Friday, April 9, 2010

I left my camera cord in Virginia

I am looking forward to getting my camera cord back today. I have two weeks of pictures to upload. Hopefully, I will have time this weekend to get my blog updated.

We took a 3 week Spring Break. At the beginning of March, I realized that we were two weeks ahead - great problem to have! I was planning to end our school year the weekend before memorial day. I was already planning a 2 week break, but took a 3 week break instead. We will still be ending a week earlier than planned. We started back to school this past week and we've had a great week. I am always so ready to get back into our school routine after a break. We've had a really great week. I love structure and routine so much, that I don't think I really want to take a summer break - but my children really want it. I think that I might start homeschooling on a year round basis and just take more frequent breaks all throughout the year - instead of 9-10 weeks off in the summer. 9-10 weeks off is a really long time - and last summer, the lack of structure each day really bothered me. I either need to do school year round or come up with something else to do during our break. Any ideas? (Marsha???)

I am having Martin tested tomorrow for the first time. Here in NC we don't have to register our school until our child is 7. Since Martin only turned 7 last May, this is the first year he will be tested. I admit it. I am nervous. I am confident that Martin is right where he should be. I just don't have a clue at how he will test. He tends to clam up under pressure. (alot like his mom) I'll let you know next week how he did.

About mid-year with Aaron, I decided to slow him down quite a bit and only do Kindergarten at half speed. He was doing really well with all of the information, but was really lazy about it. Of all my children, Aaron is my lazy one. When it comes time to clean up toys, he's the one that has to be nagged the most. It's pretty common for Aaron to start moaning about something on his body hurting right around the same time that I tell everyone to clean up. Since Aaron is still a bit young, I didn't want to push it. So, we slowed down alot, and I decided to continue with Kindergarten into the fall semester. I plan to start 1st grade with him in January of 2011. (he will turn 6 in December) So, Aaron's school schedule will look a little different, but I think that is what is going to work best for him. Reason #146 to homeschool - You can tailor school to the specific child and their needs. Aaron is an excellent reader. His ability to read amazes me. I have discovered that Aaron is a context reader. He knows some of the rules of phonics, but not all of them. However, he figures out the text of whatever he's reading based on the context of the story. It's amazing how different Aaron and Martin are when it comes to learning. Martin was also an excellent reader - and still is. Martin was a strong reader because he is a memorizer and quickly learned all the rules of phonics, retained them, and applied them.
I love this journey of homeschooling and am so thankful for the opportunity to discover how my children learn, how to meet their needs, and be the first one to watch them discover new things. What a privilege that is!

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