Christmas Week 2018

Tuesday Notes:

Christmas day was laid back and sweet. We made our traditional cinnamon rolls for breakfast. The kids opened their 3 gifts. Everyone was excited and spent the morning enjoying everything. A few kids chose 'experiences' this year, which is new for us. Makayla and Mommy will be going to see The Lightning Thief: The Musical at the theater the one night it is in Ohio. Joseph and Emma chose movie theater gift cards so they can see movies they are looking forward to in 2019. Daniel chose tickets for him and a parent (undecided which parent right now) to go to Cedar Point, an amusement park, which he has never done before. Some of us spent the morning watching a couple Christmas shows on Netflix while we relaxed. In the evening one set of grandparents and my sister's family came over for dinner (make your own subs), a cousin gift exchange, and games and gifts from grandma and grandpa. We ended the evening in a new way, and it was the highlight for me. My nephew brought his guitar and shared some Christmas songs with us, pulling Joseph in to play the piano for a duet, and then Makayla played some piano for us as well. So fun!

My sweet children. From left to right:

Emma 13, Rebekah 10 mos, Joseph 14,

Tobias 3, Mason 6, Samuel 5, Caleb 8, 

Daniel 11, Oliver 9, Makayla 17.

Wednesday Notes:

Re-entry to regular life after a holiday is always rough with kids. It was a cranky morning for a few but we let it work itself out. Daddy accompanied Joseph and Oliver to see the new Bumblebee movie in theaters. The boys paid for their own tickets and enjoyed the movie. We played Emma's new Marvel trivia card game shortly before bed and called it a night. I spent half an hour finishing up my 'high school counselor' duties on the Common App website, submitting Makayla's transcripts.

Thursday Notes:
I was up at 5am with Rebekah. Once she went back to sleep I stayed up to get some work done. My first task was going through each child's portfolio of school work for first semester. I sorted through papers and pulled samples to keep for the portfolio submission at the end of the year. I threw away the rest. For example, while the kids each had more than 50 math papers I only need a fraction of that for the portfolio. I made it through all but Makayla's portfolio. This is one way I gauge how our year is going and where we are at in our lessons.

Some subjects are obvious, they have lessons laid out in a book. Our history curriculum is set up this way. There are 60 lessons to cover during the school year. We can choose to do history frequently and finish the 60 lessons in a semester (leaving second semester to really focus on science), spread the 60 lessons out evenly over the entire year, or choose a completion date and do lessons at whatever frequency to meet that. We are on lesson 39.

Other subjects are a bit more free-flow and I evaluate how much work a child has done and how much more they need to complete to finish the course. Literature is a good example of this. I have a reading list that kids choose books from. They read most days of the week for a set amount of time. This means a quick reader will finish more books than an average or slower speed reader. I am okay with that. I simply want my children immersed in good books. They narrate to me as they read or after they finish. The older kids also have literature integrated within their language arts curriculum.

At 9am this morning Mason and I headed to the Physical Therapy office. He has been out of PT since his surgery in September. Now it is time to get back to work. Today we had an assessment with his therapist, set some goals, and lined up things that I need to do - like get an appointment with Mason's brace specialist to adjust his HKAFO braces if possible. He has grown and so we need to lengthen the current braces. If that isn't doable they will custom create new braces, which then takes getting a prescription for braces from the orthopedic surgeon or physical medicine doctor. While we wait for braces to be ready his PT focus will be core work, balance, and stretching.

Rebekah is enjoying reaching the table

to get food people leave unattended. 

The rest of our Thursday was spent cleaning, playing games, reading books aloud, cooking, and being a family.

Friday Notes: 
It is Friday morning and the kids are busy doing whatever it is they do on break. There is drawing, reading, playing Pokémon, enjoying gifts, and just spending time together. I plan to work on school preparations for second semester. We're also starting some short read alouds today. Have you seen the Tuttle Twins books by Connor Boyack? These are a fun introduction to economics and government. From their website: "Each book in this series focuses on a different aspect of the principles of a free society: free markets, competition, individual rights, the non-aggression principle, personal responsibility, protectionism, and a variety of other issues—all boiled down to core concepts that children ages 5-10 can easily grasp." 

Sounds fun, right? The titles are:

1. The Tuttle Twins and the Law
2. The Tuttle Twins and the Miraculous Pencil
3. The Tuttle Twins and the Creature from Jekyll Island
4. The Tuttle Twins and the Food Truck Fiasco
5. The Tuttle Twins and the Road to Surfdom
6. The Tuttle Twins and the Golden Rule
7. The Tuttle Twins and the Search for Atlas
8. The Tuttle Twins and their Spectacular Show Business
9. The Tuttle Twins and the Fate of the Future

We have books 1-8. We're just going to read and discuss as we go. My kids are always up for read alouds. 

Happy Friday all!