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Learning Notes Third Week of November

Learning Notes Third Week of November

Ben the knight
Ben the knight

Monday

Rainy, sleepy day. At least I was sleepy. And feeling a bit under the weather.

The kids were deeply entrenched in a dress up game— pirates and queens— when I got up and had a hard time stopping for both breakfast and school work. They bargained with me and promised that if I gave them fifteen minutes they’d sit down and do the work. And they did.

Sophie was a pirate queen and so she was pretending that she was doing her copy work with a quill pen and she wrote it all in fancy letters and made scribbles in the margins that she said were secret pirate language. She did a page of Saxon math.

Bella eschewed copy work but composed a couple of sentences about pirates. I don’t think she did any math.

Ben did some handwriting and math.

Afternoon reading: Bearskin, Across the Puddingstone Dam, Don Quixote, several library books.

The pirate eats a cinnamon roll
The pirate eats a cinnamon roll
The pirate eats a cinnamon roll
The pirate eats a cinnamon roll
The pirate eats a cinnamon roll
The pirate eats a cinnamon roll
The pirate queen eats a cinnamon roll
The pirate queen eats a cinnamon roll
The queen enjoys her cinnamon roll
The queen enjoys her cinnamon roll
Pirates remove their hats when they do school work.
Pirates remove their hats when they do school work.
Table time.
Table time.
Pirate queens write fancy letter with quill pens and have secret pirate messages hidden in the margins.
Pirate queens write fancy letter with quill pens and have secret pirate messages hidden in the margins.

Tuesday

Morning prayer and reading the life of St Rose Philippine Duchesne, which we all found very inspiring, especially Bella. Sophie ad Ben helped clean the table and sweep the dining room floor.

Sophie sat down and did copy work and math right away. And then read me a Little Blue Truck board book.

Bella had a hard time focusing. She made a paper chain and Christmas ornaments. I finally copied out a few lines of Custard the Dragon by Ogden Nash, which is her current favorite poem. We worked on memorizing the first six stanzas.

I read a bunch of poems in the Barefoot Book.

Eventually I did two math pages with Bella, writing down the answers for her.

Then I read the children the Book of Judith. I’d promised to tell them the story after we saw a statue of Judith with the head of Holofernes at the Museum of Fine Arts. Then I read Puss in Boots and the Soup Bone and several pages of the New Americans book about the Colonial era. And then somehow it was 1:30 and no one had had lunch, just a late morning snack of bread and butter.

So I made quick punch and then out Lucy down for a nap. After her nap we read three chapters of Across the Puddingstone Dam. And then we read a chapter of the book about St Rose of Lima.

Bedtime stories: Dom read Charlotte in New York to Bella and I read Soup Bone to Sophie.

Lucy draws.
Lucy draws.
Lucy with a sword
Lucy with a sword
Sophie reads Little Blue Truck
Sophie reads Little Blue Truck

Wednesday

Sophie read a book to Lucy this morning.

I read today’s Gospel over breakfast.

Sophie helped clear the table and wash it. Bella helped put away dishes. A bit. Ben helped sweep. A bit.

Sophie did a page of copy work, a page of Saxon math, counted some coins, and then spent more than an hour setting her little demonstration analog clock from the digital clock in the kitchen.

Bella copied out the next bit of The Tale of Custard the Dragon and I walked her through two pages of Miquon Math: subtraction and fractions. Then we spent some time memorizing another couple of stanzas of Custard.

Lucy shocked me by beginning to recite A Noiseless Patient Spider when I touched the page on the cabinet door where I’d posted it. I guess she’s been listening. She skips a bunch of words but it’s clearly what she’s reciting. Little precocious one.

I did a bit of math with Ben.

Bella made paper nun dolls and decorated a cardboard box to be their convent.

Afternoon stories: chapters from: Across the Puddingstone Dam, St Rose of Lima, Don Quixote, Angels, and the grade two Faith and Life book. A long cheery conversation about Jesus and Christmas and heaven and Biblical typology— the two Josephs and dreams and going to Egypt for safety. Also about the Holy Innocents.

Then a trip to the pharmacy and library.

Bedtime stories: Dom read a book about the Legend of El Dorado to the kids, a library book. Sophie had already worked her way through most of the book on her own, skipping the words she didn’t know.

Copying poems into my new notebook. The cover is my favorite of the Goya portraits we saw at  the MFA.
Copying poems into my new notebook. The cover is my favorite of the Goya portraits we saw at the MFA.
Sophie reads to Lucy
Sophie reads to Lucy

Thursday

Grocery day and we all needed a break. No table work this morning.

Afternoon story time was loaded, however. We read a chapter each of Across the Puddingstone Dam, Half Magic (the 2nd and 3rd grade book club book at the library, Bella’s going to try to join in for the December meeting), St Rose of Lima, and a the Pooh story in which Piglet is surrounded by water and Pooh rescues him. Picture books included A Medieval Feast, Over the River and Through the Woods, Three Young Pilgrims, and selections from: The New Americans, Merlin and the Making of the King, Kateri Native American Saint, and Armadillos.

Also we discussed today’s Gospel and the Office of Readings.

After dinner Sophie sat down to read Owl at Home. Bella sat down with a pencil and paper and copied words out of books.

Dom read more of Charlotte in New York to Bella. I read The Legend of El Dorado to Sophie.

Books on the windowsill
Books on the windowsill
picture books
picture books

Friday

Rather unfocused morning, but at least I accomplished my minimum goal of having Bella read to me. And a few other good things too. But Bella didn’t get to math. Alas.

On her own before breakfast Bella continued to work on her word list from last night. Her handwriting is rather neater when she’s doing stuff for herself— even if she does mix capital and lower case letters still and makes her little n’s backwards. Then she did a half page of copywork, more of Custard the Dragon.

Sophie did a page of copy work from the Memoria book and a page of Miquon math, clocks, which she had some trouble with, still confused on hour and minute hand, can’t remember she needs to count by fives or that the 12 is also the zero place.

Ben did his calendar all by himself, producing a passable 20 and 21. And drew a few decent Os, a little wobbly but recognizable.

Sophie read me The Tale of a Fierce Bad Rabbit and then Bella read me a few pages of Johnny Town Mouse. Then I finished reading Johnny Town Mouse and also Jemima Puddle Duck and Squirrel Nutkin and The Tale of Mr Tod. A Beatrix Potter extravaganza.

Afternoon stories: one chapter in Across the Puddingstone Dam, One chapter of St Rose of Lima, Pooh Builds a House, and two chapters of Half Magic, which had the kids jumping up and down and rolling on the floor with laughter. Seriously fun. Bella had a few hairy moments when they lost the magic coin, but fortunately for her they found it before the end of the chapter. I hate chapters that end with cliffhangers.

Bella's word list
Bella’s word list
Bella's magical tree for Sophie
Bella’s magical tree for Sophie
Lucy puts away the towels
Lucy puts away the towels
Lucy puts away the towels
Lucy puts away the towels
Lucy puts away the towels
Lucy puts away the towels
Lucy puts away the towels
Lucy puts away the towels
Lucy puts away the towels
Lucy puts away the towels
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