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.