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Learning Notes Week of November 28

Learning Notes Week of November 28

Advent wreath.
Sophie’s pirate clubhouse.

Monday November 28

Ben did letters, Miquon, copywork.

Anthony did Miquon, read to me from his saint book (St George), copywork.

Sophie did Miquon, a bit of MEP, copywork.

Bella did some Miquon, copied a prayer into her journal, chose a passage for dictation, reviewed a Latin lesson.

Afternoon stories: Great Northern, St Anthony of Padua, Hippos in the Night.

School time.

Tuesday November 29

Ben did letters, copywork, Miquon math, and sketched.

Anthony sketched, did a page in Miquon, read me the story of St Alexandra, copy work.

Sophie did a page of Miquon, copywork, practiced her French lesson, read geography. We found the Straits of Magellan on the map and Cape Horn.

Bella did Latin, prepared her dictation, did some math in her Miquon book. I donโ€™t think she ever got around to copywork.

Afternoon stories: Great Northern, Hippos in the Night, Life of Our Lord, Story of the World.

We finally finished Great Northern, the last of the Swallows and Amazons series. Iโ€™m rather sad that journey has come to an end and that there are no more books to read. Sure, we can re-read them and we most certainly will. But itโ€™s not the same as reading them for the very first time.

The kids watched an episode of the British castles documentary. And the boys watched an episode of Monkey Thieves.

Today I spotted Bella reading: The Eagle of the Ninth, St Patrick’s Summer, The Essential Tolkien, The Journal of Augustus Pelletier (Dear America series), the Bible, Compline, a book about Revolutionary War spies. And probably more I didn’t note.

Bedtime story: To Go Singing Through the World: The Childhood Pablo Neruda by Deborah Kogan Ray. This was a gorgeous picture book. I was sure it would be visually beautiful like all of Rayโ€™s work, but I was surprised at how lovely the prose was, weaving in Nerudaโ€™s own words, both his poetry and his prose, seamlessly into the narrative. The book sings without being sing-song-y. Itโ€™s lyrical without feeling like itโ€™s trying to be poetic. And yet itโ€™s not so lyric that it loses the story like some books Iโ€™ve seen that get too carried away in versification. The story is solid, a story of a boy coming of age and finding his voice. At different times in the story the big kids found something in his story that spoke to them. Ben asked, why didnโ€™t he speak to the woman in the market? And we talked about Benโ€™s own reluctance to talk to strangers. Anthony exclaimed, He stutters like I do! And Sophie said that his delight in books reminded her of Bella. After Iโ€™d finished it the poetry was singing in our ears and we were hungry for more so I found a volume of Nerudaโ€™s verse on my shelf and read them some selections.

Ben’s copywork.
Ben’s copywork.
Sophie does math.

Wednesday November 30

Grocery store day, but I got everyone to do some math before we left. Ben also did a page in his letters workbook, but no copywork. Anthony did math. Bella did some math and copied a prayer into her prayer journal. Sophie did a page of math and some lines of copywork.

Weโ€™re still listening to Lord of the Rings in the car. Our heroes made it to Weathertop.

Afternoon stories: Carry on, Mr Bowditch, Life of Our Lord, St Anthony, Story of the World, Hippos in the Night. Watched a video of Turkana people dancing to go with Hippos chapter.

Bedtime stories: Dinosaur Mountain and Apple Picking Time, both by Deborah Kogan Ray.

Bella is reading the Royal Diary about Elizabeth I.

Thursday December 1

Anthony read me a saint story, did copywork, then math. Ben did letters, copywork, and math. Sophie did math and copywork. She got really excited about geometry and did three pages. Bella did math, copywork, dictation.

We went for a walk because it was a mild sunny day. The kids picked up pine canes and spruce needles and we identified privet and burning bush. I found a cicada shell, but the wind blew it away before the kids saw it.

Afternoon stories: Carry on Mr Bowditch, Life of Our Lord, St Anthony, Story of the World.

Bedtime story: book about WW2.

Nature walk.
Nature study, spruce needles.
My sketch book.

Friday December 2

Field trip to the Museum of Fine Arts. We began with ancient art: Mesopotamia and Egypt and Greece. Then after lunch we visited Make Way for Ducklings, an exhibit of the art of Robert McCloskey. Then William Merritt Chase, an American painter who mostly did portraits. We all brought sketchbooks and made some sketches.

Christmas tree at the Museum of Fine Arts.
Lucy sketches. At the Museum of Fine Arts.
Looking at a Mesopotamian map at the Museum of Fine Arts.
Ben sketches at the Museum of Fine Arts.
Ben sketches a Babylonian beard.
Sophie sketches at the Museum of Fine Arts.
Robert McCloskey at the Museum of Fine Arts.
Reading Robert McCloskey at the Museum of Fine Arts.
Make Way for Ducklings at the Museum of Fine Arts.
Blueberries for Sal.
Blueberries for Sal at the Museum of Fine Arts.
Girls with ships. At the Museum of Fine Arts.
Boys and ships at the Museum of Fine Arts.
Stepping into a William Merritt Chase painting.
Lucy looks at a William Merritt Chase portrait.
Sketching and resting at the Museum of Fine Arts.
William Merritt Chase at the Museum of Fine Arts.
Lucy and Bella look at a William Merritt Chase painting.
Lucy sketches a William Merritt Chase picture at the Museum of Fine Arts.
Bella sketches at the Museum of Fine Arts.
Lights at the Museum of Fine Arts.
Anthony looks at a map at the Museum of Fine Arts.
Sophie at the Museum of Fine Arts.
Anthony and a hunter at the Museum of Fine Arts.
Ben and Lucy at the Museum of Fine Arts.
Hunter at the Museum of Fine Arts.
Dying antelope and Anthony at the Museum of Fine Arts.
My sketchbook at the Museum of Fine Arts.
My sketchbook from the Museum of Fine Arts.
My sketchbook at the Museum of Fine Arts.
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