One month!

We have completed our first full month of school (are currently in our 5th week) and so far, it's been fantastic!!!  We have gone from the Mayans to Pocahontas, from Roanoke to Georgia, from Christopher Columbus to the Quakers, with several other groups and explorers in between. And we both are actually remembering most of it, that's the best part :)  T just shakes his head at me and laughs...he's the history buff in the family, I never liked it...till now! (doing the full year of American History from 1500 - present)

Making apple pie for our Pilgrim dinner 2 weeks ago

J began learning how plastics are made, how volleyball is played and the capitals and states in the USA through co-op.  

In science at home, he has learned what a chemist does, what an atom is, what the parts of an atom are and tomorrow he'll be building 10 element atoms with marshmallows (yummy!). 
 
He has finished reading Om-Kas-Toe, Pocahontas and the Strangers and the Matchlock Gun (plus a few books on his own for fun).  Together we have so far read Walking the World's Rim (which I highly recommend, it has etched Esteban in J's brain forever I think) and Witch of Blackbird Pond.  Here's what I am loving...the fact that these are not J's typical choices for books but he loves them, gets into the characters, worries about them when they are sick, gets sad when they die...these books have opened up so much for us.  (Although I'm still not looking forward to Old Yeller...makes me sad just thinking about it). 


Oh yea...and we just returned from a 7 day trip to South Carolina with Grandma and Grandad, on which we toured 2 battlefields, an aircraft carrier, a Civil War fort, historic districts and spent a few minutes in the Atlantic Ocean.  (pictures to come)


How fun it was today, while reading our history book, when we read that South Carolina was one of the original 13 colonies and J quickly said "you mean, where we were last week?  That's awesome!"  I can't wait till we get to the Civil War and we can look back the photos from the three places we toured.  


Yes, one of our main reasons to start homeschooling J this year was to give him some rest and more detailed schooling...but it was also to travel and enjoy what's around us.   After reading over this post, I think I'm coming across a bit over-excited, but I guess that's because I am.  We are truly enjoying our time together, something my hubby was concerned about, but turns out when we are on our own schedule, we get along better!  Now I'm not going to lie...there are days when J is really tired of history or wants to skip a math lesson but he gets to learn in his pajamas (ok...sometimes just his underwear)...almost always shirtless and he thinks that's pretty awesome (his word).


Will we keep doing this after 5th grade?  Who knows...but for now, it's exactly what was needed.