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Here’s the update on what we are watching, reading, and using/doing.
This week was a bit slower than normal. My oldest was visiting Grandma and doing some book work and yard work, but mostly enjoying his visit.
What are we reading?
We managed to read through Colonial America: An Interactive History Adventure (affiliate) a few times. I’m happy to report that 1/3 times the character they chose lived. It was a very fun read and we plan on using books in this series for a few other history lessons.
My first grader is really, really into Harry Potter. He listens to the audiobooks constantly on his mp3 player, makes pretend wands in the woods, and duels his brother on occasion. We have started reading Quidditch Through the Ages (affiliate). You can also find it in the Hogwarts Library boxed set here (affiliate).
What are we watching?
I decided to try getting the family into learning American Sign Language(ASL). I’ve been struggling with getting everyone excited about Spanish and I will try to continue that with my older son, but it’s been hard with my younger boys. I want learning to be fun for them and it just hasn’t been for foreign language. We have started learning the alphabet with Laura Berg Life over at YouTube. She also has plenty of other videos with fun activities to do with your kids. Her daughter also stars and leads some of the sign language videos. My first grader really enjoyed and actively participated.
What are we using/doing?
These last two weeks have kicked off our planning for the garden. This year I am finally getting my raised beds put in. My first grader just signed up for 4-h and will also be working on gardening for his project this year. He will be getting 3 square feet at the end of one of the beds.
First, we tested the soil that had been scraped away when the driveway was put in. I used this soil tester (affiliate) that I purchased on Amazon. It turns out that it would be more cost effective to buy soil and manure for the raised beds rather than try to amend this really clay based soil. Plus, it’s pretty much a fire ant hill now. The tester was easy to use though and will come in handy in the future. My first grader was very excited to help with this part and it only takes 10 minutes.
Lastly, the raised garden beds. After literally months of debate over how big, how expensive, covered or not, etc.. I settled on these (affiliate). You can put them together in a few different configurations, they had great reviews, and it was one of the cheapest options for us. It also freed my husband and I to work on other projects. Time is precious when you have 3 kids and a million animals. I chose to put them together in a long rectangle configuration and will be needing to add wooden stakes to the middles to keep them from bowing out. I’ve got all my dirt and poop and did start mixing and filling one.
What is everyone else reading, watching, and using/doing this week?
A Hen and Her Chicks 
We are plotting our garden, too. I’m currently researching irrigation methods. It’s going to be a homeschool family project.
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I put some logs from our woods under the dirt in our beds. Supposedly, the wood holds moisture while it rots. I’m hoping that with raised beds that they will drain well (we’ve had loads of rain in NC these last few years), but retain some moisture in the logs for those really hot days. heh it’s a science experiment I guess.
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