October Schooling

I love fall - the crisp, cool air, nature's beautiful changing of colors, hot apple cider and pumpkin-carving. We haven't gotten around to the pumpkin carving yet, since we tend to do these things at the last minute. Especially since I don't like rotting pumpkins on my front porch.

Last year's pumpkins - you can guess which one is my husband's...

October seems to have flown by - and the encroachment of Christmas decorations in every store only makes me want to savor this season all the more.  Could we please pass some kind of law that states anything related to Christmas can't be displayed until after Thanksgiving?

Photo credit: Thomas Barthauer

After a week off for fall break, we've been back into the swing of things with our Catholic Schoolhouse co-op and other schooling adventures.

One thing I really like about the co-op is that the boys get to experience a variety of activities each week, including art and science projects - the things that can be more challenging to accomplish at home.  Or maybe that's just me.

 

We've been continuing our study of the Renaissance, including artists Alfred Durer and El Greco.

While the older boys have continued their study of Physics, the younger boys have been studying Earth Science, specifically ecology.  They created biomes in a jar, and also made clay models of the earth's layers.

The older boys have also been reading and studying Shakespeare - the oldest boy did a great job memorizing and reciting part of "The Merchant of Venice" for his class while Thomas really enjoyed acting out "Macbeth" with his class.  Especially the parts that included sword-play of course.

The little guy and I spend our co-op time in the nursery where he enjoys getting messy and playing with other boys.

Back at home, there's been dog-sitting, learning how to knit and crochet, and enjoying the beautiful fall weather.

We also celebrated a couple of birthdays in October - more on that later...

~ Dori