Boy is it hard to get back into school work.  Steve has gone back to school/teaching, but my mom hasn't (college).  So needless to say, I've been spending extra time with her instead of getting back on track.  Well, my grandmother was in town last week and so we did spend several days with her.  It still felt like the holidays around here.

    Let's see, so what did we get done last week--our first week back in school, supposedly.  Well, we did a review of lesson 11 in math to see what, if anything, was retained over the holiday break.  Joshua struggled a bit on one word problem, but overall it went well.  We are starting lesson 12 this week.

    And I guess that's it.  I had intended on reading a couple of stories in the reader, doing a few pages in our *new* writing book, and taking a peak into the *new* piano book, but I managed only to show Joshua the More Busy Times reader and his new printing book.  That's all. 

    Joshua did, however, get a jump start on his piano.  One day this week he was at the keyboard experimenting and came running to me to listen to what he could do.  He had actually looked ahead and read through the second lesson in his new piano book.  I was pretty pleased with that accomplishment.  When a child's motivation to learn new things comes from within (intrinsic) I'm convinced they retain a good deal more of the material.  We'll see what he "learned" on his own when we do actually come to that lesson this week.

    I did make it to the library to check out our new read aloud for the lunch table.  Because of Winn Dixie is the book on tap for our next book.  The kids seemed to enjoy The Wind in the Willows although most of it was way above their heads.  So I'm looking for this new book to be of lighter fare, and possibly a bit more attainable for the youngers.  But Caleb, 3 1/2, always did ask to hear the Willows book when we'd sit down at the lunch table.

    Well, even if last week wasn't much of anything, I have a full slate of work to go for this coming week.  My real problem: I have to find SOME way to do SOME school work in the morning!  We have so much to do come afternoon nap time, that we work for 2 or more hours and there goes any hope of ME getting a little rest for myself.  Not to mention the fact, that after a long, busy morning, both Joshua and I are pretty worn out and not really in the mood to delve into a ton of material.

    So I must find a way to work on part of our schoolwork during Miriam's morning nap.  The current problem is Daniel (2) and having Joshua's undivided attention.  Maybe I can have Joshua do the work that doesn't require my assistance, but he cannot keep on-task if there are distractions going on around him.  I'm going to have to figure this one out. 
  
    One other noteworthy piece of information, I did purchase (win on eBay) two different curriculum material tonight.  First Language Lessons is a book that I have been thinking of getting for 6+ months now.  I was able to get it rather cheaply tonight.  And then I got a Spelling workbook.  I'm getting that book mainly as a guide or for ideas on how to teach spelling.  I read something from a homeschooling book the other day that talked about the site method of teaching spelling.  The word should be written down on a board or paper, the student looks at the word and then closes his eyes to see if he can picture it in his mind.  He then reviews the word on the board before it is erased and he then tries to spell it from memory.  I might try this approach to see how it works.

    OH, and another possible activity for this coming week--AHHH, I haven't written this in the lesson plans--is to have Joshua write 2 or 3 "Thank You" notes to grandparents/aunts and uncles for his Christmas presents.  I'm not sure how I want to go about doing this, although I thought I'd include a picture of him playing/using the item that he is thanking them for in the card.  If I don't write this down in his lesson plans, though, it won't get done!!!

Well, we'll see how this "real" week back to school goes!