Weekly Review: September 9-13

We had such  a busy week without even doing our regular homeschooling. We started the first week of August, and I've always planned to take this week off since our classes at Deerstream begin. I also planned a major field-trip getaway for the end of the week.

Our tradition is to take our yearly pictures the first week of our Deerstream classes. This is only our second year doing this, but I intend it to be our tradition! Since we basically school year-round it feels like a good time to do it. So here are what are usually considered first-day pictures.

Grace will be 4 in a few weeks and I just can't believe how much she has grown! She's learning to read, understanding complex math concepts, and jumping right into every endeavor we make. My only issue with her and school is she can't get enough of it and doesn't like when I tell her that lessons are over for the day. We're finishing up with Little Hands to Heaven this year as well as using Rod and Staff's ABC series.

Beth is in 1st grade this year and loves reading and mathematics. She also loves making up her own stories and acting them out herself. She is using Beyond Little Hearts for His Glory and has really enjoyed learning about the Pilgrims. One of her favorite new activities is doing word search puzzles. This is her first year taking classes at Deerstream Learning Center and she is thriving there.

Rose is becoming quite independent and responsible. She love to help me out by making her sisters breakfast in the mornings. Sometimes she is a little too motherly, but I'm learning that tends to be the way of oldest sisters. She is using Preparing Hearts for His Glory and just can't get enough! She begs for more history every day and also loves to read. We've found a new friend in math since discovering Life of Fred. Her perception of math has changed completely after just using Life of Fred for a couple of weeks.

Beth's first day was actually Monday because her class meets twice a week, but both girls went together on Wednesday when Rose has her science class. Deerstream is such a blessing. Although I strongly believe in homeschooling, I do see the value of corporate learning and exploring together. Science is one of those areas where I think group learning is ideal. 

This is where I am also blessed to teach English to 12-14 year-olds.  Deerstream is set up more like a private school rather than a co-op. The teachers are hired and are not always parents. In fact, I believe I may be the only current teacher who also has children attending Deerstream.

Every night this week we enjoyed missions conference! I completely forgot to take any pictures, but we thoroughly enjoyed hearing about God's work in Russia. 

The end of our extremely busy week led us to Williamsburg. 

You can click here to read more about our adventure!

I love that learning takes place all around us whether I'm using our formal curriculum or not. Homeschooling just becomes more beautiful as the days go on!

Don't forget to stop by my giveaway I'm hosting this week!