Homeschool Mothers Journal Week???

I compose so many blog entries in my head during the week but sometimes when I sit down at my computer at the end of the day I draw a blank. With that said here are some highlights from our week:

History and Geography:
China: All my children are studying ancient China right now, which Robin  LOVES, she adores anything  to do with China.

Robin's pictographs from the Shang Dynasty

Robin made up her own pictographs from the Wild Bird Dynasty (our made up family rule over China)

Robin has this sticker book which she loves to play with, I usually have her play in sticker books or color pictures when I am reading history lessons to her. I have found it helps keep her attention and retain the information better than just sitting there staring out a window or fidgeting  around. At the back of the book there are stickers that you can place on a map per the location that the little girl is dressed.

So we did that, Falcon helped her on a few. Tibet was hard to find! Notice Robins attire I found that shirt for her around Halloween at Goodwill and saved it until this week when we started our China studies. I love our laminated wall maps bought at Costco 3 years ago. I  was always bad at geography  as a child because the teacher only pulled down the maps to show up where things were once in a blue moon. Plus I had bad eyesight and usually sat at the back and never even saw what the teacher was pointing to. So I love that we have the U.S map and the World map on the wall that the kids and I use daily to look up places we are studying and reading about.

We also just started a month long study on Indonesia for our homeschool geography club. We are going to have a lot of fun learning about that country.

Math: 
Both Robin and Falcon are still using Teaching Textbooks Robin grade 3 and Falcon Alg 1

Science:
We went to the science museum this week and while I was there I decided that I do not do enough Science experiments at home so next week or the week after we are just going to have science experiment week and use up and the really cool kits and projects that are just collecting dust on my shelves.

We spent a great deal of time discussing the Winter Solstice and of course the Mayans.

Art:
We started our study on Joan Miro.We also picked up some of the pottery we painted at a  paint your own pottery studio. The kids want to go there everyday now. I am hoping to find one closer to our house.

Reading:
Falcon has been reading through some poetry I didn't want to start a novel this close to a break. Robin has been reading through A Weed is A Flower : The life of George Washington Carver, as well as some other non fiction books and biographies.

What I am reading  in my free time:

 The author was suggested by a friend of mine, so far it's a really good read.

 I melted plastic in my oven ( I preheated my oven without knowing there was plastic being stored inside) and I melted plastic all over my oven to I got this book and used an all natural oven cleaner from the book.

This is a new book Falcon is really enjoying. The cover inside states the critics are comparing this book as a combination of Harry Potter and The Hunger Games. So far he can't put it down.

Clever little box Duck made out of Trio Blocks (which we love) to hold his Legos in.

Owl hammering nails into scrap 2x4's.