My Weekly Notebook: Testing, KiwiCo crates, and baseball reading

Life this week...

Our weeks have gotten a little quieter now that co-op has ended. It was just a pretty regular week around here with one extra day to be home and not have to go anywhere. It was nice. 

Homeschool this week...

Monday and Tuesday were Maps testing days. This is just a test to gauge where they are at in relation to their peers. Our charter requires this test if we choose not to submit work samples. We are given the choice for each quarter to submit work samples or do Maps testing. Two of the quarters this school year I submitted work samples, and 2 of the quarters I just had the boys do the testing. So glad to have that done and out of the way! I'm also thankful that we can do this testing from home. The book that is open is my reading while I sit with them during the testing sessions.

     

The rest of the homeschool week consisted of a lot of fun science! I ordered several KiwiCo kits for the boys to do over the summer, so they decided to do them all in one week! Aric got a box of 4 different chemistry kits and he just couldn't wait to dig in. And really, they didn't do all of them, I think there is one left. I think he enjoyed this Fire Lab the most.

These kits from KiwiCo come with everything you need, including safety gear. He really didn't need anything from me! The directions guide the student through every single step. It was fun to watch him. And, I loved that he read all the explanations too. He told me that he really liked the explanations because it helped him to understand what he was doing.

Going through the beginning steps to get used to the fire and process. There were some real chemicals in this one, so he's got his gloves and goggles on.

Getting the real fire ready for the fun part, the chemicals that make the different colored flames.

I love how organized this kid is when it comes to these kits. He does this with the building crates too.

Reviews we are working on...

We just started today with a review that involves us making a timeline. I'm pretty excited about this one because I've been wanting to have the boys start filling in their timeline books.

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

Alex had an extra session of parkour this week, a 2-hour nerf battle. He loved it.

 

Things I'm working on...

I am preparing for camping this week. We'll spend most of the week packing. I'm also working on a few Harry Potter LEGO things for our next blogging through the alphabet post. 

Random things the kids worked on...

We picked up a new set of sidewalk chalk for the summer with so many color choices...

 

So, April made her first sidewalk chalk art for all to enjoy on our front patio. It has lasted the whole week.

Something I accomplished...

I finally got around to fixing the tiny rip on a pocket of a hoodie jacket that belongs to Aric. I also fixed Alex's baseball pants that completely unraveled at the waist after the first wear and wash. It was nice to make the pile on my sewing desk smaller.

 

What we're reading...

Books about Baseball. It was pretty cool that both of these books related a story of baseball from world war 2. I didn't realize that when I put them on hold.

 

Movies we watched... 

I watched the 2nd to last Marvel movie, Avengers Infinity War, before I can finally watch Wanda Vision. I'm still kinda amazed that I've made it through all of the Marvel movies. A lot of things make so much more sense now!

Games we played...

It's not much, but we played ping pong on a really tiny table (aka our white board). It was pretty hard. We dream of having a ping pong table, but definitely don't have the space for one. So, for now, we play this way.

 

I'm cooking...

I know I cooked this week, but I sure can't remember what. I didn't cook it, but we had Panda's Express on Saturday night for Aaron's birthday dinner. It was so good!

I'm grateful for...

The beauty of nature outside and all around. 

 

That wraps up this week, and just in time for the new week! Hope yours was great!