I am trying to be a bit more structured about keeping records, while hopefully keeping the balance of freedom and opportunity. (By the way I really like JoVE’s post on Don’t Do It All, Just Good Enough and am saving it as a reminder along with Morgan’s post about The Paradox of Choice) . I guess the bottom line is that balancing is a continuous effort but it doesn’t have to be a giddy, strenuous one. Hmm, if that seems a little vague it is because it is still something I am working through in my mind and life. I just read a book called Perfecting Ourselves to Death and it also seemed to relate a bit. And strangely enough, the new book I am reading called No Plot? No Problem! also seems to tie in a bit. Some other time I will try to tie this all together but right now it’s a placeholder, because I REALLY started this post to itemize how the homeschool is going.
The most recent new thing I’ve done is started a small book for Kieron and Sean both to write down what they are supposed to do in the day. The way it is now, they both come to me in the morning and either idle, waiting to see what’s going to happen, or ask me what they need to get done — and because I can’t think and do things at the same time, I usually forget most of what I needed to tell them. So the little black books are an organizational method so I don’t go blank.
Today Sean did another page of Key to Algebra — we’ve slowed down to a page a day because I want to make sure he really gets it down and doesn’t just coast through. He also did Latin Quia and read “Story of the Church.”
Kieron is on lesson 16 of Saxon 65 and doing fine, since it is all review. I started him on the Handwriting without Tears cursive book. He also did Latin, and read Schuster’s Bible History.
Aidan has started counting. He has such a strong immersion style that I am really thrilled about working with him, since it works so well with my style. So yesterday, he spend lots of time counting. He counted the teddy bears in his DK counting book; he counted laboratory tubes that he asked me to Google and print out for him (he got his labs last week). I have an old Horizons K Math book and I think he is finally getting ready to use it a little. He did some more Starfall phonics (and was a little rusty since we haven’t done it for a while). Then, another milestone! He wrote an “A” all by himself! Kevin did something brilliant last time we were at TAC. He wrote a page of little mountains ^^^ for Aidan, basically the “A” without the cross line. Then Aidan carefully inserted all the lines. Wow. That was a breakthrough. Since then I make lines of mountains for him whenever I’m writing in my journal and he makes them into A’s, and today he made a complete A on his own. I was very happy. Counting and writing are two things that have been hard for him.
I have to end here — Aidan wants me to google more tubes 
