they are each doing their thing - where they like to do it.
i'm sitting at the table paying some bills, writing some notes, listening to the wind howling around our house, keeping the fire fed, sipping on french-pressed coffee . . .
our coffee pot is broken. :( so i had no coffee yesterday. by mid-afternoon, i couldn't keep my eyes open for anything. i was reading to the kids and started to nod off mid-sentence. i roused myself enough to finish the story, then laid down and napped for an hour. maddie napped, too, and isaac built something with his legos. today, i remembered my french press - man, does coffee taste good that way.
anyway, this post is supposed to be about school. today is the perfect kind of day. we got up with ben, we had breakfast together, isaac and i got the dishes all done, maddie started in on her school-work right away. she's finished, except for her reading aloud and practicing piano. both of those will happen after lunch. isaac and i are working at his pace on his stuff - lately, his pace includes about 15 random stops for nourishment (yogurt, cookies, aplesauce, banana, coffee, water, granola bar . . . ) - the kid must be growing. but it's only 11:00. we should be done with his stuff by lunchtime. :)
i've devised a way to keep track of what we are accomplishing. it's not very amazing or fancy, but it works really well. would you care to know what it is? it involves a notebook for each kiddo and a box of fun stickers.
i write down what needs to be accomplished each day, and the kiddos put stickers beside each item as they finish it. sometimes i write little notes about something they did especially well, or something that needs extra work. i also write notes that will be helpful on their work - for instance, special measurements and counting rules, or spelling rules, etc. this is proving helpful in so many ways - i can see at a glance what we accomplished in a week, so can the kids. they can also show dad what they did in a day without him having to look at every workbook and piece of paper. i can see how quickly they are moving, what they have mastered and what they need extra help on.
maybe i need to start one of these for myself for being ready for christmas - starting with putting the rest of the lights on the tree. good grief. i should finish that this afternoon. :) then i may just have to do a bit of wrapping and sewing. we'll see how long this energetic sunshine keeps me going! (it sure moves quickly these days, doesn't it?)
i hope that you are all having a lovely friday, my friends. i sure am. :)