Weekly Wrap Up: Finishing the Year!

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In my life this week… We’ve had a heat wave that forced us to turn on the air conditioning.  That means we ended up living inside for a few days while it was in the mid 30’s Celsius (around 95 F).   I often wonder how pioneers survived without air conditioning, fans, and basements, and with all those clothes.

You know the weather is bad when … the computer’s parental controls blocks the weather site.

In our homeschool this week…

Miss 9 and Miss 14 have finished the school year!  They both worked very hard, did very well, and really enjoyed their drumstick ice cream reward.  Miss 9 spent her first afternoon off playing cribbage.  Miss 14 finished her final history project late last night, and is looking forward to working on many projects in her oceans of spare time. 

Mr. 17 is hoping to wind up today by finishing the Omnibus section on Kreeft’s book The Unaborted Socrates.  He will not have finished the book, but that’s what our ‘end of year’ goal was.  The rest will be a summer project, to be finished at a more relaxed pace after some time off.

Miss 12 has been off for a few weeks.  This week she completed her summer goal of mastering every single Seterra geography quiz!  That is an astonishing feat of determination and memorization.  Now that her sisters are also free, they will be able to do a lot of things together.

Helpful homeschooling tips or advice to share… While textbooks are essential for math and science, especially in high school, inspiration comes from non-textbook reading.  That’s why, each trimester, my older ones need to read and report on one math book and one science book.  If they don’t understand it, that’s fine, because much of the world is beyond comprehension. They just need to make the effort and report on it.

Places we’re going and people we’re seeing… Friends, church, neighbors, library, stores, and a sheep festival.   

Some of my favorite things this week were…

• Lambs Down Park Festival.
• A warm swimming pool.   Everyone else wants it to be cooler, though.
• Having the energy and strength to play with the kids in the pool.
• Watching the progress of my husband’s holiday project: redoing the pantry roof, which is also our front step and a foundation for the Little Misses’ bedroom.  Right now the pantry is painted white and I’m almost ready to put everything back into it.
• Deciding that we have harvested enough asparagus for a year.   

Questions/thoughts I have… How can I make the summer fun and memorable while fostering creativity and initiative on projects?  I think I’ll be looking into Jessica’s Summer Survival Guide again.  

Things I’m working on…

• Weeding and replanting and keeping an eye on the garden. The squashes, cucumbers, pumpkins, and melons are coming up.   
• Recording homeschool marks and the year’s work.
• Planning summer learning and fun.
• Planning next year’s school work.
• Walking 7000 steps a day.
• Catching up and keeping up with Mr. 17’s Omnibus work.
• Organizing my reviews.  Now you can easily access all the reviews I’ve written from the drop-down menu at the top of the page.   

I’m reading… Revelation. I’m also reading Miraculous Movements by Trousdale, The Unaborted Socrates by Kreeft, and From Jerusalem to Irian Jaya by Tucker.  I spent some time happily browsing The World Treasury of Physics, Astronomy, and Mathematics, which Miss 14 worked on for her math reading this trimester.  And I’m still slowly working my way through Omnibus 1. 

Waiting to be read:  You Shall be Free Indeed by Ganz, Love in Disguise by Cox, Platform by Hyatt, Father Hunger by Wilson, and the Summer Survival Guide mentioned above.

With the kids, I’m reading Hebrews. We’re still reading the last chapter of L’Abri by Edith Schaeffer because we’ve just been too busy to read a lot, but it’s been good to be reminded of L’Abri, its vision, and God’s power each time we open the book for a few more pages.

When my husband is home for meals, we read Jeremiah.

I’m grateful for … Time and breathing space.

A quote to share… “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not rely on your own insight.  In all your ways acknowledge him and he will make straight your paths.”  Proverbs 3: 5-6.

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This post is linked to The Homeschool Mother’s Journal and to Weekly Wrap Up at Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers.