Lessons as Planned

This week lessons have been completed in full, axactly as I planned them. This never, ever happens. Ever. I have to admit I'm feeling a little stir crazy staying focused that long, but the kids are loving it.

E had a moment of self-consciousness while molding Thor and his hammer. It has been a long time since I last heard one of my children lament how much better my work was.... But here it was again. I emphasized how many more years I'd been working with my hands, how it was not perfection but excellence we were striving for, and that art is not to be judged. In the end I made Thor and he made Mjolnir. Later when he was modeling with e, he made Thor and ran to show me. Happy mommy dance!

Our schooling is brought to us by Stockmar. I cannot emphasize just how much we love Stockmar! We have our original set of block and stick crayons from five years ago that we would probably still be using if we hadn't been using umbrella school funds in Aaska. They last that long! That set is now our travel set, for drawing in the car, at the gym, and at meets. We have two large sets of block crayons, colored chalk, window crayons, a medium set of stick crayons, two large sets of colored pencils, 6 watercolor bottles, lots of modeling and decorating beeswax, and just yesterday I found a huge set of new stick crayons I forgot we had! It was like Christmas. These supplies will most likely last us for years and years, and we've already had them for years. Our last Crayola markers died in Alaska, and no one has even commented on it.

 

Why do we love them so? Vibrant color. Color, color, color. Wondrous colors that blend well and look good. Smooth, silky texture. No crayon crumbs. And amazing color. Did I mention color?

e's little piggy is finished! Ears, a tail, and other piggy friends. Piggy is from this book. Lots of easy patterns knit flat and in plain language.

G has spent quite a bit of her time napping here while the cold winds blow outside! She is directly above a heat register. Nothing better than radiant heat....except perhaps a shelter over one's head! E thought she would appreciate a bit of safety in her new warm spot, so we left the lazy Susan open.

Jotenheim, home of the frost giants, and the horse that can fly through flames.

This form is proving tricky to draw, so we tried our hand at it with string! No easier, let me tell you. Start practicing now. I might get it by the time e is in 4th grade.

e is onto her next main lesson block! Language arts. Stories upon stories. The first is The Clever Farmer. Even C and E were listening in. Christopherus stories are very well written; everyone enjoys them! e took great pride in her writing today. Notice how straight and even her writing is? I think she might be settling into the new routine.

 

Now to head outside into the deep snow we've been gifted with!