Snapshot Summary, July 27-August 2, 2012: Summer School Begins

Snapshot Summary, July 27-August 2

This week was a slow week for us. One whole day we spent at the doctor's office. Yes, I said, one whole exhausting day, and I expect there will be more to come! We also went to a local homeschool support group's teen activities meeting. Making the new homeschool connections are a pleasant part of making new connections. From the looks of things at the meeting, we will keep quite busy with activities within the group.

We just can't get enough of Warrior's Path State Park (Kingsport, TN).

 We went again this weekend and after dining at the cafe there...

 we went paddleboating.

 When we finished paddleboating, we went to a Folklore Festival there, where the boys played with this  thrower which works a lot like the spear throwers the Native Americans used. These throw rubber balls instead.

 They also practiced Ax throwing. Yes, they were real, full-sized axes.

 After that, we went to the Boundless Playground to cool our feet in the stream...

 play on the xylophone...

 some journaling under the grape arbor...

 and in general had fun.

(More photos at Bergblog)

 Alex turned 18.

 We sang "Happy Birthday" to him and he covered his ears...

 and so someone had the idea of whisper-singing, and it worked quite well.

 He blew out the candles without any prompting...

 and enjoyed his gfcf cupcakes.
I think he thought we had made some sort of mistake as they were store-bought.

 He loved unwrapping presents.

 We finished our totem pole pictures from last week.

 We made Sailor Valentines while we studied whaling ships.

We added pillbugs to our terrarium project.

Our Favorite Resource this week has been Tom Sawyer on CD for the car! Thanks to Susan's suggestion, we are enjoying CD's in the car.

Summer School Plans...

We are beginning our summer school session (July 30-Aug. 31). During our summer school we usually finish up odds and ends from last year's school and complete some fun activities that we didn't get around to during the school year. Sam will be finishing up Logic, Algebra I and history. The others will be working on:

Modern History
Transcontinental Railroad and the Telegraph
Cowboys and Western Cattle Drives
Pioneers
Sailors, Whalers and Sea Voyages
The Underground Railroad
The Civil War
Immigrants to America
Panama Canal
The Titanic
WWI
WWII
Civil Rights
Space Race

Swimming Creatures

Cephalopods (Octopus)
Pinnapeds (Seals and Sea Cows)
Aquatic Herps
Crustaceans
Echinderms
Mollusks
Cnidarians

Habitats
Earthworms
Isopods
Finishing the Terrarium
Aquatic Habitat
Snails
Fish
Complete Ecosystem

Math (Quentin)

Counting Backwards

Stand Up, Sit Down
Take Over
Inside, Outside

Comparing

Water Timer
Duration
Tic Tac Toe
The Hole in the Box
Squares

Games with Number

Listen and Count
The Cave
Subtraction Cards
Capture
"Say It Fast"
Interpreting Symbols
Number Books
The Store
Bags
Subtraction Race
Crazy Mixed-Up Numbers
Grow and Shrink Balloon Game
The Bell in the Box
The Old Games
Numbered Squares
Growing Plants
Dice Toss
A Rock Bath
The Grab Bag
Addition with Unifix Cubes
Time Trials
Number Sequences
The Magic Box

Pattern Books

Stars
Popsicle

Hands
Money
Toothpick Squares

Jumping Rope
Glasses
Three Leaf Clover
Triangles
Joining Hands
A Chain Reaction
London Bridge
Pyramids
Apartment House Manager
Karate
Two-Handed Take Away
Milk Carton Clothespin Game
Count the Squares
Pattern Block Puzzles
The rest is various fun activities we decide to do.