Friday, October 9, 2009

Weekly Report~ October 9, 2009

School. I always loved it. The books, the teachers, the desks (especially the kind with the lids that opened and closed), the worksheets, listening to the chalk on the chalkboard, recess, my friends, sharpening my pencils, and reading. The actual *learning* part of school was ok, but not my top priority. I was in love with the physical and social experience of "school".

D, on the other hand, seems to be in love with the actual learning and could care less about the rest of the school experience. I want to give him what is best for HIM, but that's not always an easy thing to figure out with a kid like D. He's had two more meltdowns concerning school, and continues to express the desire to be homeschooled so that he can "be taught lots of stuff and do lots of science and not just sit around playing games like I do at school". And he's so intense and adamant in his proclamations that it's hard to argue with his logic. At the same time, on an emotional level, I feel that going to school has really been helpful in teaching him to listen to/follow directions from other adults, to learn there are certain rules that need to be followed, and to learn to respect authority. He has also made a handful of friends, but he does that everywhere he goes! The other bonus of going to school is that he consistently has a well-rounded week filled with gym, art, music, reading in group settings, learning how to get along with his peers for longer periods of time, and spending less time in front of the television.

As far as afterschooling, I let him take the lead this week. The LAST thing I want to do is push him too hard, or make learning a chore. The main reason I'm supplementing with him at all is because of his love of learning and his need for moremoremore. I'd hate to kill that passion by forcing him to do a lot of unneccesary work. Here's some of what we did do throughout the week:
  • Lots of nature study (October is sooooooo my favorite month!)
  • Finished our books on mummies and pyramids; read about Sargon taking over Mesopotamia in SOTW1
  • Writing.... this is his favorite thing at the moment. He makes books and writes stories to read to me every night. The stories are typically about a boy going on an adventure and in some way or another discovering a crystal. :)
  • Two math lessons in Singapore 1A
  • Reviewing common nouns & proper nouns, doing picture study & narration in FLL

No science this week. I have a few experiments planned for this weekend, as D has 4 days off of school and we'll have a lot of free time to fill. As for my little guy--B--we've had more time together with D in school all week, and it's been nice to just hang out with him. We went to the library story hour, ran errands, played together, and spent a lot of time snuggling.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Sounds like you had a very productive ( yet fun) time after schooling this week. ( and for the record- I LOVED the school desks that had lids that opened up too!!)