The week has been a mix of good and bad in the schooling department. The kids have taken a while to get back into the swing of doing schoolwork every day. I've been trying the "less is more" approach to school - spending less time on assignments, but doing things to get more out of the time we have. By the end of the week, though, things were going much better. For one thing, I have changed the rule that the kids each get one hour of "media" per day. I have made it so that they have to earn any media they get. I have also gotten much more firm about presenting a good attitude about school and chores.
The result has been that the end of the week was really pretty good as far as school goes. On Friday, I was having trouble getting our reading (Bible, history, and geography) done because the kids kept asking questions and getting off on "rabbit trails". They were showing significant ability to synthesize information by bringing their own experiences to bear on the conversation. So, I didn't mind that it took a little longer. P sold me (in "eduspeak") that I was teaching the children instead of teaching the subject. In addition, L finished writing the main part of her first opinion paper - without fussing about it.
One of the most interesting things that happened yesterday occurred when P was reading to us out of a "fun book" - that is, a book unrelated to school. We have been reading The Guardians of Ga'Hoole series because L has really gotten into them. They are about owls, and L has learned quite a bit about owls from doing lots of internet searches. She did her science fair project on owls, but really didn't need to do much more research because she had been reading so much about owls. In any case, there is a situation in the book we were reading where one of the bad owls tried to pose as the mother (believed to be dead) of one of the good owls. The story gets a little complex from there. This led us, though, to a discussion of recognizing falsehood from truth. The good owl eventually did recognize that the bad owl was not her mother because of subtle differences. We talked about being able tell truth from falsehood theologically by knowing the Bible and having a real relationship with Jesus. P gave a good example of how the Jehovah's Witness mistranslate John 1:1. Their translation states: "In the beginning was the word, and the word was a god and the word was with God." The actual translation is "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was God, and the Word was with God." L recognized the difference and had some understanding of how dramatically that changes one's understanding of the nature of God. After another chapter, P brought up to the kids how it becomes easier to sin, the more that you do it. P taught them the phrase "the searing of the conscience" and reminded them about the importance of a relationship with God and consistent obedience.
Don't get me wrong - these were not all lectures from the parents to the kids. We would ask some leading questions and the kids kept the conversation going. This is the part of homeschooling that I love. It is also the most important part of homeschooling. No matter what educational option we choose, P and I are responsible for making sure that our children are well-trained in spiritual matters. While the other stuff has it's place, P and I want our children to know Jesus and learn to obey him as early as possible in their lives.
We have survived the two winter storms we have had this week. Overall, we got a foot of snow. The temperatures have moderated some, though, so we aren't freezing. Thursday, though, we were supposed to get a lot of ice, so P and I made sure we knew where the candles, flashlights, and kerosene heater were. I've never been without power when it's really cold. When I was growing up in Florida, we would lose power in a storm, but we could open up the doors and windows after the storm had passed. Up here, it would get pretty chilly if the heater wasn't working. That being said, we have a kerosene heater for emergencies, and several of our neighbors have fireplaces.
P piled up a bunch of snow in the back yard that the kids have used for sledding and snowboarding. The hill is only about 4 feet high, not like our big, long hill at our previous house. But, it gives them something to do in the snow.
L and I made creamy garlic and onion soup yesterday. It is just delicious!! The kids change every month from helping me with kitchen work or laundry. L is now helping in the kitchen, while C is helping with laundry. They both prefer kitchen work over laundry. I make them set the table and put away dishes and other unpleasant duties, but they get to cook, which they both love. L is ready to learn menu planning as well. I suppose I should actually do some menu planning ;-) I found a chart on the internet giving laundry instructions. They had it in a form that I could modify, so I changed it up to fit our situation and taped it up in the basement to help the kids remember how to do the settings for the different loads.
C is at the AWANA games today. L and I were supposed to go, but I woke up with a raging migraine this am. I had one earlier this week, but it wasn't real bad. This one, though, has been pretty unpleasant, so P took C to the games and got another parent to agree to bring him home. P has a meeting at church this afternooon. It was supposed to be Thursday night, but the storm cancelled pretty much everything.
Well, next week is our last week on Africa. We are working on African history. I want them to have some understanding of European colonization and the process of decolonization. But, we are pretty ready for Core 6. We are going to be starting notebooking then. We will also be using The Story of the World on CD, so I will have a little break from reading. I have also decided that we are going to do composer pages to go with the songs they are learning in piano lessons.
I have been prolific today, but now I'm pretty wiped out. I'm off to take a nap or do some scrapbooking. Let's see how much energy I have.
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