Fighting Colds

One of my least favorite things about public school was having to call and excuse my kids when they were sick.  It was always an internal debate whether to send them or not when I knew they were well enough to do work, but still sick enough they had to carry a tissue box around.  I know people don't want to be around others who are constantly sniffling, and we don't want to spread germs, but a cold can last for a couple weeks. That's a lot of school to miss. And since the teaching doesn't stop, if they're absent a week, they could miss important foundational concepts. Sigh.

Fortunately, with homeschool, those worries are gone.

Last Friday was a movie marathon day, as we were all feeling pretty lousy. (We don't really do much formal school on Friday's anyway) By Monday, we were in the phase of still coughing and sniffling, but not laying exhausted on the couch.  School day it is!

I absolutely love the flexibility of homeschool. If one sick kid needs a nap before moving on to the next subject, by all means, siesta time. We can start later so they can get the sleep they need, and take plenty of hydration breaks throughout the day. I love that they can learn and recover without pressure. As I started to put this week's work together, I was surprised to realize how much we accomplished even while fighting off colds. (We are feeling much better now). Onto to this week's accomplishments: 

A1 put together a Crunch Labs kit.

This week, K started to put one together, too, but ended up needing a little help. A1 stepped in and together they figured it out. I'm so proud of him for, on his own, making the decision to help. 

K has had a lot of fun playing with it since.

A2 played with playdough for imaginative play. I am a huge believer in the benefits of free play. A2 and K also played with slimy sand. They got it out and cleaned it up all on their own.  Yay, for learning independence and the importance of cleaning up after yourself.

A2, K, and I also planted tulip and allium bulbs. Hopefully they come up in the spring.

Awhile back, K started to read a book to me. I noticed some of the words were more difficult than I expected for his reading level (beginning 2nd grade). Turns out we grabbed a 3rd grade book off the shelf. I told him we could pick a different book, but he stuck with it until he read it all the way through. I'm so proud of him!

J did an Aboriginal inspired dot painting for her Art Around the World class.

She also painted two bird houses.

Even the inside

J practiced leadership skills by leading the 2 youngest in a riddle escape room game.

She also taught us a Sunday School lesson, since we were too sick to go to church last Sunday. It's awesome to watch her do things that are a little hard or scary, but she does them anyway. She's growing so much.

J also did a mail order mystery box.

One day while walking, we noticed a rainbow in the clouds caused by diffraction. And another day we enjoyed a foggy morning. Impromptu science is awesome.

J was learning how to braid better this week and discovered our secretary is obsessed with string. The cat also stole A1's personal Halloween decorations (plastic spiders) right out of there webs for her personal exercise program. At least she's staying physically fit.

For our health class this week, we learned about the musculoskeletal system.

Additional art classes included J learning about shading, K and A2 coloring with chalk, and K and A1completeling many Art for Kids Hub projects.

For science, we looked at rocks and gems. J will tell you more:

I had a science lesson on how scientist tell rocks apart. They use a few different ways. The first is color which is the easiest to do but gives the least information. The second is luster which is how shiny something is. The third is streak. Light can sometimes change a rock's color, so scientist rub rocks on a streak plate to get a minerals true color. Hematite is a rock that looks black gray but its streak is red. Cleavage is the next way scientists use to identify minerals. it's the ways rocks break or cleave. Not all minerals have cleavage. A facture is a break that isn't smooth. All minerals have facture. Another way is how heavy a mineral is. The last way is hardness. The way to test this is take something (Fingernail penny or another rock will all work) and try to scratch the thing you want to test. If it scratches then the rock on the Mohs hardness scale is below or equal to what you scratch it with. That's all!

Plus, K pulled out his coding mouse,

and A1 found another crunch labs kit to put together.

Over the weekend, we had a fun Minute-to-Win-It party. Boys won thanks to A1's incredible penny stacking skills and K's hands-free transferring skills.  

Then we made pizza,

And homemade Halloween costumes. (More pictures coming next week) The boy designed them themselves.

We have been reading history as a bedtime story. My kids once awarded me the "worst bedtime storyteller award". I guess this week's history at bedtime was no exception. We read the story of The Long Walk of the Navajos and the tension between pioneers and Native American tribes. We also talked about the Navajo Code talkers this week as one of the final Navajo Code talkers passed away. He was 107.

That's all for this week.