Week 17...History, Geography and Dissections, Oh My!

Since October 25, my life has been overwhelmed by a lifestyle decision--that in order to be healthy, I was going to have to break down and finally get some exercise. The first three months of this choice have been wonderful, difficult, exhilarating, and overwhelming! Figuring out how to balance three days of going to the box (it's a box, it's not a "gym") and still get school done has been a bit of a trick, but we've been doing okay. I have taken every opportunity to get the kids involved in the process of changing our health and fitness. They continue to love attending CrossFit Kids, and Matt is going to participate in his first CF competition in a couple of weeks! Along with the fitness emphasis, I have also enjoyed spending time with my girl in the kitchen. It is wonderful to see both kids interested in making healthier choices in our diet, as well.

Making bone broth in the pressure cooker

Don't worry, I corrected her right after I snapped the photo!

This week, however, I made the serendipitous mistake of sleeping past my WOD time. The kids were not at all eager to have me rushing out the door to make it to class, so I went to the 3:30 p.m. class instead. What a difference that made in our day! I decided to see if it was just a fluke and went at the same time on Wednesday, and again, it was a great school day! Regular exercise and diet change has also blessed me with sustained energy throughout the day, and so I am able to stay focused, clear-headed and in control of the tasks, allowing us to get far more done. The result was that in this week my CrossFit life and homeschool life came into balance, and actually complemented, rather than competed with each other. I realize in light of this that it's been a while since I did a thorough weekly report, and so today I will bring everything up to date.

Math and language lessons are going well. Matt has begun working through the Art of Problem Solving's Pre-Algebra book, and Molly is doing multi-digit subtraction. Matt is wrapping up week 8 of Writing with Skill (we take two weeks per lesson) and continued his work in Analytical Grammar.
In history the kids have been learning about the beginning of WWI, and I continue to be impressed at the level of reading Matt is willing to do on the subject. He asked me to get a copy of Mein Kampf so he could try to read it. I obliged, of course. He is reading a biography of Roosevelt, and various other selections. One of his favorite books this year has been the very well-written and illustrated World Wars book, published by Usborne. We also colored maps that showed the extent of Germany's domination in Europe, and compared that to modern-day maps. We are also reading the story of Corrie Ten Boom together aloud.

In literature Molly listened to Mr. Popper's Penguins and Matt is reading Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry. Together we are listening to the unabridged Fellowship of the Ring.

In science, we are continuing our studies of Anatomy and Physiology, and both absolutely love the lessons, the notebook pages, and the labs. This week we dissected a sheep heart and a frog. I was amazed at how the kids were not grossed out by the experience at all, but rather wanted to see, feel and identify everything. The smell of the specimens was far more difficult for them to tolerate than any other aspect of the experience (as evidenced by many of my daughter's facial expressions!) Both of them thoroughly enjoyed the lab, despite the nauseated looks. It was great that Dad got to be part of the experience, too, as he happened to have the day off.

Excited to get started!

Dad this smells gross!

We found the aorta!

Using the probe to pass through the aorta into the left ventricle.

The kids really enjoyed identifying the muscles, digestive organs, liver, kidneys and heart of the frog, which they have learned in previous chapters.

Proud of their work!