Year 2, Weeks 30 and 31

     This is our penultimate (One of my favorite words!) week for Classical Conversations.  The kids are getting antsy, as am I.  Don't get me wrong, I love being a tutor and seeing my students grow and learn; I love homeschooling my kids, but I can't wait to just read.

     I'd start a book and then it would get pushed aside because I'd get too busy.  The only books I've been able to actually complete are the ones I've read out loud to the kids, which are great, but I need something for me.  Thanksgiving and Christmas issues are still sitting in my growing pile of magazines too.  I have a summer reading list for myself and the kids and I can't wait to dig in.  I'll be sharing the list as the end of our school year approaches.  You know what else this means?  We only have FIVE more weeks left in our homeschool year!  I'm already in the middle of planning for next year.  We're still doing CC, but a few things in our curriculum are going to change.  That's for another post.

     Week 30 we began reading about Corrie Ten Boom.  I absolutely love the way YWAM books bring someone to life and makes it interesting for both the kids and adults.  My kids are thoroughly engaged when listening to the biographies and unless they're tired, they ask me to read more.  It's fantastic.

     This week also brought us to my youngest step daughter's wedding.  It was a lovely ceremony and celebration.  May God bless your union and guide your marriage for many years!  Congratulations C&A <3

     Week 31 (Week 22 in our CC Cycle) our history fact was about September 11, 2001.  We read a couple of books about what happened that tragic day.  We read about the heroes who lost their lives and about the many kids who lost a parent.  We read a book titled September Roses which was sweet story about how sisters created a memorial with roses.

     I shared with my kids where I was and what I saw during those horrific moments.  I happened to be getting ready for work when I saw the second plane hit.  I was able to show my son video of the planes hitting the towers (my daughter didn't want to see them at first, but peeked from behind me.)  I was also able to show them when the towers collapsed.  I was in tears most of the time, recalling the stories I had read in the first weeks after the attack.  I even shared a couple of issues of Time Magazine that we kept from that incident.  Then I showed them One World Trade Center and told them that one day we will visit that as well as the 9/11 Memorial.

     That brings us up to date.  We have a special dinner scheduled this weekend and I hope it happens (plans are still slightly up in the air) so that I can share it with you next week.  Until then, have a blessed weekend.

     Oh, I forgot to share with you our field trip during Week 27.  We had the day off and decided to visit some tall ships that pulled into the harbor.  My Little Toughie was disappointed there wasn't a sailing program for her age group but we were all amused that there was a zombie map!

     Now, we're up to date!

Kindergarten, Week 33

     Three more weeks!  Just three more weeks and our first year of homeschooling will be done.  Well, actually 4 more weeks because we're taking one week off for Spring Break.  I tried to convince my daughter to just push through but my Little Toughie wanted to take the same week off as her big brother and so it will be.

     This week we finished The Story of Dr. Doolittle.  It was such a wonderful read, even with the editing done by the publisher.  My daughter and I enjoyed this one very much.  The next book will have to be really interesting to top this one.

     We also took a field trip this week.  Our Classical Conversations group headed out to a local museum.  It was a perfect day for this outing.  At one point we stopped and looked at Renaissance furniture.  We happened upon a huge Baroque style bed.  The kids were given a picture and crayons to color their own bed.

     Below is her finished piece:

     This week we also began our exploration into space.  We started off with studying space shuttles and the gear astronauts have to wear in order to make their journey along with the equipment needed.  We have a toy from our trip last year to see the Endeavour which we used with our reading.

     That's all for this week!

Field Trip to the Getty Villa

     This was our first field trip of the school year.  We recently finished our studies on Ancient Rome and Ancient Greece so there was no better place to view artifacts from those cultures than at the Getty Villa.  They even had a special exhibit titled Sicily:  Art and Invention between Greece and Rome.

     We arrived there shortly after they opened and spent three hours there.  It wasn't enough time.  Though we got to see most of it, we didn't get to see all of the special exhibit.  Still, we enjoyed every bit of it.

     I made sure to pack journals and pencils for the kids so that they could sketch any pieces that they really liked.  That's part of the reason why we ran out of time.  Below is a picture of them doing their first sketch.

Sketching Herakles

     I didn't take many pictures but below are a few of them.  Happy viewing!