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My Worries For the Upcoming WeekI think it's the weather, the bleh time of year. But I have not had my usual zest for homeschooling these past few weeks. In fact I've been down right dreading tomorrow and the start of the new week. I feel run down already. I fear I'm going to be impatient. I fear tears on my side and my kids. I wish I could think of a way to get me excited about school again. Xander has already told me that he doesn't want to do school. I'm at a loss. I don't know what to do. I hate this.I guess I just really need to sit down and get my thoughts straightened out. I have to remember that I'm doing this for my children. They are worth this and they don't deserve a mother who's kind of tired of everything at this moment. Maybe with a good night sleep I can handle it. Maybe I'll wake up with my drive back. Maybe if all this happens my next blog entry won't sound as awful as this past one. Now on to something that might make me a little happier. JOYFUL THOUGHTS FOR THE DAY -I'm so happy I can stay home with my kids and watch them grow. I think I would be miserable if I had to go to work. I know there are many wonderful mothers who work and love to do it... it's just not for me. - I'm happy I have 3 little boys who are so loving and love to cuddle. I love Sunday mornings when we let them into bed with us and we just have this wonderful family times. Half-Year GoalsSo, I took a little time out today to look at how the general school year was going. And right now I have to say pretty good. We might be a little bit behind then what I would originally like. But hey... that's life. I think I have to get used to doing a year round schedule. I grew up where we started school in the fall and ended in the spring. This year round stuff is new to me! So of course we'll be a little behind then what the general school year.In math we're about half way through Abeka's Arithmetic 1. I can't believe how much Xander has learned using this program. I had my doubts about Abeka... but I see how much he's learning and I am completely happy. I never thought my 5 year old could count many, skip count by 2, 5, 10, 25, tell time by the half hour, etc. etc. etc. Likewise we're about half way through The Story of the World Vol.1. I think I've learned more with this history program about ancient civilizations then I did through my 12 years of high school. (Xander also loves to read additional information from other books. He's my little historian.) We're currently studying Greece. Xander can't wait until we get to Alexander the Great (He thinks he was named after him.) I couldn't be more impressed with Xander's growth this year in reading. My little boy can read Magic Tree House books all by himself, with minimal help. He's reading anything he can get his hands on. When Daddy is on the computer he can read what my husband types at the pace it which it was typed. He's going to be such a bookworm. (Not that I'm complaining.) In science we have about 4 weeks of animals left. And Xander can't wait until we start learning about the human body. He's very excited to learn how the miracle that is the body works. We're trucking right along with the Bible study. Xander enjoys reading the Bible stories. Xander and Lucas are both enjoying a very light taste of Spanish. Xander's printing is improving steadily as we go along and he's easilly grasping the early mechanics of early spelling. And lastly, I can't tell you how proud I am of my Lucas. In just the past few weeks his progress has been absolutely AMAZING. He can say the alphabet without almost any mistakes. Counting up to ten is no challenge at all to him. (I think it might be time to go higher.) And most improved is his speech. We were worried for awhile about his problems of communication... but he's just blossomed. His pronunciation has been just wonderful lately. I'm so proud of my boys! JOYFUL THOUGHTS FOR TODAY - I love when it's time to pray and Aiden (18 months) puts his hands together and repeats over and over God, God, God. - It makes me happy to know that my husband see eye to eye on the education of our children. I would hate to disagree and one of us would think that our kids aren't getting the best education that they can possibly get. - I love that Xander is excited when he gets educational toys as gifts. (He got a model of the moon for his birthday from his aunt and uncle. They were so worried that he wouldn't like it... that was until he opened it and exclaimed in absolute happiness 'THE MOON!' ) This Coming WeekWell, we have another full week this week. We'll be busy! Not only do we have school to do... but Friday is Xander's birthday, (my little guy is going to be five). To celebrate we invited the grandparents to our house for an early dinner on Friday night. We're going to have a Greek feast to go along with our history studies. (Stuffed grape leaves, with humus, and pita bread.) He'll also showcase some of the school work we've been doing. Lucas will show off his ABC knowledge and his counting to ten. Then after dinner at around 7:00 we've invited the rest of the family for a general birthday party.For school this week: Xander Math: Finding halves of even numbers, centimeters, learning about 1/4ths History: Introducing the Persian Empire Spelling: words with Long O and Long E sounds Reading: Finishing up Black Ships Before Troy and most likely starting The Wanderings of Odysseus Bible Study: Start learning about Samuel Science: We'll be learning about Bears Lucas: Letter: J Number: 10 Color: Black Theme of the Week: Trains We look forward to our upcoming week! Days Like These....I have to step back and remember why we decided to homeschool.Xander just did not feel like doing his work today. He had to practice memorization poems today. I know he knows them, and he just stood there and stared at me. He was even down right defiant, giving me his 'I'm not going to listen to you today.' look. He's completely frustrating when he gets like this. I even had to send him to his room. It took him 20 minutes to calm down. He finally came to me and said he was sorry. It made me kind of proud, though. I didn't have to prompt him to do it. So he's starting to get that when he does something wrong, he has to apologize. Lucas on the other hand has been wonderful. He's actually starting to say his ABC's without any prompting. I'm so extremely proud of him. He's getting to be a regular little pupil. He is always asking to do school. Today Could've Been WorseWell this weekend I did manage to get some rest and relaxation in, and that let me feel plenty refreshed for today. Today really, really went well. Xander really flew through math and he was very interested in history. He loves the Greeks. The Story of the World really keeps him interested and he's always asking questions. It was while we were reading the first few chapters Black Ships Before Troy that my mother-in-law called.She decided to make an impromptu stop over to see the kids. She hadn't seen the boys in awhile, so I didn't mind at all. We had to take a little bit of a break during our school time... but what's homeschooling if it isn't flexible. Anyways the boys had such a great time playing with and showing off to her that she ended up staying longer than she expected. It was 3:30 before she went home. But we did manage to finish up school after she left with no complaints. New GoodiesWell, I found this wonderful teaching store near by and today we went shopping. All the things we bought today weren't needed, so they were just fun schooling things. Days like this feel like Christmas, sometimes. We bought a large number poster that we can hang up to help Lucas with counting. (It matches the ABC poster.) We also got some very nice addition flashcards that go up to the 12 family. (A little pricey but so worth it). Also for science we picked up some animal flashcards, that have pictures and facts and such. Then just because I wanted a new one, we bought a single whole punch and some new bookmarks. Although if Xander and Lucas had their way we would have bought a lot more. They have a lot of great games. We plan on buy some for out game Olympics days.We Love HistoryWell this week we started to learn about the amazing history of the Ancient Greeks. Xander has been, well he's been completely interested in the myths, the clothes, the games the children played, etc. Well thanks to a suggestion right out of the workbook for History of the World: Vol. 1, I found a book that was absolutely amazing for our little homeschool.The title is Footsteps In Time: The Greeks by Sally Hewitt. It was on one the suggested reading lists for the chapter we were reading in our history book. And I found it for a decent price at a used books store... so I figured, why not pick it up. I am so happy that I did. Not only was the blurbs of history the put in it at Xander's reading level but the activities were fairly simple. Some of the crafts required a little more prep time, but it really does bring history to life. Xander and Lucas both made knucklebones. It was a game that Greek children used to play, where they threw objects called knucklebones in the air and had to catch them on the back of their hands. They both are completely impatient while their waiting for their crafts to dry. They're ready to try playing the game! Ugh..... One of Those Days!Usually Xander loves doing school. For the most part... we rarely fight about doing it. Well, during Bible study he decided that he was just going bare down and do no work... what so ever. Okay, before I get ahead of myself let's go through the day.To start with we do our regular Bible reading and prayer time. No problems through this. He had a math test today and again he did wonderfully. Right on through grammar, science, reading, spelling, he does everything calmly and happily. Well, the end of our school day comes around and that's Bible study. He prides himself on reading the Bible lessons all by himself. And I'm not one to argue with him. But first we work on verse memorization. This is something we do everyday. Well today he decides he doesn't want to do it. He just wants to do the lesson and be done with school. I'm not one to rush and even more so when it comes to studying the Bible. Now let me tell you... Xander is just as stubborn as his father. He was not going to give in. While I sat there and tried to go forth with the memory verse, he just sat there looking at me, arms crossed and a pout on his lips. He was being purely defiant. So I sent him to his room. After we both calmed down for a little bit we had one of those 'talks'. I think it really hit him when I told him I was disappointed in him, his daddy would be disappointed in him and more importantly God was. After that he seemed very sorry. Even thought we had a hitch in the road today, him showing remorse made it a little more bearable. It shows that my husband and I must be doing something right. And sometimes those little turning points can be very reassuring. And it shows that my son is actually learning something and even though it sometimes seems like he isn't listening.... he is. I have to remember that on the bad days. That it really is worth it... what I'm doing for my sons. We Had A Pretty Good DayWell, surprisingly, we had a pretty smooth day. Usually after a week off, the following Monday for school is pretty sluggish. Well Xander and Lucas both proved to me that they can get right back into the swing of things. I'm so proud of my little guys. They really do have a love of learning. I hope i can keep that spark alive in them. I don't want them to be like me and hate school as they grow older. I hope I can keep it interesting. I sometimes have this fear that I'll fail them some how.Anyway, this week our topic for Lucas is the sun. He's so creative and loves art. It's amazing what he does sometimes. He colored a sun today using both yellow and orange. I didn't even prompt him. He just know that those were the colors that he should use. Now we just have to work on the potty training. We're halfway there! With Xander we worked on review in math today as he has a test tomorrow. With history we've just started learning about The Greeks. And let me tell you he's loving it. We started reading some of the Greek myths. And he promptly informed me that the Greeks were different than us because they were polytheists and we're monotheists. Can you believe this kid is only going to be 5 on the 22nd? He also went on to amaze me in grammar today when he correctly identified all the nouns in several paragraphs. Alright proud moment over. (I think it's every mom's right to boast about their kids every once in awhile.) { Last Page } { Page 2 of 2 } { Next Page } |
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