Over here in Eastern Washington, we are enjoying every bit of the end of summer that we can.  The September days have been a perfect 80 degrees and sunny.  When we're not doing schoolwork inside at the table, we enjoy reading outside together, hiking, working with dad, and playing together.

Smiley's Fairy Tales that we are reading for Language Arts are classic stories filled with heroes and heroines, magic creatures, and many morals and lessons about right and wrong.  In addition to drawing pages for each letter, Smiley works in a handwriting book and we work on letter sounds orally through games and tongue twisters.

Caleb practices reading orally and independently every day.  We are reading The Wizard of Oz and Just So Stories together and he also chooses his own fiction books from the library and reads non-fiction books that go along with other subjects we are studying.  In addition to writing about and illustrating the stories he reads, Caleb is working on his cursive and spelling.  He also writes regularly in a journal.

Caleb's has learned how to multiply with zero, one, two and ten.  He also practices skills he has learned previously and reads and completes his story problems independently.

Smiley is working on adding.  The units he's completed have covered adding zero and one, and he found it very easy and breezes through math.

Caleb's study of Ancient Civilizations has been fun for everyone since we've all been reading stories of Ancient Hebrews, Phoenicians, and Egyptians together.

We are having lots of fun studying nature outside together.  Both boys have science journals that they can draw the things we learn about.  Caleb's leaf rubbings and Smiley's drawing of a caterpillar are below.  After a field trip to a vegetable farm, Caleb learned about the plant's food cycle and how plants make their own food.  He also is identifying more plants and trees on his own. 

The boys started their classes at Riverwood Community School.  They love attending every Wednesday where they have been learning songs and words in Spanish, sculpting with beeswax clay, journaling, playing games with friends, and Caleb has started a new knitting project and Smiley started making his wooden knitting needles.  They highlight for the boys has been Friday's Outdoor School, (which is spent entirely outside as the name describes).  In addition to fun games and songs, activities have included hiking, identifying local plants and animals, and harvesting vegetables and helping with chores on a local farm.  This week we'll be taking a nature walk on the shores of the Columbia River and helping carve a birch bark canoe!