Weekly Reflections - Week Thirty-Two...

At Home

It's a gorgeous day here on Drywood Creek! The kids mowed the lawn and tilled the garden. I've been sorting book finds from a couple of sales we hit this week and doing laundry. I also re-potted tomato plants that Levi and I started from seed. Hopefully, they'll be ready to go outside in a couple of weeks. Then the kids and I went for a walk and built a fire pit in an awesome spot they found earlier this spring. We plan to set up camp this summer. I'll post more about it as it comes to fruition.

Regarding books, the kids are finishing up odds and ends. I sold the HOD Creation to Christ program Ruben was using this year. I made a few notes of things we'll work on over the last couple of weeks of school, but for the most part, we were both done. with. it! We're still working on reading The Bronze Bow. It is so good!  We also started City by David Macaulay this week. Ruben is really enjoying it. He's paged through, looking at the illustrations several times.

Riley got caught up on her math. She also had her choir concert this week. We are so blessed to have a local homeschool choir! Soli Deo Gloria was started about fifteen years ago by a homeschool mom with a music degree. Her kids have since graduated from homeschooing and are now at college, but she is continuing the program for the rest of our benefit. There are around 300 kids that participate in three different vocal choirs, handbells, and chimes. They learn to sing a variety of songs including bible verses, hymns, classical, patriotic, and folk songs. This semester, Riley's choir, Jubilate Deo, pictured above, sang Festival Sanctus, which is a call to worship in Latin, and Words We Live By, which included the Preamble to the Constitution, The New Colossus, and The Gettysburg Address. It was a lovely evening!

Around the Web

I'm still looking at middle school science options for fall.  This week, I listened to A Delectable Education podcast #20, 21, 22, 23, and 24, all relating to science. As mentioned last week, I was looking at Nicole Williams' science. I've also spent some time this week looking at Ambleside Online's Year 7 and 8 science, as well as Lisa Kelly's, A Mind in the Light Year 7 and 8 science. I'm still undecided about exact books, but I'm getting a pretty good feel for some options. Of course, I'll be consulting Charlotte Mason's writings before making a final decision.