We are back home after a wonderful time spent with family.  Our vacation last week included a beautiful day playing at the ocean (the boys getting skim boarding instruction from their big brother), several nice nights camping outside and waking up surrounded by the Oregon mist, playing trac ball, frisbee, ping pong and other games with the big siblings, picking blackberries for homemade cobbler, and lots more fun times.  And now we are home and getting back into our school routine; here's a bit of the fun and learning that went on this week:

We took advantage of the warm and sunny Autumn days, hiking in the hills around our house.  The kids discovered a "tunnel" made out of trees and bushes that was just large enough for them to pass through.  The picture is of them resting, snacking, and reflecting on their new special spot.  On our walks, we collect leaves for art projects and point out the signs we see that the season is changing.  We also spotted signs of bears.

Smiley spent time each day practicing the numbers 0-5.  In addition to writing and reading the numbers, he sorts marbles, buttons, rocks, etc. into groups, shapes them into numbers, and counts, counts, and counts some more.  

Caleb practices math everyday; this week focused on counting by two's, in addition to reviewing the addition he learned last week. 

Caleb practiced handwriting and writing, including a paragraph about his recent trip and writing consonant blends.  We are reading from several poetry books right now and he chose a poem to copy which reminded him of our afternoon spent picking blackberries with Sissy.

 

Smiley practiced writing letters, including the new (to him) letter H.  He shaped construction paper letters and the picture shows the letter H that he made into a house.

We are still hearing legends from Ireland; throughout the week, the boys retell, act out, and/or write and draw about the legends we hear.

While we are studying cycles in nature, the kids continue to chart the changes of our big tree out front.  They have watched the top of the potato plants in our garden grow all summer.  This week they got to did the potatoes that have been growing, hidden, underneath.  

The kids also listened to the first book in a really fun series, Percy Jackson and the Olympians, did art projects and played with friends at Greenwood  Institute d'Art, built lego castles, read from our big pile of library books, sketched and wrote about imaginary dragons, helped Mom make cheese and Dad milk cows, and lots more!