Summary Saturday: The Best Laid Plans

So a while back (at the end of February!), I posted about how we were going to take a break from our regular homeschool curriculum to do a unit study on ballet. {BALLET UNIT STUDY} I had no idea when we started that Chipette would enjoy it this much. The unit study was supposed to only take six weeks, but because of rabbit trails and Chipette wanting to make her notebook perfect, we are still plugging along through the ballet unit study. And I must say that we are having a fabulous time! I've enjoyed it and learned just as much as Chipette has. Here is a picture of her ballet notebook where we learned about the history of ballet clothing: pointe shoes, tutus, leotards, and soft slippers:

This past week we learned about Tchaikovsky who wrote the music for three of the most famous ballets in the world: The Nutcracker, Swan Lake, and The Sleeping Beauty. He also wrote the Overture for the Romeo and Juliet ballet. One of the most interesting things we learned was that Tchaikovsky had horrendous stage fright. The first time he conducted an orchestra in a theater he held on to his beard the entire time because he was afraid his head would fall off because he was so afraid. After that experience he didn't conduct in public again for ten years! But eventually he began to conduct again, but always conducted with his eyes closed so he didn't see all of the people in the audience. Here is a picture of Chipette's notebooking page about the composer.

Probably the saddest thing we learned about Tchaikovsky was that his only regret in life was that he had never had the experience of a loving relationship with a wife. He was engaged once, but the woman left him for another man a week before the wedding. A second time he actually got married, but within a month his wife had asked for an annulment because she said that he didn't suit her. It was really sad thinking about this man who wrote such beautiful, romantic music, but never experienced love like that in real life. Chipette and I both got a little teary-eyed reading that part of the biography.

On a happier note, Magpie and Chipette made abstract animals pictures for art this week. Let's see if you can figure out what their animals are. Here is a picture of their masterpieces hanging in the art gallery (aka the refrigerator) with each girl standing underneath her picture:

Okay, I'll help you out! Magpie made a flamingo (the pink thing) surrounded by buildings (all of the other pieces). Chipette made a blue bird diving to the ground for a worm. They were so proud and, yes, Magpie is wearing a Supergirl costume for school that day!

Not to be outdone, Monkey painted his first masterpiece with our Do-A-Dot art markers. It was a teddy bear cowboy. I would have taken a picture of his finished work, but he immediately tore it up and threw it away. I'm thinking I have a tempermental artist on my hands! Here is a picture of him working intently on his painting:

To go along with our ballet study we've been studying the human body. This week we worked on the eye, ear, and skin. Here are Magpie and Chipette learning how the pupil expands and contracts to let more light in when it's dark and to keep light out when it's bright:

They had great fun shining the light into each others' eyes!

And last but not least, Magpie and Monkey had a lot of fun one afternoon this week when I let them fill up the kitchen sinks with bubbles and just have a good time. 

Plus my floor around the sink got a good scrubbing from all of the bubbles and water splashed over the sides!

And a sad ending to our week was that Chipette got sick with a kidney infection this morning which called for an emergency doctor's visit. And our family bike ride got put off until another day.

She's still not feeling very good, but we have antibiotics now so hopefully she will be on the mend soon.


I hope all of you had a great week!

Learning that the best laid plans are usually derailed in the treehouse,

Chelli