This week we actually returned to our normal routine! As much fun as we've had over the past month or so with travelling and visitors, I think this family of mostly introverts is glad to be just us at home again for a while. All the freedom to just be apparently unleased their creative juices, and the girls had a huge painting session that resulting in our study floor being carpeted with some lovely works of art!

This week also happened to be the start of a new school year for the local public-schooled kids--a day we acknowledged by reveling in the freedom of homeschooling and buying doughnuts to bring with us to a morning at the park.

Bibles!
I forgot to mention this last week, but on the day we picked up E from the airport, we stopped in at the Christian bookstore, so Monkey and Bug could pick out their very own first real Bibles. This was a big deal for them. They're "officially" first graders now, which means they're big enough to participate in Bible quizzing at our church. Bug in particular is really excited about this. Plus, they're getting to be good enough readers that they could actually sit down with their Bible and work their way through verses. For our family Bible reading times, we're working through the stories about Jacob, and Monkey and Bug have been practicing finding each days scripture reference (a skill they'll need in the fall).

Library Day
The library storytime is on haitus again, but of course that doesn't stop us from showing up and having fun! The girls noticed that a lot fewer people come on days without storytime: Monkey enjoyed that it was quieter, and she had more room to actually spread out and complete a floor puzzle, while Bug commented that she felt sorry for the kids who's mommies didn't bring them anyway ("They don't get to pick out more books!"). Goose was just thrilled that I finally agreed to read books to them while we were still at the library (usually it's too loud for that to be an enjoyable activity). This week we brought home these books:
999 Frogs Wake Up
A Summery Saturday Morning
The Biggest House in the World
Julia Wants a Pet
Bridget and the Gray Wolves
Water Boy
Bringing in the New Year
Tanglebird
"Eat!" Cried Little Pig
My Duck
Leo the Late Bloomer

The Three Rs
Goose is back into a worksheet frenzy this week! Letters, numbers, shapes, comparisons, animals--she covered it all. Her sisters have also been working with on numbers and letters during their play, too.

This week Monkey read Where's Spot?, Rosie's Walk, Max & Milo Go to Sleep, and Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! Bug read Rosie's Walk, Inside Outside Upside Down, You Are My Sunshine, and Where's Spot? Unrelated to official reading lessons, Bug also read several verses of Genesis 1 in her Bible to Goose. a I've also succeeded in getting the girls to do a little more incidental reading--reading the directions on their math worksheet, for example.

For math, I kept it simple and easy. Both big girls did lots of review: addition, fractions, telling time, place value (for Monkey), subtraction and skip counting (for Bug).

Voyages of the Vikings
The girls were happy to be back into history studies again! We're still learning about the Vikings, and this week we learned about Viking ships. We learned about the different types and sizes of ships, what the Viking used them for (warships, fishing boats, cargo boats for merchants or settlers, etc.), and how they were built. The culminated fun project: building our own out of a shoebox, carboard from cereal boxes, wooden skewers, a paper back, masking tape, and a bit of string. All three girls got involved in decorating the dragon head, shields, and sail. Finally, they crewed the ship with Playmobil knights fitted out with swords and blond and/or long hair to more closely resemble the Vikings. As a homeschool mom, I was thrilled with what happened next. With no promptings or involvement on my part, they proceeded to re-enact Erik the Red's journey: They departed from Norway (the kitchen table) through the treacherous sea (the kitchen) to reach Iceland (the playtable). There, they got in trouble for fighting the other inhabitants (mostly the now-bald Playmobil girls) and had to make another arduous journey (through the living room) to reach Greenland (the hearth). Yes, I think they've been paying attention!