Someone's Been Busy

My 'reluctant writer' is discovering his motivation. It's nice to watch. I'm so glad I haven't stressed overmuch about my assumption that R isn't writing as much as he should. Or that his printing wasn't 'as good as it should be'. Or that is was 'too hard' for him. To see him sit down and create something, of his own volition, is a pretty decadent moment for me. It makes me run and get the camera. First, it's really great to see R get excited enough about his work that he wants to show it to everyone who comes in the door. Second, it's direct proof for me that Benign Neglect really is a successful way to teach reading and writing.

When it counts, he's right in there with a pencil... This writing endeavour is the traditional Letter To Santa. Completed last week, it contains more chit-chat than Christmas list. Because, I was told, that's how you write a letter. Not only was the letter written, but the envelope was stuffed with a coloured cut-out and decorated with a coloured stamp and a 'visual address' (pic of Santa) as well as a written one.

Here we have art in progress. But I can't call it 'art', because he doesn't like art. Calling it drawing is also questionable, so we'll refer to this as 'cartooning'.

The Evil Gum Stick Man has escaped from his package amidst a terrible and equally evil storm. Apparently the sequel is forthcoming.

New Mag

Poking around on the internet today, I came across the new homeschooling magazine called Secular Homeschooling.

It looks interesting. I read the amusing The Bitter Homeschooler's Wish List. I also read an interesting account of a mother's attempt to help her son register for college.

I'm looking forward to seeing what the future issues of this mag contain. The call for submissions is pretty strong. I think we should bug Cristina to send in a few of her favorite Home Spun comics. In fact, I think we should meander through the Home Spun archive and suggest a few of our favourites. What think you, Cristina?

Been Feeling Lost...

I've been feeling lost lately. I think it was mostly due to the fact that I was not diligent in keeping up with the family calendar during October. This leaves me scrambling and at loose ends when various things like swimming lessons and soccer practice crop up. It's silly, really, as the sorts of activities I usually record on the calendar are the type of thing that crop up week after week at the same time.

So here we are at the beginning of November and I am all caught up with our family calendar. I can't believe how much of a communication tool it is. I just noticed last night when we had company stop by unexpectedly to invite the kids out on Saturday afternoon. The kids immediately ran to the kitchen to see if we had anything scheduled for the weekend. See? Even if I am organizationally challenged, hopefully some of my meagre efforts will stick with the kids as they grow older and scheduling becomes more of a necessity in their lives.


Tools of the Trade for Inquiring Minds:

A Really Big Calendar With Spacious Squares...this allows for stickers as well as paranoid notations that may not be necessary for regular people. If you write everything down, you may trick yourself into thinking you have a booming social schedule. Of course the practicality is that you probably won't show up for soccer practice as it's ending if you're diligent in recording the correct times for these things.

Expandable Folder...this is a dollar store find. Four files for a dollar. In this particular folder, I keep sticky notes, stickers, labels, etc. The little folder next to the big blue one is filled with little stickers. Stickers make planning our month fun for the kids. Really. It's not like I have a sticker fetish or anything.

Stickers...these will make each entry on your calendar noticeable. The kids like choosing a sticker that represents their soccer or swimming or hockey. I usually try to have one for library trips, homeschooler meetings and field trips. You need stickers for a calendar in order to keep track of engagements. Not just because you have a sticker fetish. Geez.

So there you have it. Part 1 of my regular scheduling habits.

Exercise in Frustration

Ever try to upload pics, but Blogger won't let you? That's an exercise in frustration if I ever met one. So, nothing to see here, folks. Move along.

Have a good week. Perhaps one of these days I won't use up all my blogging time waiting for pics to upload only to get a server error. See you then.

Read Aloud Progress

Recently, the kids and I began reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I set a private benchmark of a chapter a day. I thought such a pace would first, keep the story line fresh in our minds and second, allow us to finish the book in a timely manner. Like, before Canada Day.

We are really enjoying our reading time on the couch as the weather gets cooler. I can easily see us going through a number of books and less so-called book-work this winter. Of course part of that is selfish motivation on my part. I love that the kids still like to sit with me to read. How many more years can that last? But I digress...

As we get further and further into the book my benchmark has flown out the window. We're whipping through chapter after chapter. Have you ever noticed that J.K. Rowling (and any other author, I'm sure) pulls you in by not really finishing the chapter to some satisfying conclusion? The end of the chapter pinnacles at some crucial point in the story. I pause in my reading. There's no discussion 28 chapters into the book; K simply tells me, "more, Mom." R chimes in with a simple, "yup". I continue. Today I continued until R was turned around upside-down on the couch with his head hanging to the floor with his feet on the wall above and K was laid out on the coffee table 'fishing' for the dog with a rope.

I didn't think I'd enjoy this read aloud as much as I am. When the book first came out, I was the one in line at midnight buying two copies. I read all weekend until I was finished. Now, a few months later, I'm enjoying the second, slower read with the kids as much as I enjoyed the first. In fact, I'm much more involved in the story this time, having to pause at the very sudden death of a most beloved character at the end of chapter 23.

I'm enjoying how the kids are following a more complex story line. I'm even getting the thrills I used to get in grade 9 Enriched English when cryptic, erudite Mr. O'Donnell used to lead the class through deep discussions of our assigned reading. I loved uncovering not-so obvious connections between characters and plot lines, finding obscure references to ancient history, politics and religion. It is so cool to see the kids find little connections in our read alouds, to hear them explain plot lines and character development to each other, to pull out little mentioned facts from previous books in the series to gain insight in the current installment.

After the Deathly Hallows we're going to read a bit of historical fiction set somewhere on the timeline of our current Ancient History work. I'm thinking Ancient Greece or somewhere thereabouts (suggestions appreciated!). I'm looking forward to the lightbulb moments, the cold mornings warming up and waking up on the couch and the little thrills I get when the kids put the literary bits together.

It's going to be a good winter...even if our reading turns the kids upside down.