8.15.2008

Settling into our routine

We have had a great week this week. Our tumbling class wound up being canceled, but we had a good well-check for M and A later that day, then we did some indoor putt-putt with other military wives (S and the kids played ahead of us "wives") on Tuesday. Wednesday we took a field trip with the homeschool group to an orchard, where we picked zucchini, tomatoes, cucumber, and apples. The apples, fully ripe, were less than 2 inches diameter. Smallest I have ever seen, but perfect kid size! Thursday I had a sitter and went to a mom's night out with the homeschool group. It consisted of a desert social and board games. I had WWAAYY more fun than I thought I would and feel like I have found a great group of ladies to help mentor me through this process. It was wonderful seeing how much we all had in common, hearing all the different styles, and yet still seeing how everyone comes was there with the same hope of giving their children the best Biblical education possible. I look forward to the next meet.

As far as our homeschooling, JR can now read through the first 2 Bob books, and is just so proud of himself. It is sometimes hard to get him excited about learning, but the other day he said he wanted some gum after reading his book. I agreed and now seem to have unknowingly signed a deal with him to allow him gum after he reads his book. The downside for me is I HATE bribery, but the upside is that JR truly seems to be having fun and looks forward to his "reward" after. I guess that is not all bad. I suppose I can wean him off when I have to. I did at least get him to agree to only half a piece. Gum is normally such a rare treat for him, you'd think he was celebrating a major gift-giving holiday when he gets that little treat. Anyway, he is on lesson 7 of his computer phonics. We are moving slowly, as I want to make sure he is understanding what he is doing. He seems to be sounding most of his letters pretty well, but gets stuck on the listening skills part and putting sounds together to form unfamiliar words. He does better when I sit with him and repeat the sounds. He seems to get more excited with each book he completes though, so I think that will keep him motivated enough. He is also doing great with his numbers. We now have 1-10 very consistent (though he occasionally still gets 6 and 9 mixed up, he is OK with 11-19 and 20-29, though we are working on those daily, and today I introduced the "tens" (20, 30, 40, 50, ......,90). He seems to enjoy doing his cards, though I have no idea why! Maybe it's because his math is followed up with his reading a Bob book, which is followed by gum. Who knows?

Between school sessions today I have even managed to get 2 of the 3 bathrooms cleaned (including some digusting filth on the bottom of a toilet that remained from the previous owner!), catch a lizard that sent M running and screaming from her bathroom, took the trash to the curb, did some laundry, cleaned my kitchen, and researched my latest project. It's been a good week!

No comments: