Monday April 4
A slow start. Sophie did a bit of math, got stuck, then copywork. Bella did math and copywork. Boys did a bit of math and Anthony read to me and copied a sentence. I quizzed Ben on his letters. Sophie read me Psalm 75 and we had a wonderful discussion about the image of the cup in God’s hand that he gives to his enemies. Talked about whether it represents the Eucharist and why he would give that to his enemies which then led to thinking about receiving unworthily. Mentioned the dwarves in The Last Battle and the White Witch in Magician’s Nephew as interesting instances of people eating that which is good but with ill effect. Which led to a broader discussion about Narnia and its meaning.
Discussion about who was king of Britain in WWI led to looking up pictures of King George V and Tsar Nicholas II, his cousin and a discussion about the naming of St Petersburg/Petrograd/Leningrad and when the name had changed back to St Petersburg.
Afternoon stories: We Didn’t Mean to Go to Sea, Faith and Life, First Christians, Lord of the Rings.
Tuesday April 5
Sophie did math and then copywork. Bella did two pages of math. I did math with the boys. Anthony read a Bob book and copied a sentence on the white board.
Sophie read me a passage from, I think, I Kings, about the Queen of Sheba.
Bella made biscuits, reading the recipe from Joy of Cooking with just a little guidance and help from me.
Afternoon stories: We Didn’t Mean to Go to Sea, Catechism, Story of the World— Treaty of Versailles (with good discussion about the treaty and the aftermath of the war), First Christians, St Ignatius of Loyola, My Path to Heaven, Lord of the Rings.
Really good discussions about prayer, how reading about the saints was a turning point for St Ignatius, about various saints who have had visions of the Blessed Mother, heaven and hell and choices we make.
Kids watched Wildest Africa and Monkey Thieves.
Bella spent time looking at the atlas. Reading The Hobbit and sections from Lord of the Rings. She’s also dipping into a biography of Woodrow Wilson.
Wednesday April 6
Bella did two pages of math and a line of copywork. Sophie did part of a math page and copywork and read me a Psalm.
Boys did some math and Anthony read me a Bob book and copied a sentence on the whiteboard.
Reading: We Didn’t Mean to Go to Sea, Catechism, First Christians, St Ignatius of Loyola, Lord of the Rings and by Anthony’s request the first chapter of The Last Battle.
Thursday April 7
A very light day as I was feeling under the weather.
Bella did a page of math and some copywork (still working on Ent and Entwife). Sophie did some math and some copywork (still working on Bible passages).
Bella spent part of the morning reading the Usborne Book of Planets and was eagerly telling me about Pluto and the probe scheduled to arrive there in 2015. So I told her it had indeed arrived last summer and we looked up the pictures online. All the kids were very interested. We also found some videos and watched a bunch of them. I explained what a probe is (I had to explain it at least three different times) and we talked about planets and stars and the definitions thereof.
Bella is reading the American Girl books, I think the ones about Addy. Finished Black Ships Before Troy and picked up The Children’s Homer. Also has been peeking into Plants of Middle Earth, reading selections of The Lord of the Rings, and a book about St Katherine Drexel and one about St Bernadette. She’s also read a book about Grand Duchess Anastasia. She’s reading bits of biographies of Woodrow Wilson and Ulysses S. Grant.
Sophie finished her books about St Bernadette Soubirous and St Catherine Laboure. She’s still reading the Bible nightly.
Afternoon reading: We Didn’t Mean to Go to Sea, St Ignatius of Loyola, and The Lord of the Rings.
Friday April 8
Bella and Sophie did math and copywork while I had a morning doctor appointment.
Afternoon stories: We Didn’t Mean to Go to Sea, Catechism, First Christians, St Ignatius of Loyola, Story of the World (rise of Stalin), and The Lord of the Rings.
Lucy surprised me by reciting all of the seven sacraments. Anthony read me an Elephant and Piggie book, I Broke My Trunk, on his own initiative.
