A Week, Briefly (9/17/18)
I'm still working on making our days/weeks actually manageable.
Until then, we continue in survival mode.
We had 3 Symposium meetings this week, during which we finished up our Language Arts Unit 1, reviewed ser and estar as well as learned some new ways to use both verbs and did some Book of Mormon translation for Spanish, and we completed Week 5 in History. The girls have a fair amount of Language Arts homework over the weekend to make up for the short week of meetings.
We finished reading Little Women on Monday and had our book club meeting on Friday.
There is a hole in our days without Little Women. It is not a time hole, as there is plenty to fill the time we took to read each day; it is an emotional hole. The kids feel it, and I feel it, and I'd like very much to throw something else out the window and find another read aloud that bound us together the way Little Women did.
The book club meeting was the most fun we've had so far. Many of the kids expressed a preference for Great Expectations over Little Women, but this was our liveliest discussion yet. I was delighted to hear how positively the boys reacted to this very girly book--they actually liked it!
I forgot to document last week how Mister Man reacted to Beth's death. He was just sitting listening quietly, and all of a sudden my small boy's head was buried in my lap as sobs wracked his gangly frame. I'd been choked up as I read, but most of the girls had been holding themselves together. However, as they watched their little brother grieve, all of them melted into private puddles.
There was a universal sniffling in the room.
It took some time, but Mister Man did cry himself out.
Then, on Tuesday night, we watched the 1994 movie version. I worried about Mister Man, but he seemed to have processed his sorrow, and he handled the movie quite well.
(The girls and I all cried again, though!)
During the week, we had 3 traditional Academy meetings at home around the dining room table, and one outdoor adventure. It was a "wander." I drove to a lake, and we walked.
We stopped when we felt like it.
We ate when we were hungry.
While we ate, I did do some reading from I Walked to Zion--about a young boy who disguised himself as a girl in order to be able to escape to the west and about a young girl who was run over by a handcart and thought dead--she woke up as she was being sewn into her burial cloth!
We also picked up some trash in order to show that we love the earth God made.
We saw 4 different kinds of butterflies!
Red Admiral
Monarch
Question Mark
Pipevine (Blue) Swallowtail
(We probably saw more than that, but these 4 were bright and easily identified.)
We saw frogs and caterpillars, hawks and fish, and a wondrous variety of insects.
When we got home, we sat down to draw and write (Nature Angel and Little Princess) about the day.
Then Daddy took the young ones off to the zoo while I took the older ones to book club. They fed the sting rays, petted the sharks, fed the lorikeets, watched the cheetahs, rode the train and had a grand time!
Ladybug got 5 mornings of individual school--this early morning time is working very well.
The others got 2 or 3 sessions of individual school each.
Mister Man still loves Latin with a joy that defies description. No matter how overwhelmed I feel, when he turns on his audio CD and starts laughing (Latin seriously makes him laugh out loud with delight), I cannot help but feel better.
We had our second day of co-op--an easier day than our first one. We just might survive the 6 remaining weeks.
Mister Man and Ladybug went to the dentist while Belle went to the farm and worked under the blistering sun during the hottest hours of the day on the hottest day of the week.
Pixie continued her frantic work/dance/school schedule and received an A on her first college exam--including the only perfect score on map work in the class!
However, her ACT score came back too low for college entrance. (How's that for irony?)
Actually, it's higher than the required minimum, but it's not high enough for a comfortable admission. We knew we were taking a gamble sending her into the test cold the way we did, and now we know she needs some preparation and work on test-taking skills. Our discussions have led us to believe it's not a lack of knowledge but a lack of correct pacing that resulted in her poor score.
We can work on pacing!
And we began her college application to BYU-Idaho because we believe she'll be ready in time.
Church youth activities included a special recognition night for our 8-11 year old girls, so the whole family packed into various cars and headed to the church after dinner. The program was lovely, and I would have enjoyed it had I not had half a dozen small tired children to keep still and polite during a program that took place after their bedtime. I always have small distractions in my bag, and I handed those out freely, which was a success until it was time to head to the van, whereupon the meltdowns began.
I was grateful that Daddy and the older girls got home only 20 or so minutes after I did and helped me put our passel of weeping and/or hyper children to bed.
Thursday's dance rehearsal was productive, and the kids were pleasant. We had to pause in our dancing to sort out and assign costumes, but even that is positive movement toward our first shows in November.
I watched Pixie teaching our big finale--she had to choreograph a number for 45 dancers ages 3-16 of every possible dance skill level into one cohesive routine. And then adjust when first 3 dancers dropped out, then one more, and then one more.
She did it.
Wonder filled my heart yet again as I watched my girl in her element.
I spent a goodly amount of time on the phone organizing appointments for Beowulf, who has already been accepted for evaluation at the Developmental/Behavioral clinic. (This is the same clinic that told me Ladybug would have to wait at least 6 months to get into). His series of tests begin in less than 3 weeks. We're going to have to give up 2 1/2 days of school, but if we come away with an official diagnosis of . . . something? . . . it will open doors for services that I'm pretty sure he's going to need in the coming years.
I'm working on getting Ladybug and Brother into another clinic.
Our Primary Program is this Sunday (once a year the children do a presentation in our main church meeting), and a huge practice is today, so I'll spend the morning at the church and the afternoon grocery shopping and doing Ladybug's and Lola's hair. Then Grandma and Grandpa will join us for church so they can watch the kids and come over for dinner afterwards.
My work is waiting . . .
Until then, we continue in survival mode.
 |
| One of Nature Angel's history projects this week. |
We had 3 Symposium meetings this week, during which we finished up our Language Arts Unit 1, reviewed ser and estar as well as learned some new ways to use both verbs and did some Book of Mormon translation for Spanish, and we completed Week 5 in History. The girls have a fair amount of Language Arts homework over the weekend to make up for the short week of meetings.
 |
| The art project for this unit was to sketch a leaf. Here's Belle's. |
 |
| And Super Star's |
 |
| And Pixie's--alongside the photo they were to copy. |
We finished reading Little Women on Monday and had our book club meeting on Friday.
There is a hole in our days without Little Women. It is not a time hole, as there is plenty to fill the time we took to read each day; it is an emotional hole. The kids feel it, and I feel it, and I'd like very much to throw something else out the window and find another read aloud that bound us together the way Little Women did.
The book club meeting was the most fun we've had so far. Many of the kids expressed a preference for Great Expectations over Little Women, but this was our liveliest discussion yet. I was delighted to hear how positively the boys reacted to this very girly book--they actually liked it!
I forgot to document last week how Mister Man reacted to Beth's death. He was just sitting listening quietly, and all of a sudden my small boy's head was buried in my lap as sobs wracked his gangly frame. I'd been choked up as I read, but most of the girls had been holding themselves together. However, as they watched their little brother grieve, all of them melted into private puddles.
There was a universal sniffling in the room.
It took some time, but Mister Man did cry himself out.
Then, on Tuesday night, we watched the 1994 movie version. I worried about Mister Man, but he seemed to have processed his sorrow, and he handled the movie quite well.
(The girls and I all cried again, though!)
During the week, we had 3 traditional Academy meetings at home around the dining room table, and one outdoor adventure. It was a "wander." I drove to a lake, and we walked.
We stopped when we felt like it.
We ate when we were hungry.
While we ate, I did do some reading from I Walked to Zion--about a young boy who disguised himself as a girl in order to be able to escape to the west and about a young girl who was run over by a handcart and thought dead--she woke up as she was being sewn into her burial cloth!
We also picked up some trash in order to show that we love the earth God made.
We saw 4 different kinds of butterflies!
 |
| Three of them are in these bushes. |
Monarch
Question Mark
Pipevine (Blue) Swallowtail
(We probably saw more than that, but these 4 were bright and easily identified.)
We saw frogs and caterpillars, hawks and fish, and a wondrous variety of insects.
When we got home, we sat down to draw and write (Nature Angel and Little Princess) about the day.
Then Daddy took the young ones off to the zoo while I took the older ones to book club. They fed the sting rays, petted the sharks, fed the lorikeets, watched the cheetahs, rode the train and had a grand time!
Ladybug got 5 mornings of individual school--this early morning time is working very well.
The others got 2 or 3 sessions of individual school each.
Mister Man still loves Latin with a joy that defies description. No matter how overwhelmed I feel, when he turns on his audio CD and starts laughing (Latin seriously makes him laugh out loud with delight), I cannot help but feel better.
We had our second day of co-op--an easier day than our first one. We just might survive the 6 remaining weeks.
 |
| Here's Brother with his recycled sculpture that he made in Cupboard Crafts. |
 |
| I set up sand and water and ocean-ish toys outside for our Sensory class. |
 | |
| Fun With Foods was all about eggs--looking at them, walking on them, balancing weights on them, and putting them in vinegar to see what will happen. We'll get to find out next week! |
 |
| Ladybug built an airplane in Cupboard crafts |
 |
| And Lola's concentration, her tongue out, and her dirty, bandaged toe make me smile in this photo. |
Mister Man and Ladybug went to the dentist while Belle went to the farm and worked under the blistering sun during the hottest hours of the day on the hottest day of the week.
Pixie continued her frantic work/dance/school schedule and received an A on her first college exam--including the only perfect score on map work in the class!
However, her ACT score came back too low for college entrance. (How's that for irony?)
Actually, it's higher than the required minimum, but it's not high enough for a comfortable admission. We knew we were taking a gamble sending her into the test cold the way we did, and now we know she needs some preparation and work on test-taking skills. Our discussions have led us to believe it's not a lack of knowledge but a lack of correct pacing that resulted in her poor score.
We can work on pacing!
And we began her college application to BYU-Idaho because we believe she'll be ready in time.
Church youth activities included a special recognition night for our 8-11 year old girls, so the whole family packed into various cars and headed to the church after dinner. The program was lovely, and I would have enjoyed it had I not had half a dozen small tired children to keep still and polite during a program that took place after their bedtime. I always have small distractions in my bag, and I handed those out freely, which was a success until it was time to head to the van, whereupon the meltdowns began.
I was grateful that Daddy and the older girls got home only 20 or so minutes after I did and helped me put our passel of weeping and/or hyper children to bed.
Thursday's dance rehearsal was productive, and the kids were pleasant. We had to pause in our dancing to sort out and assign costumes, but even that is positive movement toward our first shows in November.
I watched Pixie teaching our big finale--she had to choreograph a number for 45 dancers ages 3-16 of every possible dance skill level into one cohesive routine. And then adjust when first 3 dancers dropped out, then one more, and then one more.
She did it.
Wonder filled my heart yet again as I watched my girl in her element.
I spent a goodly amount of time on the phone organizing appointments for Beowulf, who has already been accepted for evaluation at the Developmental/Behavioral clinic. (This is the same clinic that told me Ladybug would have to wait at least 6 months to get into). His series of tests begin in less than 3 weeks. We're going to have to give up 2 1/2 days of school, but if we come away with an official diagnosis of . . . something? . . . it will open doors for services that I'm pretty sure he's going to need in the coming years.
I'm working on getting Ladybug and Brother into another clinic.
Our Primary Program is this Sunday (once a year the children do a presentation in our main church meeting), and a huge practice is today, so I'll spend the morning at the church and the afternoon grocery shopping and doing Ladybug's and Lola's hair. Then Grandma and Grandpa will join us for church so they can watch the kids and come over for dinner afterwards.
My work is waiting . . .
That’s ironic- I just posted about trying to find a movie for family movie night that my stepdaughter can handle. She’s extremely sensitive to violence, but Beth’s death wasn’t violent.
ReplyDeleteHave you thought of continuing the series with Little Men or Jo's Boys? We are doing Jo's Boys soon. I know what you mean about a book filling an emotional hole. That bonding point is so important.
ReplyDeleteThe flow of your homeschool with nature included so often is just beautiful. I need to get my kiddos outside more. It has changed so much as they have aged. I hope you all get a diagnosis and services soon.
That must have been a heart felt conversation with Rose Red.
Blessings, Dawn
Ahh, so much here both good and a struggle! Finding that routine sometimes takes so long, doesn't it? I'm glad appointments are moving forward for one child.
ReplyDeleteGoing into the ACT cold is what mine did too, and her second attempt is coming at the end of October. She tested about where we expected (great in all things Language Arts, decent in Science, and Math was the struggle). One tip we came across is for kids who aren't nearing the 'perfect scoring' zone, to simply mark any answer on the last 10 math questions without even looking at the questions. The math section is the only one ordered by difficulty. This frees them up to spend a little more time on earlier problems they have a better chance of solving or eliminating wrong answers to. ;)
Praying you have a lovely week ahead. I get to go to church for the first time in weeks (I've been home with Mason due to the cast and needing to keep things elevated) but this week Daddy is staying home because I have a Cub Scout meeting after church.