Whew! Another Week Down.

I hope everyone's week has been productive and stress free.


In homeschool news:

• We just finished up our literature book, Stink Alley, which was a humorous look at the life of a little separatist girl who is a religious refugee from England living in Holland in the early 1600's. She is a little on the mischievous side, but does have a good heart and struggles with the strict religious rules that her the man responsible for her has put on her. It's lighthearted considering the subject matter and interesting enough to hold a teenage boy's attention. 'Nough said, LOL.

• We've completed another chapter in Algebra 2, and although Baby Boy didn't do quite as well on the quiz as he did on chapter one, I still think he's doing strong work in this subject. We are still doing a majority of review, but at the same time, kicking it up a notch and adding more complex equations into the mix. Baby Boy seems to be handling it with grace and it may be the best subject of the year, but I didn't really say that, because I don't want to jinx him. ;-)

• We've finished up book 1 and have moved into book 2 of our History of US series. We still enjoy reading these books and because the chapters are short and sweet, it leaves plenty of time for spirited discussion between Baby Boy and me. Who knew American History could be so interesting? It certainly beats the boring dry textbooks I had growing up. We are also finishing up our additional history reader, Black Indians. It has some additional fascinating details that are often left out of traditional history texts, even the History of US, which I admit is a little more inclusive than most.

• Baby Boy is really getting into his driver's education course. I'm the one who needs to get back to the basics on this one. I guess when you do something almost every single day, over a period of years (we won't discuss how many), you forget the details of exactly how it's done, you just do it form force of habit. Well I'm getting back to the nitty gritty of driving now-a-days. We have discussed precisely when you turn on your headlights, exactly how far to park from the curb, and exactly how far behind the vehicle in front of you is considered a safe distance. Mom #2 needs to sit in on the tailgating portion of class, but you didn't hear that from me, LOL.
  

• Last but not least, we are plugging along in Chemistry. Oh, Lordy, this stuff is tough. Baby Boy and I had to take a day off from it to let some of the information soak in before hitting that book again. As a matter of fact, this weekend I have scheduled myself an appointment with Mom #2 to sit down and read this together so that between the two of us, we can try to learn as much as Baby Boy already seems to know. He asked me for some help earlier today and I looked at him like a deer in headlights . . . can you say "no comprendo," LOL. Seriously, I'm in over my head. I may have to get some money together to outsource this class. I may not be that smart, but I have enough sense to know when I'm in over my head. I've reached out to a couple of other homeschooling moms via the internet, and they have been of great assistance and have assured me that it gets better. Let's hope, for all of our sake, this is true.
  

Of course it wasn't all work and no play. We don't let a week go by where we don't include hands-on activities to go with our studies. Of course Chemistry is usually the source of our inspiration.


This week, in preparation for many more labs to come, we calibrated our thermometer.

We started out in good spirits. . .

. . . then we had to take a fussy baby break . . .

. . . and then another fussy baby break (dig that funky eye wear, LOL) . . .

. . . and finally got back down to business.

Send good thoughts for the dear grandbaby, she has nasty allergies already, and she does. not. like. it.


I hope you all had a great week and a relaxing weekend!



Until next time . . .