Back to Work

Our first week back to school has been interesting. Good, but interesting.

Steve has been home all week to help out which makes a BIG difference. The two of us can juggle the three girls much easier. Even so, our first day back was very hectic. So much so, when the girls went up to get lunch I sat down in my chair, flopped my arms down and adamantly proclaimed, "This is never going to work." Steve had a few things to say about that, as you can imagine.

I found a fun, easy book to get back to reading out loud (The Invisible Dog by Dick King-Smith. Here’s the funny thing, it’s about a little girl that wants a Great Dane so she invents an invisible Dane named Henry. Hmmm. That’s something to consider. Invisible dogs do make invisible messes! I wonder if Steve will go for an invisible Mastiff?). Even Maya did a pretty good job listening for 30 minutes. Hopefully we’ll work up to the full hour and slightly more difficult texts in the next few months. This is my favorite part of the day! What amazing things we’ll be able to read together in the future.

The girls are adjusting to their new routines and chore schedules. We promised them new ones at the first of the year and we delivered! The first day was humorous when I showed each girls their list. (Makenna flopped down on the groud and started to cry.) But it really isn’t all that much more than what they were doing before and they’re learning that if you do these things everyday they’re easy tasks to accomplish. It’s when you let the chores pile up that they become a problem (which is a good lesson for all of us, really). With practice they are getting better, and faster. They even get started on them without being told, in some instances. In others they need a little prompting.

Makenna is taking to her new curriculum. Although it still seems a little easy, we feel she needs to cover the topics at this level. She doesn’t need all the practice and supporting activities outlined in the teachers guide so we’re doing a little skipping around until we get to the level that challenges her a little more. The English curriculum is just what I was hoping for. It alternates grammar lessons with writing lessons. She’ll be learning the writing process (Planning, Drafting, Revising, Proofreading, and Publishing), practicing writing (everything from creative writing, and persuasive essays to research reports), and learn how to use brainstorming and different diagrams for planning her essays.

I’ve learned by observing Madison over the break that she knows a lot and is probably reading more than I thought. She doesn’t seem to have the motivation to prove it to anyone but would just rather keep that little tidbit of information to herself (remind you of anyone?). Getting her motivated to work is tricky and her confidence can be easily injured if she makes what she perceives as a mistake or if her handwriting isn’t perfect. We bought her a little gadget to correct her grip on her pencil so in many ways she feels like she is starting over with her handwriting. All in all, I already see how much she has changed and learned in the last month or so, even though she tries to hide it. Madison enjoys the science experiments and activities from Makenna’s Science and Heritage Studies curriculum. It’s nice to be able to include everyone in the same lesson (modified for their individual level) in these two subjects.

Maya’s attention span has improved. She is now showing a desire to start writing letters and numbers and coloring in the lines. It’s freeing to be able to let her get involved when she’s ready and add more activities as she grows.

Charlie seems to really have improved playing on his own for short periods of time. Certainly the new Christmas toys help! We start school around 9:00 and take a break around 10:30 for a snack. After the snack he's a little more clingy. Steve had to work today and I noticed Charlie was attached to either my hip or my leg the entire morning. I’ve also noticed what a calming influence Steve has on me, in particular, and the family as a group. We’re all a little more relaxed when "Dad" is around! We've managed to keep him (Charlie, not Steve) out of the toilet, so it's been a good week.

So, I’ve ended the week more positively than I started, seeing what small improvements we've already made and with a firm knowledge that this will get easier as we all grow together.