Monday May 8
Took Sophie to the dentist. Came home and everyone did math. Bella and Sophie and Ben did copywork. Ben worked in his letters book. Bella read a chapter of Little Maid of Old Maine on the Kindle.
Afternoon stories: Rome in the Age of Empire (coin book), Greek Heroes, All of a Kind Family, Andre Bessett, Catholic Tales for Boys and Girls.
Bedtime story: Little Red Riding Hood
Tuesday May 9
Early start and everyone did a pretty good job of digging in for school work.
Ben did math, letters, and copywork. He also helped Lucy write some numbers. And then he played some phonics games on the iPad.
Anthony did math, read me the story of Nereus and Achilleus and then did copywork.
Sophie did math, copywork, and read to me from her geography.
Bella did math, copywork, dictation, and Latin and read me today’s Gospel as well as quiet reading of a chapter in her Little Maid book.
Then since everyone had done the bulk of their school work, we had an hour or two of painting with tempera paints, all the kids together. While they painted I played them some Bach and read them a part of the Rime of the Ancient Mariner.
No afternoon stories since I had a doctor appointment.
Bedtime story: Mallard Duck Smithsonian Backyard book.
Wednesday May 10
I told the kids if they finished their work early we could have a picnic lunch at the park.
Ben did math, letters, and copywork.
Anthony did math, read me the story of St Andre Bessett, —pleased that it had information the longer bio hadn’t had, and then did copywork.
Sophie did math, copywork, and read to me from her geography.
Bella did math, copywork, and Latin and read me today’s Gospel.
We had a lovely park outing. A picnic on their favorite walk, a nice nature walk through the park. We went much farther down the path than we ever had before and discovered a boardwalk. We saw goslings and a goldfinch, and some new birds we couldn’t identify.
Afternoon stories: Rome in the Age of Empire (coin book), All of a Kind Family, Andre Bessett, Story of the World, Greek Heroes.
Bedtime Story: Roses in the Snow, story of St Elizabeth of Hungary; The Four Questions.
Thursday May 11
We had an errand to run in Fall River this morning and decided to make lemonade and turn it into a fun field trip to Battleship Cove.
So the kids did math and copywork. Well, Anthony and Ben didn’t do copywork, but they did do math and Ben did his letters book. Bella and Sophie both did math and copywork. And that was all we managed to squeeze in.
Then our boring bank errand and then a lunch out at Chilis (that worked out perfectly as today was Sophie’s baptism anniversary and Chilis is her favorite restaurant.)
Then Battleship Cove. We spent a good two hours wandering over the battleship USS Massachusetts and then the destroyer, the USS Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr. The children were enchanted, though also understandably wearied. It was a lot to take in. We bought them some WW2 helmets, some army men, and a graphic novel at the gift shop, geeky plunder to help the visit live on in their imaginations. And indeed there has been a renewed interest in all things WW2.
No time for stories. As soon as we got home I was cooking dinner. But we did swing by the library to pick up some holds and to return some overdue books. So the kids immersed themselves in the new horde of books.
Bedtime stories: two of the library books by Oliver Jeffers.
Friday May 12
Everyone got copywork and math done this morning and then we got the grocery shopping done.
Bella especially was immersed in WW2 play this morning. She pulled out some of her books and was teaching the others about tanks and planes and I think I heard something about Guadalcanal, but I’m not sure what she was saying about it. Everyone was fighting battles with the new army men and wearing helmets and fighting with guns. Micro and macro games processing what they’d learned and experiences.
Afternoon stories: Rome in the Age of Empire (coin book), All of a Kind Family, Andre Bessett, Story of the World, Greek Heroes.
Bedtime story: Stuck by Oliver Jeffers, a very silly story that made everyone laugh.
Saturday May 13
