Monday Oct 24
Bella has been reading Hans Christian Anderson. Also Roman Diary. And Letters from Father Christmas.
Did math with the boys and Bella and then with Sophie. Bella and Sophie did copywork. Anthony read Little Bear to me and copied a sentence. Ben did a page of letters. No copywork today.
Sophie read me Child’s Geography. Bella narrated an Anderson story and a historical novel about Ancient Rome and we discussed both.
Afternoon stories: Great Northern, Egyptian Diary, Life of Our Lord for Children, John Paul II.
Bedtime story: Iliad.
Tuesday Oct 25
Math with Bella (Miquon), Sophie (did a page of Miquon and a page of MEP), Ben and Anthony (Miquon).
Sophie copied in her copybook. Bella is working on a passage from Matthew. Ben did a page in his letter book and copied three words on the whiteboard. Anthony read me Little Bear and copied a sentence.
We had a discussion about Greek and Roman mythology and the contrast between that and the God of the Bible. How the gods embodied ideals of the good and the beautiful and the true but are incomplete and flawed. Also talked about angels and saints and difference between reverence and worship.
Sophie read her Geography to me, about the Panama Canal with a note about malaria.
Bella read Story of Science aloud and we discussed creation myths, the difference between science’s way of explaining the world and mythology’s, and the way the Christian worldview lends itself to a scientific worldview because it imagines a reasonable, knowable world.
Bella picked up Robinson Crusoe.
Story time: Great Northern, Egyptian Diary, Story of the World, Vincent’s Starry Night: Child’s History of Art (chapter about Egyptian painting). Microbe Hunters (inspired by Sophie’s geography, I decided to read the chapter about malaria.)
Bedtime story: The Iliad.
Wednesday October 26
Sophie did a page in Miquon and part of a page in MEP. Then copywork and read Child’s Geography.
Bella did half a page of Miquon, copywork. Read to me from the Gospel of Matthew, about the leper. Then we read and discussed History of Science.
Ben did a page in Miquon, a page of letters, copywork on the whiteboard.
Anthony did a page of Miquon, read me a Little Bear story, did copywork on the whiteboard.
Afternoon stories: Great Northern, Egyptian Diary, John Paul II, Life of Our Lord for Children, Microbe Hunters.
Bedtime story: Iliad.
Thursday October 27
Sophie did 3 pages in Miquon and one problem set in MEP.
Bella did half a page in Miquon and some copywork.
Anthony did a page in Miquon. Ben did a page in his letters book and tried to do copywork, but wasn’t feeling great. He gave up on math, too.
We all went to the grocery store, came home late and had a late lunch.
Afternoon stories: Great Northern, finished Egyptian Diary, Pope John Paul II, Life of Our Lord for Children.
Kids all watched a Blue Planet documentary episode on the deep ocean.
Bedtime story: Iliad.
Friday October 28
Sophie did 2 pages of Miquon and two problem sets in MEP.
She copied in her copybook, recited her French lesson, and read me a section of Child’s Geography. Then we consulted the map to find Caribbean islands.
Bella did half a page in Miquon, copied lines from Hamlet.
Ben and Anthony each did a page in Miquon. Ben did a page of letters and some copywork. Anthony read me a Little Bear story and copied a line.
Afternoon stories Great Northern, John Paul II, Life of Our Lord for Children, Story of the World (Code of Hammurabi), David Macauley’s Pyramid.
Kids all watched a documentary on Dover Castle.
Bedtime story: Iliad
Sophie is reading The Cat of Bubastes and the Encounter the Saints book about St Andre Bessette. Her usual bedtime routine is one chapter of a novel, one chapter of a saint bio, and if she’s still not sleepy a selection from her Bible. She read all of Psalm 119 one night. Another night a selection from Luke’s Gospel. She’s very structured and disciplined. She likes order and routine. The trickiest thing is adding something new to her routine, but once she adapts, it’s hard to get her to veer from it.
Bella continues to be whimsical about reading but has a memory that is sharp and clear and amazingly retentive. She quote MacBeth when we’re talking about something unrelated, and a verse I don’t even recall: “All the perfumes of Arabia couldn’t make my little hand smell better.”
On Sunday Bella carved a Jack O’lantern and has been making Halloween decorations.
