Cooking (27/180)

R went to parkour twice!

D worked on various art projects:

And some of the kids did some baking and cooking:

W played D and D.

D and J attended their religious education class.

W, R and D worked with LOF.  W read independently.  R read with support and completed The Sinking of the Titanic, 1912 by Lauren Tarshis.

D practiced reading and mastered Floppy Mop by Bobby Lynn Maslen.

D worked with Handwriting Without Tears.  J worked with Explode the Code.

I read to the girls:


Pirate Girl by Cornelia Funke


The Last Train by Gordon M. Titcomb.  We listened to the song and several other railroad songs as referenced.

This week included 5 days of instruction.

Bunk beds (22/180)

The girls have been longing for a bunk bed for a full year or more and this week we got one - and gave their room a complete make-over.  D went to IKEA with me and helped find and choose the bed (the one we wanted wasn't there and we had to decide on a different one) and accessories.  W and R helped by moving the old bed out of the room.  M and R built the actual bunk bed.  Then the girls and I spent LOTS of time organizing and sorting out stuff from the room to fit it into the new configuration, which includes a desk for each girl.  They are very excited.  D is also calculating how many 'finishing touches' she can afford with money she's saved from birthdays, etc., like a mirror, fairy lights, or similar.

That didn't leave a lot of time for more academic pursuits this week, but ... W, R and D worked with LOF.  W read independently.  R read with support and completed The Sinking of the Titanic, 1912 by Lauren Tarshis.  D and J practiced reading.

I read to the girls:  What Baby Needs by William Sears
God's Dream by Desmond Tutu


Kings of the Castle by Victoria Turnbull

W led a D and D game for a friend's birthday party.

This week included 3 days of instruction.

Dance Camp! (19/180)

J attended a full week of dance camp from 9 - 2 each day!  She loved it.  It was a lot of time away from her sister and her mama (etc.), but she truly loved every minute of it.

R went to Parkour and also attended a Fortnite tournament.

W played D and D.

D and J attended their religious education class.

W, R and D worked with LOF.  D completed working with
Life of Fred: Honey by Stanley F. Schmidt



W read independently.  R practiced reading.  D mastered
0 to 10 by Bobby Lynn Maslen.  J practiced reading.

I read to the girls:

Shape Shift by Joyce Hesselberth


We are also reading a "short" chapter book, so we're not reading as many picture books.

This week included 5 days of instruction.

The Prisoner of Azkaban (14/180)

D and J received their annual checkups.

R got his front tooth repaired, after chipping it on a pool on our road trip.

We went swimming.

My cousin's wife came to town to play with the Philadelphia Orchestra at a screening of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (which we finished reading out loud only a couple of months ago!) She generously gave us her comp tickets, enabling us to attend!  We were far enough away from the orchestra that it was easy to forget there were live musicians rather than a soundtrack, but it was a great experience anyway!

W and R and D worked with LOF.

W read independently.

R practiced reading and completed The Shark Attacks of 1916 by Lauren Tarshis.

D and J practiced reading.  D worked with HWT and J worked with ETC.

D and J went to the library, and I read to them:

Grady the Goose by Denise Brennan-Nelson.

This week included 4 days of instruction.

Onward! (10/180)

We embarked on a 2 week road trip at the very end of June.  I managed to make this road trip include a field trip for everything but mathematics.   There aren't a whole lot of mathematical field trips ....

First, we drove - quickly - to Austin, Texas.  There we stayed with family.  We did lots of swimming!  It was hot!

We went to the Blanton Museum of Art:

and then stopped by a historical fountain (recently relieved of Confederate statuary) and a UT@Austin collection featuring a Guttenberg Bible and the oldest known photograph:

We went bowling:

And took a side-trip to The Alamo, where we especially enjoyed the history talk and the demonstration where they fired period guns.

We climbed to the highest point in Austin City Limits (it was hot!  Still!):

Then we drove out to the tiny town of Roby, Texas.  On the way we stopped at Dinosaur Valley State Park, where we saw fossilized dinosaur footprints:

In Roby we visited the town graveyard, where the kids' paternal grandmother's family is buried:

We headed home more slowly to allow some sight-seeing (and swimming in hotel pools) along the way.  Highlight of the trip for me was stopping at Laura Ingalls Wilder's Springfield, MO home:

We also stopped at a VFW with a real (decommissioned) tank!

After our return, R went to Parkour.

We went to a performance of The Complete History of America (Abridged).  This was hilarious and well received by all:

D and J attended their religious education class.

They also did lots of crafting and raised over $25 for charity running an orange juice stand on our street:

We listened to audio books and podcasts on the road trip, and I read to the girls:

Best Friend Trouble by Frances Itani


Thirteenth Child by Patricia C. Wrede


Betsy-Tacy by Maud Hart Lovelace


Little Ballet Star by Adèle Geras


Weeds Find a Way by Cindy Jenson-Elliott


Across the Great Barrier by Patricia C. Wrede

These weeks included 10 days of instruction.