My boys are involved in a fine arts program called Master’s Academy of Fine Arts.  They have fine arts classes every Thursday an hour from our home and I drop them off and my husband picks them up; bringing them home.  This past Thursday he pulled me aside and told me that on the way home the boys were messing around in the back seat and one of them said “Oh, it’s Time4Learning now!”….  We talked about how nice it was that it is always in their heads and they use it as “catch phrases” during normal time.  I enjoy when he has alone time with the boys and hears for himself how much they talk about Time4Learning.

But my most favorite part is when they are done with a lesson and are so excited about something that they do research to find out more.  It usually happens in science and social studies but sometime something is mentioned in other parts of lessons that they want to know more about.  In the past I have encouraged them to “research” something when they have had a question but now they do it just because they want to.

Having both boys about at the same level encourages scholastic interaction between them and usually one will begin to research something and the other one migrates his way to see what is going on.  Discussions begin and it is neat to sit back and watch the interaction.   I enjoy seeing them brainstorm, research, and discuss things that they have questions about and it usually leads to more in-depth conversations.  This is only the beginning for them and is setting the groundwork for down the road when I begin to assign actual research projects and they know how to get information, come up with ideas of their own or build off lessons that they are studying.

It will be nice, a year from now to go back and see how nice the year has been; we are almost half way through and I can’t get over how nice it has been for our whole family.

We are moving right along this school year.  So far we haven’t had any long breaks, or major breakdowns! ha! :o)  Bailey is getting up every morning and starting his school and about 99% of the time, he does it without us asking.  That is a huge step for us.  We are struggling with helping Bailey remember his daily routine.  He’s doing better and his love for Time4Learning is helping.

Today, I had to be out of the house all day so Daddy got to stay home with the kids.  While I was fully expecting to come home and find the boys duct taped to wall with daddy wearing ear muffs in the corner, I was pleasantly surprised to find that everything I had asked them to do had been done.  Yay for me! :o)

Bailey not only did his school without being asked, he was able to tell me what he had done.  This may not seem like much to some, but for my Bailey, this is great improvement.  He told me that he did 2 language arts, 1 math, 1 science and 1 social studies.  I was surprised that he remembered that, and wasn’t sure that he would recollect what the lessons were about.  Again…pleasantly surprised.  He told me he did 3 digit addition today in math, told me about Alaska and Eskimos in social studies (he really enjoyed this subject the most today), and he told me he did the same thing in language arts as he did in science.  He couldn’t remember the word though.  Well, I thought that was a little strange, but when I logged in to check, sure enough he learned about inferencing in L.A. and inferences and predictions in science.  HA!

It was a good day for Bailey, and I just keep looking forward to what he’ll do and learn next. :o)

This is science week for us. I chose this week mainly because fall has finally arrived and Natalie has been asking many questions about the leaves falling, the animals, the plants that die and the ones that live during this time of year. I remembered a while back that there is a section in the Science curriculum that focused on the world around us and recognizing the changes that occur as we enter each season, etc.

We just started this section and Natalie loves it. It also happens to be the same thing they are doing in class so that’s a huge plus. She only got as far as Spring yesterday with huge plans to finish that section today. However, it’s late and she might be a little tired tonight. She usually logs in after breakfast and before he bus comes in the morning.

The plan is to incorporate the lessons with real life activities outside. We live in Virginia, the souther part, and the weather is still somewhat mild around here. Side note here —>It’s really strange, however, that sometimes we play in the fall leaves and it’s 75 degrees outside, other days you have to wear gloves and a hat. Anyway, we went for a walk in our yard to find the flowers that grew in the spring and to talk about the changing colors now that fall is here.

I’m learning and enjoying this particular lesson as much as she is. Autumn and spring are my favorite seasons of the year, but I do look forward to snow and the crisp winter air– what better way to enjoy a hot cup of cocoa with marshmallows–yum!

I hope everyone is enjoying this colorful time of year as much as we are!

Terie

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….

Thank you all for your kind words.  John, I am glad that the blockage was found before surgery.  I was very nervous about surgery because his white count was ok, but I worked with the surgeon for several years and trusted his judgment.  He said that the white count is not always raised in appendicitis.  They gave us pictures of the inflamed little booger…..I will upload them if everyone wants to see…..  Hey science for the kids….   They are Eeeewie, but not to bad.