Our Week In Review–Grandparents Part 2

Between my headaches and grandparents around, I’m not sure how much “academic” stuff got done this week. But, since we believe that academics aren’t necessarily the most important part of life, it’s all good. Some “school” got done, but all kinds of “real life” got done.

My parents left town last Friday morning so this week, we got to hang out with PWM’s mom. PWM and I worked at the shop all day Saturday, but the kids were free, so she and the kids went to Roche-A-Cri State Park for the day. It was kind of cool and cloudy, but not rainy and they had a great time.

Grandma has been getting the kids ready for their trip to Ireland in June. It’s going to be Grandma, PWM’s sister, her two youngest kids, Rosie Girl, and Wild Man. Grandma took one of the cousins on this same tour a few years ago, so she knows what to expect and is excited about getting to take the other grandkids. On Monday, Grandma took Rosie Girl and Wild Man for passport photos and we would have all gone for their passport applications, but it was Columbus Day and we figured the courthouse was probably closed. In any case, the photos are done and we can do the passport applications on Monday. She also gave the kids journals they can use to record their time in Ireland. Grandma also has a relatively new ipad that they all got to play with so they can Skype and take amazing pictures on the trip!

So, what about the academics? Well, a little bit has been done .  . .

Wild Man

• History – We’ve been reading the US Constitution together at night and I found a good article about the electoral college to go over with both kids this next week. There’s a lot about the electoral college (like “faithless electors”) that’s spelled out in state law and not the Constitution, but it would be good for the kids to know about.
• Literature – I love hearing Wild Man tell me that a book (Amos, Free Man) is really good. I was afraid that I’d have to cut down on his reading because of his dyslexia, but he’s keeping up quite well.
• Bible – This week, Wild Man got to the part of Revelation where what he has learned from his counselors at camp is completely different from what he is reading in the N.T. Wright commentary. My main point to him is that sincere believers who hold the Bible in great esteem are disagreeing on these interpretations. Yes, one is right and one is wrong, but it doesn’t mean that one set of people is “good” and one is “bad”, just that they disagree. That’s not always an easy thing for a kid his age to hear, but I think he’s ready. And he’s learning a lot from how Wright uses context and audience to guide his interpretation of the text.
• Science – This is the hardest for Wild Man in terms of reading, but he works hard at it and seems to be learning. I also like seeing how he evaluates the topic with what he knows and then reads to add to it.
• Spelling – Ah, spelling. This would have gone better if I hadn’t felt so rotten all week. As it is, though, I’m seeing some improvement in Wild Man’s spelling when he answers questions for other subjects.
• Writing – Wild Man’s writing fluency is improving significantly. However, the last couple of weeks, he’s forgotten about writing me a paragraph on Thursday. And I’ve been too overwhelmed to deal with it. We’ll be doing more writing next week.
• Math – Wild Man is doing some Flashmaster to help him with ALEKS, but he hasn’t done much ALEKS lately. I think we’ll be doing some focused Algebra over the next few weeks.
• Music – This is not a problem in Wild Man’s world. His band grade is excellent. He stays behind after band when he has questions. He’s playing acoustic guitar, cajon, and mandolin at church. At some point, I might want to add in a bit more formal theory, but I figure maybe we should catch up on spelling first!
• Physical Education – Ideally, he’d be in TaeKwonDo, but right now we’re relying on him walking and riding his bike to school and the shop because no one has the time to drive him to Waupaca for TaeKwonDo class. Sigh.

Rosie Girl

• American Government – The election fits pretty nicely into her government reading. It’s not an exciting course, but it gets her the credit she needs. And it’s useful. She’ll be learning the ins and outs of the electoral college next week, too.
• Literature – Hamlet! Rosie Girl loves Shakespeare, even when she has to read the plays instead of watch them. She’s gotten behind on writing because of this week. One of them is her timed writing practice, which is important because she’s taking the ACT with writing in a few weeks. She’s not crazy about it, but I want to make sure she has it in case she needs it for scholarship applications.
• Math – The bane of her existence. Well, lots of hard work to finish Algebra 2 and then on to Dave Ramsey.
• World Religions – Going along OK.
• Music – Lots of music. She’s mainly working on getting ready for her piano auditions, but she’s also taking composition lessons and playing guitar for fun (and the nursing home). She teaches piano lessons to an 8 year old girl as well.
• PE – Tap class is one of her favorite weekly activities. She’s also demonstrating for two dance classes. Originally, it was going to be the vey little kids, but now it’s the 8-11 year old girls in intermediate ballet and tap. She isn’t having any trouble remembering what to do, but she is having to get into a little better shape to do all the routines with them!

Next week needs to be a little more academic around here so we can get caught up. But it will be worth it. Time with the grandparents is precious. We can do spelling next week. Grandma will be back in Florida next week.

That’s what’s going on in our educational neck of the woods. I’m always amazed to watch what God is doing with my kids. What’s going on in your world? Check out Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers to see what others are up to!!