| Well, so far it's been pretty smooth... I don't really have too much to write this week, but I have to discipline myself to get in here and blog something at least once a week or I fear I will forget about it all together. So... I hope what follows today doesn't ramble too much. We are falling into somewhat of a routine with the schooling this year, even though we don't always follow the schedule I made up. If that makes any sense at all. I think it's just that I have approached the school year with a plan and just taking that step, instead of letting our days be "organic", has really helped my mindset. I don't think any home day has gone completely to schedule, but it's a plan... and if it has to flex, it does. Before, I was kind of taking each day as it came and was not organized enough to weather the bumps in the road very well. I have also been taking an hour or so at the end of each week to prepare a "combined lesson plan" which basically just puts both kid's assignments and the books/pages needed in one place by subject. Then I go downstairs to the school bookshelf and make sure all the books needed for the week are flagged with colored sticky flags (one color for each day of the week) in the pages. This sounds like a lot of work, but oh the time it saves during the week! I can tell at a glance what books are needed each day (by the colored flags), and then just flip it open to that page. It really helps to know what books go in the backpacks for coop days too. I don't have to keep flipping through the lesson plan documents from the coop (two sets, and some subjects are broken into subsets!). I just follow my combined lesson plan and follow the We are still having a little trouble with D finishing work in a timely manner, especially at the coop. I am trying not to make this a huge issue at home, except that I sit right with D at the table and keep him on task rather than getting up to do other things while he works. This means some of my chores sometimes go undone, but I think it's more important that he finish in a somewhat timely manner so he is not frustrated with how long he has to sit there to complete his lessons. D's coop teacher is so sweet and concerned about him, and shared that her oldest son (homeschooled and now in college) was much the same and just took gaining some maturity to overcome the worst of it. This is encouraging, especially that I am seeing less of a spirit of discouragement in D compared to what we went through last year. He sometimes sighs at being told to get back to work, but so far he is willing to finish it up - whatever it may be. At the coop, D's teacher is working with me and allowing him to complete unfinished work at home so that we can grade the product of his work, and not how long it takes him to complete it. H is really enjoying his Jr. Kindergarten class. He brought home a booklet they made in class and has to "read" it to me every night at bedtime before we have storytime. It is a little repetitive poem that begins "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, what do you see? I see a Yellow Duck looking at me." Then it goes yellow duck, yellow duck, and so forth through about 8 different iterations. He's so proud to have something to read, even if it's a poem he memorized and the visual cues on the pages (animal pictures) tell him what comes next. I am also glad that H does not seem to have the motor skill issues that have plagued D and caused our struggles in writing. H has always loved to color (D did not color much at all until he had to in Jr K), uses scissors (D had trouble with scissors at first too), and can even write (copy) his name already (D could not really do this until Kindergarten and even then it was a struggle). What I'm getting at, is that I am relieved that I most likely won't have to struggle with H like I have with D. I was steeled for it, but what a relief to have one who can do his work pretty much without any extra coaching! H sees school as a joy, and that makes me happy. Someday I hope that D can see it as a joy too. ~ |
| Post A Comment! :: Send to a Friend! |
|
Entry 7 of 205 Last Page | Next Page |
| Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ||||||
| 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
| 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 |
| 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 |
| 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 |
| 30 | ||||||
.gif)
