Year 5 :: Week 6

After taking last week off, we started back again this past Monday. We did 4 days of school work this week, taking Friday off to attend a playdate with homeschool friends.

On Monday, Adrienne had her first meeting with the Canadian Air Cadets. She won't have her uniform for a few weeks, but once she does I will take a picture and share it. She is really looking forward to her first year with this squadron.

Here is our report for this past week:

Math:

Adrienne: Teaching Textbooks Algebra - lessons 18 to 20, quizz 2.
Andre: Teaching Textbooks 6 - lessons 18 to 21
Celeste: Miquon Math - lessons C1 to C4

Language Arts:

Adrienne:
Grammar: Growing with Grammar 8 - lessons 1 to 4
Writing: Format Writing - Introduction and Paragraphs
Spelling: Sequential Spelling 3 - 2 days

Andre:
Grammar: Growing with Grammar 6 - lessons 1 to 4
Writing: Story Starters - The Alligator story, Andre continued it, at editing point.
Spelling: Sequential Spelling 1 - 2 days
Handwriting - Italics Handwriting - 4 days
Reading Aloud Practice - Elson Readers - "A Dog of Flanders"

Celeste:
Grammar: First Language Lessons - lesson 1
Handwriting: Italics Handwriting - 3 days
Phonics: Explode the Code - pages 17 to 20
Reading Practice: Elson Readers - "What was in the Nest?" and "The Cat's Dinner"

Canadian History:

(together)
Read Spirit of Canada pages 27-33
Read Footprints in the Snow pages 15-18
Read Story of Canada pages 61-65
All 3 readings covered the late 1600 and early 1700s.


World Geography:

(together)
Trail Guide to World Geography - Week 5 days 2 to 4, Week 6 days 1 and 2 + map of Mexico + North American chart of facts. 
Read "Off We Go to Mexico" picture book.

Book Sharing Monday :: The Lego Book

Andre waited for weeks to have his turn with this book from our local library!

The Lego Book is written by Daniel Lipkowitz for DK is perfect for the Lego enthousiast, young and old. The first section of the book tells the history behind the Lego Group and how the Lego Brick came to be. You also find out how Lego Bricks are made, and how many are made each day. There is a timeline that explains the evolution of Lego toys and the company behind them.  The Lego Play Themes section is basically like a catalogue of all play sets ever made. It also includes the licensed Lego themes sets, like Star Wars and Harry Potter.  There are Lego theme parks called Legoland and these have their own section in the book as well.  The last section of the book is called A Lego World and covers everything else, showing how a simple toy from Denmark has become an international phenomenon.  

If you are participating in Book Sharing Monday, please include your link below. Thank you!

Medieval Village and Street Fair

We went to a street fair this weekend in the city that included a medieval village as well. It was great! The medieval village part had a lot to see and do, crafts, costumes to try on, and weapons to hold! Andre loved the weapons tent and we all learned more about them.

We also spent a lot of time at the street fair, watching a couple of street performers, and even participating in one for Celeste and I. We saw BMX guys jumping ramps and doing tricks. A new Canadian centre had a show with several artists, our favourite was a traditional chinese dancer. There was even free food! 

For Canadian Homeschoolers

I just found out about this newer blog!  The Canadian Homeschooler is written by Lisa Marie who is hoping to help other Canadian homeschool families by listing various Canadian resources, covering many subjects. It looks great so far, and I wanted to share the link with you (thanks Sheri!).

Our not-back-to-school day

Yesterday, Wednesday, was our "not-back-to-school" day.

We already had started back to our school work in August, but we usually like to do something fun on the day that the public school children go back.

 The official back to school day for the children around here was Tuesday, but for us Tuesday and Monday were days spent in sadness, in a funeral home grieving the death of Babi, who was my husband's grandmother and legal guardian from the time he was five years old. This was my children's great-grandma and she was a big part of our lives.

One of my friends here pointed out that the "not-back-to-school day" could be called "freedom day", and I agree completely with her. With homeschooling, we have great freedom. We have the freedom to choose when we do "school work" and when we don't. We can choose what schedule to follow, we learn all the time and we have been back to our school work since the beginning of August, just because that is what works for us.

Yesterday, my kids enjoyed a super-relaxing day, playing video games, playing tennis and visiting the playground. We are also taking the rest of this week off, to play, talk and relax. The school work can wait.

I have had the chance to appreciate the flexibility of homeschooling for positive events like vacations and such, but I now realize that in time of grief and sadness homeschooling offers wonderful flexibility and freedom as well.