Friday, June 10, 2011

WUTW :: Ocean Edition ~ 6/10/2011


Books 'n Such:  Happy Hollisters - Family Read Aloud {the kids are really enjoying this book}

                          The Agency: A Spy in the House - on my Kindle

Around the House:  Trying to balance the fun of summer with all the other tasks that need to be done like laundry, meals, laundry, cleaning, and laundry!, you get the picture -it's a challenge.

This week we hit the park and the pool with friends.  We're definitely glad that summer has arrived.

In the Kitchen:  We are still enjoying e-mealz.  We signed up for the vegetarian meals, which we are enjoying.  We have been eating more vegetables on a more consistent basis, and I can easily adjust the meals if necessary.  We don't do tofu or any other meat replacements, so I just leave them out all together or add in real meat.  I try not to use the oven too much when it is HOT!

Education:

Jacob~4th grade ::  Horizons, Saint Therese of Lisieux, Vocabulary, Handwriting/Copywork
Jonah~2nd grade ::  Math-U-See, various readers, Handwriting, Phonics-Explode the Code
Sarah~1st grade ::  Math-U-See, various books, Handwriting, Phonics-Explode the Code

Our Five in a Row is on hiatus until August/September.  For the rest of June we are focusing on a simple  Ocean Unit.  We thought it was a good wrap up for our ocean trip.   I will post the resources we are using in another post later in the month.  This week we did read Hello Beach and Island Boy.  Island Boy is by the same author as Miss Rumphius, we enjoyed this book almost as much as Miss Rumphius.  Beautiful illustrations and story about a large (homeschooling!) family.  

We did a simple little craft (my favorite kind!) this week.  The kids colored and cut out a starfish, glued it on another sheet of paper, then added more glue and sprinkled oatmeal on top.



This was a good fine motor activity and the oatmeal sort of mimics the texture of the starfish.


While my kids were working on this project, I couldn't help but think of the starfish poem: 

THE  STARFISH  POEM
Once upon a time there was a wise man
who used to go to the ocean
to do his writing.
He had a habit of walking
on the beach
before he began his work.
One day he was walking along
the shore.
As he looked down the beach,
he saw a human
figure moving like a dancer.
He smiled to himself to think
of someone who would
dance to the day.
So he began to walk faster
to catch up.
As he got closer, he saw
that it was a young man
and the young man wasn't dancing,
but instead he was reaching
down to the shore,
picking up something
and very gently throwing it
into the ocean.
As he got closer he called out,
"Good morning! What are you doing?"
The young man paused,
looked up and replied,
"Throwing starfish in the ocean."
"I guess I should have asked,
why are you throwing starfish in the ocean?"
"The sun is up and the tide is going out.
And if I don't throw them in they'll die."
"But, young man, don't you realize that
there are miles and miles of beach
and starfish all along it.
You can't possibly make a difference!"
The young man listened politely.
Then bent down, picked up another starfish
and threw it into the sea,
past the breaking waves and said-
"It made a difference for that one."
Hope you had a great week, please feel free to share your week, just link back here.  FYI, my last link up for the year will be on June 30th - I am going to do a quick wrapping up the year post, if you are interested in joining.





21 comments:

Live, Love, Educate said...

What a cute little craft and project. We didn't accomplish much this week... reading, prayer time, and math. We are mentally on summer break for a couple weeks. ;)

Jessy Gaffen said...

We LOVED doing our Ocean unit study last fall. Are you a lapbooker? www.homeschoolshare.com has a lapbook for the Ocean - cute little books to fill out!

Jen4Ever4Always said...

We are ready to be on break too! We just going to gently push through these last couple of weeks and then enjoy July :)

Jen4Ever4Always said...

We haven't really done much lapbooking. The older boys were never that interested, but we really do need to revisit it! Thanks for the link, I will check it out.

Lori said...

We love the ocean around here! I look at every summer as a mini ocean study. ;) Enjoy your study. I would love to participate next week in the end of the year wrap up. I'll give it some thought this week.

lindaslunacy said...

The Starfish craft is really cute. I've never read the Starfish poem before. Thanks for sharing.

Linda @ Linda's Lunacy
http://www.lindaslunacy.blogspot.com

Jessy Gaffen said...

Just be careful with the egg in vinegar! It may feel rubbery and you can squeeze it a little, but it doesn't bounce! :) Oh, and once out of the vinegar the membrane will become weaker as time goes on. Observe quickly then dispose! Your plan for the weekends sounds AWESOME!

Rosarymom said...

Hi Jen, your star fish craft looks so fun! Did the boys enjoy as much as the girls?

Jill Brown said...

Love the starfish craft. I'm thinking about doing FIAR next year, will have lots of questions for you!

Mary said...

We didn't do much this week since I was sick.... I am very interested in joining the year end wrap up post!

Tifflynene said...

Cute starfish project with the oatmeal...did you think of that? Very clever:) I have never seen that poem...what a great message! I love how your rain gutter shelves turned out too (from your last post). I love mine for displaying and keeping track of library books too! I often wonder how much I could get done if it weren't for laundry:)

Theonethingps27 said...

Busy week! Great Star craft! I also LOVE the picture on top of your blog!!

Jen4Ever4Always said...

My boys did enjoy the craft! They are probably a bit craft deprived, but they are good sports about doing things like that.

Jen4Ever4Always said...

You can't go wrong with FIAR! Marney might like Beyond FIAR too.

Jen4Ever4Always said...

Mary, I'd love to have you join in!

Jen4Ever4Always said...

Tiffany, I read about it somewhere, but I can't remember where! I rarely think of craft things on my own ;) We could write the great american novel if it weren't for laundry, I am sure!!

Jen4Ever4Always said...

Thank you!

Jen4Ever4Always said...

Lori, you are so lucky to live near the ocean!

patty said...

Those starfish pictures turned out great, Jen! I bet they loved the feeling of that texture...and probably brought back so many happy memories from not too long ago? I was going to post with some books, but after the follies of yesterday, I had two very grumpy men and lost luggage to contend with! Yup! Still missing!

Mary said...

I love the Starfish Poem - I first read that when I was a teenager and it can still make me tear up at the end.

A Slice of Smith Life Smith said...

HI Jen,
Love your starfish craft! I will have to remember that one :) I enjoyed reading the starfish poem since I have never heard of it! Thanks for sharing on NOBH!

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