Several times this week I received confirmation that we need to take a break. This photo was taken Monday morning after the younger two had completed their school work…
Time for a homeschool break! Nerf guns and backyard swinging over here. How about you?
We all need breaks. Short breaks during the day. And a break from homeschool. We’ll be taking a spring break next week. This post from my friend and fellow Curriculum Choice review author, Annie Kate, was helpful to me: Not Finishing the School Year. As well as Daniele’s A Pause for Stillness <— You should read these too!
I’m not sure what our spring break will look like. I’m usually such a big planner. I know we’ll visit family. Probably use our family passes to the local venues – the aquarium and/or High Museum of Art. Visit some local Civil War spots to match our history studies. Other than that, we shall see…
But before we go, here’s some highlights from the week. Yes, we are Fitting it All In so we can break next week!
Multiple Ages: Tapestry of Grace
After last week’s Tapestry of Grace catch up session, we were in the thick of the Civil War. This week was heavy with writing, history reading. Both high schoolers are doing essays on different aspects of the Civil War. You can see those topics in the photo above. (More on how Tapestry of Grace is a great fit for our age range.)
In the habit of Teaching and Planning Tapestry of Grace for Multiple Ages and Levels, I reserved every and all possible library books for the weeks we are studying. Plus the movie Little Women with Katharine Hepburn! My high schoolers are reading a daily excerpt of How to Read a Book. In addition, they are answering the SAT Question of the Day with the app by the same name. (Both link to Annie Kate’s reviews at The Curriculum Choice.)
Online Learning
Above, kindergartener was finished with homeschool and practicing with learning apps (Phonics and Reading with McGuffey) while 9th grader was working on Teaching Textbooks math. Here are some of our favorite ways to incorporate iPad and Online Learning into Homeschool – with links to many of our favorite apps. Plus here is a link to more of Hodgepodgedad’s technology and app reviews.
Rainbow Loom online tutorials for the craftiness need of Middle Girl (she did a search for both the star burst and the Elsa Frozen doll). Plus, from Lynda.com Photography 101 for Middle Girl and C++ for ninth grader. We even learned about Frederic Chopin and his military polonaise during lunch one day. We love our artist and composer studies with {affiliate} Harmony Fine Arts!
Kindergarten: Phonics and Reading
Steady practice each homeschool day with A Reason for Handwriting and Alphaphonics – how far he has come this year in kindergarten!
Spring Nature Study for All Ages
The spring birds are out and about in our yard. Here is a photo of a male cardinal. The bluebird was back in the redbud when we started school each morning. (His brilliant blue against the pink of the redbud is stunning!) But by the time I got the camera, he was trying to scare off the ‘other’ male bluebird he saw in the neighbor’s truck mirror. He was not happy about his reflection! He didn’t stop by the redbud again. Maybe tomorrow.
Plus we’ve enjoyed these links this week!
High School: Electives/Volunteer Work
Our two high schoolers stay busy with volunteer positions besides the extracurricular drama troupe, piano and online computer courses. Each week our Eldest Son (ninth grader) spends time shadowing Hodgepodgedad at his second job – on staff at our church. He is the IT Director so there is plenty to do running a computer network. Plus they also team up to run the sound and lighting for one of the church services each week. I finally remembered to get a picture!
Eldest Girl (10th grader) has been challenging herself in learning the keyboard and playing in the youth band. She’s been playing piano since she was seven. We got her a keyboard for Christmas so she could expand further into playing praise songs. She has practice with the band twice a week and loves it!
Family Fun
To raise funds for scholarships to Chick-fil-a’s Camp Winshape, our church has several ‘Together on Tuesday’ times where we gather to enjoy Chick-fil-a. A portion of the sales goes towards the scholarships. We were happy to help out!
Last weekend I had the privilege of a Jane Austen night with some fellow homeschool moms! Many thanks to Middle Girl who made the Trim Healthy Mama Super Rich Fudge (with SunButter!) for me – for the occasion.
More Hodgepodge:
- Nana shared an Easter Crown of Thorns chalk pastel art tutorial. Be sure to pin it to enjoy this Easter season.
- The Ultimate Homeschool Pinning Party (link live at midnight) will still start tonight! Be sure to drop by any time after that and find you some great resources – and be sure to share your Pinterest profile, your favorite pins – so we can all find you!
- {Last day –> Giveaway!} Cover Art for A Seasonal Start in Spring Chalk Pastels – the beautiful bird nest chalk art would be a great gift for Mother’s Day! Be sure to enter to win.
Many thanks to our hostesses!
- Collage Friday hostess Mary at Home Grown Learners
- Weekly Wrap-Up hostess Kris at Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers
- Finishing Strong at Education Possible
There may be a post or two around here next week but it will be kind of quiet. How about y’all? Are you taking a spring break?
Enjoy your break! I hope it will rejuvenate all of you and that you won’t be looking down the barrel of any more guns for a long, long time! 🙂
Thanks for all your encouraging posts and reviews! And I imagine I’ll being seeing even more of those Nerf guns out over spring break 🙂
This has been a week for us! Last minute details for Ben’s trip to Peru (leaves Sunday) have had me hustling on top of everything else going on with online work. It was wonderful to see your week and all the things that make homeschooling such a joy. Your children are all growing up so fast. 🙂
They are growing up very fast! Peru!! Wow, your children are world travelers 🙂
They think we meant literally to “have wings”. I am super nervous about this trip because it involves two flights to Peru and then a long bus ride. His friend is meeting him at the airport there at his last stop and riding the bus with him but I am hoping it all goes smoothly. Once he is there I will give a big sigh of relief.
Oh, I hope your break is wonderful in many, many ways — do enjoy!! And a Jane Austen night? That sounds incredibly lovely… 🙂
It was wonderful. I highly recommend a Jane Austen night. We watched Sense and Sensibility. Trying to decide what we’ll watch next…
Tricia — enjoy your Spring Break! We have one more week and then we will be relaxing for a week.
I love the opportunities your big kids have to pursue their interests and develop skills that are going to directly translate into adulthood. Very nice. 🙂
We need to plan to get together in April – when my husband returns from Central America!
Mary, we’d love to get together in April – after Central America! And yes, those big kids of mine are really already 10th and 11th graders since we are just about finished up here in the next few weeks. That will be another whirlwind of good things. So very blessed with a wonderful church family, friends and adults who mentor. And yes, life skills!
Ah, yes a spring break is a wonderful habit. I hope that yours is very fine. I love to come here and see all the happy smiles and all the advances each week in their learning. It may be hard for you to see them all since you are in the middle of it, but I can see it. Each week there are advances and accomplishments. You enjoy your well-deserved break.
Everybody needs a Phyllis in their life! Thank you sweet friend 🙂 It’s looking like the weather will be lovely – in the 70s mostly next week. So the timing is just right!
Tricia, I loved reading this re-cap! I didn’t realize that you were doing TOG Year 3 also! We are heading into the Civil War. All of the library books and those from Amazon arrived yesterday, so our next week will be packed with good reading! I can’t wait!
Enjoy your time off! xoxo
Yes – we are in the Civil War too! Plan to head out to the surrounding Civil War spots in the next week. See The General from the Great Locomotive Chase, battlefields, maybe the Gone with the Wind museum… we’ll see! Love knowing you are doing Y3 too! Thank you Lauren!
That sounds like a wonderfully full week! We had spring break last week while Mason and I were in the hospital and it was SO needed. This week has gone well because everyone is refreshed from break.
We’re hosting a Nerf Rebelle party tomorrow morning (I’m promoting it for House Party and they sent us a big box free). Tonight I’m making the games so I thought I would share one fun and easy one: Grab some paper plates and cut out the centers to shoot through. Hang these up with string. You can cut the holes to different diameters for easier and harder targets.
Okay, one more…. do the same thing except tape tissue paper on the back of the plates so when you shoot through the hole in the plate you shoot through the tissue. 🙂
I like the writing assignments in TOG, those look so helpful with a range of ages! I wish I could get my hands on TOG to try…. we’ve got so many ages here and I’m trying to simplify/combine even more for next year.
Tristan – thank you for sharing the Nerf ideas – what fun!! And guess what – you can download a free three week trial of ToG. That’s what convinced me – a true trial with all our ages: http://www.tapestryofgrace.com/sample/
We’re still bouncing back from all the events and changes from last spring, so breaks have been numerous this year. Sometimes you just gotta! You have such a range of homeschoolers, huh? You’ve reminded me how valuable reading aloud is! I should start that up again!
Oh looks like you all have a full week! I’d love to add app play time for my kids. I have to find some that correspond with their courses. I’m dropping in from Weekly Wrapup
So nice to hear about your week, and hope that you and your family have a wonderfully restful and fun spring break!