Like I mentioned the other day, we just finished up our Term 1 exams and are about to jump into Term 2 on Monday. I decided not to take a break between terms for a few reasons: I was just out of town earlier this month (more on that below), which required a couple days off for the kids, and we have a break coming up at Thanksgiving anyway. I also didn't have TOO much planning to do for the new term, so I was able to get it done during exam week. I am looking forward to a few fresh books and so are my kids!
Before that, though, I thought I'd round up some odds and ends from the past term...
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Exam week was a success! I had a to-do list a mile long, but somehow I was able to get the most important parts of it done around our exam work. All of the kids were excited about exams (they love the novelty), but the little boys were the most excited of all. Each morning they did a count-down until our start time (9am sharp!), then begged me for the next couple hours to give them "exam questions." I took the opportunity to "assign" them time with all of our Kinderleben supplies and they were so pleased. Go figure! I am hoping this jump start with the materials they don't usually grab from their Kinderleben shelves will set them up well for the weeks to come.
We had a simple celebration to mark the end of the term, as we usually do...
The Form 2 kids also made a seed display to cap off one of our special study topics for this term.
I sat down Thursday night to read through all of the exams and make my term entries in my Mother's Journals for each student. I like to buy myself a treat like special chocolate for the occasion! And I also do my filing and clean out my own planning folders and such at that time. It is always nice to start fresh for a new term rather than leaving all that to the end of the year.
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A couple weeks ago I was in Philly for a long weekend for the CMEC Fall Mini-Retreat. It was focused on art instruction, with immersions in brush drawing, clay modeling, and chalk drawing led by the wonderful art teacher at The Mason Academy. My friend Erin opened with a beautiful meditation on personhood as it relates to art and the students she has worked with, and I discussed practical tips for implementing art lessons in the homeschool.
Although we could not hold the event itself in person, we did broadcast it live for members and were able to meet for various informal gatherings outdoors before and after the event. We also took a group trip to the art museum -- my favorite!
It was so wonderful to see my dear friends there. It had been a year since I had been able to meet in person with the other members of the CMEC team! We got lots done and had so many good conversations too. It was a blessing to be together and refreshed me for the rest of this year.
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My Form 2A students received their own Books of Centuries this year. They were so excited to join the older kids in this practice! The Book of Centuries is one of our rites of passage.
They both knew exactly what they were going to draw for their first entry...
Cate did the emblem from the War of the Roses chapter in Arnold-Forster's A History of England, which was my first entry in my Book of Centuries too several years ago!
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