Living a homeschool lifestyle

I mean besides the laundry unfolded in baskets...

I'd been feeling like the boys haven't gotten the fun out school that I was able to invest in the girls. This year another family hopped in with our lesson plans for Religion, History, Science & Literature on almost every grade level. We're meeting once a week to do group activities. It was really important that the kids not just have fun, but are genuinely progressing in their studies on that day. I have been sooo pleased with how well it's going. Between us we have 1 toddler (who really gets in the way, but enjoys the variety), 3 elementary boys, 2 jr. highers, and 2 high school (for Lit & Sci.)

We're using RC History's lessons combined with SOTW for history and Great Adventure for Religion. My friend is in charge of science using RS4K Biology for 1 semester and various human body books for 2nd semester. She's also doing Bible while I do Ancient Literature with the big girls and history for the rest of the kids.

The history lessons rival the Prairie Parties we had monthly for the girls when they were young while we read the Little House on the Prairie series throughout the year. Those were fun! (Weren't they, Jennie?)

I have to say...these are even better. It's somewhere between goup lessons and parties each week (for the kids, not necessarily the moms.)
Week 1 we discussed Creation. Week 2 we were sick and didn't meet for history, but the girls Skyped for literature. Week 3 we covered the agricultural revolution, moving away from a nomadic culture and it's implications and Hammurabi's laws. Week 4 - Whoa : I did a lesson about the plagues of Egypt and how they each cooresponded to an Eyptian god. Then, we made oragami frogs. Then, after they understood all the concepts we threw tiny ripped pieces of black paper at each other for flies, hopped origami frogs everywhere, threw rice at teach other for lice, red silly string for hail & fire...they seemed to enjoy their Bible/History lesson.




How am I going to match the fun of silly string for Week 5?????