Ambleside Classical

Weekly Report

School here will be light from now until August, so I may combine weekly reports. We did a bit of this and a bit of that - mainly focusing on nature study and health. Personally, I have been working on my nutrition/fitness goals, and I have happily noticed Miss M following my lead in this area by reading nutrition labels and being aware of more mindful eating. Today when her friend asked her for something sweet to eat, she exclaimed, "Oh, we are trying to avoid sugar around here. It's not good for you, you know! How about a whole wheat bagel?" : D

English:
Nothing too formal here. Miss M did a notebook page on Cardinals, and she made several dog-themed bookmarks. They turned out really cute!

Handicrafts:
Did some crocheting and made some bookmarks for gifts. Her crocheted scarf will go to some special person she will not reveal!

Math:
No math this week. I did have her measure her windows for new blinds and draw out a diagram.

Nature Study:
Backyard birds. We filled our bird feeder and put a small bath out on the deck. It has attracted sparrows, chickadees, blue jays, cardinals, and crows so far. We read Nature Friend articles, read some backyard bird books, and did a sketch. It has been wonderful being aware of all the beautiful bird songs around us every day! It has been satisfying learning what bird songs are sung by which birds. We are loving nature study.

Family Reading:
Miss M's free reading is The Thief Lord. For read-aloud time, Iron Chef finished Seven Daughters and Seven Sons and began The Phantom Tollbooth. His personal reading is Saint by Ted Dekker. I have been rea ding Clean Eating, (and trying to follow the principles pretty closely) Oxygen, the book of 1 Kings, and Joy Hakims's Reconstructing America.


Other School News
I recently got my first desk. That's right, I have never had my own desk in all my years of homeschooling! It is a large, cherry-colored, U-shaped desk with tons of work space and storage. It was acquired from Craig's List for a song. I love it -- no more having to clear everything off of the dining room table every day! Also, my teaching materials and office supplies have been reorganized. Since I have most of my curriculum here for fall and it has been nice for all of it to have found a 'home!'

Outside teaching projects
Also got confirmation that I will be teaching four homeschool science classes in the fall, with kids ranging in age from first to eighth grades. I have been busy getting my program and materials organized for those classes. Teaching Sunday School at my home church will be another fun project this summer. Our church's theme will be 'It's a King Thing!' (exploring the Kings of the Bible), and I am looking forward to do some teaching and organizational work with this! It looks like a great summer program. I think the kids will learn a ton and have a blast!

That's about all we are up to right now. How was your week?