Mid-week status report

The week is going well over here. Little Brother didn't get to go to school on Monday (it snowed overnight, so the schools were on late start, and the AM kindies didn't have class), so we didn't get back to our routine quite as quickly as I'd imagined. We're easing in, though.

So far our homeschooling this week has been very "real" and relevent. Girl Scout cookie pre-sales are about to start, so we've been doing a lot of drill with the 4's multiplication facts (cookies are $4/box), and making change (something she's already pretty comfortable with, but she was having fun role-playing, so I went along with it). Mostly we've been in a holding pattern with math the last couple of months, trying to reinforce multiplication and division processes (multi-digit by single-digit multiplication, same with division, both with and without remainders).

Since it's right after Christmas, the kids have loads of thank you notes to write. Big Sister has been typing hers up on the computer. We're reviewing the basics of writing a friendly letter, grammar, and spelling, plus I'm teaching her how to use Word. She's really enjoying it, and now she wants to learn to touch type, so I'm evaluating our options as far as learn-to-type software for kids. For Little Brother's thank yous, he's drawing a picture and then dictating a short letter for me to write. Then he signs his name. He's five, I don't ask for much more. Plus his homework just increased in difficulty after the break, and I'm not going to push my luck by asking even more of him at this point.

I also changed up our spelling program a little bit. For this week's words, I wrote a short story that used each word at least once. Big Sis had to read the story, and then circle each spelling word she found. Then she wrote each word out. Reading and spelling - I love to kill two birds with one stone. Yesterday she looked up definitions (trying to get her more comfortable with the dictionary), and copied all the words again. Today she's writing sentences with her words. Her atrocious spelling is starting drive me batty, so I want to be more consistent with the spelling lessons. She is her father's daughter, so she's genetically predisposed to be a horrible speller. Intelligence and spelling ability are definitely not linked (according to MENSA hubby is a genius, he just can't spell), but as a first impression, I think poor spelling reflects negatively on a person. Granted my daughter is only 9, so it's not like she's out filling out job applications or anything, but I'd still like to try and help her improve.

We've been covering a lot of Health so far this week, too. Big Sis is starting to grow up (uh... physically), and she's asking a lot of question about puberty - what's normal? what's going to happen next? etc. I bought a book back in November, based on numerous recommendations. It's the American Girl book The Care and Keeping of You: The Body Book for Girls and we really like it. From the description at Amazon: "It offers guidance about basic hygiene and health without addressing issues of sexuality." This aspect of it is great, as I want my 9 1/2 year old to know what's happening to her body, and what to expect, but not to take it too far. The book talks about the physical changes that come with puberty, as well as the emotional side of things. I love that it addresses how girls can take charge of their physical and emotional well-being through diet, exercise, getting enough rest. I find that really empowering - that you don't have to be a total victim to the hormonal roller-coaster of puberty. I'm really thankful for this resource to help form a foundation of understanding for the next couple of years.

I was worried about getting back to the homeschooling after the little "discussion" Big Sis and I had prior to the break, but I'm feeling much better. I like letting the happenings in our lives influence the course of our learning. This week feels much more effortless than a few weeks back. Fingers crossed that we continue this way for a while!