Weekly Wrap Up: Book Club, Common Place Book & Nature Class

Seven Gifts:  Good & Perfect

As part of our devotions in the morning the kids have been recording 7 gifts a day using Ann Voskamp's Seven Gifts:  Good & Perfect Booklet.  I read her book 1000 Gifts and was impacted by how to develop the discipline of gratitude for myself and also how to help my children develop that discipline as well.  They started out with the common things, which is good but as they developed their list they started to go beyond that.  We'll work on them this coming week as well.

Common Place Book

As the school year has geared up we went back to that half hour of individual reading time for the kids.  I have found that to be an invaluable part of the afternoon.  They are able to settle for a while, enjoy a good book and the quiet is so nice for a while! :) In addition to this, I had my eldest (11yrs) start a common place book.  She enjoys reading a variety of books and this is a great way for her to record her thoughts, impressions and feelings about what she is reading.  Common Place Books have been around for a while, they are a form of journaling.  You can read a description of them here.  While Heather loves to read she, doesn't enjoy writing her thoughts out.  However, this is a skill that is important, to be able to write and sort out thoughts with the written word.   She initially resisted it but as the week progressed and she became more comfortable with it, she started to write more.  A friend of mine suggested that she take it in chunks, so write a little bit every couple chapters of the book she is reading.  That way it won't feel so overwhelming.  So that's our plan!  I am keeping one as well. :)

Common Place Book

Book Club

  Monday, was Book Club!  This is our fourth month running it and so far, so good!  The kids have been enjoying the books and the activities we do at the Book Club itself.   This month's selection was:  Peanut Butter Friends in a Chop Suey World.  All the kids enjoyed it and the book club!  For a more detail on the Book Club, please see my post:  Book Club Monday!

 

Nature Program

We ended our week with a nature class, run once a month by a local nature reserve for our community of Homeschoolers.   The classes were split up in two (4-6yrs & 7-12 yrs).  This month's study was about the Autumn Season, the changes in climate, animal life and so forth.  They start out in a classroom and then move to the out doors to do some exploring.  I don't have pictures unfortunately, as I went back to a friends house to hang out for the two hour class!  All three of my kiddos are in it.  The kids all enjoyed it and they did some geo cashing, which had them pretty excited! 

My daughter and I are getting ready this weekend to run a 5K in the Detroit Free Press Marathon!  Our race starts at 7:25 Sunday morning and we are looking forward to it!  We have been training since May and are eager to participate in this exciting event together.  She expressed a desire to start training for  a spring 10K.  I readily agreed!  It has been such an incredible experience doing this with her:  Mom and daughter time as well as achieving a goal together.  :)

This post is linked up to Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers Weekly Wrap Up.