School, Week 3

We are in the midst of our third week of school and things are going well. The kids have settled nicely into their morning routine and Anna now understands that she is to occupy herself. I have resorted to television a few times, but am thankful for the days when I don't need the crutch. Anna also knows she's welcome on my lap most anytime as I teach the boys. I think this next week we'll get into our afternoon routine more. It kind of tapers off after science class and somehow I'm losing my hour and a half of stamp time, so we need to be a little more strict in the afternoon.

Matthew is really enjoying Core 1. I think everything has been a hit so far and he's even whining less about copywork. He absolutely loves Math-U-See and says math is his favorite. I do science with the boys together in the afternoon and they are having a ball. Thursday is the favorite day b/c it's experiment day.

Ben is also loving his schoolwork. I'm so glad I split them up and did separate schooltimes instead of combining cores. Ben in particular needs my undivided attention and is thriving. He's gone from hating his reading lessons to almost overconfidence in them. He is catching on to reading faster than Matthew did, mainly b/c Ben is approaching our phonics-based program from a whole-word mind. That means he's learning how to sound out the words, but does best when he knows the word and remembers how to say it. Kind of strange, but it works. He's doing well with handwriting, especially after I showed him samples of Matthew's handwriting in Core 4/5 and he realized how poorly Matthew used to write :) He also loves his Math-U-See. I have him in Primer and almost wonder if he couldn't do Alpha with Matthew, but I'd hate to push him so early.

Anna is doing much better with our schedule. The boys play with her, especially Ben, and she's loving the attention. We've put potty training on hold right now and we're going to leave more of it up to her. We got so excited when she seemed ready and now I think she's taking a break to access things in her mind. So we'll wait. In the meantime, she has developed a skin irritation to diapers, so we're using pull-ups. Matthew did the same thing, as I recall. I think we'll try to find some training pants so she can wear them over her underwear b/c those pull-ups are expensive!!

Rob is plugging away at the Custom Shoppe and they have been warned that they could have four-day weeks until Thanksgiving. I am just loving being an assistant to my upline (who was featured in this month's SU magazine, for those who get that....i.e. Beverly...) and am enjoying helping with her events. I have a few events on my own calendar and am just enjoying the opportunites that come my way.

Friday is field trip day and we're going to explore the new Children's Museum in Madison. Can't wait!!