You know that moment?  That one single second when your child gets so animated about something and you just know that the excitement he is feeling that very second is the best feeling of the world?  As I parent I love to see that animation and excitement, knowing that as they grow they happen less and less.  My husband and I are always in awe of watching our children at those times where we plan and the boys just “let it go” and we surprise them with something.  It does not happen very often because both boys are “need to know” children and it is sometimes easier to tell them what is going on than deal with the constant questions over and over……

The Boys God Father gave them a stack of little books called “Pocket Classics”.  He read them as a young boy and it helped open the door to the truly great classics in reading.  My boys have been burning through them as most of them are around 70-100 pages and have pictures as well as an abbreviated story.

Quentin just had that animated moment and it had nothing to do with a video game, a field trip, a new toy or game…  It had to do with the lesson that he was doing!  I wish that I had gotten the moment on film.  It went something like this:

“MOM!!!  Oh my Gosh!!! ” (today of all days..being Halloween, he turned in his chair and about fell on the floor…) He proceeded to read to me about what happened in 1938 when Orson Welles read about the Alien invasion.  Then he said… “Mom!  it was out of the book War of the Worlds!  I read that!!!”  Arms flinging, smile from ear to ear, READING everything on the page!

Ok, two points here….  No more than 9 months ago we were giving up everything to get him reading the way he should.  The only word that he pronounced incorrectly on the whole lesson was “Hoax”  which I corrected and he then read correctly.  Second point was that he actually was excited about school work.  (of course it helps that the lesson was on aliens and something he had read but still)

Seriously, Never did I think that we would have this in schoolwork.  How could I describe my household to make you understand how much different our world is now than last June when we were trying our best to get through a page at a time of boring, mundane school work.  No matter what I did to make it interesting and exciting we were all stressed out and not having fun.  The conversations now flow easy and are fun!  The world has opened up to us and learning is now so easy!

As for the Odd part?  How odd that the lesson of that Orson Welles book fell today????  Spooky…..

Today I found it amazing that there was such an amazing difference in my two kids.  Grasping math concepts has always come so easy to my oldest son.  Q would fly through math and never blink. He could tackle anything we threw at him.  While still in pre-school he was adding double digits and we were told that he was surpassing all the other kids and would have trouble if we put him in public school.   I always wished that his reading was as advanced but in time he became more comfortable with it.  Our youngest son flew through reading, loves English and struggles every day with any type of Math concepts…. Until today..

This morning he learned “rounding”.  I did not realize that he was even doing it until he got stuck and called me over.  I let them get started and then “check-in” after they get settled.  When I went over to Z’s desk to help him I was surprised he was doing “rounding” and my first thought was to have him move on to something else until their dad came home.  Their father spent two weeks helping Q understanding rounding up and down and I am not even sure that he totally has grasp it.

I asked Z which way the problem was to be rounded and he gave me the answer without even thinking about it.  I looked at him in amazement.  This son of mine who struggles so with math could figure out how to round and understood the concept easily.  The rounding was not the problem, it was the actual subtraction and addition after he rounded.

I wish I knew what the difference with that single part of math that his brain understands so easily and why he can’t add 5+6 without a struggle……  Where one boy can add multiple numbers in his head on the fly but can’t round a number to save his life, the other boy can round any number thrown at him but can’t seem to add a single number in his head….  Weird…..

(here is my “slouchy” son  the way he enjoys doing his work until I say “Sit up and pay attention!”)

Zach was having a 6 year old moment today. He did not want to read his science. I enjoy it when they find common ground and get along for the few minutes of whatever they are doing. Loud or quiet, it is fun to see them do things together with a common goal. Unfortunately, most of Zach’s science lesson was with lots giggles and seating struggles but they eventually got through it… At one point I said “Could you boys please just get through it???” Q turned to me and said (in his 9 year old animated way) “We are on 6 of 7, do you THINK I WILL SURVIVE???”

 I am into quotes for my family blog.  I try to find inspiration in different quotes for different reasons, whether it be running (for this massive weight loss program I’m on) for writing, for family struggles or happy times, and for friends….   I was looking for a quote on a new site that I found and I happen to miss-click and I found myself on education.  I ran across this one and thought I would share it……  I thought that it would inspire, help lift and maybe calm, even a little bit, fears that you might have.

We as “teachers” at home, need to stand together, stand strong, and help one-another….  Our support for each other helps us grow, learn and become better parents and teachers.

No doubt to teach one’s own children…takes special qualities. But these are qualities that many people have, or with a little help, can get. …The home-schooling movement is full of such people, “ordinary” people doing things that they never would have thought they could do - learning the law, questioning the experts, holding their ground against arrogant and threatening authoritiues, defending themselves and their convictions… Seeing them, other ordinary people think they can do the same, and soon they do. This is why it may be a little misleading to speak of the homeschooling “movement.” Most people think of a movement as something like an army, a few generals and a great many buck privates. In the movement for homeschooling, everyone is a general.

-John Holt, Teach Your Own (New York:Delacorte Press/Seymour Lawrence, 1981) pp. 68-69.

We are very busy….  One thing after another it seems and it is hard to keep track of everything.  I am so afraid that I am going to miss something that the boys are supposed to be doing.  So far we are keeping on top of everything!

This morning we were on our way to a “triple” Homeschooling field trip and my boys were beyond excited because they were going to see their friends who they had not seen in a while because of scheduling conflicts.  The boys were bouncing off the (car) walls at 8:30 this morning and it was entirely to early for me to keep up with their constant questions.  Then they made me laugh.

When they heard one of their friends was going to be there they started talking about him doing Time4Learning like they were doing and Kati’s son was doing.  (at that time neither they nor I knew that he was no longer doing t4l) Then they started “chanting” We are all doing Time4Learning. (I’m telling you, it was to early for all this…)  Zach messed up the chant and said Time”Three”Learning and then they kind of both said “Hey!  We are the Time”Four”Learning Team”……  I started laughing because they were thinking of it being like the “Three musketeers” or something along those  lines.

I heard “chanting” for a while and then they got silly, rearranging Time4Learning here and there until it no longer made sense and they got bored….

It was just one of those silly kid moments that I had to share with you guys…..   I love when they get like that, I just wished that it was not before 10am!  It is just nice that their schooling follows them even when they are not actually doing it……