A Fly On My Homeschool Wall

We set up our accounts and decided that 10,000 words was both ambitious and potentially reachable. They're not going to reach 10,000 words this month. But that's okay, because they're all just over 1,000 words right now at the end of the first week, and they are so proud of themselves!  I'm proud of them, too.  They've never attempted anything of this magnitude before, and they're being stretched ever so far. Last night E12 read an excerpt of her story to me.  She can write.  She can really write. (I find this encouraging because it means that the years I've spent reading aloud have not been wasted!) J8 would rather write than do anything else these days.  S10 and M10 could have twice as many words if they weren't counting so often, but right now the counting is what's keeping them going, so who am I to argue? I find the kids engaged in conversation all day long--sharing their stories with one another, conferring about plot twists and cha...

Today E12 was headed down to the TV room to watch her Latin lesson.  H3 was having a minor tantrum because her computer turn was over.  E12 said, "Hey, [H3], do you want to watch Latin with me?" Immediately H3's tears stopped, and she enthusiastically plopped her little body on the couch next to her big sister.  A5 was a little bit disappointed that she had a reading lesson scheduled, but she read beautifully and happily with me then ran down to join her sisters in Latin. No one in our family has ever studied Latin before, but because of the example of this big sister, leading the way [albeit reluctantly] into a learning adventure, our littlest sisters are growing up right in the middle of it. How rich their little lives are!

Our cousin had a fever and chills, so our Halloween party was cancelled. What to do with seven disappointed children on Halloween? Go to the zoo! So we did. We packed some cheese and crackers, grabbed our jackets, and hopped in the van.  It was that easy. The sun was shining and the temperature reached 62 degrees--perfect. Our zoo has a sky ride across "African" plains.  We took advantage of it.  I secured I.11 in the sling, held H3 tightly in my arms, assigned A5 to sit quietly with M10, told the other 3 to be good, and up into the air we soared. It was that easy. I was worried about having 2 little ones so high in the air in such an unsecured environment, but H3 has grown up a great deal in the 6 months that have recently passed.  She sat quietly, and I.11 was content to be out of the stroller, close to me, so I had opportunity to breathe and relax. It was so quiet up so high. The wonders of God's creations spread below us. After some moment...

We've jumped in with both feet into NaNoWriMo .  I've heard about if for a few years, but thought it was for older kids.  Then a friend in our homeschool group posted a link to the NaNoWriMo workbooks, and I realized it was for all ages! Yesterday [I should have done it earlier] I introduced the program to the girls and reviewed the elements of plot and assigned them to develop their main characters.  We opened up their NaNoWriMo accounts and tried to figure out an appropriate word count goal [we're opting for a very conservative 10,000 words each]. E12 is quite nervous.  She says she's only doing this because she has to.  My reply:  "You don't realize what a good writer you are.  You have a marvelous voice and sense of rhythm.  This will stretch you and perhaps open your eyes to your own talent."  She huffed and walked away, but she has complained rather less since then. M10, S10, and J8 are thrilled.  They spent their free time f...

My first four children learned to read at the same time.  E12 was late to reading--her mind and body moved too quickly for the quiet work required when learning to read.  Though we worked on it in fits and starts [because I had a hard time trusting that waiting was okay], school was more often than not a nature walk and long stories read to her at bedtime while she fiddled with small toys in her hands. M10 and S10 read "right on time"--whatever that means.  They were both about 5 or 6 years old and suddenly they were reading.  I'm not sure how. J8 was an early reader--just like her mama.  I guess she just absorbed what she heard around her . . . or she taught herself.  Whatever the case, she was wowing people with her reading skills from before she was four years old. With all four of these "big" girls I did not have a whole lot of fun as they learned to read; it was either a terror-filled game of waiting, watching, and researching possible learning...

Friday was going to be a regular day of school.  I've been fiercely protective of our school time, and it has paid off with some solid learning and accomplishing of goals for our family. But then we learned that an elderly sister in our ward [congregation] needed help moving. So we canceled academics in favor of service. The whole family loaded up in the van and headed over to Sister W.'s house.  Daddy jumped out and joined Sister W.'s son-in-law in moving bookshelves, bed frames, couches, and tables.  J8 carried pillows and boxes of craft items.  E12 helped me carry out canning jars.  M10 and S10 put extra coats on the little guys and fed them graham crackers. It quickly became evident that it was too cold for the little guys to play outside, so I took them home along with M10 and J8 who were excited to babysit.  S10 was rather mad at being left to carry boxes, but I knew that the lure of the DVD player would be far too strong for her to babysit ef...

Life has been more hectic than usual; between chicken pox, fleas, and lice, I've felt rather as if I should be best friends with Moses. We don't have lice.  But our neighbor's daughter does, and my kids played with her the day before my neighbor found the lice.  We've been acting as if we have lice--washing, washing, washing, and treating kids' heads with vinegar and olive oil. We do have fleas.  They are gross.  I have been washing, washing, washing every single day.  I vacuum 2-3 times a day.  I put down pesticide every night.  When I find a flea on my baby I am so horrified that I wash, vacuum, and spray with even greater urgency. We do have chicken pox.  3 out of 7.  I keep waiting for the other 4. But today we took a vacation.  I left the laundry and the vacuum and the pesticides and the schoolwork behind, and we took a family hike.  Little I.10 giggled from his backpack perch almost the whole time.  Kids ran and y...