Pumpkins! (81/180)

R went to his soccer practice (but missed the game for a family event.)

All the kids attended their MAHC classes.

W attended the Teen program and played D and D.

We carved our Halloween pumpkins:

R, D and J attended their religious education classes (W's class only meets sometimes.)

W, R and D worked with LOF.  D finished Life of Fred: Dogs by Stanley F. Schmidt.

W read independently and R and D practiced reading.  J worked with Explode the Code.

R did not quite finish The Lightning Thief: The Graphic Novel by Rick Riordan


(but he's done reading it for now).

I read to them:

The Cat in the Hat Comes Back by Dr. Seuss


The Little Red Train Storybook by Benedict Blathwayt


A River Ran Wild: An Environmental History by Lynne Cherry


Three Little Kittens by Tanya Linch

This week included 6 days of instruction.

National Colonial Farm (75/180)

R went to soccer practice, but games were cancelled this week for the Harry Potter Festival ... which we also missed.

All the kids attended their MAHC classes, new for the second half of the Fall Trimester.  D is taking Making Bracelets, Fall Fun, and Kindness.  R is taking Fencing, Teen/Tween Storytime, and Logic Games.  W is taking Fencing, Optical Art, and Logic Games.

W got the last few parts for the computer he'd been working, saving, and planning to build since the summer.  With some help from YouTube, his dad, and a friend's tools, he put it all together in 1 day (we're super proud!):

W attended his Teen Coop classes.

Over the weekend we made a road trip to Maryland.  The kids hung out with old, gold friends from our first homeschooling group there while the grownups went to a family wedding.  They had a fabulous time!  The next day we spent time with cousins and aunts and uncles, mostly at an old family friend's home.  They have a zip line which all the kids greatly enjoyed!  And a VR setup.

 and visited the National Colonial Farm.  We had an interesting discussion of what "Colonial" meant which ended with D proclaiming that Europeans taking the Native people's land and killing them or driving them away was "stupid!".

W, R and D worked with LOF.  R and D practiced reading.  J worked with Explode the Code.

I read to them:


Heather Has Two Mommies by Lesléa Newman


Earthquack! by Margie Palatini


This week included 5 days of instruction.

Torah Scroll (70/180)

All the kids attended their classes at MAHC.  W attended his Thursday Teen classes.

W played D and D twice.

R attended his religious education field trip to Temple Sholom, a Reformed Temple.  He was particularly impressed by the value of the Torah scroll ($2500) and why it was so valuable - that it was written by hand every day for a year.

R played soccer.

All the kids attended their religious education classes.

D worked with LOF and practiced reading.  J worked with Explode the Code.  R read independently.

D and J did a lot of crafting and baking.

I read to them:

No More Yawning! by Paeony Lewis


Welcome to Zanzibar Road by Niki Daly


This week included 5 days of instruction.

Saying Goodbye (65/180)

R attended his soccer practice and game.

All the kids went to their MAHC classes, and W went to his Teen program classes.

We were able to visit the kids' great-grandmother one more time before she died.  While she was not really lucid (being ill as well as far into the last stages of Alzheimer's) when we left the kids waved good-bye and she waved good-bye too.

W played D and D several times.

The kids had a lot of good cousin time, including a trip to the Franklin Institute:

The kids attended both memorial services for their great-grandparents.  W read the chalice lighting words at the first service, and the rest of the kids helped light the chalice:

R, D and J attended their religious education classes.

R read independently.  D practiced reading.  W, R and D worked with LOF.  J worked with Explode the Code.

I read to them:


Amazon River by Valerie Bodden


When Owen's Mom Breathed Fire by Pija Lindenbaum


Snip, Snip ... Snow! by Nancy Poydar


Grand Canyon by Valerie Bodden


Applesauce Season by Eden Ross Lipson


What Moms Can't Do by Douglas Wood

This week included 6 days of instruction.

Snails (59/180)

R went to his soccer practice and game (they lost, but by a lot less than they lost the last time they played this team.)

We went for a family hike in the woods (down to the Wissahickon Creek):

All the kids attended their MAHC classes, and W attended his Thursday Teen program classes:

W played D and D several times.

All the kids attended their religious education classes.

W, R, and D worked with LOF.

R read independently.  D practiced reading.

J started working with Explode the Code!

D experimented with a new drawing style:

I read to them:

Barbarians! by Steven Kroll


Time For Bed, Spot by Eric Hill


Numbers by John J. Reiss


Triangles by Yusuke Yonezu


One Sheep, Blue Sheep by Thom Wiley


A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett


This week included 6 days of instruction.