Snow!

We had a really good week this week in our homeschool.  Partly because we had some outside events that got cancelled due to snow or other reasons, making for lots of extra time home to do schoolwork.  We were able to really take our time and not rush.  The kids always learn better this way.  We can take lots of time on each subject and really get into our studies.

This week in History we are continuing our studies on Ben Franklin.  We are reading aloud the book Ben and Me, which is awesome!  We also read Ingrid D’Auliare’s Benjamin Franklin, and a few other shorter books on Ben as well.  I have also assigned Grace a historical fiction book which takes place in Philadelphia in 1776 to read on her own.

In Science we are learning about space rocks.  We’ve looked at lots on information online about comets, meteorites, etc.

John has done some fun kindergarten activities this week and has begun learning his continents and oceans.  He also did a fun scavenger hunt around the house, where he used a digital camera to take pictures of his findings.  We were working on his numbers, so I had him go around the house using his camera to find things that were in groups of 2,3,4, etc.  He really had fun!

Grace and Luke are both progressing well in Math U See, and they are getting close to the end.  If they finish the lessons before the end of the school year, we will most likely start up the next level in spring.  It doesn’t hurt to be ahead!

I also spent some extra time with Grace working on writing.  Her spelling has improved this year greatly with SpellWell, and now we are focusing on grammar and sentence structure.  She has great ideas and is a great writer, and I try to follow the Charlotte Mason method, and know that the grammar will come naturally next.

The most fun we had this week was playing in the snow!  We didn’t get a whole lot of snow, but enough to get outside and play in it, making snowmen, snow forts, etc.  We even read a book about snow and how snowflakes develop up in the clouds.

I really try to get the kids outside every afternoon for unstructured play. It is so important for them to have this.  I love that Nature’s classroom is right outside the door!  Children need to learn on their own, explore, and enjoy God’s creations.  So we bundle up, and get out as much as we can.
Ethan enjoyed his first walk out in the snow too! He is officially walking and babbling away.  Here are some clips of our fun!