Homeschooling, Weeks 16 and 17

     I missed a week!  I can't believe I did, yet I can understand why.  The days are passing quickly and the weeks are flying by.  My birthday is coming up and then Thanksgiving is exactly a week after.  Between both kids, as most parents know, there's more to do (on top of what is already scheduled) around the holidays.  As a runner turned CrossFitter, I know how to pace myself in all things, but it can still be a lot.  At the beginning of October, all our weekends in November and December were already booked!

      Despite the busyness of this time of the year, we take our time when it comes to homeschooling.  With the Sonlight Curriculum I'm using, there's a lot of reading (which my daughter and I LOVE) and I want to make sure she understands everything she's listening to.  At the same time I don't stress out if she doesn't get a particular concept immediately.  It takes time for things to really sink in and for everything to make sense.  Sometimes, we parents can freak out, especially when we fall into the trap of comparing our kids to other kids.  That can rub off on our kids as well.

     Recently, my daughter caught something at the end of the news (she walked in when it was on) about a 5-year old boy who knew all the countries in the world.  Yes, ALL.  Every single country.  Did I mention that he knew all the capitals as well?  My daughter was amazed and at the same time disappointed with herself for not knowing all the countries.  I had to remind her, and you as well, that we are all blessed with different talents and skills.  I took the opportunity to tell my daughter that God created each and every one of us for a different purpose, with a different set of abilities, and different personalities and that if we were all the same it would get particularly boring.  She was happy to know that God made her special.

     During those times I don't think it's sinking in or that it may be too much, God gives me a glimpse of the work He's doing in her.  This week we finished our Bible study on the Kings (Saul, David and Solomon).  That was a lot of reading and there were different details to the each King's story.  I secretly underestimated her comprehension when she decided to create her own bible and draw pictures to go with each King's story.  She was able to retell the stories, which she so carefully did while on her daddy's lap.

     On the flip side, we squeezed in some fun the past couple of weeks making pizza at my step-daughter's restaurant, Pitfire Pizza (she's the head honcho there).  Every Tuesday she holds a pizza making event and we brought a couple of friends with us.

  

     This was a perfect outing for us because we got to see my step-daughter (and all her gracious and patient staff) and she got to make pizza plus share a meal with her friends.

     Ah, the simple things!

Homeschooling, Week 15

     We're back!  Since our Classical Conversations class had a break we decided to take the week off as well.  We still did some reading and copy work (and math at the request of my Little Toughie) but we took a break and instead enjoyed diving into non-homeschooling books.  I even had a chance to catch up on a little bit of my own reading.

     Week 15 led us to the story of David and Goliath in our Bible Study.  This is one of my daughter's favorite stories, but she has never learned what happened after that.  While that is one of the more well known stories of David, my daughter was surprised to hear that he had become a king and that he wrote a lot of the Psalms.

     As we start Week 16, she'll learn more about David's love for God and his obedience (and disobedience) to Him.  She'll learn how forgiving and just our Father is.  She always asks intriguing questions as I'm reading these Bible stories to her and I pray she keeps them in mind as she gets older and encounters her own "Goliath".

     That's all I have for this week.  I know it's not much.  We're just getting back into the groove of things after taking a week off.  My daughter is starting to read more, taking in words every where we go and telling me what they are.  She's even writing me little love notes, trying her very best to spell the words without my help.  It's great to see the progress she's making each day.

     Have a great week!