A Fly On My Homeschool Wall

The babies love doing school with Brother.  When I have to separate them from him, they are so sad! We are still working on establishing a school schedule.  This week held too many other activities to be very good for meeting that goal.     Monday--Two telehealth therapy appointments and an in-person dentist appointment Tuesday--Three telehealth psych appointments  Wednesday--Visiting family Thursday--dance One thing I did to help us get settled into a routine was print a master check list.  All of the kids and all of their subjects are listed.  The printed page is in a page protector and hung next to my dry erase markers.  As kids report to me, I check off what I've seen and remind them of what's left.   I'm liking it . . . a lot. The bad news is that Brother's psychiatrist got the full story of the behaviors that I only alluded to here, and she sorrowfully told me that it was time for residential care.  She said she'd have to chart our appointment very carefully i

Little Princess took these flower close-ups on a walk one day this week.   Sir Walter Scott and I "celebrated" 23 years of marriage last weekend.  Little Princess made a lovely tray of lemon bars for a treat that we ate while we had an impromptu wedding trivia game with the kids.  Then Sir Walter Scott and I walked the dogs without the kids.  We were too tired and overwhelmed to do anything more.   We are, however, grateful for each other and for our family.  Seasons come and go, and this especially exhausting season will not last forever.    It is hard, now, to know what to write. We're doing our best to establish a school routine, and we're doing reasonably well. It took only 2 days to see that Beowulf would not be able to do 3rd grade math with Rod and Staff.   The required copying is simply too, too much for him.  I hopped online and ordered him a simple workbook that covers 3rd grade skills.  It is pictured above.  It's less of a teaching tool and more of a s

 How are there words to describe what we've been through? August began harmlessly enough.   Brother continued to be difficult to keep safe, and we continued to have to try to keep the family safe from him.   We were able to get his intake appointment for mental health services taken care of earlier by asking to be put on the cancellation list, and we got a call!   But then they gave us a first appointment for September 15th!    6 weeks of waiting for help.   Sir Walter Scott and I worked on rearranging bedrooms so that we can create a safe room.  As we worked, I left some potatoes in the oven too long, and they roasted into hard shells. I threw them all over the lawn, and the kids had a "dinosaur egg" hunt. The apples on our tree are ripe. The best day of the week was the day we got new windows and doors in our living room and kitchen.  This has been a long saving and planning process, and I'm super impressed with the company. We love, love, love having plenty of ligh