Your BEST Homeschool

The art and heart of homeschooling

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • About Us
  • Art Lessons
  • Blog
  • Tricia’s Book
  • Homeschool
  • Recipes
  • Shop
Home » Blog » Weekly Wrap: Projects to the left, projects to the right

in HomeSchooling· Nature Studies· Tapestry of Grace

Weekly Wrap: Projects to the left, projects to the right

I’m the project cheerleader. “Projects to the left and projects to the right. Stand up. Sit down. Write, write, write!” We are heavy into preparations for our annual Homeschool Expo with our homeschool group. It’s just two weeks from today. We have four science projects and I don’t know how many history projects going. It seems to me that this is a time where independent learning takes wings. Putting together a display board and presentation takes thought. Research, writing and so many skills come into action. I love to see what the children come up with. And it’s also a nice break in the day-to-day routine.

But before we got heavy into projects, we started the week off with singing. The children participate in weekly Bible study and/or choir and missions activities at our church. Last Sunday we got to hear Middle Girl sing in big church with her choir, pictured at top. Every week our two older girls also have a Drama Troupe practice. They are working their way towards a May performance of Alice in Wonderland.

Another day we enjoyed a glorious morning at my grandmother’s house (the children’s great-grandmother). An enormous flock of robins were darting in and out of the ivy on her tall pine trees. I’ve never seen anything like it! They were very noisy and filled the spring-like morning with song. Plus we did lots of just plain exploring in her yard. What a huge blessing to spend time with Mama Ann!

Tapestry of Grace: This week I read aloud Mercedes and the Chocolate Pilot. It was all I could do to get through it without crying! Yet another reason I adore Tapestry of Grace – for the wonderful living books we enjoy. To wrap up our unit studies the 6th and 7th graders have been putting together a the 20th century history display board. They each built time lines. One, a time line of presidents. The other a time line of aeronautics and space missions.

Did you know you can watch the American Experience series on the presidents – online HERE? Also teacher resources available.

I just love this photo of littlest looking at Amelia Earhart’s airplane. The eyelashes!

Geography/Tapestry of Grace: I mentioned what fun we had with geography week before last. A whole post on Where in the U.S. is Hodgepodgedad in Automobiles and Airplanes: An Atmosphere of Learning.

Nature: We combined the Outdoor Hour Challenges and Winter Wednesday studies into one. Sort of by trial and error. A patch of Georgia clay didn’t prove a very good first choice for variety. So, the one small square was moved to underneath some backyard logs. Millipede and more found! Winter Insects in One Small Square.

Plus a new resource when we did a Google search for that millipede – Creation Wiki

Science: we enjoyed watching the shuttle land mid-week. Plus there was plenty of space exploration study going on with preparing the time line of aeronautics and space flight. We tapped our science text, Answers in Genesis God’s Design for Science: Our Universe as well as the good resources on the NASA website. And, of course, we are praying, listening to and watching coverage of the earthquake and tsunami news we awoke to this Friday morning.

Art: Bubbles a Pastels Tutorial

Writing: Middle Girl posted Junie B. Jones review along with link to the fun website and a recording of herself reading an excerpt: Junie B. Jones books. Plus, plenty of composition with display boards.

Preschoolers: I cracked open our Slow and Steady Get Me Ready and was pleased to find that we’d been working on the skills listed: throwing a ball, climbing a ladder, matching pictures and the pounding block with the hammer  🙂

Math: One morning, five-year-old enjoyed watching Mathtacular. It’s a DVD we’ve had for several years from our Sonlight curriculum origins. Fun to pull out and watch for a change. Lots of living math examples. Which then translated to our family room. Something like this…

The older three are continuing on in Teaching Textbooks. Sixth and seventh graders are working through the Key to series on decimals and fractions. That’s still giving them some extra confidence. Third grader has completed all the online sample Teaching Textbooks lessons and continuing on in Saxon Math 3.

In the kitchen: Grandpa’s Asparagus Casserole, Sunbutter® Buttons (which can be made with peanut butter in non-allergic households) and eldest’s work on her science project. I think she’s smart to study food. Don’t you? All the recently posted Hodgepodge recipes can be found in the Homecooking section.

Life Skills: We made another round of homemade laundry detergent. That powdered version we made a few weeks ago? We gave one batch to Nana. The other batch only lasted two weeks due to the stomach sickness we are glad to be rid of. So this time, we went back to making the large, liquid batch, using the Duggar family recipe. When we originally made the liquid last summer – it lasted for five months!

PE: Our homeschool group goes back to our weekly park days this week – now that the weather is nicer. Hooray for seeing other unsocialized homeschoolers!

Bible verse copy work: Just so you know it’s not all puddin’ and pie around here all the time…a couple did write several times the following Bible verse. It’s one my friend, Little Sanctuary, posted a while back. Love this in The Message version:

Be agreeable, be sympathetic, be loving, be compassionate, be humble. That goes for all of you, no exceptions. No retaliation. No sharp-tongued sarcasm. Instead, bless—that’s your job, to bless. 1 Peter 3:8

Started reading Amon’s Adventures! There’s still time to order and enjoy it. On Tuesday at Habits for a Happy Home I’ll be sharing all our favorite Easter resources. What are yours?

Related

Filed Under: HomeSchooling, Nature Studies, Tapestry of Grace Tagged With: AiG science, Cooking Fun, math, nature studies, Tapestry of Grace, weekly wrap, writing

About Hodgepodgemom

Tricia faces a daily dose of chaos homeschooling five children. The biggest lesson she’s learned? At the end of the day – when the dishes are put away and the children are tucked in bed – truly what matters is each child’s relationship with the Lord. Raising children is a God-given privilege and, folks, the time is short.

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
Previous Post: « My House Was Constipated :)
Next Post: Homemade Bread in 10 minutes »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Elizabeth says

    March 11, 2011 at 4:13 PM

    LOL! Well, I was going to say something about Tapestry of Grace, but then I got distracted by the yummy looking snack and completely forgot what I was going to say! 🙂

    Reply
  2. All Things Beautiful says

    March 11, 2011 at 4:19 PM

    Wow! What a week! I love both pictures of your youngest son. He is so adorable. Always absorbing everything around him. I love both suggestions of curriculum -they are both on my to buy/borrow list. I love the photo of the display boards being made. It has such energy in it. And, I love the reminder that our job is to bless. Thank you for sharing the beauty of your family with us.

    Reply
  3. Jamie @ See Jamie blog says

    March 11, 2011 at 4:52 PM

    Fun week! I’m leaning more and more towards TOG, and your posts always make me lean even more that way!

    Reply
    • Hodgepodgemom says

      March 12, 2011 at 6:49 PM

      Jamie I’d love to have you as a fellow TOG-er!

      Reply
  4. Amy @ simply necessary says

    March 11, 2011 at 4:52 PM

    Love the Mathtacular! I see a purchase in our future!

    Reply
  5. Sarah @ Adventures in Homeschooling says

    March 11, 2011 at 7:24 PM

    Wow, you had a lot going on this week. It all looks great.

    Reply
  6. Jessy says

    March 11, 2011 at 7:51 PM

    What an interesting, fun week! You and the kids do lots of hands-on stuff! Look at that little worm! (We won’t be seeing worms here for a while with our snow cover! LOL)

    Jessy

    Reply
  7. Mrs. Taffy says

    March 11, 2011 at 8:56 PM

    We read Amon’s Adventure recently…I’m due any day now and I wanted to have it read before the baby shows up. Such a great book! All my chidlren, from 3-16, enjoyed it immensely! Blessings!

    Reply
  8. Kathi Weiss says

    March 12, 2011 at 12:03 PM

    Sounds like you have a very busy couple of weeks coming up. We had so much fun preparing for a geography fair last year. But it was a lot of work.

    Kathi Sewing, Knitting, Candle Making, Homeschooling Mama

    Reply
  9. Ellen says

    March 12, 2011 at 6:29 PM

    What a marvelous week, Tricia! I popped over and printed the SunButter Buttons recipe, and the homemade liquid laundry detergent intrigues me. But where does one buy Fels-Naptha soap?? Y’all are always doing the most wonderful things. I love reading about them all!

    Reply
    • Hodgepodgemom says

      March 12, 2011 at 6:49 PM

      Ellen – I was baffled by Fels Naptha. My mother ordered it online at first. But then, guess what? I found it on the very top shelf of my local Kroger! It was stacked (looks like a bar of soap) one on top of the other in the detergent/cleaning aisle. The super washing soda is around the same area.

      Let me know if you try it. It has saved us a bundle. I calculated it out… and over a year the savings was around $132 versus the All Free and Clear I was buying from the Sam’s Club once a month.

      Let me know if you have any more questions! I’ve tried the powdered and other versions. My 8-yr-old loves to grate the soap – which is my least favorite part. But we all feel so Little House on the Prairie 🙂

      Hope to stop by your Blue Stocking Belle after I get this passel of children tucked in.

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Welcome!

Thanks for visiting! I'm Tricia and I've been homeschooling since 2000. I share the art and heart of homeschooling and help you bring joy, fun and freedom to your days. It’s a Hodgepodge! Read More…


Free Homeschooling Downloads

 

 

{FREE} Download, ebooks and subscriber-only art tutorials

Success! Please check your email to confirm your subscription.

There was an error submitting your subscription. Please try again.




Get Tricia’s book!




Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Our Sister Websites





Art for All Ages



Categories

Follow Tricia Hodges | Hodgepodge's board Best of Hodgepodge on Pinterest.

Recent Comments

  • Hodgepodgemom on How to Host a Jane Austen Movie Night for Homeschool Moms
  • Dawn on How to Host a Jane Austen Movie Night for Homeschool Moms
  • Hodgepodgemom on Mama Ann’s Morning Bars Recipe
  • Joy on Mama Ann’s Morning Bars Recipe
  • Hodgepodgemom on A Stitch In Time…
  • Contact us
  • Best of Hodgepodge
  • Parenting
  • Healthy Mama
  • Essential Oils
  • Recipes

Copyright © 2008–2025 · Your BEST Homeschool, a Southern Hodgepodge, L.L.C. site. | DMCA Notice