Week in Review: October 21-25

We were doing so well...just so so good! We were on track, everyone was having fun...it was fabulous!

And then the fevers started on Tuesday...sigh.

So what did I learn? For all my good intentions, for all my planning, life still happens. And it is okay. Grace for every moment is how I try to live. I used to get really frustrated when we got off, but this past year has taught me so much about leaving room for life and being flexible.





Unfortunately because of their fevers the girls have not been able to spend as much time with Diego as they usually do. He is our sweet neighbor who is currently battling cancer. Click here to read more about his story.







Little Hands to Heaven: Unit 24

We're getting really close to finishing up the About 3 series from Rod and Staff. I have loved these books for helping her fine motor skills. They are age appropriate for preschoolers ready to learn to write. They progress well from the beginning to end of the four book set and they are inexpensive. Grace loves these too and will even go back and do the pages again.

Grace's favorite new show is Peg Plus Cat on PBS. It's a funny little show and she was thrilled to find a game online she could play!

U was our letter for the week, even if it was a short week! This is one of Grace's favorite things to do each week, especially since I let her eat the leftover Cheerios. I let her choose what she wants to clue on to the letter and since she can't eat the beans or uncooked noodles, Cheerios usually win! 

Little Hearts for His Glory: Unit 8

Beth was the first to succumb to the fever of the week, which started the evening after these pictures. She's so very easy to teach. She may sometimes ask if she has to do work, but when I say, "Yes," she goes right to it with a good attitude. She is also often the first one to have her school books out on the table. (...Or on the living room floor!)

She very happy to move on in her cursive book. She loves the artistic aspect to what we're using now from Classical Conversations. I've encouraged her to be more careful and take her time using her colored pencils for the fine details. I've told her it is better to take a break and come back to it if she gets tired of coloring than to just scribble. This seemed to be an incredible revelation to her and she is much more willing to do fine detailed work now.

Yay for getting back to history! My girls were so very excited we were back to our regular readings. We finally got those Pilgrims on the Mayflower! Here she is counting out 180 Cheerios and loading them onto the Mayflower she made. This was a really fun math/history connection. Another reason I love Heart of Dakota!

Preparing Hearts for His Glory: Unit 4 (2nd half)

Life of Fred continues to delight and we finished up with our 3 times tables. Next week will be review of 0-3, which I anticipate going very well. Rose started Butterflies from the Life of Fred and is happy to be moving on through this new book. She's already on chapter 5!

Rose was also excited to get back to history and continue on with her notebooking pages. She has loved history so much! I understand now why so many on the official Heart of Dakota message board rave about how Preparing is their favorite guide. We are also looking to start full-speed next week. We did the last two days of the week at full-speed and it went very well! I just have to include several short breaks and be willing to do some work after lunch if needed. 

Other highlights of the week...

Playing Kids of Catan with Grammy and Grampy. This was actually the previous week, but it was fun!

Beth lost her 2nd top front tooth. Now we're working on learning All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth. If it goes well I'm sure you'll get to hear it!

And of course the sickness. Poor sweet Beth got the worst of it and has a fever which keeps spiking throughout the day and night. Her sisters tried to make her feel better by surrounding her with their favorite stuffed animals. Poor thing...she felt so bad, but gave me a sweet smile in this picture anyway!