We're Doing Better

 I am grateful to report that we had no problems beyond the typical large-family-homeschooling kind of problems that are just part of life.

Oh!  Except that Beowulf was made soooooo sleepy by his new med!

His prescribed dose is less than half of what Brother takes, and Brother is not even a tiny bit sleepy, but it sure affects Beowulf!

I cut his morning dose in half (his psychiatrist always gives me permission to adjust doses based on effects), and he's a little bit drowsy, but not so sleepy that he falls asleep with his head on the mini-trampoline, his arms on the floor, and his body up on the ottoman (which he actually did this week).

If he continues to even be drowsy on this half dose, I'll take him off that completely, and adjust his evening dose so that he's still getting the prescribed amount every 24 hours.  The med is helping him control his moods (when he's awake!), and I have hope that we'll find the right way to administer it to him.

The teens and I read some Emerson essays this week; those gave us a lot to talk about!  I read Emerson in both high school and college, but reading him so many years later was like discovering him for the first time.  I remembered transcendentalism as a kind of lovely, filmy, sweet idea of becoming one's best self.  This time, I found it harsh, self-centered, anti-God.  I barely made it though any single paragraph without pausing to either make my own commentary or ask my girls what commentary they could offer.

We are appreciating James Fenimore Cooper as an author!  Now that we're through establishing the setting, we've had some moments of roller-coaster mood changes as the fortunes of the characters rise and fall in heart-stopping action scenes.

Nature Angel has a relatively light school schedule this year, so she's looking into picking up some extra shifts at the nursing home.  We've been talking about her future plans, and welding has come up once or twice!  It will be interesting to see where that goes!

Little Princess is deep in a tough academic schedule, but she's working hard and is doing well.  She has lots of science and math!

She also completed her essay on spy satellites for CAP, submitted it, revised it, and has been approved for turning it into a speech to deliver this coming week.  These are necessary steps toward her promotion to Lieutenant.

Her Mandarin class was canceled on Monday because the teacher disappeared.  We don't know anything other than that all of the students signed in for class, and the teacher never let them in.  After about 20 minutes, the Outschool administrators apologized and offered a refund.  Two days later, the kids were assigned a new teacher.

So mysterious!

At any rate, she'll try again to start this class on Monday.

The kids and I completed The Sign of the Beaver and started Prince Caspian (Chronicles of Narnia).  They've done a couple more art projects (both N.C. Wyeth-inspired), and we've continued to read Seabird, The Boy Who Fell off the Mayflower, Moby Dick (adaptation), The Landing of the Pilgrims, and The Story of Science: Newton in the Middle. 

Kids doing copywork and writing narrations

I find myself being a very good storyteller/lecturer as we've read The Story of Science.  Without being arrogant about it, I am a good reader.  The kids are usually engaged in whatever I'm reading to them, but lately, as I've read and commented on Copernicus, the kids' eyes have been extra wide with interest, and they've expressed a lot of wonder.  We haven't done anything interesting.  I've just read and talked and drawn some diagrams on the board for them, but somehow there's been magic, and I'm grateful. 

With cooling temperatures, the kids have rediscovered the out-of-doors.  There's been more basketball, more climbing, more games of tag, and more general joy out in the sun and wind.

Just playing in the yard

We headed out to a park on Friday morning for the kids to play while I did high school with the teens.  It had a trail, and for the most part, the teens and I were alone at the shelter because the rest of the kids were scootering, skating, or running through the woods along the trail.

We basically took over the shelter with all of our gear!

A little fun once high school was done

In my personal education, the cooling temperatures have made it tolerable to have the pressure canner running again, and I preserved quarts of tomatoes, beans, and chili base this week.  I have a couple of jelly and freezer projects planned for the week ahead.

I have high hopes for adding a few hands-on projects for school in the coming week . . . so I'd better get planning!