Cousins, Angels, and Cats

This week was a busy one! On Saturday, we welcomed my sister and her two boys for a nice visit. It's always good to see them.  Henry loves having his cousins here to play.  Around lesson time, it's a little taste of the future for me to see what it's like to have multilevel instruction going on.  My sister home educates her children also, so they come armed with their workbooks and lessons for the week.  The boys are using Explode the Code and it was interesting to see what the later books cover.

Sunday was the feast day of the Guardian Angels.  To celebrate, I ordered Guardian Angel medals for each of the kids' beds.  We blessed them and tied them on securely to each bed and crib.  Of course, Henry immediately wanted to know if the medal itself would protect him from bad dreams.  I explained the idea of a sacramental as simply as possible so he could understand that the medal is there to help him remember that his Guardian Angel is always there with him.

Henry learned his Guardian Angel prayer last year during his nursery level.  It's one of the prayers he recites each night before bedtime.


The rest of the week was full of playtime, our regular lessons, and a trip to a local play place so the boys could expel some energy.  There was plenty of outside exploration (the weather has been fantastic) as well as the indulgence of some video game time with his cousins.

My sister was interested in seeing how her boys would take to Saxon Math, so we had an impromptu co-op on the days Henry had his math lessons.  It was funny watching Henry have a little competition with his work.  While the lessons were low-level for the cousins, all three boys enjoyed using the pattern blocks and the meeting book.




Today's art lesson was a cat.  Henry requested a picture of him working on the drawing, as well as a scan of the picture itself, so here it goes:

We'll finish today by saying a rosary together in honor of the feast day of Our Lady of the Rosary.

Tomorrow, we officially begin our science unit on objects in motion.  Henry, Oliver, and Jane have been playing with the Marble Run non-stop, as well as the Newton's Cradle.  I'm glad I went with the sturdier model, because little hands tend to get the strings tangled up.  Pricier, yes, but it's something they should be able to enjoy for years to come.

Angelicum puts physics at the 11th grade level; we'll see if it survives until then!