CURRENT READING:
Akychame finished Theodosia Throckmorton by R. L. LaFevers and Lvov finished Mathilda by Roald Dahl this week. We are still waiting for our big shipment of books to arrive (we ordered 3 copies of each title, used, so we can all three read them book-club style and then donate the extra copies to the library).
ABOUT THIS WEEK:
What a cozy, productive week! I'm writing these records a few weeks after the fact, so I will likely forget a few details, but that's OK. This week we focused on cooking and sewing, in addition to our regular schedule, which always makes us feel happy on these chilly, dark days.
For math, we did a special project this week. The kids helped me to budget for our Paris / Venice vacation. They helped me to research prices, entry fees, etc. We even created a day-by-day meals grid, delineating how much we could spend for each meal, the day's total amount, and then the week's total amount (so that if we went over budget one day, we could tighten our belts a little the next day).
It was the first time I had enlisted their help on such a large-scale budgeting project. They really got to see first-hand how many threads are involved in weaving together a whole vacation. It doesn't just happen magically. They viewed websites with me, made travel lists, added up plane ticket costs, bus and boat tickets, you name it.
Then, when we were on vacation, the kids didn't ask for a single treat or souvenir. They knew exactly what our budget was, and that if they asked for money for a souvenir, they would possibly have to go without breakfast the next day (hypothetically speaking) because we each had our alloted amount of money for the trip, so we each had to budget individually for treats, souvenirs, batteries, etc. It worked like a charm.
Akychame even saved some of her allowance until we got back to Germany, because she wanted to go on the Haunted Hay ride with her friends, which came at the heels of our vacation. Wow, when I was a kid, I would have spent every single penny of my allowance the very fist day in Paris. This vacation was proof that getting kids involved in the budgeting process reaps economically smart kiddos (and happy parents).
ADDITIONAL LEARNING THIS WEEK:
- The kids created a large-scale puzzle board from old boxes taped together, so they could work on our wall-sized Paris puzzle. It's so large, it was hogging all of our table space, so the puzzle board was a useful solution.
- We took turns reading Shakespeare aloud (almost finished with both the Shakespeare and the modernized children's version of A.M.N.D.)
- We went to the library and checked out a book about how to make different kinds of pasta from scratch. We had so much fun improvising and "experimenting" (we very rarely follow a recipe from start to finish, it's more fun to be sidetracked and have delicious surprises). Above, the kids are cutting out circles to make tortellini with. They helped me to make two pastas: a tomato pasta and a basil pasta. We made spinach-feta filling, which the kids absconded with, running from me to devour it before I could stuff the pasta! 
The kids always tell me how happy they are that we are always cooking from scratch, and that I don't allow junk food or convenience food into our home. The result is that we have fresh, delicious food that takes about an hour to an hour and a half to prepare (good bonding time) - and the act of eating is thoroughly nourishing and meditative. Sometimes we just sit there eating silently, our eyes closed, savoring every bite.
- played chess with one another
- We quizzed ourselves to see how well we could draw Western Europe free-hand, and fill in all of the countries, cities, and bodies of water. This was our final quiz before moving on to South Eastern Europe. I love learning alongside my kids. I feel so much better informed than I would be if we weren't homeschooling.
- The kiddos sewed pillows for Phil's Christmas gifts this week. I am amazed hat they started so early! Lvov embroidered the sun's face a while ago, and this week she completed the rays and the pillow itself. She operated the sewing machine 100% independently and even insisted that I leave her alone to do it!
Akychame decided to create her pillow completely by hand. Here it is, almost done!
