6 week evaluation

I can’t believe we are on week 6 already!!!

The past two weeks did not include a large amount of sit-at-the-table school.  During week 4 we all took turns being sick.  Then last week we rather spontaneously spent a few days at a cabin which belongs to our friends on Lake Coeur d’Alene–something we had meant to do all summer, but it never fit in.  Dh said, “let’s just go for it”–so Tuesday afternoon through Thursday afternoon, we did!  The weather was incredibly warm and beautiful.  The boys spent lots of time swimming, we played a lot of board games, and we made s’mores over a wood-stove fire.  I took the dog for a few looooonnnnng walks, and spent 15 minutes watching the two largest beavers I have ever seen swimming together around an old broken-down dock.   It was fun, and definately worth it–since school started we have been so busy, it’s a real challenge to stay connected with each other, and this really needed to happen–especially with our 13 year old.  Sometimes God’s timing is just right!  Some of the games we played were even educational:  Masterpiece for art, Boggle for spelling, and Balderdash, which requires quite a bit of writing–I was impressed that Calvin kept up quite well!  Both boys have also done quite a bit of free reading during the past few weeks.

Calvin’s violin has become more demanding this year, yet he is learning so much!  The instruction is just wonderful, I am so impressed!  It is nice that with homeschooling, we can give more time and attention to our practices.  Enjoyment of classical music, understanding of counting and rhythm, the discipline of regular practice, the experience of playing in a real orchestra with the sound swelling out all around you, the feeling of accomplishment when he masters a new song–I can’t help but believe that all these things add so much to his life and education.   Calvin is also involved in soccer, which means 2 practices a week plus games.  This Saturday during his game he took the ball all the way down the field, and scored the team’s only goal!  The kids on the team are all our neighbors, and it’s a great way for him to be social, get some physical activity, and to experience being on a team.  I can see that both of these activities are very positive things in his life.  We’re just not used to being this busy, and I can’t say I like the business–I am glad the soccer is only a 6 week commitment.

Despite the busy-ness we have managed to keep up with Calvin’s weekly reading list.  Calvin has also been doing a lot of writing on his own initiative, and has finished four episodes/mini-books featuring Racky the spider.  I typed these into books, and Calvin spent two hours one afternoon printing, stapling together, and illustrating the books himself in order to give them away to grandparents and friends.  Really this is much better than the Language Arts curriculum I purchased!  We use a composition-notebook writing journal, and I tell him that he can think of his own things to write about, or I will use our Language Arts workbook–lately he’s been choosing his own projects every time.  The $20 spent on the workbook seems to serve more as a motivating factor for him to do his own work–or a threat??  At least I didn’t spend a whole lot on it.  I have also drawn some spelling words for him to practice from his writing.  In the heat of inspiration while composing a story, his spelling seems to slide straight down the tubes.  But he has been improving in remembering a few mechanics, like capitalizing the first word of a sentence, and using periods.  It’s always a bit delicate knowing how much to “correct”, and how much to leave it be and simply praise–he is getting to the age where he can handle a bit more of the editing when I do it carefully.

We also purchased a family pass to our small science museum, the Palouse Science Center in Pullman.  So far we’ve been twice.  We love it!  I resisted going for a long time, since we’ve been to some of the big museums like the Exploratorium in SF and the one in Seattle, as well as a few in Europe.  I was afraid the boys would be unimpressed.  But what the museum lacks in size and expensive equipment, it makes up for in thoughtfulness, and a super friendly, available staff.  The place is totally uncrowded–it’s almost like having a huge, wonderful science classroom all to ourselves!  There are tons of displays on different topics, with pillows and chairs and lots of books available to read about those topics (with all this, who needs elementary science curriculum?).  There’s a big “pet room”, which I can tell will definately be a favorite feature.  Both times we have been there while the pets get their daily feeding.  There are turtles, frogs, salamanders and lizards, a tarantula, some cool big bugs, rats, a guinea pig, birds, fish, and the boys’ favorite, a huge black snake.  The woman who takes care of the pets is happy to let the kids watch, touch when possible, answer questions and share details, etc!  Today we were the private audience to the rarely-seen weekly feeding of the big rat snake.  We got to watch the snake eat a live mouse, first biting it, then squeezing its coils all around it, then swallowing it bit by bit.  Since Calvin has owned his own little garter snake, he already knows quite a bit about snakes, and asked some great questions.  Also the snake had just molted, and the huge skin was on display for the kids to touch.  Education at its finest!

One thing that DIDN’T happen–I intended this year to incorporate some festivals into our days.  I don’t know why this continually proves difficult for me.  I had written down Michaelmas, Johnny Appleseed’s birthday, and St. Francis’s Day on the schedule, and even obtained the pertinent books from the library.  But when each day arrived, it proved to be a hectic and inconvienent one, and the celebration passed without us honoring it in even the simplest ways.  I believe these days seemed to fall on Fridays.  Meanwhile, our church hosted “spiritual retreats” on two weekends in a row (one for women, followed by one for men), and dh and I both attended and were very involved in these, being on staff at the church–!  Looking back with frustration and regret doesn’t do any good, I’ll just have to try to get them the next time around.  Or face the fact that these unfamiliar celebrations just aren’t my thing???  In any case I hope the weeks ahead are characterized by an increase of calm, unhurried time at home to focus on ”school” (verses squeezing things in here and there!).  The colder weather might just help.  The weather is supposed to turn downright icy in the next few days, and I’m ready for a bit of “cozy in the home”–though I need to get my garden cleaned up, too!