Weekly Wrap-up: Luck of the Irish

I say luck of the Irish because: we are of Irish heritage, it was St. Patrick's Day this week, and we finally got some spring-like weather!

Last week we were supposed to meet up with a new group of homeschoolers in the area for a playdate at a local park.  It unfortunately rained for three days surrounding the date of this playdate and we did not get to "meet new friends" as Little M says.  This week we had the luck of the Irish with us and were able to meet up at the park on Thursday.  The kids had a great time and met some new friends.  I enjoyed the company and conversation of some other moms too!!  We are planning more meet-ups and will hopefully make this a regular event.

We did not do any St. Patrick's Day activities in school this week (we have made lapbooks and crafts in  past) because the kids were really interested in making the St. Patrick's Day feast this year.  They made corned beef and cabbage and Irish soda bread!

Little M

Little M had a really exciting week this week - he started Tot School!  Well that's what we are calling it anyway.  He has been using workboxes since the beginning of the year but most of the activities are centered on motor skills.  He enjoys the activities but recently has been asking for "school work like [Ms. Q's]".  So this week we did a literature unit and lapbook.  He loved it and was so proud to show it off!  We are going to use Lesson Pathways, Homeschool Share, and Letter of the Week.  He works for about 30 minutes in the morning and so far is having a great time.



He can identify all the letters of the alphabet already so we are going to work on letter sounds.  This week we did an introduction to the alphabet with the book Chicka Chicka Boom Boom.  I found a lapbook for the book here.  We went to the grocery store where he learned how to choose fresh fruits.  Then he made his selections and made smoothies when we got home.  He also learned the alphabet in sign language with a video from the library.  It was a success!

Learning the alphabet in sign language

Learning about produce

Tot school

Lapbook cover

Inside lapbook

Ms. Q

One of my favorite things about using Sonlight is the opportunity to read literature that I never would of chosen.  This week we finished reading aloud Little Pear.  This is not a book I would have chosen for us to read and Ms. Q was not excited about starting it.  Well it turns out that we love Little Pear!  The story was interesting and engaging.  The chapters were short so that we could read them easily when we had a spare moment in the day.  Ms. Q even stated that it was one of her favorites so far this year.  Just another example of the reason why you should not judge a book by it's cover!

This week for history we are finishing  Ancient Times and beginning the Middle Ages.  To be honest Ms. Q and I were starting to get a little bored with the Roman Empire and were glad when we got to fall of Rome.  Ms. Q has been really interested in the strong women characters that we have discovered and learned about so far this year.  This last week she really took interest in Boadicea, the Celt warrior queen and Theodora, the Byzantine Empress.  As a woman and mother of a daughter, I try to point out these women as we go along to show examples of women who speak their mind, stand up for what they believe in, do not bow to men (even their husbands), and have made their mark on history.  I hope that my daughter will find these women inspiring.  We have strong women in our family who have helped their families through small and large tragedies, through the Irish Potato Famine and the Great Depression.  I hope that my daughter will be able to learn from their examples and the examples of famous women in history so that she believes in herself and can become a strong woman of character.


Next week we will celebrate the spring equinox with a day spent out in nature.  Little M will be learning about the letter A and apples and Ms. Q will be moving on to Islam.  I have some yummy activities planned for both!