We made it through the illnesses and the vacations, and now we’re back in school full-time. This is going to be a quick overview because I don’t have much time to write today.
Lillia’s Adventures
Due to an oversight on my part, we didn’t get a chance to do any work in the next Life of Fred math book because I failed to order it! Thankfully, the last two pages of the current book were rows of problems, so we just divided them up and did a little each day. Doing the whole thing at once would have been too overwhelming for Lillia, anyway.
As per our Oak Meadow syllabus we studied life in the Arctic. Lillia drew this beautiful sketch of all the different types of Arctic animals. We are debating whether or not it needs to be colored, as many polar animals are actually white (though I’m fairly certain that elk are not…).
We also spent some time working on writing words in cursive. Lillia has a lot of difficulty with this. She feels that it’s an unnecessary skill. And, she’s not entirely wrong. In the 21st century there aren’t a lot of compelling reasons to learn to write in cursive. As a historian I would be at a serious disadvantage if I couldn’t read cursive, and the best way to learn to read it is to learn to write it. Many primary sources are written in cursive, such as wills, marriage licenses, personal letters…the list is endless. And, as my husband pointed out, learning to properly form letters and developing that level of fine motor control will really help Lillia if she wants to continue to improve her artistic abilities. So, there is a case for cursive, but it might be a bit too abstract for a nine year old to understand. I will continue to encourage her to do her best, even though it’s difficult for her and seems pointless.
Truth be told, so much of Lillia’s “learning” is spontaneous. For example, today she started working on a new story, tentatively titled, “The Unmistakable Life of Autumn Fladora.” If she will consent to give me an excerpt, I’d love to post it here next week. And, last night she told me that she wanted to learn how velcro works and how superglue is made. She said she wants to learn about “sticky things.” So…I guess I’ll be doing some research on that for next week! If you have any good resources, please let me know!
I decided that I would like to keep sharing Lillia’s artwork when I can. It’s such a big part of her life, and something she spends a lot of time working on. It seems right for it to be on this blog. Here is a recent creation:
And, just for perspective, this is her first digital drawing, done way back on September 30th. Look how much she has improved in just 8 months!
Zane’s Adventures
Trucks! Cars! Trains! Motorcycles! Is it motorized? Zane loves it. He even brings his trucks to bed.
His vocabulary is growing in leaps and bounds, though he still uses his own “language” a lot of the time. But, he’s trying. Here are some of my favorite Zane-isms, spelled phonetically, and their English equivalents:
Nane = Zane
Meow = Cat
Oof Oof = Dog
Cock-a-woo = Rooster
Bub = Bug
Tide = Outside
GuhnGuhn = Car/Truck
MroomMroom = Car/Truck
Butt = Bus
Beek-a-woe = Bicycle
Bopee = Coffee
Deeoo = Water (I’m still trying to figure out how that happened)
I wish I had more photos of Zane to share this week, but I guess I just haven’t had my camera out much. I did post a bunch of photos of him on my other blog this week, so you can check those out if you need a Zane fix.
Mama’s Adventures
I’m officially done with my class, but I am working on refining my paper for publication in an undergraduate research journal. When I get my grade in a couple of weeks I will be an official college graduate. I’ve been using my newly discovered free time (mostly while Zane is napping) to do all kinds of things. I’ve been reading, sewing, blogging, and working on an exterior painting project. It’s nice to be able to be able to do something other than take care of my kids and do research. I’m also looking forward to having more time and energy to devote to homeschooling, now that my own “schooling” is done.
Also, I’ve been reading about “unschooling” lately, and I’m intrigued. If I have more to say about it in the future, I will certainly do so here.
