Back to work and back to school

Tim had to go back to work this week after being on vacation for the last couple of weeks and so we jumped back into school as well.
Christian was not too happy that his dad had to go back to work.  He made this quite clear to me all week!  He knows who his buddy is.  He is feeling a little better this week though which I am thankful for.  He had been under the weather since Christmas.  Because he had been feeling not so well he had also been in the house for the last couple of weeks so on Tuesday I decided to take him outside for awhile.  Christian has a hard time going out when he has been inside for a long period.  He gave me quite the fight over putting on his shoes and jacket but once I finally got him out and on the trampoline he did pretty well.  We were also able to get to the park this week.  It is nice to get some fresh air again.

Here he is at the park listening to the MP3 player he got for Christmas.  He loves being able to carry around his own music.  It has been holding up rather well too and believe me he likes to put things to the durability test.

I have been trying to interest him in a board game we have had for a long time.  It is called The Snowman Game.  One of my goals for him this year is that he would sit down with us and play a simple game with assistance.  This one is really simple and doesn't require any reading.  It has little wooden snowmen that you build and so I am first trying just to teach him to put the snowmen together and then we will work it into the context of the game.

 

We have been spending some time studying winter this week.  I purchased Amanda Bennett's Winter Wonders unit study and we have been using that a bit plus some other things.

We were really hoping for some snow to go along with our study but it never came.  We did make some fun winter snacks though.

 

We made these Sweet Tortilla Snowflakes from Family Fun magazine.  They were fun and fast to make and tasted yummy.

And it just wouldn't be winter without Smores!

Tyler had fun making Smores and actually enjoyed eating them too!  He has sensory issues about messy foods but he is definitely trying more and becoming more tolerant.

Tyler started reading Hans Brinker this week.  Along with the book he is studying the Netherlands.

This is our prayer center for this week.  Tyler was a bit taken back after we read in Operation World that the Netherlands has such a high average income and literacy rate and yet there are so many prayer points.  This was a bit of an unplanned lesson in the fact that money and education don't always bring happiness.  He has been enjoying learning about the canals in Amsterdam and windmills and energy from wind power.  He has also been getting so much better at his mapping skills.  I can now give him a map and a list of places or things I want him to label, shade, or outline and he does it independently.  This has been a hard skill for him to grasp but with some fading of assistance he is now doing great.

I decided to do something new this week.  I purchased Tyler a sketchbook to journal his learning.  I am trying to help him to keep a record of what he learns in a way that he will remember it.  He has gotten better at summarizing in his own words what he has learned and I want him to not only be able to do that but to draw or take photos to go along with what he has written.  He owns the knowledge when he does this and I think it makes him much more confident in his learning.

Today we talked about Wilson Bentley and snowflakes and then I had him record what he learned.  The child who could only answer true/false and multiple choice questions a couple of years ago has come so far.

Other than school we have had a pretty relaxing week around here.  We have played some boardgames and watched the BCS championship game.  Tomorrow I am going to the store to finally buy some fabric and try out my new sewing machine.  I hope it goes well as I am scared of sewing and would like to keep my confidence level up.

I had set a couple of personal goals for myself this year and so far I feel like I am doing well at them.  I really want to spend more time outside.  It is good for the kids and for myself.  We have been outside for at least a little time almost every day this week so I am pleased about that.  The other goal was to spend less time on the computer.  I have only been on this week first thing in the morning and at night after the kids are in bed.  I have been turning it off in between because it is just a huge temptation for me.  I found this video tonight as I am sitting here and it really hit home.

I really love reading emails and blogs but before I know it I have been on way too long.  I am hoping to do better about keeping it limited.

I am going to bed now so I hope everyone has a great weekend!