The Brotherhood of Our Lady of Perpetual Pandemonium

Hey, Hey, We're the Monks!


We're learning about the spread of Christianity during the dark ages and the monasteries of England and Ireland. Brother James, Brother Bartholomew (don't ask), and Brother Andrew learned all about bookmaking and illuminated some manuscripts of their own. We all enjoyed a monk's supper of lentil soup (surprisingly good), apples, cheese, and crusty bread.

Brother James loves his habit and has continued to wear it through the weekend. He says he likes it because it is so scratchy and has even taken off his undershirt so that he can better feel the itching. Any doubts we had about whether he's sensory-seeking have been emphatically laid to rest. Who knew - we could have gotten the kid a hairshirt years ago!

Calling all zombies

Saved by the Tooth Fairy (Almost)

From this:

To this:

Lub Dub

Yep, time for the circulatory system. We had a lot of fun drawing one on the driveway. Jake pretended to be a red blood cell and moved around the body in the same route that a real one would travel. After that, he was a white blood cell and defended the cut on the knee from invading germs. I was very impressed that he noted that he did not pick up oxygen while in the lungs when he was a white blood cell. Zane just ran around. :)

We also tested our blood types. Drew was the bravest of all the boys, and even offered us his other toe to test after we finished the first!

Beowulf is min nama.

In history we're continuing on into the Middle Ages. We ended last year with the fall of Rome, and now we're learning about the Celts in Britain and the invasions of the Angles and Saxons. We're also learning about their legends and have read one of the first ones told in English. The kids have been very busy "defeating" Grendel. So the house is safe to visit. Unless, of course, you're a green-skinned sea-monster...

Dem Bones

We're in the middle of a unit on the human body. Each week we study a different system. This week we are learning about bones. I think we've attained new heights of nerdiness for turning a rotisserie chicken dinner into the next day's science experiment. We talked about the different types of bones, looked at them under the microscope, and soaked some in vinegar so that we were able to bend them.

A Sweet Start

We've begun our adventure of homeschooling Jake for second grade! To celebrate our first day we went out for ice cream after Jake finished his classes at a local church. He will be going every Tuesday, and this fall will study Lego construction, multi-media art, and cooking.