Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday

Things get busy here on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Those are the days we have classes scheduled at Village Home, our homeschool resource center. Princess chooses all of her classes. We have no requirements for what classes she takes. This year the schedule (I have also included class descriptions) looks like this:

Tuesday
Detective Agency -- Be a detective as we explore word and number puzzles, brainteasers, and unlock secret codes together. We'll spend some time looking at clues up close with magnifiers. We'll also read stories about detectives and solve mysteries as a group. There will be lots of detective work in this problem-solving time together!

Wednesday
Knights, Castles & Dragons -- Ever heard of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table? Or the famous Sword in the Stone? If you want to know more, come explore the Arthurian legends with us. We will study the history of the Arthur and the knights, Merlin, the sword Excalibur, the Green Knight and the fall of Arthur's kingdom. We will immerse ourselves in the time period--including reenacting a jousting match and building our own Excalibur swords. We will study famous castles like Bamburgh Castle, and you can decide if you would want to live there (it's a bit cold!). We will even write our own legends once we decide if Arthur was even a real person!
For the last day of class, Princess and her best friend, Blue-Eyed Boy, presented their castle project that they had worked on together for several weeks.

Foundations in Computer Programming -- Unleash your creativity with designs and games we develop from scratch. We will write our own programs using FreeBASIC, a BASIC language variant available for free download.


Then I have my workout class, during which Princess plays.

Thursday
Drama for Kids -- Have you ever pretended to be someone else just for fun? Maybe you've played dress up with mom or dad's old clothes and acted out a story with your friends. Or maybe you just like to move and play! 

Using picture books and popular tales as our jumping off point, we'll begin to put stories into action through a series of physical activities, improv exercises, and role playing. Together through play we'll learn the "who, what, where" of narrative structure using costume pieces, props, and anything else we find lying around in order to develop our creativity, connect with each other, and think on our feet! 
Artist Trading Cards -- Artist Trading Cards (ATCs) are simply pieces of art that are made out of cards measuring 2.5” x 3.5”. You can use special paper already cut to this size, or better yet, use any sturdy paper. Old file folders, card stock, greeting cards – any paper that is not flimsy – can be cut to the right dimensions and used as an ATC. Once you have your 2.5 x 3.5” card, what you do with it is up to you. Draw on it, paint, collage, sew, embellish, write words. Use your imagination. The options are endless!

Rhyme Time --
Poetry is often
misunderstood;
we think it must rhyme
for it to be good.
While this is not true
it's easy to say
that most of us first
do learn it this way.
From Silverstein to Seuss
and Dahl to Goose, 
we find such joy 
in what rhymes may produce;
the pictures and sounds
the places and things,
the adventure and wonder
that poetry brings!
To miss so much fun 
would be such a crime,
so join us everyone
for an exciting Rhyme Time! 

In this class, we'll look at both new and classic children's poems from authors including Mother Goose, Shel Silverstein, Dr. Seuss, Roald Dahl, Shakespeare, Emily Dickenson and more! We'll explore creativity and movement as we set poems to music and perform as characters from our favorite poems, creating the world of the story through play. We'll discover our inner poet as we draw pictures of what we see and hear in the words and write our own poems together! 
I then have another class, during which Princess plays some more! This play is often creative play, but sometimes she will play alongside a friend on her DS or iPad.

When we get home, most of the time, Princess will turn on the TV and grab a device to play. These days are quite full of variety and activities. The subjects covered, if we were to break them down, would be everything covered in a "regular school day" but in a much more fun, learning friendly environment. I wouldn't have it any other way.

This was our last week at Village Home for Winter term. We've got a couple weeks off before we return for Spring term. I wonder what we'll do to keep ourselves busy. I can't wait to find out!