Homeschool Update

Last week we started our second term. Sadly we took turns being sick but even with two days off we finished up most of the work I had planned.

Maddie:

I'm pleased with Maddie's improvement in attention and in reading. Do you have any idea how hard it is to find books for her to read right now? It's helpful when the font is slightly larger but she refuses "baby" books. She wants to read chapter books. She wants to be able to pick up any book and be able to read it like everyone else. But sounding out larger words is still such a struggle that she's quickly discouraged.

I have a collection of old books that my grandfather gave to me and in them I found Fifty Famous Stories (which is a selection for year one so she read it last year and it sits on Maya's school shelf). She keeps pulling it off and working on reading it between her lessons. But truthfully it's a little more difficult than she's comfortable with. It stretches her then she gets frustrated and puts it back. I don't know what it is but she loves this little old book. Well, actually I do have an idea. She is like her mama after all. It's the sound it makes when you open it, the scribbles and signatures and notes penciled in a strangely beautiful script, the smell, the yellowed pages, the mystery of who held it and read it before her.

So I got my (previously decorative) collection of early Beacon and McGuffey readers. She loves them and she can read them. Slightly larger fonts, challenging but not to the point of frustration, the different stories appear as "chapters" to her, content is appropriate and even worthy of ones thought. Maybe this will get us over the next two months until we see "the reading doc" again and move to the next step.

Charlie:

We had a nice little phase with Charlie which seems to be nearing a end. When we started out homeschooling he wouldn't leave my hip or my leg. Over time he learned how to play quietly at the table or even independently with toys long enough for us to get our work done. Well, he's come into his own and now plays, but very loudly and often times too rough. And if you're not paying attention he'll wonder off into another part of the house and get into something he shouldn't (my makeup or the toothpaste for example). So now I want him to stay where we are but it's nearly impossible because he talks and plays very loud and becomes quite a distraction. We've taken to doing a lot of our school work in the afternoon when he naps, but he naps sporadically and for shorter periods of time so I end up playing beat the clock to get our work done before Charlie wakes up. It's been an interesting progression. He probably needs more direction from me and is ready for some simple lessons, but I've got my hands full with Maddie and Maya's lessons and reading instruction and listening to Makenna's narrations along the way. My hope is I can get the two girls reading independently before we reach a point where Charlie really needs more structure. Until then I think I'll spend some play and reading time with Charlie in the morning while the girls are doing math with Steve and see if that helps. Maybe if I try to fill up his "mommy cup" before we get to afternoon lessons he'll be content with playing independently while I work with the girls.

Maya:

Maya is progressing in reading. We're still not where we'd like to be with math. The manipulatives are great and I'm really seeing that they understand the concepts behind what they're doing. We just need to spend some time on drill and getting those math facts solid as memory. Maya for the most part is so willing to work and to please. I enjoy taking her on my lap and reading to her or better yet hearing her read to me.

Makenna:

Makenna is diligent with her studies and even works when not asked. When I was sick last week I was surprised to find when we came back to our lessons that she had been working off her list so as not to be too behind. She knew we would have to make up the time in some way and didn't want to have longer days or work into Christmas break to cover it. So she did what she could to keep up with some of her reading on her own. That's exactly what I'm hoping for!

Now Makenna loves to create things. We've both been crocheting these last few weeks and as she has created some good habits with her school work and showing initiative I'm willing to follow her into a few rabbit holes along the way. So after our library trip and lunch yesterday we hurried off to Wal-Mart to get some yarn for a project she found in a book at the library. She's learning how to work off a pattern now and hasn't put down the needle since she started.