Our Weeky Mishmosh

I'm starting off with a few of James' latest pieces of artwork from his drawing class. If you ask him what he enjoys most about class, he will reply without hesitation that he loves seeing his friends.  Thankfully, the artist and teacher (Miss Cindy), has a good grasp of classroom management, lest they squirrel out of their seats halfway through the hour.  The other moms and I drive to a nearby park with the younger boys.  We have taken to carpooling in one BIG van (all SEVEN boys and three moms.  It's a hoot of a Thursday.

Still hasn't quite figured out how to fit his name on one line...

I love the frog leg in this one.

On Monday (yes, I realize that I'm backing up from Thursday, but humor me) we went on a field trip to our local paper, The Desert Sun.  Putting together a daily paper is one heck of an operation, and the boys got a behind-the-scenes tour of the tremendous equipment and technology that goes into its production.  There were more than a few warnings about the dangerous nature of some of the machines, which is naturally what James took away from the whole thing.  Me: What did you find the most interesting about the tour? James: There is a machine that can cut you into little pieces!!  For heaven's sake.

GIANT Paper Rolls

James and his Buddies

Souvenir Comics (which he read to himself and others the rest of the day)

Joshua's "Volcano" Tangram (likely a teepee, but no reason to burst his bubble)

Great line from "Mountain Born," turned copywork.

We finished Mountain Born this week.   It was one of my all time favorite read-alouds.  When I asked James what he took away from the book, he said that he wants to visit the mountains.  It took me by surprise, but it made me think about how little mountain trekking we have done in our lives!  We will have to make good on the Palm Springs tram tickets Matt scored at a school raffle and shimmy our way up some 6000 feet to do a little exploring.  You would think that I have this sort of thing in my blood from the amount of hiking I did as a kid in the Whipple family, but I have definitely become a city slicker in the last 10-or-so years.    I'm not naming names or anything, but I happened to marry a city slicker as well (and one with a healthy dose of inborn caution)...which makes for a reticent mountaineering family.  But, this is definitely something worth attacking soon.  There is only so much reading we can do without realia.  Savage beasts, ticks, brush, lonely winding trails...here we come!

Latin: It has been a while since I have updated you on our progress, so here goes.  Pater is father, mater is mother, soror is sister, and frater is brother.  Puella is girl, puer is boy, vir is man (remember that v says w), and femina is woman.  Lastly, mensa is table, sella is chair, stylus is pencil, and liber is book.  I have to say that the coo coo vowel pronunciations are killing me.    It is hard to break a 30+ year habit of reading them according to a different set of rules.  I suppose I should be thankful that they at least look familiar.  It could be worse--I could be attempting to learn Mandarin!  I do like when we can see the interconnectedness of the romance languages and the roots thereof.  Fro instance, libro is book in Spanish--fairly similar to the Latin liber.  I wish that I had a rudimentary base in French as well!  No such luck.  I need to arrange a Skyping session with Uncle John and Gramma Shirley.

We work memorization in the morning and afternoon. At breakfast, we review our Bible verses and passages.  So far, the boys have memorized the Fruits of the Sprit, The Lord's Prayer, and John 3:16  We are currently working our way through Psalm 23.  I am thinking of attacking the Beatitudes next.  They hold such a powerful message that contradicts everything this world deems important.  These passages are as much for ME as they are for the boys.  Let me confess that I could stand to swallow a dose of "meekness" when I am on the soccer sidelines with wack-O soccer parents.

At lunch, we recite poetry. We have pulled out a few favorites from last year for review purposes. One is by Emily Dickenson, titled "A Word."  A word is dead when it is said, some day.  But I say it just begins to live that day.  I have been referencing this poem as of late, trying to remind the boys (amidst their careless brotherly put-downs) that their words are alive, and that they can be used to either build up or tear down.  Christina Rosetti wrote "What are Heavy."  What are heavy?  sea sand and sorrow:  What are brief?  today and tomorrow:  What are frail?  spring blossoms and youth.  What are deep?  the ocean and truth.  The poem we added to our repertoire this week goes like this:  Work when you work.  Play when you play.  This is the way to be happy each day.  All that you do, do with your might.  Things done in halves are never done right.  Might I say that the boys have the play when you play portion down PAT.  :-)

Until Next Week, Haven School Love...

Math Fun

The quotes are a much to inspire ME as anything.