Our Homeschool Life Weekly Wrap-up: Spring Break Week
Our family decided to celebrate Spring Break in our homeschool this week. Most of the classes my kids take outside of our home took a break this week so it made sense for us to take a break as well.
Sadly, we had a mostly cloudy, sometimes chilly, spring break this week. But we made the best of it.
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Homeschool Weekly Wrap-Up
This weekly wrap-up was inspired by my friend, Alicia Hutchinson, who has been offering weekly summaries on her own blog. I love reading what she is up to in her house, from home decorating to her homeschool life, so I thought I’d share a peek into our week…
While it wasn’t the sunny, glorious week I imagined, we definitely made the best of it. I will enjoy a return to the spring sunshine that keeps changing its mind.
Homelife: Outdoors
We kicked off our Spring Break on Monday with a walk to a local Bubble Tea cafe. It’s not something we do often, but it’s a nice treat when we have time (and money!). I needed to do something outdoors before the rain came and the kids love bubble tea, so it worked for everyone.
Including the dog….
I know I don’t talk much about the dog, but he really is a cute little guy. His name is Lafayette and he is our pandemic puppy. It’s been quite an adjustment, but it’s been a great thing for the kids. A puppy wasn’t my idea and I resisted for years, but he is a great little guy (mostly!).
We also went hiking on Wednesday at a local state park. I planned this adventure with friends when the weather was warm, so it wasn’t quite the hiking weather I was hoping for, but any weather is good for a hike, right?
That’s what we decided and we enjoyed our morning outdoors. We scouted out some good swimming and tubing areas for the summer, so I can’t wait to go back when the weather warms up!
Homelife: Indoors
As the kids grow up, so does my house. This year is no different.
One of the biggest changes in this room recently was the removal of my world map (which was behind the mirror) and our whiteboard (which was on the left wall as you look at this picture). Transitioning to the final years of homeschooling has definitely been strange, but it has also given me a little bit of room to redecorate and help the house “grow up” as well.
Honestly, redecorating isn’t my gift and I don’t usually enjoy it, so when I am in the mood, I go for it. Because I know that the mood will pass!
This weekend we’ll hang the curtains and I’ll work on some new picture frames that were inspired by the colorful hallway makeover by Kaleidoscope Living. Once those two projects are complete, I’ll call this room finished for now.
Spring Break Week
We officially took spring break so we didn’t complete any of our regularly scheduled courses. All of the kid’s classes were canceled so there wasn’t anything official on our school schedule all week.
The kids were thrilled that I gave them the week off math because math with Mr. D is the one thing we rarely take a break from.
Of course, learning blends with life and life with learning in a homeschool family, so it is impossible to say we stopped learning this week. We are always learning.
And a few “planned learning” opportunities still filled our week. I just made sure they were the “sneaky learning” opportunities because it was officially spring break.
School Life: Sneaky Geography
On our first night of break, we enjoyed snack foods from Germany because our monthly Univeral Yums box arrived that day. The medium size box includes plenty of treats and it is easy to share between all six of us. We often enjoy it after dinner so my husband can be there too.
We kept our Universal Yums time casual this week and used paper towels to save my energy! I did not want to add to the pile of dishes gathering in the sink.
School Life: Sneaky History
We also enjoyed a movie night that was technically part of our history studies. We gathered together to watch the Lincoln movie:
My goal is to return to our US History course next week and pick up on the events after the Civil War. I am ready to get to the 1900’s!
Sneaky Learning: Games
We are just a little bit obsessed with our new SKYJO Action game. It’s a great twist on the original version of SKYJO.
Mom Life with Teens
Finding my personal groove while raising a house full of teenagers is a bit tricky.
Most of my time is spent trying to be available for anyone who needs me, which happens sporadically. It leaves my days feeling a bit interrupted and chaotic.
This week wasn’t too bad because I didn’t have to be available for school work, but I still had to be available:
available for the teen who walks into the kitchen looking for someone to chat with
available to play games with a bored kid
available to drive someone to work who is nervous about the storms
available for a teen who needs to vent or talk out loud through a problem
Being available is my job and my joy, but it does make it hard to set up personal boundaries for my own needs and goals. It’s a struggle to find the right balance, so I keep working at it. Every week looks different, but this week was a nice one to spend a bit more time on my own goals.
Of course, this week the mom life with teens included a fun trip to pick up my an iced tea while cheering on my favorite employee who was surviving a hard day of work in the cold and rain:
I love that part of my mom job – cheering on teens who are tackling challenges and entering the world head on!
Mom Life: Health and Fitness
I have been working out consistently with Teacher Fit for months. I used to walk to the local gym, complete a Teacher Fit workout, and then use the elliptical for 30 minutes.
These days, I am completing my Teacher Fit workouts at home. I invested in some heavier hand weights and am also running outdoors again (instead of the elliptical). Thanks to Teacher Fit, I have slowly progressed from 5 lb weights to 10 and 12 lb weights, depending on the exercise!
The best part of this new workout at-home routine is that my 14-year-old son has become my workout buddy! I am kinda loving that!
I am also eating more purposefully and carefully these days. I have a morning vitamin routine which includes a multi-vitamin and Vitamin D3. I have added the Vitamin D in 2021 because of the news about the correlation between low Vitamin D levels and harsher Covid symptoms. My doctor agreed it was a great idea at my recent physical.
I’ve also started ordering from Daily Harvest. I am a woman who loves smoothies so my entire order consists of smoothies! The Daily Harvest delivery adds variety to my smoothie options AND provides a healthy lunch alternative when the kids eat mac and cheese. HA!
I don’t have a Daily Harvest order delivered weekly, but I have been ordering 12 smoothies every 3 weeks. Eventually, I’ll only order every four weeks and return to making my classic strawberry banana smoothie occasionally.
–> This link to Daily Harvest will give you a $25 referral credit if you want to give it a try! <–
Book Life: On my Nightstand
The Devil and the Dark Water by Stuart Turton – I came across this title on a mystery booklist. It isn’t a quick read like most of the thrillers I enjoy, but I am far enough into the storyline now to keep track of everyone. It falls into the historical thriller category.
Reading While Black: African American Biblical Interpretation as an Exercise in Hope by Esau McCaulley – I haven’t started this one yet, but it is technically on my nightstand so I’ll list it here. I have heard good things and I can’t wait to get started.
(Yes, I love Christian theology books – all kinds – ones I agree with and ones that I don’t. Theology is just a topic I love to ponder and consider. I think this book will present a new perspective to me.)
Giants Beware! (The Chronicles of Claudette) by Jorge Aguirre – Yes, this is on MY nightstand because I am reading a ton of graphic novels to design a future Outschool Summer Graphic Novel Bookclub. You can’t find it on my profile yet, but if you follow me on Outschool I think they’ll notify you when I add my summer classes.
Amulet: The Stonekeeper by Kazu Kibuishi – Wondering why this one is on my nightstand? Same explanation as the book above!
Booklife: In our Home
Mananaland by Pam Muñoz Ryan – I am currently reading this one out loud to my boys for book club this month. It has a mysterious and mystical plot and I look forward to seeing where it heads.
Cogheart by Peter Bunzl – My husband has been reading this book to the boys at bedtime. Unfortunately, bedtime has been too late for reading recently so it’s been really interrupted which makes it hard to get into. I think that is why no one is loving it.
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass – I am reading this to my middle two children (oldest read it two years ago) as part of their high school US History year. I think everyone should read this book so I am making sure it happens in our home.
(I never read this one in school but read it with my oldest two years ago. I couldn’t believe it wasn’t required reading so I immediately made it required at the Wilson Academy!)
Ground Zero by Alan Grantz – My 14-year-old loves this author and this was a title he had not read. I saw it at the library and grabbed it right away.
Scythe by Neal Schusterman – My 14-year-old saw this one in my pile and immediately grabbed it, so now I’ll have to wait my turn.
Most of you are aware that I recently signed up to teach on Outschool. While I love sharing things in my corner of the web, I really miss interacting with kids. I decided to take my love of book clubs to Outschool and offer kids book clubs.
I currently have a few openings left in my Flora & Ulysses book clubs (which happen this week – Thursday) and I have submitted book club requests for Mr. Lemoncello and Poppy. I’d love to see your kids in one of the book clubs this year!
In the meantime, I’ll continue writing in this space and keep my email community up to date.
I love how Alicia ends her weekly rundowns by listing things she is thankful for. This is such a good practice so I am going to adopt it here as well.
Grateful for…
…the outpouring of support from the homeschool community for my dear friend, Kara Anderson. (details on her GoFund me page)
…planetarium tickets for Sunday! We haven’t visited a planetarium since moving to Raleigh 7 years!!!
…my new workout buddy, though I did mention that above.
…my mom’s enthusiasm. She and my Dad are visiting for Easter and her excitement about egg hunts and Easter baskets is contagious.
Have a great week everyone!
She believes that creativity, laughter, and fun are the backbone for engaging and inspiring homeschools. You can find her encouragement and tips on this blog, Mary Hanna Wilson.
She is an enneagram 7 and an extrovert. She enjoys traveling, tea (iced or hot), good conversations, and books. You can connect with her on Instagram and Facebook.
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Love this idea. Thank you for sharing and inspiring.
Ahhhhh so many things to say about your wrap up! Your hikes look amazing—and the dog! Love it!
The planetarium…yay!!! And I might have to try daily harvest now too.
I am now singing “Lafayette! Watch me engagin’ ’em, escapin’ ’em, enragin’ ’em, I’m Lafayette!”
We have a pandemic bunny. I think he’s named “Knuffle Bunny.” But my daughter insists he’s “Knuffle Bunny Alexander Hamilton McGuinness-Holland.”
🙂
You understand me. I sing to him all day! And I love the bunny name. Wasn’t Knuffle Bunny a Mo Willems book?