Tuesday, July 9, 2013

One of Those "Hard" Days


Today is one of the days when it has taken until 2:30 p.m. to get through school stuff. I have used almost my full toolbox with Xander today: allowed a nap, gave a treat, kept things light with silly jokes, made an outdoor snack time, skipped some grammar lessons that were too easy, cut a Math lesson into a tiny section that he had to do today, fed him again, listened sympathetically, and made a threat.

But I love what we have done.

He's practiced writing numbers, which he could always use.

He's practiced spelling and proofreading.

He's been outdoors.

He's had Sustained Silent Reading Time.

He and I have had another heart-to-heart talk about feeling free to talk to a trusted adult if he ever feels icky about something. (Along the lines of private parts and privacy.)

We have talked some more about common nouns and proper nouns, specifically common noun places like the kitchen, dining room, store, and zoo and proper noun full names of family members.

We've read aloud two chapters of Charlotte Mason's Elementary Geography, looked at maps of the world and the United States, read about The Knights of the Golden Horseshoe in This Country of Ours, read about the Peloponnesian Wars in A Child's History of the World, looked at Ed Emberley's Great Thumbprint Drawing Book, and listened to songs composed by Johann Sebastian Bach as well as renditions of Ave Maria.

He has made his own thumbprint drawing creation: a knight.

He has perfectly recited the poem "The Caterpillar" and practiced memorizing the poem "Work."

Nick and I have done a lot, too, in spite of his case of screaming-crying earlier when he would have been well served to take a nap.

He has practiced folding paper and identifying shapes. He has traced many differently shaped lines, including curvy and zigzaggy ones. He has drawn drawings (of hot lava and men who are "not crying") and painted two pictures of Johann Sebastian Bach's face with watercolors.

He and I have recited the short-vowel sounds poem from The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading.

And he is now learning to play Xander's Leapster with the game Pet Pals.

Good news! We set an end date for watching Imaginext videos on Youtube. Erik and I first enforced specific TV/computer times during the day and then said July 4th would be the last day Imaginext videos would be allowed. So we have not had any more Imaginext videos since then!

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