Lots of Life Skills

The teens and I had a very productive school week.  History, The Scarlet Letter, and their research papers were the school we shared together.  On their own, I saw them spend hours each on science, math, languages, and elective subjects.

One of my favorite moments with them was when Nature Angel needed to blow off some steam concerning her health text.  Neither of her older sisters who used the book ever talked about the attitude the author has about modesty.   

We use the book because of the Christian perspective toward respecting our bodies, but I have not ever read the text on my own.  Nature Angel pointed out that the book puts sexual purity completely on young women.  It's all a young woman's fault for dressing provocatively if a young man behaves in a sexually inappropriate way.

I was mad, too.

The three of us talked it all out.  Our conversation meandered up and down and side to side as we explored the ins and outs of taking respectful care of our bodies and how badly affected young people are by either this extreme attitude of blaming young women for how they dress or the equally extreme attitude of saying that anything goes.

I was very interested in what they had to say.

They were very interested in what I had to say.

We shared some tears as I described ways I've been affected by the various standards of beauty and sexual attitudes that have existed over my lifetime and how I want my daughters to know how beautiful they are inside and out.

It was just very satisfying.

And later that week, Little Princess came to me to ask questions about my growing-up years.  After talking for a few minutes, I apologized for my personal history lecture.  She said, "No!  I like it.  I want to hear more."

That made my heart all squishy.

As for the younger kids, it was more difficult to get to do school with them, but we made some progress.

The first challenge came because Sir Walter Scott needed help installing my range hood.

How could I place a higher priority on reading a biography when there was useful hands-on work to do and learn from?

 

We ended up reading very little that Monday because the work took hours longer than we thought it would . . . and because we had our weekly call from Belle, our weekly appointment with our case manager, several calls to the pharmacy, and other life responsibilities to take care of.

One really fun thing to take care of was piercing Ladybug's ears!!  

She's been waiting for this privilege since she was 10, the age I let all of her older sisters pierce their ears.  She wasn't mature enough to take care of her ears at that age, but now she is.  After examining all of our options, I ordered a kit from Amazon and did it myself.

She's doing a good job taking care of her ears, and we're both happy that she reached this milestone.

 

She also reached a new milestone in her crochet skills.  She's been studying a library book full of crochet patterns, and she's figured out how to read the patterns and make darling little animals.

She gave this sweet turtle to The Munchkin.

We finished this biography:

The kids wrote a narration about what they learned.  This biography seemed to really touch their hearts--his hard work, his determination, his single-mindedness, his kindness.  I like reading books like this with the kids.

 

We also returned to reading The Lilac Fairy Book, finishing at least 2 fairy tales, both enjoying their fairy-tale-ish-ness and discussing their various merits and indications of historical and social values.  

The Munchkin has been having a lot of fun with these magnets.  I was impressed by the symmetry of this design he created on his own.

He completed two more lessons in Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Lessons.  He's very proud of each lesson completed, but sometimes he's too busy playing make-believe to want to do a lesson.

And I am quite pleased to allow make-believe to take a higher priority than a reading lesson.

Aack!  Ladybug also completed this sweet little bunny that she gave to Sugar Bear.

The dandelions are blooming everywhere!

The kids picked a bunch for me to make dandelion jelly.

I had every intention of making it . . . but I didn't, and now a bunch of wilted dandelion petals are in the fridge.

I need to get the kids to pick some more and truly clear the schedule to make the jam!

Day in and day out this week, the living room was converted into a rabbit warren of forts and houses.

Such a cute set of builders!

And there have been over a dozen games played this week--successfully.

Lola rolls all over the floor and hangs off the furniture and supports the tablet with her feet as she does math.

She asked me for help, and I had to take the tablet from her in order to read the problems before helping her.  She was rolling and bouncing and twisting too much for me to see what I was looking at. :)

We finished The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe with tears in our eyes.

We started a book called The Ark by Margot Benary-Isbert.  It's set in Germany right after WWII.  We're not very far into it, but the kids seem quite invested already.

We also started Susan Wise Bauer's The Story of the World volume I.  The kids loved the introductory sections that had them asking all kinds of questions about themselves and their parents and grandparents.

Most behaviors have been peaceful this week--with a few exceptions, but everyone is safe.

What I forgot to write last week:

Nature Angel is reading Aristotle as part of her self-designed literature course.  It's challenging, but she's persevering.  She mentioned her reading to me one day, but Little Princess interrupted, "Mom, she was laughing and laughing while she was reading!  She was cracking up!"

"She was laughing over Aristotle?"

"Yes!  It was crazy!"

At this point, Nature Angel spoke up to explain that he made a point and used a funny illustration (I can't remember it for the life of me) and then made what had to have been an intentionally comical remark concerning his point.

I just took the moment to appreciate that my child could find Aristotle not only understandable but funny, too.