A Fly On My Homeschool Wall

 In many ways, it was a regular week of school.   Morning Meetings, bedtime reading, history with the high schoolers, history and literature with the younger kids, math for all of those still finishing, copywork for those still finishing, various independent work for the high schoolers. And another one is done!  Mister Man finished Pre-Algebra. We did go to the psychiatrist for both blood work and a follow-up appointment.  Brother is very stable, so we're not messing with his meds, but Beowulf is still struggling, so we tweaked one med and are hoping for good results in the coming weeks. These two boys are now readers!  They read the whole time we were at the lab and in the psychatrist's office.  So many people commented on how cool it is that they can and do read so intently. Lola is a pretty big concern right now because she's so angry and so easily provoked that she's spending too much time away from us all in order to calm down.  I totally app...

 After our usual morning routine and school with the high schoolers, I gathered up the kids for a walk and some forest bathing . However, my phone rang with Belle's weekly call, and I dropped all plans so that I could talk with her. The kids and I walked along the people trail until they found a deer trail leading to the river. And they were off! Belle and I finished our conversation just about the time the kids got hungry and thirsty enough to head back to the van where the playground and snacks were located. Of course, we stopped to observe a caterpillar crossing the path. Later in the day, I was trying for a bit of positive self-talk, "It's okay that we didn't do our planned activity.  The exercise, the time in nature, and the freedom to explore were all beneficial," when Lola and Beowulf exploded through the door to show me their roasted walnuts. These roasted walnuts were harvested, opened, and roasted by the kids themselves. It turns out that because Sir Wal...

 We're in the zone:  chores, school, family time. It's the zone I always want to achieve, and I'm so grateful we're here. The first day at dance was good.  We did a show run through, just to see what we did and did not remember; there's significant review to do!  I was right that the covid surge would affect our ability to perform in the community.  We do have two shows scheduled, but none at nursing/rehab homes.  We'll have lots of time to rehearse and have fun and work on our Friends and Family show planned for mid-April. Nature Angel, Little Princess, and I all agree that our preschool activities are just right for our little ones and our family.  The older kids love to join in for some of the sensory activities and crafts, and Nature Angel said, "Knowing what we're doing and having it all planned and easy is letting me do better at school and keeping me from feeling frustrated with the toddlers.  It's just nice to have a plan that they like, ...

 Wonderfully enough, we had a relatively boring week.  Beowulf did have a 2 hour breakdown on Thursday morning that undid our school day (a hard moment), and Grandma came over for a visit on Friday (a fun moment), but other than that, we did school, took care of babies, went to church activities, and took care of home. Santa brought us some more magnetic tiles to add to our collections, and the kids are making the most of them. I love Sugar Bear's face as she feels the paint going on her little feet! Li'l K was more into the project than Sugar Bear. Dancing with scarves was a big hit one day . . . but playing with the scarves afterward was even more fun. The Munchkin has begun to ask to "do school" each day.  He's so proud of each new accomplishment! In spite of his breakdown, Beowulf finished a school book this week! We finished A Lion to Guard Us , and we're continuing to read Mr. Revere and I .  We're also making slow progress through The Golden Goblet ...

 It's Christmas Eve morning as I write.  We've got a full day ahead of us including caring for babies (yes, 4 of them are coming over today!), wrapping presents, baking and decorating cookies, picking up the teen car from the shop (someone tried to steal the catalytic converter!), possibly meeting my parents at the Giving Machine downtown, and cleaning up in preparation for Christmas Day. I don't think we can do it all.     We've kept up with school through most of the month.  We're in a working routine, and I don't like breaking working routines!  Yesterday was our first day off from school, and that will continue today.  My best guess is that we'll return to our school schedule on Monday in order to provide everyone with a sense of normalcy and comfort. The kids are generally doing well.   We did have an incident of traumatic proportions when Beowulf got angry at Lola and pushed her down and stomped on her. Both radius and ulna are slightl...