{This and That} :: On to Term 2

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...

We also celebrated with some gifts for the new terms: supplies for our art and handicraft lessons for Term 2, some story cards we will use for Italian lessons, mini-clipboards for my very avid frienship bracelet makers, and refills for lots of supplies we use on a regular basis.

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!

She then moved in quick succession to Columbus' ships, which was Xavier's first choice...

At the end of the year, I'll have to share more from their notebooks this year. They have done such good work and I'm always amazed by the variety in the output of two students learning together. Their notebooks reflect so clearly who they are. (I talked all about that on The Charlotte Mason show podcast a few months ago. :))

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And I have to cap off every {This and That} post with an update on sweet Emilia! She is on the go and never sits still for long. So busy. So loud! So precious. 

I have a little video of her walking over on Instagram. She beat the Cruz Family record by a couple weeks when she started walking at eight months. I have had several nine-month-old walkers but never quite as early as her! She is a determined little lady and loves attention from her siblings.

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Speaking of Instagram, I posted the other day about setting up my logbook for Term 2 and got lots of requests for more details, so I am pulling together a simple blog post on my organizational approach for my plans and notes this year. I'd also like to share more about our timetables!

And I have posts in the works for my handicrafts series: knot tying, needle felting, and beginning sewing with felt.

Hope to be back next week to chat on one or another of these topics.

Until then, are you just about finished with Term 1? Do you take breaks between terms?