All in all, not a bad week for the start of our homeschool warmups last week. The boys were pretty adept at their math facts and quickly got back in the piano-playing mode. We all remembered most of our memory work from last year with the exception of one Latin prayer, so I pulled out our flash cards for that. Latin readalouds went fine, but we only did them twice. Still, fine for a first, "warmup" week.

Handwriting was a big surprise, because Son1 wrote his Monday assignment (to make a lunch plan for the week) very neatly, whereas Son2 was clearly out of practice: his terse breakfast plan was scrawly and wobbly. On Wednesday, they each wrote a note to me requesting video game time, and Son2's handwriting was better. On Friday, Son2 was to copy the alphabet using a Getty-Dubay Italic practice half-sheet, and his effort looked much more like his handwriting from late in the year. Yay homeschool warmups! I can imagine how stressed he would have been if he'd been thrown into the first day of lessons without a handwriting warmup, after a summer of little to no writing.

Hmm. What else? Right, history reading. Over these first four weeks (warmups and then light regular schedule), I want to zip through Rome and late antiquity, which we didn't really wrap up last year. We'll start our year-long study of the Middle Ages after Labor Day. So a new idea is part of these warmups: a weekly reading schedule for each boy wherein different types of reading are on different days, and chapters are assigned. For instance, ancient history is MTuTh, literature TuTh, classical studies (Rome & Greece) on Wed along with church history, and early American history on Fri.  Chapters are assigned so the boys see that it's a modest amount each day and keep moving along.

Son1 tackled his week's reading plan and did pretty well. He fell behind in two books, but I had him do some catch-up reading over the weekend, tinkered with this week's schedule, and considered it knowledge gained for me. Last week Son2 and I didn't get as much of the read alouds done as I had planned. I'm actually waffling on how much of his reading to read aloud vs. have him read. He's a strong reader and I just can't decide. So, I pushed some of his reading into this week and we'll try a couple of different things.

This week I've reintroduced math drill worksheets (MWF) alternating with math fact games (TuTh). Son1 and I have started reading aloud his Latin book readings from last year. Son2 will continue to practice his handwriting. And we'll be more focused on the history reading to figure out the best approach for each boy.

In the meantime, I've planned the entire year in terms of history, church history, and literature (everything else is kind of "do the next thing"). Now it's time to plan the missing link: the two weeks of light regular schedule that start next Monday. What does that mean? Math textbooks! Latin programs! The new and improved weekly routine!

Two weeks later, we'll start the Middle Ages, Son1's history program, and the boys' writing/composition lessons.

Last week I realized I was worried that the boys were not doing enough in their studies, and as a result I pushed them to get more done in each subject each day. That made us all more grumpy and generally bad-tempered. Once I noticed this, I pulled back a bit. Then I took a good look at where they were in their math books, looked back at what they've done so far this year and what's ahead, and discovered they are both doing great -- they master what they're studying, and I'm comfortable with the content and the progress. The truth was that we deserved a fun day in celebration!

The next day, last Friday, we went to a coffeeshop together for a treat and I surprised the boys with plenty of reading time, a little fun time with my PDA's games, and NO lessons at all that day. I suppose, though, that one could count the silly math fact drill, Latin verb conjugations, and Latin prayer recitation during the car ride. That schoolwork took, hmm, five minutes! We also stopped at the library for more books, did some household chores, and generally relaxed.

In the big picture, I think it's not automatic for me to be tuned in to what and how each son is learning, and how to cultivate that. If I'm not tuned in and attentive, I expect immediate mastery ("I've explained it, so you should understand it now"!), usually a frustrating experience for everyone. If I'm even a bit attentive to what's going on with each son, we have fun and joke and deal with little struggles very comfortably as the boy learns and practices. Much, much better.

Yet again, my ordinary, everyday life is the toughest and most rewarding workshop in God's love. I don't have to seek something out of the ordinary to learn and grow in God's grace. Life, marriage, motherhood, community relationships, and now homeschooling, they all provide more soul-stretching opportunities the more I pay attention.

On a related note, it was a pleasure today to read some of the Guilt-Free Homeschooling blog -- she has such wisdom. Especially good for me today is the recent post, "Am I Doing Enough?", with a quiz. We scored "take a day and celebrate" and I agree with that assessment 100 percent!

You know how a one-year-old changes about every week? New developments, new skills, new difficulties, new frustrations (for child OR parent!). Well, that's what homeschooling is like for me!

Lately I hesitate to write about our homeschooling because it's always changing. Looking back a week, it feels different -- what's happening is different -- attitudes and needs are different... Boy oh boy, it sure keeps me alert. Tonight I realized this feeling is familiar from when the boys were toddlers, changing so rapidly it was hard to keep up.

Last week Son1 was encountering a new grammar term and learning to apply it in Latin. He was working with fractions in math. He was reluctant to tackle his composition lessons. He was "bored" with no (desired) books to read. He was kind of interested in getting out of as much seatwork as possible -- Latin, math, composition.

This week Son1 is cheerful and generally doesn't grumble about seatwork. His Latin work is faster and easier for him, and he does most of it solo. His math is now about areas of triangles, and he is doing it completely solo, something I was working him toward all last week, yay! He does laundry and household chores promptly when asked throughout the day. He does his subject reading (in his assigned history or literature book) somewhat cheerfully. He is reasonably willing to tackle the work for Scout badges with me.

Last week Son2 was reviewing one Latin lesson per day by listening to the CD and looking at the workbook. This week he's gotten to the new material, and we'll study it together and listen to the CD more (his Latin is entirely vocabulary and prayer memorization). Last week his math was about three-digit addition and subtraction. This week it's completely different: measurement in centimeters, meters, yards, feet, and inches, so he spends half of his math lesson measuring objects and people! He, too, is fairly prompt and cheerful this week about household chores and subject reading.

All that reasonably willingness and promptness and cheer helps keep MY spirits up too, and I tease and joke and encourage and chuckle with them, yet again making for good days.

Let me just say: Hurrah!!

Another aspect is our schedule. Last week we had two light days due to special days -- very unusual for us. One was Monday, in honor of Son2's birthday AND Presidents Day; the other was Ash Wednesday, the last of the boys' three museum-class mornings, and chess club in the afternoon. That meant that on the other three days last week Son1, especially, needed to stay focused to get his Latin lesson done by Friday (nearly accomplished) and his composition lessons as well (did it!). It was a pretty good week, but different, and we got more of those subjects done in one day than he'd ever tried to do before.

This week is more steady. We have a few things around which we can rearrange our seatwork and other work without taking a light day. Wednesday afternoon is chess club. Thursday noontime I plan to take the boys to the dedication of a historical plaza along the downtown walking trail, this one about our town in World War II; there will be lots of military presence, and a flyover of at least one biplane! Both of those days we can do most or all of our lessons before the activities.

On Friday morning, if all goes well 'til then, we'll go out to a coffee shop to meet my MOMS Club friends midmorning for a treat. And then who knows what will be around the bend the next Monday!

After post-holiday experimentation in January, we've found a new normal for our homeschooling days.

Household chores - makes everyone more cheerful, like magic!
Math drill page - addition, subtraction for Son2; multiplication facts for Son1.
Latin drill page for Son1 - conjugation and declension practice.

Math - Singapore Math workbook for each.
Handwriting - Getty-Dubay Italic workbook for each.
Latin - Prima Latina lesson review for Son2 with CD + workbook; Latin Book One lesson for Son1. Sometimes Latin flash card matching, Latin Simon Says, Latin Go Fish, etc.

Then, depending on the day, some mix of...

Classical Composition for Son1 - lesson and/or outlining, writing, discussion, rewriting.
Piano practice or lesson with mom.
Independent subject reading - literature, history, and stories that include science and/or math concepts. Assigned literature, Son1, Padraic Colum's The Children's Homer; Son2, Greek myths and Aesop's fables. Assigned history, Son1, Van Loon's The Story of Mankind; Son2, Tree in the Trail, about our regional history.
Memory work, together - poetry, Latin prayers, and anything needed for Cub Scouts. About to add Latin chants for conjugations, declensions. Next I'll add songs (patriotic, seasonal, etc.), and Latin Bible verses and their English translations.

Science, history, art, music - varies. Books, TV programs, museum classes and visits, Cub Scout awards to earn, weather, household activities, etc.

That's working pretty well for now. I'd love to add reading a great children's book aloud to the boys, but haven't managed to do that yet.

I'm in a blogging mood again lately, but haven't had much time to write up posts. I feel a desire to spell out what our homeschooling looks like nowadays, not quite two weeks before Christmas.

= Christmas School =

I figured we'd do some sort of homeschoolers' "Christmas school." Some folks do light homeschooling from Thanksgiving through early January. Others change the focus of their history, writing, and other subjects to be all about the holidays. Still others do no homeschool lessons at all and focus on crafts, cooking, visiting, and generally enjoying family and holidays.

My general plan was to figure it out as we went along, but try for nearly daily Latin and math regardless. We did light lessons early in Thanksgiving week and took that Wednesday off just like the public schools.

...Math and piano...

The next two weeks were semi-light homeschooling, except that we got new math books after more than a few weeks without (during which we did math enrichment and, toward the end, math facts worksheets). Also, I ordered two different piano beginners books and a similar-level book of Christmas songs. The boys play the piano here and there throughout every single day, from their memorized songs (Ode to Joy, and Yankee Doodle) to half-scales and, now, working on pieces in their books. I work on piano with them every two to three days. As a result of the new books, math and piano have increased in structure and expectation rather than easing up! But the kids are interested and mostly enjoy it, so that's great.

..Christmas topics..

For Christmas study, I'm reading aloud a book about the historical context of the nativity story, mostly for Son1. We of course! will read our many Christmas books, from picture books to short stories, and more, but first I pulled from our bookshelves every kids' book related to winter (and I just thought of a few more on my own shelves). I added some winter-related books from the library, and Son2 was delighted! This led to an experiment about the effect of salt on melting rate of ice cubes in plastic bowls indoors. We also explored geometry, spatial analysis, random versus regular folds, and topology -- through folding and cutting paper snowflakes and other fun with paper folding and cutting one afternoon. Hehe.

..Latin..

We'd hit a lull in Latin. Son1 sort of lost interest? motivation? energy? for the very gently paced Prima Latina after 15 or so lessons. I spent a week evaluating age-appropriate Latin options for him. I really want to add Latin reading, probably because I had some college Latin and lots of years of French study, and I think getting to decode another language, even as a super beginner, is so fun! There are a lot more options out there than I initially thought.

I decided there was no time like the present, and even with Christmas I certainly wasn't going to drop Latin until January, so Wednesday I started Son1 in Lesson One of Latin Book One (1937, 1942). It's a much better fit for his age and ability, and not hard at all. Son2 will keep going in Prima Latina, memorization, and Latin games in January. In the meantime, we'll keep learning the Our Father / Lord's Prayer in Latin and learn some Advent and Christmas songs in Latin (Adeste Fideles; Veni, Veni Emmanuel), and play with our Latin flashcards.

= The General Idea =

Here's our homeschooling plan for a given week.

..Son1 ..

Daily: Math, Latin memory work, Latin book work, subject reading, handwriting, recitation, piano.
2-3x/wk: Composition lesson and writing, history, art, science.
1-2x/wk: Scouting and related projects, chess club

..Son2..

Daily: Math, Latin memory work, reading aloud or be read to by Mom, handwriting, recitation, piano.
2-3x/wk: Subject reading, history, art, science.
1-2x/wk: Scouting and related projects, chess club

That's the rundown. A flexible yet strong foundation that's working really well for us right now. We enrich with all kinds of stuff, after making sure we set the foundation that day. Okay, gotta go. Be well!

For a couple of weeks we were "following a thread" of construction in the ancient world (in our reading, picture books, TV programs, Lego ziggurats). We also kind of skipped around in early writing and such, never getting around to trying out cuneiform as I'd wanted. That's okay, and we're moving on.

This week's threads to follow are: ships, maps, and navigation. That'll contribute to math, geography, history, science, and their Cub Scout raingutter regatta boat planning!

This is all because of the upcoming Cub Scout raingutter regatta AND my dear husband's info that Son1 loved the navigation and wayfinding station at the weekend Cub Scout campout. Aha! Strike while the iron is hot, and what's not to love about maps, navigation, wayfinding, and all that crazy stuff?

I requested and picked up a bunch of fresh new books on these topics from the library on Monday and Tuesday. Today they were available for reading-from-the-hearth-books, and I grabbed the ship books for the ride to chess club this afternoon. At both times, the boys did look through the books and do a bit of reading. Son1 thinks maybe a Viking style of hull would make his raingutter regatta boat fast. After chess club we came home, took a "burn off the energy" fast break, and then watched some Mom's Choice TV from our DVR'd shows. History International's "Secrets of Archaeology" was about the Phoenicians and their ships; not immediately interesting to the kids, but it turned out to be a pretty good 30-minute peek into the ancient world for all of us. Leaving ships and the ancients behind, our second show was the first half of ESPN's "SportsFigures" for Cable in the Classroom; we learned about mass, energy, velocity (oh my!), ... kinetic and potential energy, inertia, and rotational velocity. Wow! A bit of physics alongside some fancy yo-yoing, actually. The rotational stuff was pretty interesting, and Son1 drew the correct conclusion about how to change a yo-yo to make it "sleep" as long as possible for great tricks. It was great!

By the way, I have a new library resolution regarding books to complement our lessons: one week, and return them promptly. If they haven't looked at the book in the first week, they're not going to! Maybe a steady stream of fresh books will help pique their interest in the less flashy topics.