I know it's been quiet around here and that's because my favorite things to write about are school and nature study, which we have not been doing. I also like lots of pictures in a blog post and I haven't been taking much lately.
We did enjoy getting back into the school routine this week. A gentle approach was much needed and we did half days this week. Even with half days I was able to do some evaluations and I had some projects for the weekend. We will continue with half days for this week too.
Tyler got almost all his work done with half days (and I mean a full weeks worth). Of course, there is still math and Latin to do but other than that he only has about a day of work left. I'm not sure how to fix that, yet. Caleb on the other hand hardly got anything done. I'm not sure how to fix that either. Perhaps just a full day would help or I have scheduled too much or Caleb hasn't found his daily groove in the schedule. There has been a lot to think about this weekend.
Surprisingly, Caleb enjoyed one of his history books (The Birth of Britain) even though it's a tough read. And unsurprisingly, Tyler does not have a favorite book for the new year, yet.
I'm still planning on doing a post of our book list for the year and I'm hoping to have that done soon (meaning a week or two since we need to take some "formal" back to school pictures).
Saturday was a lazy day. I did watch a training DVD from IEW on how to teach their writing program (the overview one that comes with the Student Writing Intensive program). I didn't finish it and plan to do that this evening while the boys are at a swim party (will be quiet here). I was glad to work on this project and get Caleb's writing figured out for the year (a gap I had in the lesson plans).
Summer project goals were not achieved this year. I never get it all done which maybe means I need to rethink and plan accordingly. The main problem was not having the time all at once to dedicate to a project. I had the time to do it overall, but I couldn't make it work all at once. I don't like unfinished projects so they didn't get started. Not started projects bother me too, so sooner or later they will get done. ; )
I'm planning on a much longer spring/Easter break in 2016 so I think this will help with the summer project list. I could possible get one or two done in the spring instead of the summer. This is the most natural time of the year to do it anyway. This is could be a great solution except for the fact I still have to get it done for 2015.
Caleb has been saving up his money to buy a new toy. He got very lucky and a kind man at our church found him a good deal on a used guitar and has offered lessons at a reasonable price. Caleb has been saving up money for the lessons too. Today he has been searching youtube and watching first lessons in guitar playing.
Cross country practice has started. We were unable to find a team for Caleb to run on this year. Tyler will be running on the same team that both boys ran on last year. Caleb has been practicing with the team though and I've been logging the hours for a PE credit.
