Weekend Review: Momentary Panic

     I can’t believe another week has come and gone already! Time flies when you’re having fun, right?
     Unfortunately, the winter doldrums are really hitting our whole family right now. Constant snow, ice, and below 0 temperatures means no outside activities…not good in this  houseful of antsy children. We’re pressing on, however, looking forward  to those beautiful spring days that can’t come fast enough!
     It snowed again on Saturday, which meant no church on Sunday…again. I honestly think we’ve missed more services than we’ve gone to in the last couple months. That darn global warming! 😉
     With the extra time at home, Devin made herself and her friend flower headbands.

     Anyway… Monday was finally warm enough (25 degrees) for Devin, Arianna, London, and me to walk to the library. We borrowed several movies, which we’ve been busy watching all week.
     The first movie we watched was Tangled (this would be the first of four times…so far). I’ve seen it before but must have seen it through different ”lenses” this time because I noticed how much Rapunzel exemplified the traits of an unschooler, which I pointed out to my kids. She reads, paints, plays guitar, bakes, sews, does chores…this gave me a great example of natural learning for my kids because I think they’re still unsure of themselves in this new endeavor. They haven’t quite grasped the freedom they now have.
     We also did a really cool activity demonstrating plate tectonics using graham crackers and whipped cream. Seriously, any experiment you can eat will be a hit with my crew.
     Other than that, some of the kids watched some Liberty’s Kids episodes, and the younger kids made paper dolls.
     Tuesday was when I had my meltdown. I just didn’t see the kids doing anything that day besides arguing and petting the cats. Maybe the combination of being cooped up and the fact that I ran out of decaf and was drinking half-caf contributed to it, but I started panicking. How am I going to report what the kids are doing to the school district when they’re just sitting around? Was this a mistake? Why don’t my kids act like the genius unschoolers I always read about? I’m not proud of this…I’m just telling you like it is. This led to me lecturing the kids about how they’re taking advantage of the fact that I’m giving them the reins and how they’re letting me down. It wasn’t pretty.
     It did get them to actually get up and do something, but at what expense? It’s obvious the kids aren’t the only ones still unsure about this new path.
     So, here are some pictures I took post-meltdown.

London did a baking soda and vinegar experiment.

Dillon put an egg in vinegar, which he left in overnight.

We watched American Girl- Saige and more Liberty’s Kids.
     Arianna started a butterfly lapbook and Caollin wrote about dinosaurs and made some out of clay.
     Wednesday was definitely better…I was more relaxed and the kids were more productive. Dillon, Arianna, and Caollin all wrote plays. Caollin acted hers out with London’s assistance.

     Dillon took the egg out of the vinegar. It felt like a rubber ball- and it bounced!

And then it broke all over a purse I got for Christmas. No harm done. It didn’t even smell, so we’re all good.
      We started the day Thursday by doing some dancing.

Then we watched part of The Wizard of Oz before we started what I’m calling Life Skills Day- in other words- cleaning.
     We were missing two library books (we’re still missing one), and our upstairs has been…um…neglected lately, so I thought today would be a great day to get organized. Oh my word. I didn’t know what I was getting us into. The amount of dirty laundry upstairs was atrocious.

This is only a portion of what was up there, but at least it provided some fun!

     While the older kids were upstairs, the little ones kept themselves busy.

Ireland doing an ”experiment.”

Notice all the different outfits. Ireland and Summer must change their clothes five times a day.

     Friday we’ll plan to finish the upstairs.(Yeah, it was that bad.) Then, when Shawn gets home, we’ll take Devin to her friend’s house, which is an hour away. I think the drive will do us all some good.
     Spring, come soon!!!

Are you ready for spring??

Linking up with

http://highhillhomeschool.blogspot.com/2014/01/energy-entertaining-and-educational.html?m=1

http://www.homegrownlearners.com/home/2014/1/31/thankful-for-homeschool.html

http://www.weirdunsocializedhomeschoolers.com/

http://amamasstory.com/2014/01/days-week-pictures-homeschool-link-2.html

http://www.greatpeaceacademy.com/2014/02/this-week-homeschool-goes-on.html?m=1