...I did a lot of out loud reading, to all three kids together, and to each of them individually. To supplement our Little House reading, we also began watching the first couple of episodes of the old TV series. It's awesome!
...Matthew worked on reading out loud and on math. He also started a new session of his beloved art classes - this session is about outer space.
...Seth and Lizzie continue to work on letters and sounds. Seth practiced every day putting all of his wooden ABC letters in a row and he's doing it pretty much every time he tries! It's amazing. He is saying words out lout with an emphasis on the first sound made by a word, and trying to identify which letters those sounds come from. Because he still seems a little unclear on why he should bother learning all of these weird letters, I've also tried explaining it a little more to both younger kids. One thing that seemed to resonate with them both was when I said that the reason we want to learn how to read is because that helps us put sounds onto paper. I gave an example: What if, after Seth and Lizzie went to bed one night, I realized that I'd forgotten to tell them that I was looking forward to seeing them in the morning; and what if I happened to be leaving the house early the next morning before they woke up; they'd never get to know what I wanted to tell them...unless I could figure out a way to put my words onto paper in a way that they could understand. I then said that it would be helpful if we all understood that the same shapes on paper meant the same sounds every time; and that's exactly what letters are - shapes that we put on paper that mean the sounds/words we make. That seemed to help a little lightbulb turn on!
...Matthew worked on reading out loud and on math. He also started a new session of his beloved art classes - this session is about outer space.
...Seth and Lizzie continue to work on letters and sounds. Seth practiced every day putting all of his wooden ABC letters in a row and he's doing it pretty much every time he tries! It's amazing. He is saying words out lout with an emphasis on the first sound made by a word, and trying to identify which letters those sounds come from. Because he still seems a little unclear on why he should bother learning all of these weird letters, I've also tried explaining it a little more to both younger kids. One thing that seemed to resonate with them both was when I said that the reason we want to learn how to read is because that helps us put sounds onto paper. I gave an example: What if, after Seth and Lizzie went to bed one night, I realized that I'd forgotten to tell them that I was looking forward to seeing them in the morning; and what if I happened to be leaving the house early the next morning before they woke up; they'd never get to know what I wanted to tell them...unless I could figure out a way to put my words onto paper in a way that they could understand. I then said that it would be helpful if we all understood that the same shapes on paper meant the same sounds every time; and that's exactly what letters are - shapes that we put on paper that mean the sounds/words we make. That seemed to help a little lightbulb turn on!
Places we went and people we saw...
...we went to the zoo one day this week on a h/school field trip and learned about bears...with a focus on polar bears.
...the other usual extra curricular activities, including gym class, art class, karate, awana, skating, swimming, music lessons and piano.
...we celebrated my niece's birthday last night with a dinner out with family. She's not only Matthew's best friend, but very beloved to her Auntie Ruth, too!
...we celebrated my niece's birthday last night with a dinner out with family. She's not only Matthew's best friend, but very beloved to her Auntie Ruth, too!
My favourite thing this week was...
...my Thursday night out: I took myself out for dinner; and then totally loved going to the movies and seeing Les Mis.
What's working for us...
...being back into more of a school-oriented routine. It's been painful getting here, but I think we're back. I love that we're h/schooling at times like these: During the tough times, we can pull back from school; and when we're into school, we get enough done that Matthew gets well ahead of things. Because Matthew was so far ahead of where he needed to be in his grade 3 work, I'm still totally comfortable with where he's at now.
What's not working for us...
...I'm pretty angry about something that just happened, which I'll be posting about tomorrow. It cost me most of last night's sleep which, of course, isn't going to make today the easiest.
...this is a busy time of year for Geoff at work, and so I've been single-parenting much of this week while he's been away. He made it back for my Thursday evening out, thank goodness (I left the house just minutes after he got home!) but he's working today, too, which means I'm on my own for music/piano/swimming/errands with the kids. I probably shouldn't note this under the heading of 'what's not working for us' because, in fact, Geoff works very hard for us as family, and the fact is that he tries really hard to keep these kinds of heavy work weeks to a minimum. I think I just plain miss his companionship when he's not here!
...this is a busy time of year for Geoff at work, and so I've been single-parenting much of this week while he's been away. He made it back for my Thursday evening out, thank goodness (I left the house just minutes after he got home!) but he's working today, too, which means I'm on my own for music/piano/swimming/errands with the kids. I probably shouldn't note this under the heading of 'what's not working for us' because, in fact, Geoff works very hard for us as family, and the fact is that he tries really hard to keep these kinds of heavy work weeks to a minimum. I think I just plain miss his companionship when he's not here!
Things I'm working on...
...well, I got the big pantry re-org done this week (after two trips to IKEA with the kids to pick up a few small organizational aids and after putting in several evening hours after the kids were sleeping!), so I'm contemplating what's next on my big organizational to-do list. I think I'll tackle a smaller project next, because I got a little tired of seeing pantry contents all over my kitchen for about twelve days!
I'm reading...
...not much of anything for myself, but I'm continuing to read out loud a lot to the kids, both as a group and to individual kids whenever possible. What I noticed this week was that Seth, for the first time, didn't want me to stop reading when I was reading to the three kids together; something about the Little House on the Prairie book that I was reading grabbed his attention and, although he couldn't explain what that was precisely, he kept asking me to read! So I did...until long after I felt like taking a breather!
I'm cooking...
...cheesy pasta dishes and homemade soups...anything that smacks of comfort food to get us through the last days of winter. On the stove top for this weekend: some roasted butternut squash soup and fresh multigrain bread.
I'm grateful for...
...a better week this week than the previous two. I know we'll continue to hit rough moments, but even these hard times seem so necessary in order for us to move forward.
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