In my life this week… We’re settling into our spring routine, gardening after breakfast, and swimming after that if it is warm. Usually we’re studying well before 10AM. The rest of the day is full of learning, outside time, reading, walking, music, chatting, playing, and household chores.
But as of this week that’s changing, for we have become involved in archery. Yes, real bows, targets, running after lost arrows, and so forth. The archers in the family are very excited. We will be making quivers and cutting down the grass behind our huge straw bale target to find missing arrows. This new project has already given much joy…and I think I’ll be reading Pyle’s Robin Hood out loud again.
In our homeschool this week…
Miss 12 finished her schoolwork this week and is now officially in grade 7. In our family that means she may read Henty books. G. A. Henty wrote many exciting historical novels that brim over with accurate details; they are an excellent way to learn history, and most of them are available on Gutenberg.
Everyone else still has a month to go before the year’s work will be completed. Sigh!
For a while we were neglecting French and Dutch as we settled into our gardening routine, but now that’s progressing smoothly again.
Miss 14 has started her third blog: The Swirl of Words, all about writing. She’s still busy at Miss Georgiana Darcy, but The Day Dream {A Scarlet Pimpernel Blog} seems to have become a group effort with many of her friends posting.
Helpful homeschooling tips or advice to share… Whether you’re officially schooling right now or not, you and your kids can be learning all the time.
Places we’re going and people we’re seeing… Friends, church, neighbors, library, stores, the archery shop, the woods.
Some of my favorite things this week were…
- Pumpkin slice.
- The first strawberry from our garden!
- Getting thoroughly soaked in a warm rain while packing groceries into the van.
- Two memorable walks with the kids.
- Taking a morning off from schoolwork.
- Finally buying Nourishing Traditions, a sensible health-nut book I’ve borrowed from the library several times over the past few years.
- Watching Miss 12 clean and organize the room she shares with her sister…just because that is who she is and what she loves doing.
Questions/thoughts I have… I absolutely love how Omnibus 1 teaches the classics, imparting so much wisdom and truth, but I hate some of the classics it teaches. Some of them definitely fall under the category of ‘things that should not even be mentioned among you’. For those classics I find different sources/translations or we just ignore them. It’s a set of decisions I’m constantly struggling with. Omnibus is worth the struggle, but it’s draining me. However, I highly recommend the Omnibus series on many counts. Please remember, though, that Omnibus 1 is NOT suitable for grade 7, no matter what the publisher may say.
Eventually I plan to post a detailed review of this curriculum. If you’re interested, you can already see some of my scattered thoughts about Omnibus here.
Things I’m working on…
- Planning, planting, and weeding the garden.
- Designing and making a few quivers.
- Homeschooling including teaching, marking, grading, planning, motivating, encouraging.
- Picking and freezing asparagus.
- Eating from our freezer and pantry.
- Walking 7000 steps a day.
- Researching a new blender; our little one smells funny when we use it and it will probably fail soon. I’m hoping to get a second-hand Vitamix blender.
- Trying to keep up during this busy season.
- Preparing for summer activities.
I’m reading… Hebrews. I just completed a marvelous book of historical fiction, Crushed Yet Conquering, and plan to finish Gut and Psychology Syndrome this weekend. I’ve also begun Miraculous Movements by Trousdale and skimmed through The Twelve Caesars by Suetonius. It is horrible and should only be read by people who really need to (i.e. classical scholars, political scientists, historians, etc.). (See the above comments about Omnibus1.)
With the kids, I’m reading 2 Timothy, L’Abri by Edith Schaeffer, The Story Bible for Older Children, and various books for school. The Little Misses and I still have no read aloud and we’re trying to decide between Little Britches and Children of the New Forest.
When my husband is home for meals, we read Jeremiah.
I’m grateful for … Kids who love to cook and kids who cook even when they don’t want to.
A quote to share… “No man knows how bad he is till he has tried very hard to be good…Only those who try to resist temptation know how strong it is.” -C.S. Lewis, quoted by Gretchen Rubin
**********************
This post is linked to The Homeschool Mother’s Journal and to Weekly Wrap Up at Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers.
Amen to kids who cook!!
Sounds like a great week. I always liked archery. We have some places around here that do it, but I’ve never checked into them, maybe I should. 🙂 Wow, swimming every day, how fun. That is definitely not an option for us.
I read about your week and I think what a full, blessed, loving week you’ve had! I am interesting in Omnibus, but want to see a hard copy. I think I will have to find a friend here who has one. And your review will be helpful, as well.