Right now as the holidays are upon us, we will be switching directions for a while. We are trying to finish up on our assignments that we are slightly behind on this week. This includes some science experiments and one of our read alouds. Although we kept up on school quite a bit while I was sick, I couldn't read aloud well when I was coughing up a lung and didn't want to get out of bed to do experiments with plants when I was so ill.

Next week, Nathan is heading to my parent's house for the week. He will be working on language arts, science, and will be doing read alouds with his grandparents on the Sioux Indians. Since we're ahead in math, he'll have the week off.

When Nathan comes back home, we will begin our Christmas unit. We will be reading from a book of short stories on Christmas. This is a Christian book and the stories are all very heartwarming. Just something to enjoy together and get us in the correct frame of mind during this busy season. We will also be making ornaments and decorating the house. Most of the ornaments on the tree will be homemade this year. We are also studying Christmas around the world. We have two small books that teach a bit about how Christmas is celebrated in up to 30 different countries. One is a coloring book too. We will be learning about St. Nicholas and the historical significance of this man. We will learn about how Santa came to be and concentrate on the real meaning of Christmas.

Nathan is also working at my job helping me and others bag their papers and stuff their inserts. He's earning money to help his grandparents buy a new computer. This is something that he thought up on his own. He decided that he wanted to help them however he could. I talked to some people at my job who offered him some work to help earn money. This is a busy time at my job because of the number of ads that go out in the paper. His help will be appreciated.

So when the new year begins, we'll be getting back on track. We'll begin a new math book (Gamma) and start some new books. Nathan and I have also decided to keep grades for him. We both think it will be beneficial in keeping him accountable for his work.

So right now I'm still trying to get better. I'm feeling about 95% right now, so I'm resting when I can and trying to catch up on housework when I can. I'll try to blog on our weekend at the zoo and our Thanksgiving later.