A Fly On My Homeschool Wall

 Pixie left at 5:00 am Monday morning, but it was only 11 days before my trip to visit her at school, so it wasn't goodbye for very long. Sir Walter Scott and I didn't make plans to celebrate our 24th wedding anniversary, but Little Princess made us a mini cake that we shared in our room while the older girls graciously took care of dinner and bedtime routines. Next year we need to have a party! We had an outbreak of Hand, Foot, and Mouth disease, so we quarantined ourselves while we waited for the virus to run its course.  It was very mild for all those who got it, and most of us didn't get it at all, but we wanted to be careful. We still went on walks every day. The weather is finally settling into temperatures comfortable enough to make walking a joy instead of a responsibility. I assigned the older girls some history readings followed by mini-essays in response to the readings.  They are good writers!!   They each worked on some math and science, and one day I asked the

 It was going to be a simple week of turning school routines into habits . . .  Though Sweet Peach came for a few hours, so that was very special! And then Pixie showed up completely unannounced!!!! She was able to catch a ride with friends who were driving this way to spend a week taking care of some business concerns and visiting family.  Because there was some uncertainty about whether there would be room for Pixie, and because she loves surprises, she didn't tell us. We walked into the living room first thing Tuesday morning, and there she was!! We dumped a lot of  "normal" in order to enjoy it week with Pixie. She took various groups of kids on outings. She helped us with our daycare babies. She read lots of stories. She ran errands with us. Because selfies in the meat department at Aldi are always fun!   She attended a baby shower for her cousin. The only pic I took--Baby P with Ladybug She went to parties with old friends. She stayed up late with her sisters talkin

 We began working on new school routines  Step 1: New chores for everyone! So far, so good. Step 2: Reinstate morning walks. So far, so crazy hot and sticky!!  It's rather a production getting 14-16 humans and 1-2 dogs out the door, but it's worth it . . . and we're picking up trash again, so we're serving our community! Step 3: Gather at the table for snack time, so I can add another read-aloud session to the day. This is definitely a work in progress in need of further development, but we did have one lovely session of reading poems from My Book of Delights vol. 12 from the Well-Educated Heart rotation that will guide much of our reading this year. Here is The Munchkin taking me up on my suggestion to draw a picture of one of the poems. " I dwawed a bumble bee.  It gonna 'ting him on the nose!" I hope to inspire more kids to draw and write about what they hear. Step 4: Establish a toddler reading time. So far Sugar Bear likes this time best, with Th