Friday, June 26, 2009

Ramping Up Our Schedule

Each week I'm adding a little bit more to our workload knowing we'll be taking time off at the beginning of 2010.

This week I added our corresponding Read Alouds to history. I started reading Beowulf a few days ago. The kids are enjoying it. While, much to my husband's chagrin, it is not the Seamus Heaney translation - a truly fabulous translation, I might add - it is a condensed, more child-friendly version with beautiful illustrations. I've been reading at mealtime - now, there's a way to experience the destructive powers of Grendel, his mother, and Beowulf... while eating!

We're also adding memorization back into our plans. This week (and maybe next week, too - it takes my four year old a bit longer to memorize than my six year old and Tricky's trying to learn it, too) we are commiting Christina Rossetti's How Many Seconds to memory.

Also, since we're studying astronomy, our new telescope (Orion SkyQuest XT8 Dobsonian reflecting telescope) is coming in quite handy. We've seen Saturn, its rings, and its moon, Titan; a globular cluster (M13), and the two stars at the curve of the handle in the Big Dipper (with my naked eye, I can only make out one star). Hopefully we can go out tonight, if we get a break in the clouds, to stargaze some more!

4 comments:

Unknown said...

I wish I lived where you and Richard do . . . so you could teach Bitlet for me! ;)

Rhonda said...

Sounds wonderful!
We love star (and planet) gazing. Such a treat.

Anonymous said...

Well be starting astronomy after Christmas! Thanks for the link! :)

Brownie said...

regarding your comment on my blog: the proper response when someone asks you if you're pregnant is to get this horrified look and yell "I AM?!?"

Of course when I was pg I was very slow... both physically and mentally. I couldn't come up with a better response then "huh? oh, yes."

It reminds me of a joke (I'm not sure how...) This blond (of course) went to the doctor who informed her she was pregnant. She squealed and said "Am I the mother?"