A week in the life of homeschoolers - September 16th - 22nd

September 16th-22nd

In our homeschool this week...

We had a great week. We got quite a bit of learning done and had lots of fun.

Here are some highlights:

Sunday we just enjoyed  time at home. Monday we continued learning about birds specifically how they eat, build their nests and lay their eggs. We did a fun experiment where we tried to eat like different birds. Read more and see more pictures on my Bird Beak Comprehension - Eating Like A Bird post. The kids also decided to make a craft that they saw in one of our library books. So they grabbed a box, an oatmeal container and the markers and drew their Atlanta Skylines. Then we put a light behind the box and Christmas lights inside the container so we could light the skylines up at night. They both turned out very cute and I will actually be including more details about the project in a post I am working on about the State of Georgia. Tuesday the kids worked on reading and math utilizing their online programs like ZooWhiz, Reading Eggs and A+ Tutor Soft Math. Wednesday after taking hubby to work the kids and I went to a park to kill some time before speech. The kids played on the playground, explored an abandoned bird nest and then we went on a geocaching adventure. We made a quick trip to the grocery store and when we got home we made some yummy bird nest rice krispy treats. Thursday after taking daddy to work and getting an oil change we had a fun science and art day. We learned about James Audubon and then the kids drew their own birds. We read more about Owls and dissected an Owl pellet. I was very bummed when I unwrapped the pellet because I thought I had purchased a "real" pellet. Turns out I purchased a synthetic one. The kids still had fun putting the skeleton together though. And then we made our very own Hummingbird Feeders (even though so far it has only attracted Bees). Friday we had a great time on our field trip with daddy to Davidson Arabia Mountain, more details below. Saturday we took another field trip with daddy to The Atlanta History Center.

Helpful homeschooling tips or advice to share…
If you have children under 7 yrs old remember to let them just be kids. They don't NEED to do learning via textbooks, online programs, worksheets, etc everyday. Sometimes they just NEED to be kids and PLAY. Remember even when they are playing, exploring and using their imagination they are STILL learning.

I am inspired by…
My husband and his artistic talents. This week he and Gwyn started working on a children's book. The kids drew the pictures and he is coloring them in digitally. Then they are going to write a story to go along with the pictures. Hopefully we will then be making it into an eBook which we will sell for a couple of dollars with all proceeds going towards charity (still deciding which one).

Places we’re going and people we’re seeing…
This week we had fun at a local park finding a geocache and taking a nice nature. And then we had two fun field trips with daddy. We went exploring at Davidson Arabia Mountain in SE GA. We walked on the giant granite mountain, got to see some really cool ecosystems, found 2 geocaches and learn all about how they mined for granite in the early 1900's. We even got to walk inside the remains of the Arabia Quarry Office which was built in the early 1900's. Saturday we went to the Atlanta History Center Fall Festival. The festival was lots of fun. We got to pet some cute animals, make corn husk dolls, dip candles and hear some stories from a wonderful story teller.

Next week we will be going on one more field trip with Daddy to Rock City in Tennessee. And on Saturday we will be checking out the Hudgens Art Center (make sure you get your FREE Smithsonian Museum tickets for next weekend).

My favorite thing this week was…
Taking field trips with my wonderful husband. I love watching

What’s working/not working for us…
I am trying a new schedule/routine (whatever you may want to call it) where we only do our unit study 3 times a week (which covers science, history, geography, science). Also on those 3 days we do reading. Then the other 2 days we do more math, art and music. I am hoping that by breaking our days there will be less stress and we will be more likely to cover everything. The kids still have

Questions/Thoughts I have…
Why are boys so stubborn?

I’m reading…
I am starting to read IndoctriNation. This book comes out in October but since I am a Mom of Master Books I got a preview copy.

I’m praying for…
The healing of my tick bite (at least that is what I think it is). Also I am continuing to pray for our car issues to cease. And I am praying for my dear friend Jordyn who recently had surgery.

Favorite resource(s)...
My Owl Pellet - Experiment Notes was our favorite resource this week. There are lots of great Owl resources on the website, the Owl pellet notes booklet is located in the middle of the webpage.

On my blog this week...
-FreeBee Fridays - My Favorite FREE Learning Websites
-Operation Christmas Child - Spreading Joy Via A Shoe Box
-Already Gone Book Review and Twitter Party Reminder
-Bird Beak Comprehension - Eating Like A Bird
-Top 10 Favorite Books

A photo, video, link, or quote to share…

How was your week? 

Linking up with:

Learning All The Time, Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers,  Homegrown Learners, iHomeschool Network, All Boy Homeschool,