In the Thick of it All

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We are really enjoying Mapping the World with Art in 4th-6th grade co-op class, picking up ideas from Global Art as we go. Each week we share a small craft/food/fun facts for the area of the world we are studying, then Feeche comes along and fills in every little crack with history info. Oh yeah, we draw a large, labeled map each week, too. Good times.
Mesopotamia- made clay tablets and wrote in hieroglyphs.
Greece- ate olives, learned longitude and latitude by drawing them on hard boiled eggs.
Italy- worked with Roman Numerals, ate pizza. Who knew the kids would beg for more numbers to puzzle through? We had to cut them short on the Roman Numeral work to get to the map work!

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Blog Love

Tons of reviews (and give-aways!) coming up: The Homemakers Mentor, The Pilgrim's Story, God's World,  Bridgeway Academy (Marine Bio) and lots more...

And a Hop on Oct. 8: "Inspired Learning with Everyday Living." We've been doing lots of that- as long as "inspired" is loosely defined- kwim?
 

And for those that loved the 2-part "Dreams Unfulfilled-Reality Misunderstood" (Part I and Part II) there will be a follow-up on Monday. You won't want to miss it!
 

Latest reviews:

Homeschool Mom's Bible

The Presidential Game

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Read Packing Light, loaner from Ruthariffic. Another "A Year of Living/Memoir" genre. Kind of a combination of exhortation to get rid of your baggage and a sociological study about the mind of Christian millenials. Vesterfelt (the author) is an advocate of "doing what you love, the money, and-life/God-kuddos-because-that's-actual-worship-will -follow" Having been there for the initial buzz of that mentality, I read it with a bit of btdtdw cynicism. Her opening was fantastic and some of her writing is profound. The thesis of the book was this: As long as you're a spectator, you're not a worshipper of God." Well, yeah, totally buy that, baby. Worth reading, and sorting as you go. And honestly, I love the "Year of Living" genre.

Our read aloud is The Bronze Bow. It's a must read for all your kids. Excellent Ancient History, compelling story and more of the amazing wordsmithery you can expect from Elizabeth George Speare.

Also read Adam and Eve after the Pill: Paradoxes of the Sexual Revolution, by Eberstadt. Excellent writing by an intellectual sociologist.This book is challenging on a number of different levels. Be prepared to put your thinking hat on, 'cause without it, you won't get very far. A must read. I'll be writing more about this one, but it deserves it's own post.

Flower finished Diary of a Real Payne (total love-super cute-  review to follow) and is now immersed in Little Women. Cub finished another Bethlehem Book- not sure which one but if you are looking for living history, check out their catalog!

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 I'm having Flower and Cub go through the Super Star Student DVD. Flower- who has gifts of administration ("Can I organize that for you?") loves it, Cub, who doesn't, does not. We have the old version, it's cheesy, and over dramatized, but full of good information.
Marine Biology, Saxon and Learn Math Fast, FLL, Time for Learning, IXL, Vocab and Spelling, lots of reading and lots of long walks, drinking in the gorgeous fall weather on the Prairie. Seeing tons of baby snappers on our walks.

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The basement is put back together (finally) from our major floor-re-do. We have trim cut and up but need to do more detail cutting so it's just leaning against the wall right now. It still looks amazing and adds a whole separate living room area along with expansive floor space for extensive Lego and Play mobile set-ups.

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Anyone else ever feel like this?

find it here

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 What went right in your life this week? Talk to me.

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