Our Week In Review – May 9, 2009

This was our vacation week, so the children did not learn a thing – nothing, zilch, nada (or was it nothing, zilch, noodle?).  Nonetheless, we got a lot done, particularly in our garden.

Monday

1. Mr. Math Tutor and I got almost everything we needed at Fleet Farm first thing in the morning.  It was highly romantic.

2. Rosie Girl and I went to a garden center and met some very nice people who have us lots of advice about what we can grow in this area and when we can plant it.  They also helped save us money by recommending starting several things from seed that I was planning to start from transplant.  We went ahead and bought some seeds, strawberry plants, and raspberry plants.

3. Mr. Math Tutor and the kids made the boxes.  I was very impressed.  The children did NOT learn about using a square and did NOT learn about measuring and cutting.

  

Tuesday

1. Mr. Math Tutor took Rosie Girl to her piano lesson in the late morning.

2. When they got home from piano lesson, I took Rosie Girl and Wild Man to the track meet.  Rosie Girl wasn’t competing, but she wanted to go to support her teammates.  Mr. Math Tutor met us later after his tutoring appointment.

3. That evening, Mr. Math Tutor and I dug up the sod for the first box.  We were going to put the boxes right on the grass, but they would have been uneven and not looked very pretty, so we dug up the sod to make it all look nice.

Wednesday

1. I woke up with a migraine.  Mr. Math Tutor took the kids to EAA for their schedule field trip.  They made an air compressed rocket, but did NOT learn about the parts of a rocket or how rockets work.  They also did a parachute experiment in which they tried to keep their “egg-stronaut” from cracking but they did NOT learn about parachutes or drag or how to design a parachute.

2. My headache was short-lived, so I went out later in the afternoon and finished digging up the sod for the second big box.  The kids helped me mix the dirt and then I put down weed cloth and filled both boxes with dirt (technically, Mel’s Mix).

Thursday

1. During the morning, I had an appointment with my counselor and Mr. Math Tutor was teaching an online class, so the kids vacationed appropriately.

2. After lunch, Mr. Math Tutor and Wild Man made the grid for the first box.  Wild Man did such a good job, that Mr. Math Tutor had him do the grid for the second box all by himself, but Wild Man did NOT learn how to measure, how to use a drill safely, or how to finish a project.  Nope.

3. Rosie Girl and I drilled holes in buckets for growing tomatoes and cucumbers.  Then we planted onion sets, lettuce seeds, and strawberry plants.  Rosie Girl then helped me put weed cloth in her raspberry bed and she filled the bed with Mel’s Mix and put her raspberry plants in the bed.  But, she did NOT learn anything about planting or getting the beds ready for the season.  Nope.

4. Mr. Math Tutor and I finished up our day by making the first wire cage that goes over the 4x4 box to keep the rabbits and other pests out of the garden.

Friday

1. Mr. Math Tutor took Rosie Girl to turn in job applications at the grocery store and the Dairy, but she did NOT learn about filling our forms appropriately or how to carry herself when interacting with other adults.

2. Wild Man and I finished the chicken wire cage for the other 4x4 box.  It involved lots of bending chicken wire and fastening it with wire ties.  Wild Man did NOT learn anything about persistence even when working with an unpleasant material.

3. I developed a migraine (although not too severe) later in the day.  The rest of the family cleaned up the backyard, put the rest of the Mel’s Mix into planter pots that we’ll use for mint and morning glories, and started to put up the trampoline (not quite done yet).  But, the children did NOT learn the satisfaction of a job well done or the joy of working together as a family.  Not a bit.

Saturday

Today has been a pretty lazy day around here.  Rosie Girl has a piano recital later this afternoon that we’re looking forward to.  We might make a stop at Home Depot to look for some nylon netting to help make a trellis.  (Mr. Math Tutor realized that we have some metal tubing back behind the garage that will work to make a trellis for the pumpkins, so we just need the netting.)  Otherwise, we’re looking at the rain outside and actually enjoying it now that we have plants in our yard that need it!!

Check out Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers to see what others have done this week!