Large Family Homeschool Life – Week 29 of 2021

Come find out what went on in our large family home and homeschool this week in July!

Read all of the Large Family Homeschool Life posts HERE >>

WARNING: This week was pretty bland and slow because I was recovering from COVID. I only had a few hours each day where I felt good, and the days when I was nauseous were really bad. But, I decided to include this weekly update because I know many of you struggle with various ailments from chronic disease to temporary morning sickness to a virus spreading through the house, and I figured it would be good to see what a week like that looked like. That said, the week I was really sick with COVID, I did NOTHING. Some weeks are like that, and you have my permission to pare everything way down and pick back up when you can.

MONDAY

Today was the first post-COVID day I felt like doing something that took mental energy, so we did a pared-down version of school. I still felt like I was slugging through water, but it felt good to at least *try* to do something normal.

We did our Grapevine Bible lessons (read my review), read in Our Island Story, and worked on our map of the European Reformation from Tapestry of Grace. We also started a new read-aloud – The Second Mrs. Giaconda.

I got very tired and woozy during the read-aloud, so I laid down afterward and ended up taking a 2 hour nap!

When I felt a bit better, I helped the littles with their schoolwork and even looked over Mountain Guide for their next lessons. We ended up reading a really cute book named Waiting for the Biblioburro and making books out of cardstock like in the story.

By the way, many people ask me about all the books suggested in curricula like The Peaceful Press and Tapestry of Grace. No, I do not buy ALL of the books. I do order via Interlibrary Loan quite a few at our local library, but even then, I do not get ALL of the books. Get what you can and what interests you, supplement with other titles if you can’t find the exact one, and don’t stress about it!

Later that evening, Ty got some groceries since I’m still not up to shopping despite being out of quarantine. I did manage a VERY short and VERY slow walk around the neighborhood (we’re talking 2 cul-de-sacs here). I’m anxious to get back to my usual speed!

TUESDAY

Each day I’m a bit better and more energetic. I even ate breakfast – 2 fried eggs with salsa – on the deck this morning!

For school, we did GrapeVine, and read about Henry VIII in Our Island Story and in Story of the World.

Henry VIII has always fascinated me, so I decided to share something a little extra with the kids. There is a woman who uses Photoshop to “update” people from the past so we can relate better to them. The project is called Royalty Now, and below is the video of Henry and his wives.

We also read more in The Second Mrs. Giaconda. Megan (20) walked in and recognized it from when I assigned the book to her as a literature selection when we last studied this time period.

Aspen and Mercy made a mountain scene with dirt on the back deck. The lesson plans from Mountain Guide suggested clay, but Mercy has been a little naughty with clay lately (getting it all over the table and her toys!), so I gave the girls some potting soil instead and put them outside.

By the way, I improvise A LOT with our curricula! You don’t have to do everything just the way it is listed for your children to enjoy and understand the lesson!

Mercy also worked in her Rod & Staff workbook, and Aspen worked on reading new words in phonics. I’ve noticed the 3 week break we took because of vacation and sickness has done her good! She’s retaining the letter sounds so much better! Sometimes kids just need a bit of time.

After lunch, I fell asleep while reading Looking Back – the final book in a series about a Swedish woman who emigrated to the Kansas prairie in the late 1800’s. It’s such a good series, I intend to read it to the children when we come to that time period!

After I woke up from my short nap, I wrote my post about How Homemakers Used to Meal Plan. While we were on vacation, I had written out the entire post on paper, so it was simple to transfer it to the blog.

I’ve also done a podcast on this topic:

I called my sister to wish her a Happy Birthday and to compare COVID notes – she and her husband had it back in February. She made me feel better about some of the symptoms I was having and the fact that I am so run down. She’s like me and never takes naps and runs circles around most people, so it was pretty shocking to her how long it took her to get her energy back.

I did manage to muster up the energy to make one batch of Sandhill Plum jelly because my plums were going to go bad if I didn’t get to it. Thankfully, my 16 year old helped out.

It’s Creed’s Special Night, so our 16 year old made him a Peanut Butter M&M Shake using our electric ice cream maker. We really love this thing and keep the tub in the freezer at all times so we can make ice cream whenever we want!

WEDNESDAY

Had coffee on the deck with Ty this morning. We worked together with Megan on her financial aid for college. Currently, our arrangement with her is that she pays half and we pay half.

For homeschool, we did GrapeVine and worked on our Reformation maps while we talked about the Huguenots and the Anabaptists. We also watched a portion of an 8K video of Switzerland on YouTube. My kids love these videos!

We also watched summaries of King Lear and The Taming of the Shrew on YouTube because I got tired of reading every play from Tales from Shakespeare. I know I probably should have assigned these plays to the older kids, but I wanted my younger kids to get a feel for Shakespeare as well.

A few years ago, we all did the 10 Weeks of Shakespeare class from Music in Our Homeschool and everyone really enjoyed it! I don’t want to ruin that experience by reading from a book that is a bit on the dry side.

READ >> A Shakespeare Class Your Kids Will Actually Understand

I did try to read in The Second Mrs. Giaconda, but started feeling nauseous and needed to stop.

I tried to help the littles with some of their school work before heading upstairs to basically spend the rest of the day in bed.

THURSDAY

Another nauseous day, so we just did GrapeVine and watched the summaries of Hamlet and Macbeth. Later in the day, I walked a couple of blocks very slowly with my 6 year old. She thinks every walk is a Nature Walk, so she had a lot of fun looking for all kinds of nature, including fireflies and listening to the cicadas.

FRIDAY

Today, despite a heat wave in our region, I felt much better, and after getting the Friday House Cleaning done, I took Melia (16) driving and made a shopping trip to Aldi. And that was enough for the day!

NOTE: As you can see, when I felt good, I took advantage of it and did a little extra. When I felt bad, I didn’t try to push myself. Some days, we did very little. Some days, we managed a lot more, but it was still pared down compared to my usual schedule. This is precisely why I homeschool 4 days a week year round!