more September 19
Today has been the most perfect early fall day….breezy, white light, cool. My Maple tree is turning red and my poplar, yellow, and the green grass below each is sprinkled with the proof. I’ve got loads of whites and lights on the clothesline, and I”m happy I changed sheets on Friday and have them drinking in sunshine and fresh air. It’s the kind of dry day that gets laundry done in minutes, not hours, and I have the stuff still out there for the pure luxury of it all. Our windows have been open for weeks but today needed more than mere open windows….it needed open doors and lunch outside on the picnic table, reading on the porch swing, and if I had time… .a nap out on a blanket in the grass.
A crisp glass of chilled, appley white wine would be the ideal accompianment to what is going to be a spectacular sunset. We won’t have that in this “dry” county tonight, but we will have a pot of chili for supper and hot chocolate for tomorrow’s brisk morning.
Firstborn: he struggled this morning like my old cat used to when the weather changed. In a fit of hyper restlessness and lack of direction, he’d tear across the hard wood floors in persuit of some ghostly dustball or the like. So my boy was all over the place after his breakfast, desperate for something to do that absorbed some of that energy. He made a tomahawk from some old PVC pipe and a butter knife (so THAT’s where they all go!), rewired the VCR so his sibs could watch The Lion King, read a Discovery Kids magazine. Eventually he calmed down. A little. I made them spend a lot of time outside in this glorious day….too nice to be in! He went to the P.O twice for me to ship ebay stuff and helped make lunch. After we ate under the Maple tree at the picnic table, I worked through some different multiplication and division problems with him. He knows the concepts well but could use more work on the actual written stuff. The kids all watched the next Math U See lesson. Firstborn spent quite a lot of time cleaning out the shed. They went to tutoring time at the Plateau Home School across the street; he worked on division problems, spelling, and read Gary Paulsen’s The Hatchet, to his teacher for a bit. Soccer was boisterous fun surrounded by incredible beauty; they were finally separated into teams. He and his friend spent some time playing in the creek nearby while they waited for the younger kids to finish.
Sunshine: she watched The Lion King and played racketball outside. Ms. Rebecca, the administrator over at the Plateau Home School was there early so Sunshine went over to check out a book, The Tale of Benjamin Bunny. We have that one but it must be more fun to read when it’s someone else’s copy! She played dress up with W, wrote a story about Molly (the AG character her enrichment class centers around), and watched the math video. We sat on the swing and she read Benjamin Bunny aloud to me. I focused a bit more on making my finger track ahead of where she was reading to help her go faster; it worked! And we worked on expression with punctuation. Ms. Rebecca came over for a bit and said that when she evaluated the kids (using the system I used to have to pay 60+ bucks for but she did for free!), that they blew away grade level, especially in reading. Spelling is where she’d guess they need the most work, which we agreed with. Both older two are very phonetic in their spelling. What I was most happy with was that a year ago, Sunshine was barely reading 3 letter words and First born was on a 2nd grade level. Waiting for “that magic switch” in their heads to come on is WORTH IT, if you can handle letting them learn at their own pace! Firstborn is closer to a sixth grade level now (but high school in comprehension) and Sunshine is at 3rd grade, which is right where she’s at. It’s nice to see that trusting having a literature-rich household was the right thing to do, while we (not-so) patiently waited for them to “get it”. Anyway….the rest of Sunshine’s day: Tutoring went well; she worked nearly the entire time on spelling. She’s not so impressed to be on her brother’s soccer team but it makes it easier if they practice at the same time. One thing is for sure: she certainly is cute in her long shirt and shorts, ponytail floppin’ around!
W: woke up ravenous! After a whole grain waffle with cream cheese and apple jelly with milk, he had a snack of yogurt. From there he had Peanut Butter toast and more milk, then a plum, all before 11 am! Must be growing…..still no small miracle with him! I”m thankful every day for his health and growth. “Digression” seems to be the habit of the day. To the topic at hand! After his food-fest he played outside, danced with the dog, played with the baby. He built a train village, watched The Lion King, and looked at books. After lunch we worked on phonics, subraction (EarlyBird K from Singapore), and more on common nouns/proper nouns from First Language Lessons. he did some handwriting and we went over the new poem he’s memorizing, “Whole Duty of Children”. He watched the math video. At the Home School he worked on various phonics and counting games and did an art project that matched shapes. He got extra time in for soccer practice because they switched him to a different team midway.
All in all it was a great day. We had bowls of chili and cheese late; dad came home and after showers and hugs, everyone is tucked in. There was a good episode of House to watch, a bit of ice cream, and cold air wafting in from the windows. Nightie night.
