I so was never good at the journal thing...  Well, I need to discipline myself to do it.  Period.

We are a full 6 weeks into our school year.  This year I have a 5yr. old son and an 8 yr. old son schooling.  I am wiped! 

My 5 yr. old LOVE school!  He loves everything about school....EXCEPT the writing.  He is my creatively gifted one who wants nothing to do with the constraints of lines on the paper.  BUT he is taking off with the reading.  His short vowel sounds and consonants are all there.  We just introduced long vowel sounds.  He is memorizing his Bible verses.  He is learning his addition facts... Progress is being made.

Now, let's talk about my 8 yr. old.  He is gifted in a whole other direction.  I have finally decided to give up trying to answer his grade level.  It is a big old pain.  I admire his boldness.  The boy will talk to ANYONE (NO social dud here) about ANYTHING.  He seems to have a bit of knowledge about most things and is inquisitive about new ideas.  He has a fantastic ability to memorize.  He hears it once, it is in the brain.  He makes connnections with his knowledge that astound me.  He is keenly aware of current events, such as the economy and the election.  You knew it was coming.... BUT...  I am frustrated by the LAZINESS.  Ie. "I don't want to show my work, I do it in my head."  "I don't want to practice piano for a whole half hour, that is boring."  "I don't want to worry about spelling, many words don't follow the phonics rules anyway!"  I read a verse on Sat. that meant a lot to me Galatians 6:9  "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up"  I am a firm believer that what you do today will affect you 6 months from now.  I suppose if I want my boys who love their Savior now to be men for their Savior later I just have to STAY THE COURSE and trust in Him.

Later I will write about just how we stay the course at our house on a practical level.