A Good Week

I don’t know about you, but we’ve had a fantastic week! Today I heard ~D~ say that English is fun! His brother didn’t really agree with him, but that’s ok. I know they are both learning a lot. Whenever I’m tempted to wonder if they are learning anything, I think about all of the one on one my kids are getting. We have an awesome student to teacher ratio! ~N~ is working through the Shurley English lessons that teach how to use quotation marks properly. It’s been a test of his mental powers for some reason. So many tiny marks (commas, quote marks, apostrophes, etc!) to try and make sense of. Yesterday, I picked three sentences from a book he’s been reading that included quotation marks. I wrote them on our dry erase board along with the page number that I found them on. Then I asked him to make punctuation and capitalization corrections along with adding the quotation marks in the right places. When he was finished, he looked up the quotes (which he was already familiar with) and checked his work. He wasn’t thrilled with the “extra work,” but he did seem to enjoy this method, rather than correcting sentences from his English workbook.

We finished reading about Clara Barton this week. WOW. She inspired us. Several times as I read the book, tears welled up in my eyes, especially when I read about Clara being in Fredericksburg and helping so many wounded soldiers during the Civil War. There is a local chapter of the Red Cross near our home and I’m thinking of calling them or dropping by with the boys, just to help make the connection with Clara “real.” I don’t think it’s a big enough facility for a tour, but maybe we could talk to someone or just bring home some brochures to help solidify our learning.

These experiences are what excite me about homeschooling. My imagination is beginning to run wild with ideas. My energy level has probably never been higher. My own love of learning has been rekindled and it feels like the sky is the limit right now!

This morning ~D~ was using binoculars to study some robins that were in our back yard. I grabbed a bird book to show him a picture of a robin and read to him its description. I mentioned that I have many times enjoyed watching robins and other birds in our yard, but I have never seen a bird catch a worm and eat it. Lo and behold, less than 20 minutes later, he hollers at me in a very excited voice. “Guess what, Mom? I just saw a robin get a worm and eat it!” Well, the unfairness of it all. Why did I have to go to the bathroom and brush my hair and miss seeing the early bird get the worm??

I joined a homeschool co-op group. We have classes on Friday mornings together. ~N~ has classes in Critical Thinking, Spanish, and Geography. ~D~ has the same ones except he has Science instead of Critical Thinking. I wasn’t sure if I’d like being in a homeschool group, or participating in co-ops, but I do. It is great to have a network of other homeschooling families, and with this group, we all go to the same church, an added benefit.

I finished reading “The Goldsmith’s Daughter” (an excellent mystery!), and have now begun Jan Karon’s 8th novel in the Mitford series, “Shepherds Abiding.” I love the Mitford books. The characters are like old friends of mine, so real and so fun to be around. I like Father Tim’s outlook on life and how he enjoys the simple things, like the banging of pots and pans he hears while his wife cooks him a meal.

Makes me mindful to do the same….
to listen as the rain falls,
to take in the scent of my children’s freshly shampooed hair,
to be thankful for my handy-man husband
to say a prayer for my mother
and to rejoice, always, for all things.

Marla