Monday's Moment of Homeschooling

Well, it is a working post title.

Today started out a little rough.  Usually Mondays are our best days--lots of energy, good organization, ready to start the week--but today is a National Holiday.  It is Independence Day in Nicaragua.  The drum-line at the Catholic School down the road started EARLY.  All schools (except our home-school) were closed.  So, even though we weren't taking the day off....it is as if our minds told us that we should be on holiday.

Anyway, we eventually rallied. Some learning and a lot of character building happened.  We concluded the day with a rather simple activity. Finger-painting. Yes, I realize that I have a seventh grader, fourth grader and first grader.  However, we just finished a family read-aloud called The One and Only Ivan. 

It was a fantastic book.  It is loosely based on a true story of a gorilla that was captured as an infant, taken from his family in Africa, and raised in captivity with no other gorillas in the United States.  Ivan remained in his inside 'domain' for 27 years in a roadside mall exhibit until he was eventually transferred to Zoo Atlanta where he lived until he died a few years ago.  (You can find his true story on the Zoo Atlanta website.) Ivan loved to finger-paint. So today, in celebration of Ivan and finishing his story--we finger-painted. 

Here are a few snapshots of the event.