Well we are back from Vacation.  What was sort of a small vacation even though it was a great deal of work it was nice to be away from home and in the warmth for a week.  The boys managed a couple days of school work but the dial-up was not always friendly and I did not really push it because we were laying a floor.

I did notice a couple things though I thought was interesting.  The first was with my youngest son.  By the end of the week of being out of his routine of school work his mind was going a million miles a minute.  He was not at all relaxed and his hyper-ness was strong.  It occurred to me about the 4th day and when I asked both boys to do their work I noticed that he jumped right in and wanted to do his and extra; that night he was calmer and more in control.  Not that he is overly hyper, don’t get me wrong but for a 6 year old he tends to repeat himself and not able to sit for more than a little bit when he has not been able to “think” hard.. If you know what I mean…..

The next pleasant surprise came yesterday when we were back at home and they both jumped right on line to do some lessons.  I was surprised that there was no griping when I asked them to do extra because of the few days they missed and this morning even before breakfast my 6 year old was on line doing lessons.  In the past it has taken us days to get back into the swing of things and my two just did their work, did extra and never said a word about it.

We miss Florida but are happy to be home and I am thrilled that the transition back to full time school has gone so smoothly.  They both are doing well and still call out when they finish a test or a quiz how many they got right.  Someone asked me today how this year is going and I was thrilled that I was able to brag about T4L and how great the program is.

Well we have been busy and thing are still rocking and rolling with normal “stuff”……   We were gone all day Saturday and although it was not freezing, it was chilly.  The boys had a great morning with Kati’s kids at the park and then we flew almost 2 hours away to a Master’s Institute program that was a reenactment of the Oregon Trail.  It was an incredible day all around but the kids were outside all day from about 9-6pm and Q ended up a little bit under the weather.  He had been fighting the same cold that we all have had and the day out in chilly weather got him.  Sunday was a very quiet day for him and this morning he is still under the weather…. No big deal, the boys never get really sick and this will hopefully be our only sickness of any kind this winter!

With that being said I am bound and determine that they are going to stick with the schedule and they are going to not get out of school work for any reason other than loss of limb or the one day that we are actually traveling all day to go to Florida.  There will be no excuses, no begging, and no skipping of days this year for any reason.  So I was ready….  Armed and prepared.   They woke and did their normal routine for the most part, turned on water for hot cocoa (but I talked Q into hot green tea with honey for quicker healing), got breakfast, and got on the puter to play a game.

Enough time passed for them to finish breakfast and wake up and I told them to get started on school work.  They both signed on.  Of course, Z said: “Q’s sick so we should not have to” but that is as far as it went.

I know that I tend to gush…..  But hey…..  When you have something that is working it is fun to gush….

I knew it would happen.  I predicted it back in August.  I said that Zachary would burn through any English that I threw at him.  Thankfully because of Time4Learning it came without pressures and without stress.  He set his own goals and this morning he read the line to me that he was so excited about “You have completed all the lessons in the second grade, please hit your back button and start in level three” or something like that.

Inside I was bursting with pride.  Scott is home today and asked what that means.  When I explained that he finished the second grade work in LA extensions  he said “Oh really?  Well that figures, should we start looking into colleges now?” and laughed.  We had a little celebratory family “dance” and Zachary in his nonchalant way about him said “Can I finish my school work now?”

YAY for us!  Now it is time to “push” the older one a bit more….  I was the older sibling to a younger one that surpassed me, the age difference between my brother and I and my two boys is about the same.  I hated when my little brother was  compared to me but I don’t know what to do about what is going to happen between my oldest and my youngest when that time comes.  Any suggestions would be great.  I know all the normal stuff, “everyone is different, everyone learns differently, etc etc…  blabla…”  What do you really say to an older sibling when the younger one is passing them by?  Of course then you have the little one trying to “pump up the older one” with comments like “Your really good at reading Q..”  Yea, I loved that when my brother would say something to me like that…….

Thanks in advance for any and all suggestions you might have.

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!”)

I have always been totally honest with describing math and writing being our boys curse.  They are both good in math; not so good with the writing (or penmanship as it were)  Today we struggled.  End of story.  As I write this both boys are doing math.  One is subtracting 3 numbers and one is subtracting 2 numbers.  “Taking away” or “carrying” is always a challenge but I think that more than not understanding, the boys are just lazy and don’t want to do the work.

They both happen to land on math at the same time so at each end of the room I have groans and moans.  The excitement of the morning is gone and now we are struggling to get through 10 problems.

I must say that I am impressed that they each got a piece of paper and a pen unprompted from me and began their work. With all the moaning they are doing well but it is just frustrating listening to them.  I am thrilled that they are finally each understanding that scratch paper is a necessity and it really does show an amazing growth. 

So through aggravation and tears I see a light and see improvement that was not there very long ago.