After visiting family last week and this past weekend, we spent a quiet week  at home. We got out of the house two days so I could teach at the college and the girls could attend their homeschool classes like choir, sign language, and theater but that was all. The rest of the week we were home. Ah...home days are the best days. The girls have plenty of time throughout the day to get involved in big projects, craft all afternoon, get lost in a book, or just play outside.  Just one of the many blessings of our relaxed  homeschool...uninterrupted time to pursue passions:)

Our passions this week-

DK Eyewitness book- Space Exploration (M.)
Trading Faces, by Julia de Villers and Jennifer Roy (A.)
2013 SEC Gymnastics Championship- last weekend with Mimi:)
Lots of gymnastics practice outside in the beautiful spring weather
Olga Korbut- a gymnast from the 1970's; M. found this amazing video of her performance in the 1972 Olympics...watch it- you won't be disappointed;)
Episodes of Fetch
Mr. Z.'s science class (A.)
Practice standardized tests- their idea, not mine!! I guess when you don't have textbooks, tests, or grades, this seems kind of fun so I went with it and downloaded practice tests for reading and math.
Exploring Careers: A Young Person's Guide to 1,000 Jobs book
The Space Shuttle, by Gregory Vougt (M.)
Baking- blueberry muffins, no bake cookies (boiled cookies)
Board games- Yamodo, Bubble Talk, Scattergories
New apps- Minecraft, 94 seconds (this one's my fave)
Little House on the Prairie movie (mini-series from 2005...love it!) It follows the book fairly well, if you haven't seen it.
U.S. Presidents trivia- A. loves to quiz us...I think Daddy knows more than the rest of us on that subject!
Remodeling- we have a new bathroom upstairs:) Putting it in was a family affair for sure, though Hutch definitely did the majority of the work! Pictures later this week..promise:)
Girls Who Rocked the World- a favorite book this week; Thanks, Susan for the idea!
Traveling Trio DVD
Piano
Photography and blog design (A.)
Outside play- trampoline and balance beam
Art, drawing, and lettering
Seven Cool Homeschoolers video- the girls are really enjoying this collaborative project! I am too. Check it out:)
Our read alouds- Adam of the Road, Caddie Woodlawn, and The Indian in the Cupboard are taking forever but that's because we are reading all three at the same time I guess. We are enjoying all three:)
Sign language
Egg business
Caring for chicks and rabbits
Lots of babysitting this week and A. volunteered at preschool
Art, choir, and theater classes

1. The chicks are getting bigger but still have a long way to go before they are ready to be out in the yard.
2. Spring is here finally! We've some rain and everything is turning green:)
3. Watching over little ones is one of A.'s favorite things to do!
4.-8. What they do all day when the weather is nice...sometimes we get out there too;)
9. One fat bunny:)
10. Learning on the screened porch
11. Our oven is broken:( Hutch is waiting for a part so he can fix it, so it seemed like the perfect time to show the girl how to make no-bake cookies (boiled cookies) from my grandmother's recipe.

I love history.

I know some people think it’s dry and boring,

And I guess it might be if all you ever do is read history from a textbook.

But that’s not how we do history;)

This is what works for us-

We read The Story of the World out loud, as a read aloud (when the mood strikes us). We simply enjoy the book together and if something sparks our interest, we pursue it in greater depth. No stress.

Together we read historical fiction and biographies, which often lead us to look into additional non-fiction resources (print and media) about a person, place, or event of interest.

We keep a timeline together too...well, more like a book of centuries. We’ve kept one going for several years. And every once in a while, we add new dates, names, drawings, or pictures to our book.

One thing we really enjoy is visiting historical places of interest every chance we get. We plan trips and vacations around places we would like to learn more about, like when we went on our Little House trip a few years ago.

And finally…my favorite…we participate in living history programs like Heritage School.

The reasons we absolutely love living history?
Here are ten:

• It’s hands-on, multisensory learning at its best!
• It’s also an opportunity for us to learn about the social history of our area (a different perspective than we would get from a text).
• There’s nothing mundane about living history. The presenters and interpreters are passionate about what they are sharing, and it shows (their passion is contagious:)
• Things come to life and move beyond just names and dates to be memorized. These are real people and real events we are learning about!!
• It’s a chance to immerse ourselves in a time period and study it with intensity.
• Demonstrations and teaching activities allow everyone to see actual historical artifacts being used. The artifacts become meaningful.
• Interacting with the presenter/interpreter is an important part of living history. Questions are encouraged!  
• Many living history events provide learners with the opportunity to play a part and/or teach and share their knowledge with others.
• Living history makes us want to learn even more about people, places, and events from the past.
• And finally, wearing period dress is pretty awesome! I even have a costume this year:)

See?! I told you history wasn’t boring!