Weekly Wrap-Up: First Unexpected Snow Trip of the Season

I was not aware that my husband had yesterday off because of the holiday so we took a last minute day trip up into the mountains. I had heard reports that it had snowed but I was not aware of how much it had snowed until we were on the road. Talk about a gorgeous day! The sun was brilliant and the roads were clear so looking out at the snow on the Sierra was magnificent. It was truly refreshing.


The day went by too fast and with the time change it was getting dark before we made our full circle back home again. One last stop was made at Inspiration Point to take a one last cold photo in the fading light. Now the boys have turned their thoughts to winter sports.

The rest of our week went by really fast, our November routine helping to keep us moving forward through our studies. Here are some highlights from our week.


Chemistry Update: Cleaning off my science shelf, I realized I had a Spectroscope kit from Home Science Tools that we could add to our normal plans this week. The kit includes all the materials to flame test a group of chemicals to see the color of the flames they make. There is also a booklet and lab sheet with the kit to record your results. My boys loved this kit and happily burned chemicals for a long time, noting each time something new about the various properties of each one. Mr. B says, "Now this is chemistry!" I think that sums it up.

History: As part of Mr. A's history, he read All the President's Men by Bob Woodward.  He enjoyed the book so much that this week he started The Brethren by the same author. If you are unfamiliar with the first book it is about the Nixon years and Watergate. The second book is about the Supreme Court. Can you tell that I am surprised that he is choosing to read another somewhat political book all on his own? Pleasantly surprised. I love the way these books fit into our government study and give the mechanics of the government some faces that Mr. A can relate to as he sees how things work out in real life.



Mr. B read the Ray Bradbury time-traveling short story, The Sound of Thunder. What a classic! We had fun deciding why the butterfly changed the course of the story. You can read this one yourself in this online PDF.

Mr. B also started some new projects in his afternoon time. He has started building a self-parking car with his robotics kit. I am not sure what this project is all about but I will keep you posted. He is working on a videography project that will document his study of Ancient Egypt using Corel.


Art this week was working with neutral colors and I saw him printing out some examples of paintings that feature neutrals, not sure what he is going to be doing with those. He also finished his Manet study with a notebooking page.  His recipe of the week is Chocolate Crinkle Cookies...an all-time favorite with me and so yummy.

Mr. A wants me to say that geometry is *not* his favorite subject. I am giving him lots of credit for sticking with it even though he is not enjoying much about math this year. It is a good thing he is almost finished with his book and he can be finished with his math altogether for the year.

I think those are the most interesting things we did this week and probably the best examples to share as far as our personalized high school plans. Homeschooling can be incredibly satisfying as far as being able to offer activities that are meaningful to your kids and to see their growing interests in topics beyond what you offer. It always turns out better than I hoped if I just stick with it.

Barb-Harmony Art Mom

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