My Homeschool Mother's Journal: N is for Netflix

Life this week...

The weeks have become such a blur, but this week I really made an effort to slow down. I really tried to focus on things, and look at things that I usually speed past. It's nice when I do that, and I feel so much more peaceful when I do.

Homeschool this week...

We are making good headway in Math with Teaching Textbooks. I am so happy that all 3 boys are using Teaching Textbooks this year. It has simplified math time soooo much. Teaching Textbooks 3.0 is so popular right now that the TT website was down for a few days earlier in the week. The boys were happy for a few days off. It's okay because we are just trying to get a head start anyway. We haven't officially started back to school  yet.

That doesn't mean we aren't learning! The boys discovered this great animal show on Netflix called 72 dangerous animals: Asia.  It is packed with information about big and little animals that can be deadly/dangerous, and why they are. I really enjoy the show too. I told them to pick their favorite animal that they've watched about so far, and we'd make a craft to go with it.

Aric picked the Leopard. That doesn't surprise me, he just loves cats. So we found this great craft at LearnCreateLove. I just love all the crafts at that website.

Alex picked the Salt Water Crocodile, so we found this great craft from Easy Peasy and Fun. They turned out pretty cute. So simple and easy to make.

Reviews we are working on...

None right now! I am taking a break from reviews for right now. I am not sure when I'll do another review for now.

Helpful homeschool tips and advice to share...

I shared our Netflix learning crafts above. There are all kinds of learning shows on Netflix, and plenty of lists on Pinterest for ideas on what to watch. I liked this list of books to read and then the movie to watch. We do this quite often. I don't know how up to date it is. Netflix changes their showings monthly, so some go away, and then there are new ones. It constantly changes. But, some are up there for a long time!


Places we're going and people we're seeing...

We went miniature golfing this week. We get free passes every summer from the summer reading program in Wilsonville for the family fun center. They can pick from 2 activities, the play structure or mini golf. We usually pick the mini golf. It's our once-a-year mini golf game. It usually just turns into a free for all. We don't ever keep score, and we laugh a lot as the ball goes flying various places.

We also explored the pond this week for a nature study. It was quiet and peaceful. Blog post about this coming soon.

My favorite thing this week was...

Finding this Beaveropoly game for $2.49 at Goodwill. I need another game like I need a hole in the head, but I just couldn't resist. I also picked up a Star Wars puzzle. I am looking forward to starting it. I don't know when, but looking forward to it!

Something the kids did was...

I took Aaron in to get his haircut at a different place he'd never been to. He has been wanting funky haircuts, and I thought this place would suit him better. When we were outside the store he saw pictures of only girls on the posters, and voiced his concern that this place was too "girly." Ha! When we opened the door every chair had a guy getting his hair cut, and all the hairstylists were men except one (there were about 5 at the time). It was awesome, and made us all laugh because of what he said right before we walked in.

Things I'm working on...

I am working on getting ready for school mostly, but I'm also working on being more consistent and focused with my daily tasks. I am cutting out things that I don't need to free up time for the things that I do need to get done. Blogging was on the cutting table for a while. I wasn't sure if I wanted to keep blogging, and I may still decide to completely stop one day, but for now I have to keep up for the review crew. I do enjoy using it for journaling. But, sometimes I feel like it takes too much mental energy to keep up with.

What we're reading...

We are starting a unit on automobile racing, so a lot of our books right now are car related. Some about Henry Ford, NASCAR, and a fiction book read-aloud. We've started reading the books as they come in, and will start the unit study on Monday. We will work through as much as the boys are interested in.

I'm grateful for...

Friends. I have been thinking about all my friends this week, and how I can be a better friend to them. I am grateful for this friendly kitty too. He may be a jerk sometimes when he attacks my ankles in the hallway, but I sure love his friendship. Especially the friendship he gives to the children.

I doubled the purpose of this post and also made it my abc Blogging Through the Alphabet post. I missed the letter N, so I put it in here. I should be writing the letter P this week, so look for that soon!

I am linking this up to Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers weekly wrap-up.