Year 5: Rome to The Reformation, Week 4

     Our homeschooling is going fairly smoothly so far.  I say that only because we're just a month in and I'm still slowly adding more work in.  We'll see how it goes once we're working with our full load.  I have not doubt that they'll handle it fine; I think it's myself that concerns me 😜.

     This week we added Latin.  We're using a different curricula because we did not enjoy our last program.  Not that school or work will always be enjoyable; I remind my kids that there will often be work you don't want to do but it has to be done.  Persevere!  But my kids had questions that I couldn't understand because this curricula was not very clear, even with the pricey DVD I ended up adding in hopes that it would help.  It didn't.  Thus, that program was just not the one for us.  However, we decided to give Latin For Children by Classical Academic Press a try.  We love it!  Dr. Perrin is humorous and a delight to listen to.  Plus, I purchased that activity book (my kids love activity books) to help reinforce what they're learning in a fun way.

     This is another one of our books for history:

     This week we read about the Roman bathhouses.  My kids were grossed out.  As much as when they learned that there was no plumbing and "stuff" was thrown out the window, sometimes from the second floor onto unsuspecting bystanders.  I told them to imagine if that were the case now.  They were squeamish.

     We also began our nightly Read-Alouds.  I say nightly simply because we wait until The Principal is home so that he can hear the stories as well.  Anyway, I've said it before and I'll say it again.  This is one my favorite parts of homeschooling.  Mind you, you don't have to homeschool to read aloud to your kids.  It should be done on a regular basis, even as they get older.

     There's not much more to share.  Smoothly, I say.  Smoothly!

Year 5: Rome to The Reformation, Week 3

     One of the many benefits of homeschooling?  You can take it to the hospital if you need to!  The Principal needed knee surgery this week so I planned accordingly and packed up our materials as well as lunch (One can never be too sure about the hospital cafeteria and having once worked in a hospital I wasn't about to take a chance.)

     We completed our school day and had lunch with just enough time to get some reading in before they allowed us into The Principal's recovery room.  Praise be to God all went well AND I drove home safely.  In case I've failed to mention it before, I have an aversion to driving on the freeways.  I'm not sure when that began or even how especially since when I was younger no such disinclination existed and I was ALWAYS cruising down the highways.  So now, the few times that I've had to take the freeways (and managed it well) I've first thanked God and then patted myself on the back.  It's the little accomplishments, ya know?

     This week we began memorizing the books of the New Testament, starting with the gospels, of course.  My kids already knew that so I went ahead and added the next four books.  We also began our grammar/writing curricula.  We're trying something new this year.  We've used English Lessons Through Literature, which we love, but happened upon Apologia's program and decided to give it a try.  Writer's In Residence is an all-in-one language arts program that so far, seems to be fun and engaging.  While the kids miss diagramming sentences from ELTL they like that the very first writing project in WIR asks them to write about themselves.

     We're continuing our reading of Augustus Caesar's World, which can be a bit dry at times, but my kids enjoy making the connections between what we're reading with what we already learned last year in Mystery of History Vol. I.

     In science my kids had a fun project and surprise help.  My brother and his wife came down to visit for the Labor Day weekend and got to help my kids create an edible cell.

     They didn't come out exactly as we all had hoped.  Despite making sure the bowls were properly and thoroughly greased their edible still stuck and fell apart upon release.  Still, the kids had fun making it with their uncle and auntie.  Plus, they got to nibble on some of the candy organelles.

     Well, I'm off to enjoy the rest of the Labor Day weekend and take care of the recovering patient!