into her notebook.  It was actually pretty yummy ~ apples, cinnamon, nutmeg, oats, whole wheat flour, agave nectar and smashed banana.  

The Princess practiced for her future as a Veterinarian this week.  She spent a good deal of time playing doctor with the kittens.  

 
Both girls made clothes for the kittens.  They cut some sleeves off of an old sweater and cut holes for the kittens legs to fit through.  I'm sure the kittens just LOVED playing dress up!

The girls spent HOURS ... and I do mean HOURS ... playing with playdough.  They made all sorts of foods to feed me (they are actually playing with it as I write this). 

The Hippie began working on a new project during her quiet time.  She is making a black dachsund.  So far she has done the body, ears and one of the legs.  

The Hippie wrote a letter to her friend from NC and mailed it.  She also finished reading Pippie Goes on Board.  

We watched our organic bell pepper plants grow, babying them each day.  We actually harvested our first pepper and ate it yesterday!  So cool.

We also harvested an organic radish that we had grown from seed!   

We discovered that our bag of bird seed must have gotten water inside because it was full of sprouts!  So cool!  The Hippie planted a couple of sprouted sunflower seeds.  We'll see if they grow into sunflowers.

As a family, we finished reading Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle and Just So Stories.  We've read to chapter 5 in The Black Stallion and have read the first three stories in James Herriot's Treasury for Children.  

On Friday night, the four of us attended a special Member Preview Night to our local Museum of Science and History's new exhibit, Savage Ancient Seas.  The girls had a wonderful time and learned a lot.  We finished the evening with a show in the planetarium.  The Hippie has been caring for the box jellyfish she made ever since.  

We also attended a special event at our local library.  The zoo came to us!  A representative from our local zoo brought several animals to the library and taught the girls about them.  There was an owl, a boa constrictor, a rabbit, an armadillo and some others.  That fun and educational time was followed up by some face-painting and a bit of time at the playground.  

As for what one might call "social studies", they made multiple trips to the post office and the pharmacy this week with me.  Errands, errands.  :-)

As usual, they spent plenty of time playing, doing crafts, exploring these kittens and their habits, looking at the non-fiction books in the book basket, drawing and just being children.  They've also taken quite an interest in the Food Network.  Shame on me for letting them see any real TV, but they love it!  I've been letting them watch a show or two in the afternoons.  Their favorite is Giada at Home.  

All in all, I think they have had a very educational, relaxing and fun week!  And, I'm finally starting to feel better.  So, we'll see how next week goes.  

Honestly, I've spent a lot of time this week figuring out and planning school.  I finally got next year outlined and mapped out (another post).  I think I may just spend the summer focusing on catching us up in math and continuing with all of the reading (aloud and independently), crafts, cooking, library activities and the like.  I guess that's another post, though.  I'll do my best to get that out soon.

Happy homeschooling!

Oh, and we even had an introduction to Shakespeare ... we watched Gnomeo & Juliet as a Family Movie Night!  LOL ... Please know that I am kidding.  We did watch it, but I am smart enough to realize that this was in no way educational!  Fun, though.  Family Fun .. that's what matters!