Last week, I posted a reader survey and I want to thank everyone who took the time to fill it out. You have given me so many ideas for the coming months and I am so appreciative.
Many readers asked to see more of what our homeschool looks like each week, in addition to more day-in-the-life posts (I love reading those, too!). It occurred to me that one way to share more of what our homeschool looks like each week would be to revamp our week-in-review posts.
Here are some of the highlights from our homeschool this week. When you are finished reading, I’d love for you to share what you learned this week!
I love Halloween but I hate when it is on a Monday. It made for a long week of overtired kids, sibling squabbles, sugar crashes, and power struggles. It’s tough to get back into a homeschool routine after holidays and vacations. I refer to the three days post-holiday as The Hangover from Fun and we certainly had that this week! One way I muddle through the hangover is by adding more art and outside time.
Pumpkin carving…
This week started with pumpkin carving… the day before Halloween. Better late than never, right? My oldest had an idea for a pumpkin fairy house and we had a lot of fun gathering materials to make it!
Trick or Treating and zombies…
The energy was high on Monday. We managed to get our homeschool must-dos done early and then headed for a hike with friends. This helped with the ramped-up energy levels. That evening, Zombie Cinderella and her two vampire brothers had a complete blast!
(There was a zombie theme this week because the kids enjoyed playing this quirky zombie bowling game, too!)
Halloween candy bar graphs…
My trio was tuckered out Halloween night and so they saved their intense candy trading for the morning, after breakfast. They also made candy bar graphs. My oldest has been making them since he was four and this was my youngest’s first year. As a math lover, it was right up his alley. We now have them proudly displayed on the wall of our kitchen. In case anyone was wondering, Snickers was a hands-down winner this year.
Lots of outdoor time and hiking…
We are a family of nature lovers and we are outside every single day, but when Halloween happens on a Monday, we need to add more nature and exercise in order to maintain sanity and happiness. We had some memorable and lengthy hikes this week. My readers have asked for more nature posts and I do have one planned so please stay tuned! In the meantime, Facebook reminded me that I wrote this post for GeekMom one year ago and it is jam-packed with ideas for nature exploration in the coming months.
Wampum belts and weaving…
My oldest two attend a nature camp each week and this week they learned about weaving and made mini wampum belts. My youngest loved them and wanted his own, so my big kids taught him how to weave. This inspired a renewed interest in our weaving loom. My big guy is making a scarf for me!
Origami…
This is yet another renewed obsession over here. Previously, my oldest enjoyed origami but it was frustrating for my younger two. Well, not anymore! We had several mornings this week of origami by the fire. I drank coffee, read aloud, and they created. 
I need to write a post about this because it was an extremely calming activity and is a fantastic opportunity for stealth math! But, in the meantime, here are the books we used:
STEM/Art…
The kids enjoyed some of our art books this week, and also Kapla planks. That last photo is my boys’ bedroom. They made it into a spider web for Halloween. Quite the creative mess, those two!
Books…
Games…
In case you missed it…
Here are the My Little Poppies posts from this week:
- If You Read Your Kids a Math Book…
- 10 Tips for a Successful Family Game Night
- Ignite Creativity and Imagination with Build & Imagine
- 10 Ways to Foster Emotional Intelligence at Home
Other places you can find us this week:
- Guide to Gameschooling: Learning Through Play | The Homeschool Sisters
- Haunted by the Ghost of Public School Past? | Simple Homeschool
- Delight Preschoolers with “Tinyville Town” | GeekMom
Don’t forget to enter the Build & Imagine giveaway…
Earlier this week, I wrote a post about our favorite toy of the year. It is called Build & Imagine and I’m giving it away. The giveaway ends soon, though, so head over to Instagram to enter.
When I saw the weaving frame, I had to leave a comment about one of our favourite Youtube channels.
It’s called How to Make Everything. The presenter, Andy, makes things from absolute scratch.
In one series he makes a suit from scratch, including using weaving looms. I highly recommend it. There are 10 episodes in the suit series, each about 5 min or so. Just a heads-up that he does take part in deer hunting to access materials for leather and you see the deer being skinned.
If you do watch it, be sure to watch to the very, very end :o)
This sounds like something my oldest would love. Thank you for the rec!
Do you have a book series you recommend for a kindergarten girl. My sister doesn’t really like Junie B Jones. Thanks! I love all your resources. I am ordering the Zingo sight word game you recommend for Christmas for my daughter. Thanks for all the wonderful ideas and suggestions. Still trying to decide if I want to order the build play imagine set.
My daughter has loved Flat Stanley, The American Girl series, Boxcar Children, Thea Stilton, Beatrix Potter, and the Ordinary People Change the World series.
Build & Imagine is phenomenal. I just bought it for my nieces (don’t tell them!). 🙂