Yes. It’s been busy. I always feel bad when I don’t get to update regularly. Even though life gets in the way of posting, the learning never ends. So, this being the “school” blog, what have we been learning?
Well, October was spent learning life skills. In between the soccer games and economic talks around the lunch table, I was prepping for foot surgery by stocking the freezer and making meals. Everything needed to be neatly organized for the coming month when Mom would be on crutches. Because of that, a new system of organization was put in place in the boys rooms. (thePinkDiva is just naturally good at organization, so she didn’t need a new system.) The boys learned to clean their rooms and keep it that way.
November was spent learning about compassion, being a good helper, and accepting help (that one I learned). I was on crutches and needed alot of help. Gramma had to go back to her home after a week, and Dad shipped out for a few weeks about 10 days after the surgery. So it was me & the kids for most of my recovery time. I learned to let go and allow the kids to do things their way. Like letting BigBoy wash dishes, even if he made a bit of a mess with the water, or letting Diva clean the kitchen floor. During that time, I realized just how much they are capable of that I was unaware of. GeekBoy even learned to do his own laundry! He’s 7!
We also got some “school” work done. thePinkDiva declared she wanted to learn about writing, so I convinced her she needed to know how to read first. We combined sight words and writing and lo, she was happy.
We also began a new Thanksgiving tradition this year. The Thankful Tree.
I got the idea from Yvonne @ Heart of the Matter. Pretty much it’s a tree with construction paper leaves. Every night, well, almost every night, we’d each write out something we were thankful for on a leaf, and tape it to the tree. My hope was that it would help my children focus less on the “gimmie-gimmie” of the season, and more on being thankful for what they already have. It seems to have helped, and it was alot of fun to do.
December, we got back to the books for a few weeks. Geekboy passed his Math Chapter 7 test recently. Chapter 7 out of a book with only 11 chapters. His aptitude for Math continues to astound me. Even though we’ve put down the books for the Christmas holiday, he continues to grasp fractions, adding them with ease while we make cookies.
Even though we are on our traditional Christmas break, when you make learning a way a way of life, it never stops.