Yes, I'm still around, but for the past three solid weeks, my family and I have been sick, sick, SICK with a hateful flu. The past two days we just started feeling well enough to function (I did thirteen loads of laundry, thank you, and we actually made it to church for this first time in February), and then, last night? My 4-yr-old son, Astro, started running a fever again, coughing 'til he, er, gagged himself sick, nose became runny, etc. And my 2-yr-old daughter, Rainbow, started coughing again. And I started feeling achy and lifeless and my throat felt scratchy again and I too started coughing again and is this ever going to stop??? Sheesh!!
So to keep you abreast of our homeschool life, just pretend that, had I put in an entry every day from Feb. 7th 'til today (inclusive), it would have read: "Family and I are still sick and our lives consist of watching videos and sleeping". That should bring you up to date.
I remember when I was a kid, attending (gasp!) public school, if you were home with an extended illness, the teacher would send homework over for you to work on as you could, so that you wouldn't fall too far behind. A good thing about homeschooling is that, although we have done almost not a lick of work in almost a whole month, I have no qualms about us "catching up". We don't need to keep up with some arbitrary set of deadline dates to accomplish our annual goals. Although I would like my children to be able to do simple addition before their senior year, we don't need to be in a panic mode with my two- and four-year olds missing a month of lesson plans.
That being said, we did get quite a lot of reading done, actually. Astro is funny: he will pick up any of a number of easy readers and get through them flyingly. Then, when we go to the Hooked on Phonics workbook, he makes it appear to be a great struggle. I suspect it's because when he finishes each story in the workbook and accompanying booklets, he gets a star on his reading chart. I suppose the strained effort makes the attainment so much the sweeter. But come on -- struggling over words like "put" when he reads words like "because" and "through" and "know" without so much as batting an eyelash. I think he enjoys a bit of drama.
Rainbow, meanwhile, startled me last night. I had the pantry door open and was searching for something or other, when she cried out, "We had that sometime in the morning! I want that! May I have that please, Mommy?" "What's that, honey?", I asked. "Waffles!" Well, of course, we don't keep waffles in the pantry, but in the freezer. I thought she was confused, maybe looking at the pancake syrup -- nope, that's in the other pantry cupboard, and wasn't visible. "What waffles do you see, honey?", I asked. "There!", she said, pointing at the pantry. "What the heck is she looking at?", I wondered. Then I saw it. There was a box in the pantry that said "waffle" on it, because it contained waffle bowls (for serving ice cream treats). No picture of any waffle-like product was visible, and, as I had just purchased this item for the first time recently and the kids had not yet seen it, I couldn't figure out how she managed to identify that as a "waffle" product -- except for the large word "waffle" on the package. Not generally a "first" sight word one expects their child to learn, but evidently she had indeed learned it. Who knew?
Today we worked on a little French, using the "Muzzy" videos. Astro asked if we could get Muzzy in German (we've been doing some minor German on the side, but nothing grand). I'd like to get that, because they already know the story (and it's the same story, regardless of which language you select) and they're picking up on the languages pretty good. Rainbow has a particularly acute ear for languages. Here she is, two and a half, still says "wuv" for "love", but give her a phrase in French and she not only learns the phrase, but delivers with a rather authentic pronunciation. Hubs and I have been toying with the idea of plugging Latin into our lesson plan; we both think it would be a good idea, but we haven't made any definitive decision about that just yet.
So far in our homeschooling endeavors, some aptitudes have already begun to show themselves. Rainbow is keen on languages, reading, singing, music, art (her favorite medium is the honored Play-Doh), and making up stories. Astro, who enjoys and is quite good at reading, would still rather build things, figure out how things work, and explain how things work (as opposed to telling a story, for example). He also really enjoys numbers; although he can't yet do a whole lot with them, he incorporates numbers and faux formulas into his playtime and activities, which tells me that math will be a big favorite of his. Just like Daddy (and not at all like Mommy!).
I haven't had much opportunity to look around at homeschooling blogs this past month, but hope to catch up on things soon. So tell me: what's new with you?
