A Fly On My Homeschool Wall

 Beowulf was a 5th/6th grader this past year.  His meds are now balanced, but the year behind us was tough because they weren't balanced then.   He wasn't too much of a danger to himself or others, but he struggled with keeping his temper and managing big feelings in safe ways.  He left home several times (never for more than a few hours, but the wondering and looking took their toll on us), broke through the drywall of several rooms in the house, and resorted a great deal of the time to throwing things--rocks, bricks, tools, lawn chairs, tires, anything heavy enough to be satisfying to heft and throw--to relieve the emotions raging through him.  This affected his ability to complete school work, so while I am proud of the progress he made, it was limited by the instability of his brain chemicals. How grateful I am for a vigilant and compassionate psychiatrist who has helped our boy calm down and feel good in his skin!! It was a struggle for him to be a pha...

Brother had a great year.  With his med regimen working, he's free to be his best self, and he really is one of the best human beings on the planet! He's kind, generous, hard-working, and forgiving.   He loves learning.   Math He completed  Teaching Textbooks Math 7 and started Pre-Algebra .  He hates asking for help, and now that math is getting more abstract, he's frustrated pretty regularly, but he's learning to close the computer and take a break before coming back to try again.   I'm proud of him for using positive coping skills. That said, anything less than a perfect score leaves him unsettled, so we're still working on learning that a good job isn't always a perfect job. Morning Meeting Mister Man was an active participant in all of our Morning Meetings.  He read, sang, answered questions, learned to lead music in 3/4, 4/4, and 2/4 time, memorized scriptures, and contributed spiritual insights to our daily lessons. Brother is a singe...

  . . . we are just enjoying the summer days. Nature Angel must have liked this pile of cut watermelon. We started Lad, A Dog as our final comfort re-read of the summer.  We only made it through 3 chapters this week because there's been too much going on in the evenings for the regular evening reading that I best love, but we're doing our best. We went swimming at my sister's house. And then we went swimming again with friends, but no one took any pictures that day. Some of the kids even went swimming a third time for their youth night activity, but Ladybug got to decorate cookies, and Little Princess went to CAP instead. Beowulf was delighted by a tiny egg laid by one of our chickens. I saw the shell--it really was a tiny egg! Lazy days . . . long legs! We went to the library. And Sugar Bear turned 5!!   But the kids played 13th birthday. 🤷 We had a drop in heat so that the days became sweet and lovely.  We couldn't help spending time outside. There was a lot...