Saturday June 20
Today we demolished the old playhouse/swingset which was ancient and starting to rot away. (My dad has already bought a replacement, which is sitting in the driveway waiting to be assembled.) We handed the kids screwdrivers and let them help remove the side planks. They also carried boards and screws away and shrieked with joy when it finally toppled. They immediately salvaged some of the better wood and used it to make a clubhouse. Bella even screwed some of the boards together using the salvaged screws.
Bella’s been reading This Country of Ours and has been narrating what she’s been reading. Today she told me all about Aaron Burr.
Sunday June 21
Bella read almost 100 pages of Understood Betsy. She started it today and was on page 97 by dinner time.
Monday June 22
Sophie got up and did all her school work before breakfast: copywork, cursive, Miquon and Saxon math. And then when I handed her a notebook and told her to start a nature journal she went outside and drew an Indian blanket.
Bella got a slower start. Did cursive, most of a page of Miquon, and a couple lines of copywork.
She was on page 175 of Understood Betsy when I went to say good morning. She started it yesterday.
I read the saints biographies of today: St John Fisher, Thomas More, and
We went to the playground and everyone ran around and had a great time.
Afternoon stories: Swallowdale, two chapters; The Magician’s Nephew; story of Moses up to his departure for Midian; Rocks, Rivers, and Earth and then a discussion of erosion and the pros and cons of dams, connecting nicely to the story of the Israelites in Egypt; In a Patch of Fireweed, with a look at Tanzania on the globe.
Tuesday June 23
A slow start to the day. Sophie was just out of sorts. I think her allergies have been really bothering her. She got flustered in the middle of her math page and then again doing her cursive. I had to order her to put the books away and go play outside. Bella dragged her feet through her math page but eventually finished it and then did a line of copywork.
Then we all went for a walk. Bella was sulky because we didn’t go the direction she wanted to go in, so she walked ahead by herself. But that let me focus on looking at plants with Sophie and Anthony. We identified a bunch of flowers and wondered over some more that I didn’t recognize. We found a sycamore tree and felt the fuzzy leaves which sort of look like maple leaves but don’t feel like them. And looked at the remains of last fall’s seed balls. We noticed how crooked honey locust branches are. We identified spruce trees. We identified three different kinds of maple tree and collected leaves from them. We found a mulberry tree, at first I thought the white berries were unripe mulberries that had fallen to the ground. Then I noticed how many there were and picked one up and found it ripe and sweet. I let the kids taste them, which they thought a treat. We noticed moss and found pinecones and picked up rocks. And we looked at power lines and garbage cans too. It was a really good walk. Eventually we did end up going back the way Bella had wanted to go and she pulled out her sketchbook and drew a house that caught her eye.
By the time we got home it was already 12:30. Late lunch and late nap for Lucy.
Afternoon stories: Swallowdale, two chapters because we had to find out about the parrot’s feathers. The story of the burning bush, with a discussion about why God chose a man who was not a good speaker. The Magician’s Nephew, the chapter about Jadis riding about on a hansom cab like a chariot, Sophie did a good job narrating yesterday’s chapter as an intro. And then it was time to make dinner.
Bella finished reading Understood Betsy.
Bedtime stories. Bella asked for a book about Ancient China. I really need to look over that one because I’m pretty hazy on the various dynasties. Lucy wanted The Stations of the Cross. Sophie got the first half of Bambinelli Sunday.
Wednesday June 24
Sophie is still suffering with allergies. She did a page in Miquon and part of a Saxon page. A little cursive.
Bella did a page in Miquon and a little copywork.
We took a picnic lunch to the park. Lots of nature study. Geese and goslings, milkweed and flowers. The kids found a crawfish and a frog in the stream. And saw fish. Lots of clambering about on rocks and running down forest trails.
Lucy fell asleep in the car on the way home so we had a much earlier and longer than usual story time. Swallows and Amazons, The Magician’s Nephew. The story of Moses and the plagues. The first part of chapter one of King Oberon’s Forest. Then Anthony, Ben, and Sophie asked for some iPad time and I read sections from This Country of Ours to Bella. Bella’s become quite obsessed with it and has been reading chunks and narrating them to me. About Benedict Arnold and the Louisiana Purchase and John Adams. Also today she spent some time looking at the US states puzzle and telling herself the stories of the founding of the various colonies. And recognizing the sites of various Revolutionary battles and asking about them. “Wasn’t there a battle in Charleston? Is Trenton the capital of New Jersey? Wasn’t there a battle in Trenton?” We looked them up.
Bedtime story: A Drop Around the World for Ben and Mother Goose for Lucy. Anthony had Rapunzel.
Thursday June 25
Grocery day.
Sophie did a page of Miquon, a line of copywork, and some cursive. Bella did part of a page in Miquon.
We read Swallowdale, The Magician’s Nephew, King Oberon’s Forest.
I read the day’s gospel and first reading at dinner.
Bedtime stories: Mother Goose, It Could Always Be Worse, D’Aulaire’s Greek Myths.
Friday June 26
Sophie did a page of Saxon math, cursive, and copywork. Bella did a page in Miquon.
We spent most of the day putting together the new swingset/playhouse. The kids watched and helped. I did swing by the library and picked up some on hold books. When they weren’t watching us work, they were diving into books. Some really good ones I wouldn’t mind adding to our family’s library because they need to be perused at length over a good deal of time, I’ll be writing a separate post about them for sure.
This week Bella has been reading Little House on the Prairie. King Oberon’s Forest. HAs confessed to reading ahead in Swallowdale. She’s voracious.
We’re definitely on a lazy summer jog this week. Prioritizing getting outside for nature study over getting through all the school work. Yes, I think we’re going to have a lot more nature study in the next few weeks, I’m feeling it.
