So, how is it going?
Well… B’s independent work is going swimmingly. Especially music. And he is co-oping great (just forgetting to let me know what supplies I need to buy for him before we get there, but that’s normal, or at least, I do that too.) Stuff he has to do with me is hard to get to.
M has lost 3 teeth in the last 4 weeks. Somehow that affects how well he can sit in a chair, and whether he writes with his pencil or accidentally throws it at me. It’s as if, after a year and a half of beautiful handwriting work, his large muscles have taken over and he is a lot younger than he was in January. Theoretically I know that kids maturity levels fluxuate. But in my heart, I am afraid that we will never get through the math book, let alone the spelling lists. And while he has read a few words, and his cursive handwriting is legible, he just doesn’t recognized book face. So reading seems like a far off shore. Sitting down for 30 min of school seems like Mt Everest, and since next week we have 3 field trips and a doctors appointment and coop…well, regularly scheduled sit down school will naturally be put off for a while. Maybe his teeth and fine motor skills will reset in the mean time. I feel like the traction we lost in February is slipping even worse now that we have lovely Spring weather. Please note all those feel, as if and in my heart phrases, I’m sharing feelings here, not perceptions. I THINK he’s going to be fine.
And K? Well, she has jumped to asking for specific books (Cookie Mouse is a particular favorite, especially at 3AM. Cookie Mouse being “If you Give a Mouse a Cookie“) We have added the magnetic letters, play doe, and chalk board to the stuff to keep toddler happy while attempting kitchen table school pile. She no longer puts every thing in her mouth. And she wants to learn and try new things. Last week she once slept for 7hours in a row too. I think she is about to drop the afternoon nap though. I’m lucky if the ‘play in your crib time” gives me enough time to read M his story, read my Bible and put my feet up. Doesn’t she know that napping when the smallest child naps is supposed to be the composed mother’s key to good behavior? I guess she hasn’t read that one yet.
And me? I’ve recently read Math Wars (or at least the chapter summaries.) While I tend to want my kids to learn everything with hands on discovery learning…I am having to back up and teach a lot more structured procedures, because they are much more step by step thinkers than I am. B is so competitive, that he wants to better his “mathematical procedures” section on his standardized test scores, not content to have maxed out his scores on “mathematical understanding.” I also read Islamic Design by Daud Sutton (makes me want to play with straight edge and compass) and an awful lot of old forum discussions on Ravelry about the business of knit design, and pattern writing conventions.
DH has been reading a lot of Jonathan Edwards sermons off the internet on the tablet computer, he can still read it if the big light is out, so he doesn’t keep me awake.
So, we are humming along nicely on read a louds, discussions, cooking, co-op, field trips, and getting along as a family. Crossing assignments off the big master list we agreed on would be when we were ‘done’ with the school year? Ummm let’s just say we will be schooling year round…again.