Week 6 Done

We've made it through yet another week. Whew!

HISTORY:
This week, we talked about some of the early kings of England: Alfred the Great, Edward the Confessor, Ethelred the Unready, Canute the Great, Sven Forkbeard, and William the Conqueror.

We learned about pomanders. The wealthy owned beautiful ones which they wore as a necklace, or hung from a belt. They believed that they would protect them from infection in times of plague. I'm sure that it was nice to have something pleasant to smell when the stench of medieval life was getting a bit too bad.

We made "poor man's" pomanders -the typical oranges covered in cloves. By the way - did you know how expensive whole cloves are??? I'm glad I had enough on hand at home. They were over $14 for a normal-sized jar of them at Wal-Mart. Yikes!


Lexie decided that hers should have a smiley face.


SCIENCE:
We pulled out our microscope (which I bought last year and we had never used!!!!). It is a stereoscope and in addition to regular prepared slides, you can put objects under it. The kids had fun magnifying their hair, leaves etc. I put in an order for some slides and we can't wait for them to come!!!

LANGUAGE ARTS:
Ellie wrote a paragraph about fall. It is quite appropriate since fall has arrived here in Alaska. The oranges and yellows are gorgeous and our yard is beginning to fill with leaves.Here is her rough draft(it still needs to be revised and edited which we will finish this weekend):

Red and yellow, leaves gracefully flutter off the half-bare trees in a cheerful evening greeting. The warm, inviting smell of freshly baked pumpkin pie wafts through the cool air. Little chipmunks scurry past my warm feet, gathering the last acorns they can find before winter comes. The horizon in front of me shows a beautiful sunset - pink, yellow, orange, red, blended together beautifully, making it a masterpiece. I look down on the heavily trodden path, and see leaves of every shape and color, artistically littering the ground. I look up and see red, fat cardinals singing to one another. I turn a sharp corner and see it: my wonderful home, full of my happy family.

We start in on studying the Vikings next week. My Scandinavian genes are getting excited :)