Saturday, December 10, 2011

Last Week Before Christmas Break (Week 16, 2011)!

We're done!  (Mostly....)  Piano, Spanish, and Algebra class all wrap up next week, but my son's Writing through Lit class doesn't wrap up until the week after (for some strange reason).  We have finished with our school work at home until after the holidays, however. 

We decided to move up our break a week so that he could take advantage of the time his big brother will be home before Christmas (starting next week).  Brother has to go to Florida for winter swim training the day after Christmas, so we might as well make that our last week home and go back to school the first week of January, when everyone else goes back....

Christmas songs are being played in the house and we're going to create small, craft-wood Christmas trees for his grandmother and great-grandmother next week.  Hot chocolate is being drunk and we're getting out our Christmas decor this weekend.  We are preparing for our Christmas season at church, as well....

I, who used to be finished with my shopping by the beginning of October, am still not finished.  I can't get the men in my life to tell me (with any degree of specificity) what they would like, until 30 seconds before time to open presents... sigh....

We did a good day of lab work at Louisville Science Center on Friday.  Group labs for physics work are always entertaining!  In the morning, they worked on bungee egg drops, created roller coasters within certain parameters, and created building structures that would withstand weight placed on them. 

In the afternoon, they came back and worked with putting Lego robots through some paces in order to measure gear train ratios.  The instructor for that one didn't have a clue about the math involved and made me recall how uncomfortable a math and science teacher who doesn't know what they're doing makes me....  OY....

I brought my camera, then forgot to take it in.  Of course....

At home, we finished up the work in the Energy, Force and Motion Nutshell. We have more work to do out of the Science Explorer before we turn from that topic to another....

In history and literature studies, we worked on finishing up books already begun.  My son read The Russian Revolution, David Killingray.  He then started reading a little more about the period surrounding The Great Depression in the U.S.  He read the portion of the chapter in Story of the World that covers Black Tuesday and its aftermath.  He also began reading chapters 7-24 in volume 9 of History of US.  This will be continued after the break.

He finished up his reading of O. Henry stories, including "The Ransom of Red Chief; The Last Leaf; Springtime a la Carte; The Purple Dress; One Thousand Dollars; Transients in Arcadia; A Chaparral Prince; The Clarion Call; The Hiding of Black Bill; and A Retrieved Reformation."  

He completed one more art class, painting a snowy scene which was appropriate for our first day of snow (it was pouring out the window while they were painting - a fact in which they took great delight)....

And now it is time to celebrate.  Merry Christmas to one and all!

Regena

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Glad you were able to move up the break to visit with big brother. Merry Christmas to you, too.

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